MARCH 15, 1914 



239 



High-pressure Gardening 



ANOTHER OF GOU'S GIFTS FROM SOUTH AFRICA 

 — THE SESAME. 



Mr. A. I. Root: — As you say that you would like 

 to try some of our sesame, as prepared by our na- 

 tives, and which we use a good deal, I am sending a 

 small sample of the same. We took some home 

 when we went on furlough three years ago, and it 

 kept all right except that it lost some of its flavor 

 and fragrance, perhaps. I inclose a few of the seeds 

 as they appear after the hulls have been rubbed off, 

 but before they are crushed. The process as the 

 natives prepare the seed is, first, to moisten the seed 

 with water (preferably hot), then rub between the 

 hands until the hull is removed. Then the seeds are 

 slightly roasted in a pan or piece of broken pot. This 

 is the most delicate part of the operation — not to 

 burn them or roast them unevenly. Then they pound 

 them in a wooden mortar to reduce them to meal. 



We use this meal on our porridge, oftentimes, 

 with any other dressing, or alone, according to taste. 

 I think it goes especially well with honey. 



Referring to our amadumbe as compared with the 

 dasheen, it would seem to me that those who write 

 concerning the dasheen emphasize the need of wet 

 ground more than would seem necessary in case of 

 the amadumbe. While they bear and need a fair 

 amount of water they are often raised with success, 

 and yield an abundant crop, on high ground, such 

 as would be quite suitable for Irish potatoes. 



W. L. Thompson, M. D. 



Mount Silinda, Melsetter, S. Rhodesia, Dec. 6. 



The sample of sesame meal came to band ; 

 and if Mrs. Root had not forbidden I should 

 be very much inclined to say " It is the 

 most delicate, delicious, and nourishing food 

 1 ever tasted." Peanut butter comes nearest 

 to it; but there is a delightful " fragrance " 

 about it, as friend T. intimates, that is 

 unique. May God be praised for sesame as 

 well as dasheen. I have carefully planted 

 the seeds sent; and if they grow you may 

 exjject another " stir " from these parts in 

 regard to " the liigh cost of living." Oui' 

 Department of Agriculture had better send 

 our good friend Prof'. Young to look it up 

 and have it tried at our Brooksville sub- 

 station. 



SWEET CLOVER THE SOIL-MAKER. 



From The Ohio Farmer. 

 It was springtime in the late nineties when a 

 stranger rode along the winding highways of Ken- 

 tucky. The blossoms had fallen from the fruit-trees, 

 and the leaves on the forest giants were taking on 

 the deeper green of approaching maturity. The sun- 

 shine was soft and warm, and the very air seemed 

 to breathe life and vigor. The stranger's companion 

 — a native of that region — seemed to be the only 

 thing out of harmony that wonderful April day. His 

 face was sad and the wrinkles of care were not hard 

 to discern. Sorrowfully he pointed to the barren gul- 

 lied hillsides and said, " This was once a portion of 

 the famous Blue Grass country; but the soil is get- 

 ting poorer and poorer, for the rains are gradually 

 washing the fertility into the valleys." For a mo- 

 ment he paused ; and then, stretching his arm toward 

 the green plants which lined either side of the road, 

 he continued, " Aside from the trees, about the only 

 thing that'll grow up here is this weed!" The strang- 

 er looked intently at the growing plants ; then, spring- 

 ing from the buggy, he grasped a bunch in his hand 



and exclaimed, "Man alive! this is not a weed, it's 

 sweet clover ; and to these limestone hills sweet clover 

 means a rebirth of virgin soil! " To-day those hills 

 are no longer eroded and barren, for great fields of 

 this legume are to be seen everywhere ; and, more- 

 over, the blue grass is again being established in the 

 wake of the sweet clover. 



When the plant is young it is difficult to distin- 

 guish from alfalfa ; and, in fact, it is a sort of half- 

 brother to alfalfa, for the bacteria on its roots are of 

 the same species as found on the alfalfa roots, and 

 they perform the same function of gathering nitrogen 

 from the air to enrich the soil. 



Naturally the question is asked, " If this is true, 

 why not grow alfalfa instead of sweet clover ? Alfal- 

 fa makes better hay and pasture. It will last for a 

 number of years, and its roots contain more nitrogen. 

 What is the advantage of sweet clover over alfalfa?" 

 The answer is apparent when it is stated that sweet 

 clover will grow on poor worn-out soils on which it 

 would be impossible to establish any other of the 

 clover family. Its seeds thrive on soils of the hardest 

 type where other plant seeds would fail to germinate. 

 It will make a most wonderful growth on soils total- 

 ly deficient in nitrogen if limestone, phosphorus, and 

 inoculation are present. On a soil of this type, sweet 

 clover will add an enormous supply of nitrogen, for 

 it depends wholly on its supply of this element from 

 the air. It is also an excellent crop when used to 

 pave the way for alfalfa, because, as mentioned 

 before, it carries the same bacteria on its roots. 



If one choose a field with a water-table too high 

 for alfalfa or too poor to grow alfalfa, sweet clover 

 is recommended. Although the roots of sweet clover 

 do not grow to such a depth as alfalfa, yet they di-aw 

 considerable plant food from the subsoil. When they 

 decay they offer a source of drainage ; and the soil, 

 when plowed, breaks up fine and friable. 



There are many thousand acres in the United 

 States too poor to grow paying crops of corn and 

 alfalfa, which could be profitably sown to sweet 

 clover. While the process of soil restoration is in 

 progress many pounds of honey, wool, mutton, and 

 beef would come from the growing crop. Consider- 

 able seed may be obtained from an acre, and it 

 brings a price equal to alfalfa seed. But, above all, 

 its greatest value is as a soil-builder. If turned 

 under it will supply ^more organic matter, more nitro- 

 gen, and at a minimum of cost, than any other 

 known fertilizer or legume. 



The magical words " open sesame " swung wide 

 the doors of the great treasure-vault for Ali Baba in 

 one of those charming tales related in Arabian 

 Nights. Surely in our modern times sweet clover is 

 the " open sesame " of soil-building for the Ameri- 

 can farmer. 



Champaign Co., Ohio. Trell W. Yocum. 



THE " BLACK HAND " DOWN IN JACKSON- 

 VILLE, FLA. 



We clip the following from the Times- 

 Union : 



Mi's. Collins found the following Black Hand let- 

 ter pinned to the door one morning : 



" Deer Mis Collins — Onless you put a jar of jam, 

 a hunk of chokolit cake, a apple pie an' a bag of 

 candy down by the old well, we will steel vou little 

 boy and keep him, onless you pay us a millyon dol- 

 lars." 



It seems to me the above has the ear- 

 marks, not only of the Black Hand, but of 

 somebody who is black all over. 



