536 



yields from 30 to 40 bushels to the acre. Stock appear to relish it better than other 

 small grain. It ripens and is harvested in this latitude the 1st of June. The g;raiu is 

 of a reddish color, weij^biug, generally, 32 pounds to the measured bushel, has a bright, 

 etift' straw, seldom fading from wind or storm. It withstands rust almost elfectually. 



Success in raising corn in Mississippi. — Mr. J. L. Blanks, of 

 Lauderdale County, reports that he raised, the past season, on an acre 

 of poor pine-land, 70 bushels of corn, by actual measurement, and 

 thinks that the yield was diminished one- third in consequence of the 

 drought, which began in the middle of July and continued till after the 

 corn was harvested, which was the last week in September. The land 

 was subsoiled to the depth of about one foot, and thoroughly pulver- 

 ized. Early in April about 575 bushels of compost (from scrapings of a 

 cow-lot, loose soil under and about his gin-house, and a small quantity 

 of cotton-seed) were distributed and covered in rows 4 feet apart. 

 April 30, these rows were opened, and the corn planted 8 to 10 inches 

 apart, which was subsequently thinned about one-half. June 1, about 

 200 bushels of heated cotton-seed were sown on the acre and mixed 

 with the surface soil. The corn received frequent and thorough culti- 

 vation. 



Agriculture in Saint Landry, La. — A local authority gives the 

 agricultural statistics of this ijarish, for 1873, as follows : Land culti- 

 vated, 42,595 acres ; uncultivated, 548,342. The census of 1870 returns 

 80,452 acres cultivated, and 232,376 uncultivated, showing in the later 

 statistics a falling off in cultivated area of nearly one-half, and an 

 increase of land in the parish of 278,109 acres. The area and yield of 

 the several crops reported are: Corn, 23,433 acres, yield, 162,927 bush- 

 els, equal to 07 bushels per acre ; cotton, 17,668 acres, yield, 3,315 bales ; 

 cane, 1,299 acres, yield, 193 hogsheads of sugar and 343 barrels of 

 molasses ; rice, 195 acres, yield, 669 barrels. The products of these 

 several crops in the parish, in 1869, as reported for tlie census, were : 

 Corn, 368,897 bushels ; cotton, 14,305 bales ; sugar, 1,988 hogsheads ; 

 molasses, 118,110 gallons ; rice, 33,375 pounds. The figures show that 

 one or both of these reports must be greatly wanting in accuracy. 



A SUBSTITUTE FOR CREAM IN CHEESE. — The American Dairy and Com- 

 mercial Company — president, Henry D. Gardner — hold a patent for mak- 

 ing cheese from milk, after the cream is taken from it, by substituting 

 therefor oleomargarine. The following description of the apparatus, 

 process, and results thus far, is condensed from a report made after 

 personal investigation. The company, of which Henry O. Freeman, 

 inventor of the patented jirocess, is agent, have their factory at McLean, 

 Tompkins County, Xew York. The building is 326 feet by 32, and 

 two stories high, with a pool in one wing. The oleo-margarine used is 

 described as white, opaque, fine- grained, odorless, and presenting to the. 

 taste a pure oily flavor. The milk is skim med at twenty-four to thirty-six 

 hours. While this is heating in a vat to a temperature of 92°, the oleo- 

 margarine is being melted, and slowly raised in a water bath to a tem- 

 perature slightly abov^e that of the milk. Over the center of the vat, 

 supported by a simple frame, is placed a tin vessel about 18 inches 

 square, with a finely-punctured bottom. After the annotto has been 

 stirred into the milk, and when that and the melted oil are at a proper 

 temperature, the latter is poured through the tin strainer and quickly 

 spreads over the surface "in a bright golden flood." Sufficient,reunet is 

 put in to cause coagulation in eight to ten minutes, aud the temperature 

 gradually raised about 2° higher. Between the pouring in of the oil and 

 the coag'ulation, the mixture is vigorously stirred. The design of this is 



