250 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



tained its normal position upon being 

 boiled instead of settling to one side ; they 

 would also beat up well for frosting, etc. 

 The eggs packed must be strictly fresh 

 when put away, not more than four days 

 old. Mr. Ladd gives the following direc- 

 tions for preserving them in water glass, 

 which may prove useful to some of our 

 readers : 



Use pure water that has been thoroughly 

 boiled and then cooled. To each ten 

 quarts of water add one quart of water 

 glass. Pack the eggs in the jar and pour 

 solution over them, covering well. 



Keep the eggs in a cool, dark place. A 

 dry, cool cellar is a good place. 



If the eggs are kept in too warm a place 

 the silicate is deposited and the eggs are 

 not properly protected. Do not wash the 

 eggs before packing for, by so doing, you 

 injure their keeping quality probably by 

 dissolving the mucilagenous coating on 

 the outside of the shell. 



For packing use only perfectly fresh 

 eggs, for stale eggs will not be saved and 

 may prove harmful to the others. 



All packed eggs contain a little gas and 

 in boiling such eggs they will crack. This 

 may be prevented by making a pin-hole in 

 the blunt end of the egg. To do this hold 

 the egg in the hand, place the point of a 

 pin against the shell of the egg at the 

 blunt end and give the pin a quick, sharp 

 blow, just enough to drive the pin through 

 the shell without further injury to the 

 egg- 

 Water glass is a very cheap product that 

 can usually be procured at not to exceed 

 50 cents per gallon, and one gallon would 

 make enough solution to preserve fifty 

 dozen of eggs, so that the cost of material 

 for this method would only be about one 

 cent per dozen. Water glass is sodium 

 and potassium silicate, sodium silicate 

 being usually the cheaper. If wooden 

 kegs or barrels are to be used in which to 

 pack the eggs, they should first be 

 thoroughly scalded with boiling water to 

 sweeten and purify them. 



GLEANINGS FROM THE EXPERIMENT 

 STATION REPORTS. 



CHICKORY. 



Most of us are familiar with the weed 

 succory, but perhaps it is not generally 

 known that this is only another name for 

 chickory. Like the burdock, the oxeye 

 daisy and many other plants, it was a na- 

 tive of Europe, but has become so natural- 

 ized in this country as to seem almost in- 

 digenous. In a bulletin gotten out by the 

 Division of Botany United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Maurice G. Kains 

 writes of the possibilities of chickory grow- 

 ing for the farmer. The Eomans used the 

 plant as a salad or pot herb, as do the 

 Germans, and it was first introduced in 

 this country by Gov. Bowdoin, of Massa^- 

 chusetts, who obtained the plant from 

 Holland about 1785. The leaves were 

 used to some extent in Europe for making 

 a blue dye. and for awhile it was used as 

 a fodder plant for cattle and sheep until 

 displaced by alfalfa. Its medicinal prop- 

 erties so closely resemble those of the 

 dandelion that it is often substituted for 

 the latter in the drug trade. It is also 

 used quite extensively in Europe as an 

 adulterant for coffee, and perhaps is best 

 known to the public on this account. It 

 is but little used for this in America, ex- 

 cept among the foreign element, but in 

 European countries it is not only used as 

 an adulterant for different beverages, but 

 is taken clear the taste for it having been 

 acquired by many. It is claimed that a 

 moderate indulgence in it as a beverage is 

 not injurious, and that as an adulterant of 

 coffee it is comparatively harmless. 



Chickory raising in Europe is carried on 

 quite extensively, but in this country it 

 has not progressed much beyond the ex- 

 perimental stage. It can be grown almost 

 anywhere that the sugar beet can, and is a 

 plant adapted to be grown upon alkali 

 soil. 



About six to ten tons can be raised per 

 acre, though with good culture fifteen tons 

 may be produced. The average price paid 



