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62 THE SOUTHERN WORLD, DECEMBER 16, 1882. Crops In Texas. Editor Southern World'.—People are very much behind in gathering their cotton, so much rain daring the season, it was late opening, and then still the rain prevents from gathering it; have not had a week of dry weather at a time except the two last weeks of October and the first week in No vember. Com not all gathered either, neither done seeding. Grain that was sown early is now fine pasturage. Ovilla, Texas. _ R. M. White. Care of Animals and Homemade Fer tilisers. The small compact county of DeKalb, of which Fulton county was once a part, is a progressive county. Well-informed men give it as their judgement that in improved | live stock she far surpasses any county in the State. Her farmers are wide awake, thorough-going men. There are several ex cellent farmers’ clubs in the the county, and one taking in the whole county, called the Central Fanners’ club. They meet in De catur on the first Tuesday in every month. Their discussions are pregnant of interest to the farmers generally. At the last meeting the subject for discussion was the “Care of Domestic Animals and raising of Domestic Manure.’’ As an illustration of the benefits of these organizations we will give an epitome of the discussions and experiences: The inter change of ideas among practical men is pro ductive of the greatest good, in that it places at the service of all the results of inquiries of each one. The farmers of DeKalb county have long since taken the front place among our agriculturists, and their success is due to the fact that they have been progressive and watchful, and given each other the benefit of their several experiences. Such discus sions as take place in their Central club would accomplish the same results in every county in the state. Rev.R. H. Hollingsworth-Stock well housed in winter require only half the feed of those not cared for. Where permanent houses are not already built, houses of cornstalks serve as an excellent substitute. He found it more economical to^hRUlin the woods mould di- 1 'IWCl to the field and distribute it at once. R. F. Davis—Good shelter for stock is sound economy. It is practically no expense to keep a cow during the winter. Cows are a valuable investment. If you would have the land fed you must feed it. Therefore, the raising of home-made manure is a neces sity. Dr. S. G. Hitchcock said. A half peck of meal costing 7)4 cents and 7'A cents worth of hay per day is liberal feed for a cow. At 15 cents per day her feed will cost $4.50 per month or $45 for ten months. One ton of her droppings mixed with eight times its weight in leaves or mould is worth two tons of ammoniated superphosphate. ^-Dr. 5\ T. Key—Yes, worth four tons. Dr. Hitchcock—The milk and butter and increase in flesh will amply repay for the in taking care of the cow. In colder sections it is more important to have warm barns than warm dwellings. In Canada, it is utterly impossible to have an animal come out well in spring un less well housed in winter. Move the stock and owner to Georgia and both will suffer and lose 60 per cent, of flesh. Hon. T. J. Moore, of South Carolina, in his excellent article on “Economy in Feeding,” in the Sodthrrit World, lays down the correct principle that some knowledge of the value of feed products and their adaptation to the ends aimed at is necessary. These products contain In different proportions the elements that go to make up the system, furnishing flesh-producing, fat-producing and heat-pro ducing principles. The latter is what is needed in winter. Fattening hogs should have warm beds and plenty of air. You can let a hog sleep by a red-hot stove, if he wants to do to. The bog will take care of himself. If you wish immediate results from fertili- zers,buy your guano from Ramspeck. I tried his Gilt-edge, along side of home-made ma nure. The latter made bigger stalks but less cotton. I expect to reap the benefit from it in my wheat crop planted on the same ground. For permanent results use home made fertilizers. The offensive odor in the droppings of the barn yard is due to ammonia, and unless fixed by a six inch layer of clay, will escape and make the heap of little value. Dr. J. H. GoSs—I have never seen an analy sis of barn yard heaps, but my idea is that the offensive odor is due to sulphides and vegetable matter instead oi ammonia and phosphates. Dr. 8. G. Hitchcock—All pungent odors, (except the aroma of plants) are largely ara- moniacal. The reason why lime and ashes should not be used in compost heaps is be cause they set free the ammonia by uniting with the acids. Dr. T. T. Key—I usually keep my stock in the stable or lot, when not using them. It does not pay a man to allow his stock to run at large. Stock under good, warm shelters require only two thirds of thefeed that they do without them. Hogs will not fatten in cold weather, but will in warm. They should sleep on plank floors, for if they sleep in dry dust it will kill them. The princi pal fertilizing property in barn yard heaps is in the liquid droppings. A ton of liquid manure is worth four tons of the dry. E. N. Kittredge—The reason that hogs die from sleeping in the dry dust, it is claimed, is due to the dust choking up the orifice on the inside of the front feet, preventing per spiration. Dr. J. H. Goss—Is there such an orifice ? Dr. 8. G. Hitchcock—Oh, yes. Col. William Wright—That is where the devil entered when the swine ran down into the sea. Dr. J. H. Goss—Stock, although well fed and housed, if notallow exercise in the open air, will become diseased. Over fat is a dis ease. Sunshine and out door exercise is necessary for their perfect health. The hoof must be enured to the hard ground. Ring bone is the result of keeping the hoof too dry, on a hard floor. A Bermuda grass lot for exercise is perhaps the best. Dr. T. T. Key—I keep the feet of my stock neither too dry or too moist. Never had one of my horses to have the scratches. Dr. S. G. Hitchcock—The hoof of a horse or mule will become tender if allowed to stand long in his own droppings. Wet feet causes thrush, and dry feet, the dry rot. Rev. R. H. Hollingsworth—I killed the other day a four months pig that netted 61 pounds. He had been kept warm. RErORT OX DR. KEY'S FARM. The committee appointed to visit Dr. Key’s farm made the following report. “We found the land all utilized, all fenced in and in better condition than is common among farmers. The low lands were well ditched. Everything indicated a close, in telligent and watchful owner. At the horse lot be has a well to water his stock, with a double-well bucket turned by a crank, in suring a continuous discharge of water. He sold a grade Ayrshire cow for $75 that gave four gallons of milk per day, yielding 1J4 pounds of butter. He has four acres in cot ton that will yield a bale per acre. He has 17 bales of hay made by himself, in his barn. The shucks for his cows are salted as put up. WHAT I1A8 BEEN DONE BY FARMERS. Rev. R. H. Hollingsworth made 18 bushels of wheat, per acre, and expects to make 20 bushels this season, on the same place, with out manures. John Bradley made 300 bushels of sweet potatoes per acre. Mark W. Johnson, for the post six years, averages 300 bushels of sweet potatoes to the acre. Gus Mills, a colored man, with VA mules (the half being cHppled and ineffective for constant service), made this year 10 bales of cotton and 900 bushels of corn. All the help he had was his four little children Mr. J. M. Calloway, on a six-horse farm, made 75 bales of cotton, averaging 525' pounds; 385 bushels of wheat on 25 acres; 400 bushels of oats on 20 acres; 2,100 bushels of corn on 67 acres; 14,000 bundles of fodder; 200 bushels of sweet potatoes on % of an acre. Mr. Calloway started after the war with but a few acres of poor land. He has now three or four plantations, three gins, one saw mill, one merchant mill and six thousand dollars in money on interest. Also he has fifty bales of cotton on hand unsold. William Mitchell, who-has until recently been a renter all his life, and a cripple with six or seven children, has by economy clear ed $1,200 to $1,500. He had 30 acres given him, but has purchased 60 more. H. H. Miller bought a place several years ago on time, 130 acres for $2,000. He has five children and has never had more than two mules on his place. This year he made 24 bales of cotton, averaging520 pounds each, 525 bushels of corn, 111 bushels of wheat, besides oats, potatoes, fodder, peas, etc., nearly enough to pay for the place. He has paid for his place and is easy. Joe Grenade made this year 303 bushels of wheat on 16 acres, an average of 1815-16 bush els per acre; 300 bushels of oats on 9 acres, 4K sown in spring and 4A in fall, an aver age of33% bushels per acre; 600bushels of corn on 20 acres, an average of 25 bushels per acre; 43 bales of cotton on 60 acres, an aver age of 858)5 pounds of lint cotton per acre. He bad four mules. R. D. Evans, with four mules, made 52 bales of cotton, 225 barrels of corn, 7,000 bundles of fodder, 141 bushels of wheat, 250 bushels of oats, 250 bushels of potatoes, be sides a big melon crop. He sold corn and meat and has plenty of both to do him. He has made over $1,000 above expenses. One of his croppers, with one mule, made 14 bags of cotton and 900 bushels of corn. Last year a negro came to Mr. Evans to “crop" for him. All tlie recommendation he could give was that he staid nine years at his last place. Mr. Evans accepted him. The negro has paid out of his labor this year all his ex penses and has 300 bushels of corn in his crib. E. J. Bond, on one-third of an acre made 105 gallons of syrup from the ribbon and red cane and 4,000 stalks for seed. F. M. Wellborn made on lesA than three- fourths of au acre in same cane 278gallonsof syrup. B. B. Braswell on one acre in same cane made 151 gallons of syrup, 13,000 stalks for seed, besides selling $100 worth of stalks. He has been cultivating it for five years past, and estimates the yield at 300 to 400 gallons per acre. Vice-President W. P. Bond exhibited sam- ples of syrup made by these gentlemen which were pronounced by G. A. Ramspeck and other connoisseurs in ’lasses to be equal to the best Florida syrup. R. J. Redding and J. 8. Newman were elected honorary members. T. J. Flake was unanimously re-elected president; Dr. W. P. Bond, vice-president, and E. N. Kittredge, secretary and treas urer. The subject for next meeting is: Prepara tion and management of orchard and gar den. A Grain of Wheat. A “corn of wheat” is a little thing, but marvelously complex. Through the center of the kernel runs a groove, so that a hori zontal section is heart-shaped. Under a glass we see that it is very composite in struct ure. The outside layer or cuticle, which forms the bran, is composed mainly of silex, the mineral base of sand, which by means of the potash in the soil is made soluble and is carried by the little veins of the wheat plant and deposited with' the woody tissue. The nutriment in this triple coat is not di gestible by the human stomach, but is excel lent for cattle. The layer next inside this is styled gluten. This is a complex substance and in the highest degree nutritious,especial ly to the muscular tissues of man. Gluten pure is composed mainly of protein, which is the baisis of the nitrogenous compounds albumen, fibrin and casein, with a slight addition of sulphur. On this layer depends largely the nutritive value of wheat. When flour stands for some time after grinding some of the gluten changes its form to al bumen, and thus improves its bread-making quality, so that the baker considers flour a month old better than that fresh ground. This substance is not strictly limited to this layer of the grain, but is found both in the bran and distributed through the starch. Within this gluten layer lies the starch, constituting the mass of the kernel. The starch consists of mlnnte granules about .002 of an inch in diameter. The nuclei around which cluster these tiny granules, some think are gluten. This is certainly true of oats. Qn the mingling of the gluten with the starch depends the value of wheat for making bread. For besides the protein, crude gluten contains sugar, gum and sol uble albumen. The decomposition of sugar in fermentation produces carbonic acid, which becomes entangled in the tenacious gluten, expands in the heat of baking, and renders the loaf light and spongy. In the center of the kernel, when the outer l^yer turns into the body and doubles around, foraing an inner heart-shaped sec tion lie the phosphates of soda, lime and magnesia, which are the bone and brain making elements of wheat. In the crease near the large end of the kernel lies the germ, which, though,rich in gluten,contains oily and dark matter that injures the color and quality of flour, and should be removed. Over the germ is a thin scale like pellicle, easily removed with the thumb nail, reveal ing the little germ containing cell beneath. The germ, by slight pressure, may be re moved, leaving the cell, which, however, is coated with oily matter which should also be kept out of the flour. At the other end of the kernel is a sort of fine brush appendage formed of numerous downy filaments of a slight salmop tint. These are useful to the seed in the ground as absorbents of moisture, but in the flour impair both its color and flavor, and should also be eliminated. This brush end and the crease, with the wrinkled surface of the grain, are grand dust and dirt catchers, and a large amount of the machinery of our modern mills is for the sole purpose of clean ing the grain from the dirt, and freeing it of the bran, germ, brush and oily matter which Injure its capacity for making white, spongy and nutritious bread.—American Miller. TIN IN ALABAMA. An Important Discovery 11 Trne. Talladega, Ala.—I met here to-day Col, A. 8. Stocksdale, of Ashland, Clay county, Ala., who is on his way to Montgomery to bring before the Legislature a bill to incor porate “The Gessner Mining and Smelting Company.” The field of operation of the company will be near Ashland, thirty miles inland from Talladega. From an interview with Col. Stocksdale I gather the following facts: Mr. G. W. Gessner, of New York city, about two years ago, attracted by the flatter ing reports made by parties who bad tested the metals and minerals of Clay county, purchased real estate and mining rights in the county to a considerable extent, and commenced a series of tests and assays on his property. No one was allowed to. know, the object of his research, but quietly and diligently he prosecuted his plans, spending much money and labor in the undertaking until a few days ago. Mr. Gessner has reached that point in his enterprise where the veil can be lifted and the objects for which he has spent so much time and money can be made known. And it may be a matter of interest as well as sur prise to the public to know that tin has been found in Clay county, Alabama. This dis covery is not a matter of speculation, but a practical reality, and the working, the suc cessful working, of a tin mine in Clay county, Alabama, will soon be demonstrated to the world. Mr. Gessner is thoroughly competent for the enterprise undertaken by himself. He has already spent heavily in lands, machin ery and expenses. He is himself a man of considerable means and will ho uhlo in draw on domestic and English * capital fo? any amount he may need. The successful operation of a tin mine on the scale contemplated by Mr. Gessner can but redound to the future importance of Ala bama and the entire South, when it is re membered that no other tin mine is now in operation in the United States. If we are not mistaken, a large premium has been offered by the United States for the first production of tin in the country, and we trust that Mr. Gessner will be so success ful as to secure the reward. Not only is Clay to be hereafter known for its tin production, but other valuable metal are found in her borders. Copper, gold, iron, magnetic iron, and mica are to be found in paying quanti ties, and now that Mr. Gessner, with his skill, his energy, and his means, has at tracted attention to Clay, other men of brains and of means will, be likewise at tracted to the great undeveloped wealth of minerals in the South, in Alabama, and par ticularly in Clay county.—C. L. R. in Nash ville American. Fine Bheep. The fine sheep which recently arrived in New York, of which mention has already been made, belong to Mr. Cerf, a French man, who has been three years in the country, and has a large sheep farm near San Antonio, Texas. These sheep, he says, are direct descendants of a flock presented by the king of Spain to Louis XVI, of France in 1786. The flock has always been kept isolated, and all that were in anyway blem ished have been killed from year to year. The sheep all have thick, curly horns and stiff wool. They perspire freely, and the outer part of the wool is moist with oil. On parting, it shows snow-white within. The sheep can be sheared twice a year, and yield heavy fleeces. •The breed, both in France and Spain, is said to be dying out, probably because of inbreeding. Mr. Cerf proposes to cross them with a strong Texas stock. Every sheep brought over has a written pedigree, and the letter “ R” (Rambouillet) is cut into every horn. They have no market value, but Mr. Cerf estimates them at $850 each. They were sheared three months ago, but now wear a good crop of wool. They range from one year to three years of age, and every one oi them has a handsomely embroidered Bilk cloak, in whioh he will be exhibited.— N. O. Times-Democrat.