Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

[Entered at the Poarr.OrricB, in Atlanta, Gkoroia, ton transportation through the Unitkh Htatka Mails at Second Class Rates.) PtTBIilHHEP 1 ttat T TWICE A JMM(TH./ VOL. 1. ATLANTA, GA., JULY 1, 1882. No. 17. | ONI, V^ AR NI'ON«KS AM) MI’ONGK GATHERING. Sponges are creatures of a very low organ ization, concerning which there has been nipcli difference of opinion among natural ists. They arc now generally agreed in re garding'them as animals. They are found attached, like plants or zoophites, to rocks, or other Substances in the water. In a living .state many sponges exhibit bright colors, from the presence of some coloring matter, or from iridescence. Their gelatinous sub stance lias a flsh-like odor. If a sponge is divided by a knife, the parts placed together very quickly re-unite, even if not in their former relation to each other; but parts of different species never unite in this way, however carefully put together. Sponges assume various forms, some lieing nearly globular, some cup-shaped, top-shaiH'd, coni cal, cylindrical, thread-like, etc. The air and organic particles necessary to the exis' tence of the sponge are imbibed through its {lores. The wa- tcrwhichcnters by the pores passes out of some sponges by a single ori- tlce, which serves for the whole mass; 'others have numerous ori fices, from which, under the micro scope, a con stant discharge of water may be seen taking {ilacc, minute opaque parti cles being car ried along with itscurrent. These particles are not only fecal matter, but also gem- rnules and ova, by which lat ter their repro* dilution takes place.. Sjionges derive their value in gener al use, from their elastic ity, compress!- bilityand pow ers of absorp tion. Sponges are found on many parts of the British Coast, in the Levant, West Indies, and on tho coast of Florida. A considerable trade in sponges is carried on by the Turks and the inhabitants of the Bahama Islands. Between four and live thousand men and about six hundred boats are employed in the Ottoman sponge-fishery. These find their chief employment on the coasts of Candia, Barbary and Syria. There the sponge is ob tained by diving, the diver taking down with him a Hat piece of stone of a triangular shupe, with a hole drilled through one of its corners; to this a cord from the boat is attached, and the diver makes it serve to guide him to par ticular spots. When he reaches the growing sponges, he tears them off the rocks, and places them under his arniB; be then pulls at the rope, which gives the signal to his companions in the boat to haul him up. The value of the sponges gathered annual ly in Greece and Turkey is estimated at from $450,000 to $500,000. The Greek of the Mores, os shown in our engraving, Instead Of diving for the sponges, obtain them hy the aid of long-handled pronged Instruments; but the sponges thus collected are often torn and must be sold at a low price. The sponges of the Bahamas and West Indies are obtained in the same manner. To get rid of the animal matter adhering to them they are buried for some days in the sand, and then snaked and washed. The domestic uses of the sponge are famil iar to every one. It is also of great value to the surgeon, not only for removing blood in operations but for checking hemorrhages. Burnt sponge was once n valid remedy for scrofulous diseases and goiter; but iodine and bromine, from which It derives all its value, are now administered in other forms. Written specially for the Southern World.] THE ORANGE GROVEM OF FLORIDA IIY HELEN HARCOURT. SECOND PAPEB. The ground set apart for an orange grove, should be thoroughly cleared, and by this we do not mean the slovenly mode in which this process is performed by but too many, of leaving the pine-stumps standing and their roots cropping up here and there, an eye-sore from the first, and in after years a serious hindrance to the proper cultivation of the orange trees—true, it adds consider ably to the work and cost of preparation, but after the trees are once set-out it is a dangerous proceeding to burn out the pine stamps, and an expensive one to chop them 1 out. ! This done, the land well plowed (twice over is best) with the cultivator or harrow l following; the space expect a disinterested person to exercise. As short a time as possible should elapse before the trees areagaiu placed in theearth, but in any case, they must be planted care fully; it is better to keep them out of the ground for several days, rather than placo their roots carelessly; but whether the tran sition period belong or short, the roots must be well wrapped in moss, kopt wet, and shel tered from the sun and wind. In setting them in their appointed places, the roots should be spread out carefully, each one straightened out to its full extent, and its tiny tendrils, which are the real food- caterers, laid out upon each side, as nature intended them to be; every broken or bruised root should be pruned off, with a sloping cut from below, upwards. The surface earth should next be cast gently upon the roots, so as not to disturb their proper arrangement, and when they thus prepared is are covered several inches deep, a plentiful supply of water GREEKS GATHERING SPONGES IN THE MOBEA The San Francisco Journal of Commerce, in Us last issue, says: “There is a great mislako abroad as to the need for bags. If the crops turn out at all, os present indications {mint, there will be a heavy demand anil high prices ere long. With 60,000,000 bushels of wheat, at least 8,000,000 bushels of barley in California, anil 12,000,000 bushels in Oregon and Washington Territory, we will have 70,- 000,000 bushels in all, needing 35,000,000 grain bogs, not to speak of other needs of say 3,000,000 more. This would bring the total up to 38,000,000 bags. It is but a rough esti mate, but not far from the truth? Now we have no stock on band, and from present indications it does not seem likely that we shall have any such stock, so that the market may be expected, after the har vest is well opened, to advance with a boom that will surprise many.” ‘ marked out in squares of thirty feet, and at the intersections holes are dug, proportioned to the size of the trees to be set-out—rather larger and deeper than the roots require them to be—so that thoy may bo {lartially refilled with good surface soil, in place of the poor subsoil thrown out. The land is now ready for the trees, being of course fenced in, which is usually done with the Virginia or worm fence, though latterly, barbed-wire is finding much favor. Every orange grower should personally superintend the digging up, and transporta tion of his trees, whether seedlings or “sour stumps,” if he desires them to flourish, or to live at all. To uproot a tree, and with the loss of a minimum only of its fine, tender rootlets, is an undertaking requiring no little care and delicacy of touch, such as one cannot and a too rapid evaporation. If the grove is composed of seedlings, it remains now only to cultivate it, but if of sour stumps (they must of course, have been bearing trees when beheaded) they are bud- dedassoon as their roots have taken hold of their new anchorage and begin to feed the tree. The moment a thrifty growth is ap parent, good, sweet buds from a bearing tree are obtained, of four or five months’ growth so that the wood while sufficiently young, will not be too green to have ihe necessary vitality; the tree from which theseare taken must also be in active growth at the time. The usual method of budding orange trees is called “pen-budding;” a stick four or five inches in length is sloped at one end by a cut two inches long, bringing it to a sharp, thin point like a pen-knife; the bud thus prepared, the bark of the sour stump is cut