THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[June, 



that the effect you desire is much greater Irom the 

 lime." 



We consider Prof. Jordan to be as reliable au- 

 thority upon a question of this kind as any that can 

 be produced. Hence, we have restated S' me of his 

 points in order that our agricultural readers may be 

 fortified against being misled by those whose interest 

 it may be to do so, and be ready to combat any at- 

 tempt made upon their pockets in persuading them 

 to substitute lime-rock for the far better burned 

 lime, the use of which they thoroughly understand, 

 and to the use of which they have been accus- 

 tomed. — Oermantowrt Telsqvaph. 



Glucose and Grape Sugar. • 



The Popular Science Monthly has a timely article 

 by Professor Wiley on the manufacture of glucose 

 and of grape sugar, the latter being simply an ex- 

 tension of the process for making the former. This 

 industry sprang up about twelve years ago, and is 

 rapidly extending. Glucose is a sweet syrup made 

 from corn starch, resembling.in appearance the mo- 

 lasses of cane sugar, and by reason of its greater 

 cheapness largely affecting the consumption of the 

 cane product. Grape sugar is made to resemble a 

 finely powdered sugar, and is need extensively to 

 adulterate the sugar of commerce. Glucose is used 

 chiefly for the manufacture of table syrups, but also 

 in candies, as food for bees, by brewers both in this 

 country and in England, and for making artificial 

 honey, the combs being molded out of paraffine. 

 Grape sugar is also applied to some of the same pur- 

 poses, but principally for the adulteration of other 

 sugars. The cheapness with which glucose syrup 

 and grape sugar can be procured has led to its ex- 

 tensive use. The most flourishing factories are in 

 the West, where corn was bought last year at a little 

 over thirty cents per bushel-. As from 26 to 32 lbs. 

 of glucose syrup or of grape sugar are made from a 

 bushel of corn, the average cost of either to the 

 manufabturer is about one cent per pound. As he 

 sells either articles at three to four cents per pound 

 the business is a very lucrative one and is rapidly 

 extending. On the let of August there were ten 

 factories in operation in the United States, consum- 

 ing daily about twenty thousand bushels of corn. 

 Thet-e were also in process of construction nine other 

 factories with a total daily capacity of twenty-two 

 thousand bushels of corn. Professor Wiley estimates 

 that not less than eleven million bushels of corn will 

 be converted into glucose and grape sugar during 

 the present year, and says that every indication leads 

 to the belief that the amount will be double in 1882. 

 Barbed Wire Fences. 



These fences are, so far as we see and learn, gain- 

 ing in popularity. The objection to them at first 

 raised, of their being liable to injure cattle, is prac- 

 tieally without foundation. The spikes or barbs are 

 too short to do any real harm. At the worst they 

 could do nothing more than scratch an animal. 

 Those that we have seen strucK us as being made of 

 rather lieht wire; but we suppose the manufacturers 

 have studied out deliberately this very essential 

 point. This fence possesses other advantages besides 

 merely turning horses and cattle. It will do the 

 same for dogs and biped trespassers, which will prove 

 very serviceable. The 'price we should think is less 

 than the common post and rail fence, and will last 

 equally as long. About wire fences of every kind 

 one of the principle reasons of their requiring re- 

 newal much oftener than otherwise would be the 

 case, is the neglect to repair them. There are screws 

 by which the wires are intended to be tightened, but 

 they being seldom used the wire stretches and bends, 

 allowing openings large enough for a goat to get 

 through. A wire fence, by being stretched whenever 

 needed — which may be once in two or three years — 

 would last at least twice as long as they commonly 

 do. This is a valuable hint, and we hope It will be 



Muck. 



The Afnerican Agriculturist says an acre of swamp 

 muck of good quality, three feet deep, is actually 

 worth |25,e00r Waeubtsuch a statement is sur- 



prising, .-o was the statement of Dr. Lawes, of 

 England, tliat a ton of bran fed to cows returned 

 more tWan its cost in manure. The best muck, free 

 from sand, contains two per cent, or forty pounds of 

 nitrogen in a ton. Nitrogen is worth in the market 

 tweiuy-flve cents per pound, so that a ton of swamp 

 muck is worth $"0 for the nitrogen in it. All that is 

 needed is to work up the muck, so as to make the 

 nitrogen available. An acre of swamp muck three 

 feet deep contains 2,500 tons, and would require eight 

 months to draw out at ten loads a day. Few per- 

 sons realize the value of the fertilizing element of 

 common waste matters which lie under their feet, 

 and the innumerable tons of matter that may be 

 available for fertilizing purposes, or that many of 

 the idle and neglected materials represent a vas' 

 amouuti of wealth. But it must be remembered that 

 all swamp muck cannot be classed as of good quality 

 —some of it is next door to worthless. 



Analyzing Fertilizers. 

 The chemist of the State Board of Agriculture has 

 been busily at work analyzing the various kinds of 

 fertilizers offered for sale in Pennsylvania, in ac- 

 cordance with the law on the subject. In addition 

 to those already announced, the Scjcretary of the 

 State Board publishes the results of fifty-eight other 

 analyses, making the entire number thus far sub- 

 mitted to this test one hundred and twenty-one. Of 

 the last batch analyzed, only seventeen out of the 

 fifty-eight were found to he worth the money asked 

 for them. One kind which is sold at $1.5 was found 

 to be worth only ?-2.0.5 ; another sample sold at $14 

 was worth $.5.71. Most of the kinds fell far below 

 what their manufacturers claimed them to be .worth. 

 These facts explain why the results from the use of 

 fertilizers have been so disappointing and unsatis- 

 factory to our farmers. Many are good, worth all 

 that is asked for them, but far the larger number 

 are deceptive, and the farmer who buys them is 

 cheated. Secretary Edge, who was so active in 

 havinglthe present law providing for the analyzation 

 of all the artificial fertilizers offered for sale in the 

 State passed, deserves much credit for having this 

 shield thrown around the agricultural community. 

 If a farmer is now deceived and cheated in the pur- 

 chase of artificial manures, he has only himself to 

 blame. 



The Millet Crop. 

 The craze over the " Hungarian Grass," a new 

 name for the good old one of millet, has, like so 

 many other things that are flashed upon us, had Its 

 day, and has now measurably disappeared, leaving 

 only here and there evidences of its career. But the 

 German millet has higher claims to consideration 

 than nearly or quite any one of the rest, for it really 

 possesses substantial value and fair claims upon the 

 attention of farmers. An acre or two would always 

 come into use and pay well, especially as it can be 

 cut for green food the latter part of August and 

 forepart of September, when pastures are frequently 

 short. It should be sown any time from the 25th of 

 June to the 10th of July, and it will take about five- 

 eighth of a bushel of seed to the acre. It also makes 

 fair hay, cattle eating it freely ; and the seed 'is 

 ground for horse-feed, and in parts of Germany and 

 Hungary bread is made of the flour. Fowls in win- 

 ter are especially fond of the seed and fatteu upon it. 

 Four tons of hay to the acre is not a heavy crop. 



Horticulture. 



Summer Salads. 



People who dine at hotels, and even sometimes at 

 gentlemen's tables, seldom find a salad that is really 

 excellent. Generally speaking, It is a black-green, 

 bitter, and If it were not for the liberal appliance of 

 mustard, eggs, oil and pepper, it would be quite un- 

 fit for any human stomach. How different this is 

 from what a cool, delicious salad ought to be. It 

 seems practically to be forgotten by those who grow 

 salad, that lettuce was never intended to be eaten 

 unless blanched. In Europe they grow a long, broad- 



leaved kind called the Roman or Cos lettuce, which, 

 after having attained considerable development, has 

 the leaves drawn up and tied together at the top. 

 The interior continuing to grow, and of course in 

 the dark, by the tying up of the outer leaves, makes 

 a hard mass like an elongated cabbage, which cuts 

 up as white and crisp and sweet as a stick of celery. 

 This kind has never fouud a place in American gar- 

 dens, because our climate induces it to run to seed 

 too quickly. The various kinds of cabbage lettuce 

 are preferred, because they close in their leaves 

 naturally, and are supposed to blancli themselves. 

 But this is, as we have shown, a pleasant fiction, as 

 there is very little of the white about any that we 

 see, except where there is great success in growing 

 them into heads. 



Of course, our country is not so well adapted to 

 the growth of good lettuce as England is. It will 

 not stand extreme cold, nor does it like warm days 

 and hot suns. It wants to go to seed as soon as the 

 temperature goes over 65 degrees. But we could 

 have much better than we do. In the spring a 

 tolerable article is generally obtained. On our own 

 premises we never fail. Started by a little protec- 

 tion from frames, it is brought to perfection before 

 the warm weather comes. To have it good later is 

 not difficult, by employing very rich land and as cool 

 a spot as can be secured. AH vegetables that we 

 value for their succulence require a rich soil to their 

 best development, but it is an essential to good sum- 

 mer lettuce. 



Of course, varieties will assist. Some of American 

 origin have been fouud to stand our heats without 

 running to seed much better than the English varie- 

 ties, which are better suited to that cooler summer 

 climate. Of these the Indian lettuces are examples. 

 Some of these have been improved, and of these the 

 Hanson bears a good reputation. 



Pruning Roses. 

 In pruning strong-growing roses the end to be 

 secured is a considerable number of medium-sized, 

 well-ripened shoots, instead of a very few strong 

 ones, as these strong, luxuriant shoots will produiie 

 few flowei'S. In accordance with the above state- 

 ment, a contributor to a foreign journal says : "The 

 other day, when looking over an amateur rosariau's 

 »pcts, a plant of Jean Rosenkrantz was pointed out 

 as yielding only wood and leaves. The season's 

 growth was at their base thicker than my thumb, 

 and the general appearance of these stems i-mmedl- 

 ately suggested the reason why Howers had not been 

 produced . At the base of the shoots the buds had gradu 

 ally become more prominent, till at the ends they were 

 as prominent as those on any other roses. To obtain 

 a supply of blooms next seatson the tips of the shoots 

 would merely require cutting off; but to make a 

 permanent improvement at least one shoot would 

 need to be cut well in, and then, instead of allow- 

 ing the young shoots to grow as they pleased, their 

 points would require to be pinched out, when the 

 young growths had attained a firm condition at least 

 some inches above its base." — American Cultivator. 



Be Careful of the Cherry Trees. 



Every cherry grower must be fully aware of the 

 great necessity to observe the utmost care in protect- 

 ing cherry trees from injury of any kind, especially 

 bruises. It is, therefore, not for them, but for those 

 who do not know, that we give these hints. A blow 

 of the hoe, the sratching or barking by the swingle- 

 tree in plowing or harrowing, or even a kick by the 

 heel of a boot, will almost invariably cause damage 

 that the tree will never outgrow. A kind of gan- 

 grene sets in, which all the efforts of the tree, how- 

 ever young aud vigouros it may be, will never re- 

 cover from. We had a Downton tree as thick as a 

 man's arm, which having a few ripe cherries that 

 we wished to jar off to taste, it being the first fruit- 

 ing, we struck the trunk with the heel of the boot, 

 which broke through the bark. It seemed to be so 

 trifling as not to be worth a thought ; but the follow- 

 ing year the bark was dead for two inches in diame- 

 ter. The following year it was three inches, and in 

 four or five years after one-half of the wood was ex- 



