Newspaper Page Text
VOL. XXIII. NO. 22.
The Cartersville Express,
Established Twenty Years.
KATES AND TKKMB.
SU BSCRtPTION.
One copy one year 81 60
One copy si* months 75
One copy three months . 5U
Payments invariably in Advance.
ADVERTISING HACKS.
Advertisements will lx* inserted at the rates
of One Dollar par Inch for the first insertion,
and Fifty Cents tor each additional Insertion.
Address, S. A. CUNNINGHAM.
Georgia Farm Notes.
A Drain File manufactory is to be erect
ed at Lilly Pond by Mr. James Rogers. He
is, we believe, the first in the State to inau
gurate this important industry.
The Grape interest of Southwest Georgia
is assuming huge proportions. The beauti
ful country about Uuthbert is covered with
flourishing vineyards and young orchards.
There is no reason why the wine industry
of Georgia should not rival that of France,
and, we believe, in a few years it will. A
large stock company tor the manufacture
of wine has just been organized at the above
named place, and the ground has already
been broken for the erection of their vaults
and distillery. Another stride of Georgia
enterprise.
The wheat and out crop of Randolph
county ib a failure on account of rust.
The vicinity of West Point was visited a
few days ago by a most disastrous rain
storm. It poured down in torrents for six
hours, and did great damage to crops and
land, and washed away a number of
bridges. Mr. E. J. Oollins, whose farm lies
about nine miles below the city on the
Chattahoochee river, estimates the damage
on his place to equal, if not exceed, SI,OOO.
Mr. C. H. Erwin reports a large field of his
best cotton buried in sand.
The recent Albany fair is reported a
brilliant success. A great many members
of the State press were in attendance, and
their journals contain flattering accounts of
it. This success is due to the enterprise
and pluck of this progressive little city,
and, in a large measure, to the untiring
efforts of Messrs. Evans A Warren, the
publishers of the Albany News, one of the
best weekly journals in the State.
Crops about Albany are unusually fine.
W. W. McDowell, of Blakely, boasts of
having the first cotton bloom. It is sup
posed to have come from a ratoon
The price of wool has declined fully five
cents per pound, and seems likely to go
lower.
The editor of the Early county News
has found quite a curiosity in the shape of
as egg. It consisted oi two egg-shaped
sacks without shell, separated, or, rather,
attached, by a tube-shaped connection,
about an inch long, of the same material as
the sacks. In one sack was the white of
an egg and in the other the yolk,
The turpentine farms of South Georgia
are doing an immense business. They usu
ally employ about 500 hands. One firm in
Camilla has purchased the right to box
trees on *20,000 acres of land. It goes
through the same process of distillation as
brandy or whisky, and sells for about 35
cents per gallon. After the turpentine and
rosin exude, the converted into
lumber of superior quarlity to that sawed
from unboxed stems.
Farmer Correspondents.
The following article on the subject of
fariu correspondents, taken from ihc Prairie
Farmer, is so good that we commend it to
the earnest consideration of our Dixie tar
rners, and trust that they may profit by its
perusal:
“The Prairie, Farmer keeps this injunc
tion standing at the head of its columns •
‘farmers, write for your paper.’ It is true
that we have among our readers a consider
able number who are heard from through
our columns, but taking the aggregate of
our subscribers the ratio of those who some
times write a letter or an article for the pa
per is small. What is true in this behalf in
our own case is also true of the agricultural
press generally. Now this should not be
bo. A farmer is especially interested in
knowing what other farmers are doing in
the line of experiment and improvement.
Their agricultural paper is the special me
dium of communication, wherein they can
exchange experiences and views, or to use a
homely but expressive phrase “ swap
thoughts,” and profit by such mutual help.
“It has been said that the average farmer
is a bad letter writer and an unreliable cor*
respondent, and it cannot be disguised that
the proposition is true. There are excep
tions to this as to all rules, but these excep
tional instances are few and far between,
it shoul^ not be so. There are thousands
of farm ers who. with but little expenditure
of time and effort, could tell their brother
farmers much that would be interesting and
instructive. To many, possibly, it may be
hard work to write a short letter, a result
due more than anything else to lack of
practice. Almost any farmer, however, can
hit down and indite a business letter. If he
wants to buy an animal or an implement,
he can generally describe what he wants
very minutely. The same amount of in
terest in detailing an experience with a
crop, or in rearing live stock would make a
readable article for the benefit of the public.
“Excuses for not writing are many and
various, One man says he cannot write a
hand that is legible. Some of the best con
tributors to the newspapers are poor {pen
men. The chirography of some of the
most eminent editors, lawyers and scientists
the world has ever produced is little belter
than Egyptian hieroglyphics. Horace
Greeley's manuscript was simply execrable.
A poor hand-writing should not deter a far
mer irom writing for his agricultural pa
per. Another says he never had any
schooling, spells so badly that he does not
care to “give himself away.” There is not
a person living probably who can spell
every word in the language correctly, while
the number whose orthography is passably
good, is not as large as many suppose it is.
When it is recollected lhat there are but
few persons who spell fairly well, the objec
tion to writing for the press by reason of in
different spelling loses its force. Besides
this, manuscript for the printer passes
through the hands of an editor who pre
pares it before it is put into type, correcting
any inaccuracies of orthography or syntax
he may discover. If a writer does as wel
as he can, it is all that is required of him.
“Again, every farmer should cultivate the
habit of writing, because of the personal
advantage derived from it. It enables him
to make a record of his farming operations
and keep his books and accounts easily,
and it gives him a good position among his
neighbors, as a careful, observing and pains
taking farmer. From every point of view
it is an art which a farmer should culti
vate.”
Transplanting Trees.—A. E. Roby, in
the New York Tribune, says : I planted a
lot of seedling spruce and balsam ten years
ago, in a very stiff or heavy clay soil. In
three or four years I transplanted half of
them, which operation root-pruned both
those that were removed and those that re
mained. The job was well done, and not a
tree lost. Fibrous roots were made, and
when I am setting them, a ball of earth en
velopes the roots, and I never lose any trees.
One year ago I took up a nice spruce, six
or seven feet high, and left it standing on
the sod with nothing to protect it but the
ball of earth, and it has remained there
ever since, and is still sound and good, al
though we had the worst drought I ever
saw. We can put one of those trees in a
wagon and drive twenty miles; the tree
will stand straight up, and be sure to grow.
But you can't do this with trees grown in
the sand ; the dirt would all fall oft and the
roots get dry, and have to be kept moist,
especially those of large trees. 1 have suc
cessfully moved trees twelve feet high, with
.X ri ?<*• I I tarn* null iu WBm/k I WKKM
pounds. Some people, in givipg directions
for transplanting, say, dig the hole a little
deeper than the tree stood in the nursery.
But this won’t do in a heavy clay soil, un
less the ground ta well drained, because the
hole will fill up frith water and drown the
tree; even a fish may be drowned. But in
removing tres from a clay soil to a sandy
soil the advice is good, because it is impos
sible to drown a tree in any well drained
soil. Sometimes, in planting, I set the tree
on the surtace of the ground and fetch soil
to cover the roots, and I very seldom lose a
tree.
Road Dust aad Poultry Dung.
Road dust is worth many times its cost as
an absorbent. Those who keep poultry
may secure by its use a valuable fertilizer,
nearly as strong as guano, with none of its
disagreeable odor. Place an inch or two of
road dust in the bottom of a barrel ; then,
as the poultry house is regularly cleaned,
and posit a layer an inch thick of the clean
ings, and so on alternatively, layers of each
until the barrel is full. The thinner each
layer is, the more perfect will be the inter
mixture of the ingredients. If the soil of
which the road dust is made is clayey, the
layers of each may be of equal thickness;
if sandy, the dust should be at least twice
as thick as the layer of droppings. Old
barrels of any kind may be used for this
purpose; but if previoualy soaked with
crude petroleum or coated with gas tar,
they will laat many years. If the contents
are pounded on the floor into fine powder
before applying, the fertiliser may be sown
from a drill. Road dual is one of the most
perfect deodorizers of vaulta—couverting
their contents also into a rich manure.
Place a barrel or box of it in the closet,
with a small ‘‘ipper, and throw down a pint
into the vault each time it ia occupied, and
there will be no offensive odor whatever.
This is simpler, cheaper, and better than a
water-closet, and nevar frees** or gets oui
of order.
The Porte has settled the claims of con
tractors for the war offioe by giving them
assignments upon tithes for the next year.
The reports concerning the aerious ill
ness of William Hunter, second assistant
secretary of state, proved to be greatly ex
aggerated.
By the will of the late Joseph Seligtnan,
of New York, $25,000 are bequeathed o
e ’ucational, charitable, and benevolent in
stitution*.
It is rumored that th* Louiaville, Nash
ville, and Ureal .Southern line will be di
vided into four division* ami division offi
cers appointed.
Senator Walker, oI Arkansas, believes
that ex-Governor Seymour is the choice of
the democrat* of that state for presidential
candidate.
A Berlin dispatch saya Prince Bismark
has declined to preside over the new Eu
ropean conference, aad has nominated
Prince Hoheniohe.
CARTERSVILLE. GA-, THURSDAY, JUNEIIO, 1880.
Manures.
Ferry's Seed Catalogue.
Anything which, being added to the soil,
directly or indirectly promotes the gtuwth
of plants, is a manure. Manure directly
assists vegetable growth, either by entering
into the composition of plants, by absorb
ing and retainining moisture from the at
mosphere, or by absorbing trotn it nutri
tive gases. Manures indirectly assist the
growth of plants either by destroying ver
min or weeds, by decomposing the soil, by
protecting plants from sudden changes of
temperature, or by improving the texture
of the soil.
The manure from cows and all animals
that chew the cud is considered cold and
suited to a light soil; that of horses, hogs
and poultry is hot, and best suited to a cold,
heavy soil. All new and fresh manure en
genders heat during fermentation, and has
a tendency to lighten the soil, while old,
rotten manure is thought to render it more
compact and firm. The manure of birds
is richer than that of any other animal.
Three or four hundred weight of manure
of fows, turkeys, etc., is equal to from
fourteen to eighteen loads of animal ma
nure. Guano should never, in fresh state,
come in contact with seeds or roots of
plants, as it is sure to destroy its vitality.
A thick coat ol hog pen or barn-yard ma
nure spread on the garden and turned in
every spring, will enrich, warm, and
lighten the ground better than any appli
cation of other manures. The principle
animal manures are those of the horse, the
hog, the cow, and the sheep. Of these, the
horse is the most valuable, in its fresh
state, but it should he exposed as little
possible, as it begins to heat and lose its
nitrogen immediately, as may he perceived
by the smell; mix it with other manures,
and cover it with absorbents as soon as
possible. That of the hog conies next in
value, while the cow is at the bottom oi
the list. The richer the food given to an
imals the more powerful is the manure. If
animal manures are employed in a fresh
state, they should be well mixed with the
soil and given to coarse feeding crops, such
as corn and the garden pea. Nearly all
plants do better if the manure is com
posted and fully fermented before use.
Bone dust, mixed with ashes or pulverized
charcoal, ami sown broadcast over t’.e
ground at the rate of three bushels per
acre, is very beneficial, and the most valu
able for turnips, cabbages, ect., and the
quantity needed for an acre is so small that
khc afiy .Other
"er — ° - —.. ... ...>. ..f
six bushels per acre, sown in the spring, *•
lands distant from the sea shore, not only
promotes fertility, but is vei v useful in de
stroying worms and slugs. Marl, where it
can be obtained, may be supplied with ad
vantage, especially 10 sandy soils. Soot is
excellent to drive off insects and vetmiri.
Very little of this can be obtained, but it
should be carefully preserved and applied
in quantities to cabbages, turnips, cueum
bers, melons, squashes, and all plants in
fected with insects. Charcoal tenders the
soil light and triable, and gives it a dark
color and additional warmth for early crops.
When composted with night soil it becomes
poudrettdy and is second only to guano as a
fertilizer. L aves, straw, and rubbish
thrown together and moistened with a mix
ture of liuie and salt, it kept damp until
decomposed, forms the best known manure
for trees and shrubs. Swamp muck, mixed
with salt, lime, or leached ashes, is of value
where it can he obtained, hut of -till more
value is the leaf mold, or black surface
soil of the woods. For the vegetable gar
den, it is best composted with fresh animal
manure, but can be applied directly to most
plants in the dower garden, many of which
will not flourish unless this material is
present in the soil. Tanbark, decayed
chips, sawdust, and shavings, covered with
soil, are of great advantage to potatoes.
Wood ashes, leached or nnleaehed, may he
used with decided benefit as a top dressing
to growing vegetables, especially onions
and turnips. Plaster sown upon growing
crops is good for turnips, cabbage, beans,
cucumbers, squashes, melon*, and all broad
leaved plants.
Liuie in Agriculture.
The Journal of Forestry briefly sums up
many of the uses of lime when applied to
the soil. The effects of lime, as will be
seen, are in part mechanical and in part
chemical.
1. Upon deep alluvial anl clay soil it in
creases the crop of potatoes, and renders
them less waxy. Sprinkled over jmtatoes
in a store heap it preserves them, and when
riddled over the cut sets it wonderfully in
creases their fertility.
2. Lime eradicates the finger-and-toe dis
ease in turni|>s, and gives greater soundness
to the bulbs.
3. It gives, when applied to meadow land,
a larger produce of more nutrtinus grasses.
It also exterminates coarse and sour grasses,
and acts powerfully upon rye grass.
4. Ui*on arable land it destroys weeds of
various kinds.
5. It rapidly decomposes vegetable mat
ter, producing a large amount of food for
plants in the form of carbonic acid gas.
ti. It destroys r neutralizes the acids in
the soils; hence its adaptability to our
soils.
7. If acts powerfully upon some of the
inorganic parte of the soil, esjiecially upon
the sulphate of iron in peaty soils, and the
sulphate of magnesia and alumina..
8. I; prove.* fatal to worms and slugs and
the larva; oi injurious insects, though fav
orably to the grow th of shell bearers.
. J?lcked lime added to vegetable mat
ter causes it to give off its nitrogen in the
form of ammonia. Upon soils in which
ammonia is combined with acids, it sets free
the ammonia, which is seized upon by the
plants,
I<>. Its solubility in water causes it to
sink into and ameliorate the subsoil. When
the soil contains fragments of granite or
Lap rocks, lime hastens their decomposition
and liberates the silicates.
11. Its combination with the acids in the
soil products saline compounds, such as so
da, potash, etc.
To sums its advantages: When properly
applied to the soil, it purities and stimulates
its acliou, thereby promoting tile growth of
healthy vegetation of all kinds.
How to Become u Farmer.
Some of the very best and most success
ful farmers in the country are men who
were educated for other business, hut who,
having an inborn love for rural life and its
pursuits, have adopted agriculture as a bus
iness, and have brought business habits and
a thorough education to the work of tilling
the soil. Asa rule, however, farmers are
not made in that way, and the following
from a correspondent of the Vermont
Watchman is not far out of the way :
Agriculture, and those who engage in it,
have been the theme of very many writers
and speakers who, from their lofty posi
tions, have broached their theories, or let
fall words of advice or counsel as thick al
most as the leaves of autumn. In the
midst of such profusion a plain, practical
farmer, like myself, might scarcely expect
to be heard. J will venture, however, to
present a few thoughts froiu my own stand
point, which, if it be not so high up in the
clouds, has at least the advantage of being
nearer the scene of action.
That farming is in -t bad way seems to be
taken for granted, and variotfc| and unlike
are the remedies proposed. Educate, say
some ; let the farmers’ sons be sent to col
lege. Let them pursue a liberal course of
study, and especially let them master the
great and important science of agriculture.
Then they will return home prepared to
take hold of farming at the right end, and
pursue it successfully. I noticed in a late
number of your paper mention was made
of a certain gentleman who had sent his son
to a business college, and expressed the
opinion that such a training was the best lie
could have to tit him ior a farmer, if that
• * y*r ~ -f- ♦*• *•• ‘ v '"^ySSTT 1 *
expect* hi* non to he ft practical
disilppointeil “ but I think he will l>e. I'lie
fact is, a business training gives the young
man a taste for business use the term in
the popular sense,) so that he will not Ik*
satisfied with the farmer’s life.
I would not be understood as saving any
thing against a liberal education, as such,
for the farmer or any one else. I believe a
highly educated farmer has the advantage
oi those less favored in that respect, other
things being equal ; but uiy point is that
the higher any young man is educated at
the schools, the less 1 kely he is to become a
farmer. The reasons 1 need not state, tor
they must be obvious to every one ; and
facts confirm this view. The truth is, the
young man who would be a farmer must
learn his business ujam the farm, and he
cannot learn it anywhere else What would
you think of a young man who should pro
pose to learn the carpenter’s or blacksmith’s
trade by studying books, or taking a college
course ? You would say that the proper
place for him, after certain preliminary
studies had leen attended to, would be at
work under a master on the building or at
the forge.. And so with the farmer.
A correspondent of the Fruit Recorder
writes as follows : 1 notice in a recent is
sue a number of recipe* fur killing the cod
ling moth. 1 have tried various remedies
on my orchard, some ol which have been
suggested by scientific men. 1 will now
give you my experience with them. My
orchard consists of trees ranging trmn one
to fifty years of age, and I find the codling
moth ready for attack at any age. Last
year, when pruning, I made a wash of my
own and tried it with good results. The
following ingredients compose the wash:
One quart of lime, such as as is used by
the plasterers in white-coating ; one peck ol
leached wood ashes, two pecks of cow ma
nure, one quart of soft soap, and one large
table-spoonful of Paris green. I wet the
mixture thoroughly, to make it like paste,
beating it thoroughly until it became tough.
1 added twelve quarts of water, or enough
to give the trees a thorough Coating. I
find on the trees so washed that the old
bark is dropping off and leaving the new
hark perfectly smooth. On all the trees I
have washed I see a perfect improvement.
According to Professor Tyndall’s recent
definition, the brain is the organized regis
ter of infinitely numerous experiences re
ceiver! daring the evolution of life, or lath
er during the volution of that series of or
ganisms through which the human organ
ism has been reached ; the effect of most
uniform and frequent of these experiences
has been succes>iu!ly bequeathed, piincipal
and interest, and have *lowly mounted to
that high intelligence which lies latent in
the brain of the infant.
In Baker county, Oa., where last year’s
cotton stalks have been left standing, they
have put out new leaves and have plenty
of squares ou them.
Sheep and Wool—An Encouraging Out
look for Fouling Years.
New England Farmer.
Every indication of the times, and every
fact that can be presented for the consider
ation .. f farmers, shows lhat for the coming
years the sheep and wool industry of our
country is to assume far greater propor
tions than in the past, and that the prices
of both mutton and wool are to be such as
will induce a greater interest in sheep hus
bandly than for some years. There are
several causes tor this, some of which
relate more closely to our home affairs, and
others affecting liic foreign aspect of the
matter, and, therefore coming tons some
what indirectly.
In England, during the past winter, the
"liver rot,” a disease quite unknown among
tiie flocks of the United State-, has caused
the death of hundreds of thousands of
sheep, and brought a loss to the farmers
from which several years of the most care
ful breeding will not enable them to re
cover. In Turkey, Persia, Kus.-ia, India,
and throughout the Eastern nations gener
ally, the prevalence of war, which has
rendered it necessary for vast numbers of
sheep to be slaughtered, has almost put a
slop to the production of wool, so that in
English markets there is really danger of a
“wool famine,” and prices of all grades of
wool have advanced to figures quite
unknown in the previous history of the
wool markets at this season of the year.
Moreover, the consumption of all grades of
combing, delaine and carpet wools, has,
during the past eight months, increased in
our own country fully forty percent., while
England is demanding more of our mutton
tluin ever before in the history of our
country; all of which has given sheep
husbandry and wool production such an
impetus as it has not before had for years.
It is, in fact, a revival of one of the great
est branches of our national industry, and
one which is likely to leave to it something
of permanence, and be productive of
lasting advantage. We ba*e this opinion
upon the following, among other facts :
During the past year the wool manufactur
ers of the vicinity of Boston required fur
their wauls 5*2,500,000 poinds of wool more
than was used by them in 1878, while the
stock of domestic wool which they had on
hand the Ist of January last was the
smallest, with one exception, for the past
five years, and while it was also true that
the great West and the whole interior of
our country was never so completely cleared
of wool on the Ist of January as it was at
beginning of this year. Since last
as fast as they eouhl be WMiiuJ'actured, =*
thing that has not occurred previously, at
the same season of the year, for many years.
These and other facts will induce ah
increased attention to sheep husbandry, and
when the keeping of sheep conies to he
made a business of wool, mutton, and
manure, and not for wool alone, it will
then become a stable and permanent branch
of farming.
One great trouble lias heretofore been that,
sheep farming in this country, has been car
ried on in a somewhat spasmodic fashion.
Farmers have kept >tieep tor a few years,
then, with an unfavorable turn in prices, or
losses on account of bad seasons, have
abandoned the business for something else.
Hut we have yet to hear of an instance
where a farmer has stuck to sheep husbandry
as a business for a period of ten or fifteen
years, who has not made money and kept
Ids farm growing better from such a course.
There is another important consideration
which, as we have frequently staler!, gives
to our country one of its greatest advantages
for (his line of farming, and that is, the
comparative freedom your docks have from
any depleting, fatal, contagious disease.
This is one of the great advantages of our
country as a section for sheep husbandry,
and one which will cause a permanent
increase in the number of sheep kept, in
view of the great losses from disease
abroad.
The Cut Worm.
There is scarcely any land free from the
wire worm, or any crop that is not subject
to their voracity. They occur wherever
grass will grow, being particularly harbored
among clover roots, and are always preva
lent in meadow and pasture lands, seeming
to thrive best in the vicinity of swamps and
woods. Young oats, wheat, rye, and bar
ley sutler much from being partially or en
tirely cut oft below the surface, cabbages
and many root crops are also injured, tur
nips, perhap , more than any other, as they
are cut oft' when young, and have the roots
badly eaten into when larger. In gardens
they are very destructive. It appears that
Indian corn is the greatest sufferer, espe-
cially when it is the first crop planted on
new land, or when the season is cold, wet,
and late. Upward of thirty have been
planted in a single hill, and nearly the
whole of tlie seed planted is sometimes
destroyer!.
One of the most successful remedies on a
large scale is a mixture consisting of two
parts of quick lime, three parts of soot,
and one part of coarse ar refuse salt. This
is used as a top dressing, leing applied im
mediately after compounding, and should
,he well rolled in. It has the advantage of
! being perfectly harmless to the eropH. In
deed, it is a most excellent and powerful
ertilizer, as well as a destroyer ul all kinds
jof inects aud many weeds. Refuse from
i gas works, nitrate of soda, rape cake, and
S. A. CUNNINGHAM.
j chloride of lime, mixed and spread with
manure, are highly recommended, and the
mowing of soda ash or guano broadcast when
planting. A previous crop oi mustard is
claimed to clear the land of them, presum
ably by starving out, for the roots of the
mustard are extremely acrid, and occupy
the soil to the exclusion oi any more nu
tritious ones. A close grazing with sheep
seems beneficial when pastures are badly
infested. The same tesult is also obtained
by compacting the surface with heavy
rollers. —Ex.
Agricultural Item*.
—Halted soapsuds that has been ailowd
to stand until sour, is recommended as a
means to kill cabbage worms,
—To destroy plantains, dandelions, or
other weeds on the lawn, drop carefully a
single drop of sulphuric acid into the cen
tre of the plant. One drop will do the bus
iness ; mor? will be likely to do harm.
—A Providence correspondent gives the
following as a cure for warts on animals.
Take a small quantity of scraps of copper,
cover them with cider vinegar, and allow it
to stand forty-eight hours; pour ofl' the
liquid and apply it to the warts several
times, on alternate days.
—When plants are to be transplanted,
they should be well wet down several hours
before moving, so as to allow the water to
soak well around the roots, and it‘ this must
be done while the sun is shining brightly,
it will be best to shade the plants lor a
time, till the water has soaked in.
—Air slacked lime will destroy currant
worms. In the spring examine the bushes
often, and when the lower leaves are perfor
ated there worms are to be found. If the
bush is dry, first sprinkle with water and
then with lime. Two or three applications
will be sufficent for the season. The lime
will injure neither the bush nor the truil,
—A correspondent of Vick’s Monthly
says that one spoonful of coarse-powdered
saltpetre to a pail of water will destroy po
tato bugs, squash bugs and other insects.
For roses it is unsurpassed. For maggots
that work at the roots of squash vines,
pour about a pint of the liquid at the root
of each vine as soon as the pests indicate
themselves.
—Farmers who practice soiling would do
well to remember that a held of clover
furnishes a very large amount of green
food, since two to three crops can be cut
during the season. The scarlet clover is an
excellent sort. Sown in July it does well
on almost any soil moderately fertile. The
J’xjkhara clover affords excellent food lor
apiarists.
—An English gardener writes to the Gar
deners’ Chronicle that last season he ap
plied a good dressing til charcoal to some
of his peas at the time of sowing, and that
these grew very strong and resisted mildew
entirely, while those sown in the usual
manner were a total failure, or nearly so,
the mildew attacking them as soon as they
were in tlower. The charcoal used was the
refuse of chemical works, and was very fine
ly powdered.
—A tew sweet herbs should have a place
in every garden. Every cook and house
keeper knows the value of the little patch
of herbs upon which she makes such daily
dratts in summer, and which furnishes her
with a nice collection for winter seasoning,
without which the Thanksgiving turkey
would lose all flavor, while strong kinds are
excellent as medicine.
The largest grain elevator in the world
is being erected at Jersey City, by the Penn
sylvania Railway Company. It is one hun
dred and forty-five feet wide, two hundred
lest long, and has a capacity for storing 1,-
000,000 bushels of grain. The building
will have twenty-four sets of elevating
aparatus for taking grain from cars, and
four “conveyors” will'run from the build
ing to the wharf for unloading canal boats
and loading ships.
The seed bureau of the Agricultural De
partment has again been relegated to the
politicians. Congress has voted that its
members shall have control of the seed dis
tribution. 'Hie average congressman wilt
see that the faiuiers of his district —those
whom he expects to vote for his re-election
are well supplied with the wherewithal to
start a garden. It is to he hoped that the
average farmer will take all the seeds he
can get, and then vote —as he pleases —al-
ways for a better man if one is convenient.
An English exchange mentions a new in
strument of very ingenious construction,
and of great practical value, called the
termiograph, and designed to plot an accu
rate scale the section of ground over which
it travels. The instrument is thus describ
ed : The front wheel works the recording
gear, the two supporting wheels work an
endless roll of paper. As the machine is
pushed over the ground one disc, placed
vertically, rotates over another disc which
works horizontally. If the vertical disc
works over the center of the horizontal one
there is a minimum of motion, and a corre
sponding straightness of record, but as the
instrument is work up hill or down hill it is
more or less inclined, and the vertical disc
slides forward or backward and rotates the
more ra'pidly as it travels over the faster
moving areas of the horizou'al disc, and the
i recording g*ar rises from the level propor
] tionately and marks the corresponding eie
■ vations of the section to the scale on paper.
There are 3,000 Knights of Honor ia
j Mississippi.