THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[January, 



The Japanese bronze brass by boilinc; it i n 

 a solution of sulphate of copper, alum aud 

 verdigris. 



A concentrated beam of electric lisht car- 

 ried seven miles has furnished sufficient light 

 to read by. 



The solar atmosphere contains sodium 

 iron, calcium, magnesium, nickel, barium, 

 copper and zinc. 



AccoiiDiNG to Ehreuberg a cubic inch of 

 water may contain more than 800,000,000,000 

 of animalculoe. 



Pl-VTINUJi when alloyed with silver be- 

 comes soluble in nitric acid, which, does not 

 affect it while unalloyed. 



Pig iron contains from ninety-five to 

 ninety-seven parts of pure iron, and three to 

 five of carbon, with small quantities of sul- 

 phur, phosphorus and silicon. 



Hay, like most vegetable products, con- 

 tains much material which is soluble in water. 

 On this material its nutritive value depends, 

 and its removal by dampness seriously in- 

 jures the crop. 



The floods and droughts of the present 

 time will probably lead farmers and others to 

 a careful reconsideration of the question re- 

 garding the proportion which wooded ought 

 to bear to cleared land. 



Last year the German wire mills supplied 

 England with 30,000 tons of wire, and Ru.ssia 

 with 40,000 tons. France received from Ger- 

 many from 12,000 to 1.5,000 tons of steel wire 

 for sofa springs, and America not less than 

 30,000 from the same source. 



From surveys taken in the province of Ufa, 

 Russia, it appears that the former forest area 

 of 17,.577,000 acres has now been diminished 

 by more than 3,500,000 acres, and yet the 

 population is only three to the square mile. 



Edward Richardson, of Mississippi, is 

 the largest cotton raiser in the world, the 

 Khedive of Egypt coming second. ' Mr. Rich- 

 ardson owns some 52,000 acres of cotton land, 

 from which he raised last year more than 12,- 

 000 bales. He gins, spins, and weaves it, and 

 has oil mills as well. Mr. Richardson has 

 amassed a fortune variously estimated at from 

 $15,000,000 to 120,000,000. 



There are 700,000 Masons in the United 

 States. 



The length of the East river suspension 

 bridge is 5,993 feet. 



The quantity of soda imported into the 

 United States from England in 1817 was 

 8,000 tons. 



In an edition of Ptolemy's geography, 1510, 

 a double-tailed mermaid figures in one of the 

 plates. 



There are seventy-two national cemeteries 

 for the burial of the Union and Confederate 

 dead. 



A5IONG the natives of India white quartz, 

 boiled in milk, is used as a remedy for sick 

 children. 



A wire 400 feet long can be made from one 

 grain of silver. Such a wire is finer than 

 human hair. 



The ancient Chinese used liydropathy as a 

 cure for certain diseases, among others 

 chronic rheumatism. 



Steel needles were invented by the Spanish 

 Moors, before which thorns or fish bones, 

 with a hole pierced for an eye, were used. 

 The first needles made in London were made 

 in the reign of Henry VIII. by a Moor. 



The first book published in the North 

 American colonies was, it is supposed, an 

 "Almanac calculated for New England, by 

 Mr. William Pierce," which appeared in 

 Cambridge in 1639. It was printed by 

 Stephen Daye, but not a copy of it now exists. 



Those of us who in winter comjilain that 

 the sun has not power of warmth should bear 

 in mind Professor Young's recent remark, 

 that if we could build up a solid column of 

 ice from the earth to the sun, two miles and 

 a quarter in diameter, spainiing the incon- 

 ceivable abyss of 93,000,000 miles, and if then 

 the sun should concentrate its power upon it, 

 it would dissolve and melt, not in an hour 

 nor in a minute, but in a single second ; one 

 swing of the pendulum and it would be water 

 seven more and it would be dissipated in 

 vapor. 



economical. 



A teaspoonful of saltpeter to a pail of 

 water -will kill worms in the roots of squashes. 



Pigs are able to consume far more food in 

 proportion to their weight than either sheep 

 or oxen. 



Sheep provided with cotton-seed meal as 

 an auxiliary feed are the best restorers of 

 worn-out pastures. 



Combs aud wattles of fowls may be pre- 

 vented from freezing by oiling them so as to 

 prevent their getting wet. 



Sweet apples are an excellent feed for 

 cows, if supplied in moderate quantities and 

 under favorable circumstances. 



Green manuring, or the plowing in of 

 green crops, is esi>ecially adapted for light 

 sandy soils, wliich need humus to increase 

 their retentive power. 



At some timej during the fall or winter 

 give the thin spots in meadows and pastures 

 an even coat of manure. Harrow hi spring 

 and sow grass seed. 



A farm can be stocked with sheep cheaper 

 than with any other animals. Sheep will 

 come nearer to utilizing everything which 

 grows on the farm. 



Joseph Hap^ris says that we can make our 

 lands poor by growing clover and selling it, or 

 we can make them rich by growing clover 

 and feeding it out on the farm. 



Add a little glycerine to the grease applied 

 to harness, and it.will be keiit in a soft aud 

 pliable state, in spite of the amnioniacal ex- 

 halations of the stable, which tend to make 

 it brittle. 



All noxious weeds, such as dock, skunk 

 cabbage and others may be killed by pouring 

 a small quantity of kerosene oil over the 

 young plants. They may also be cut off with 

 a hoe several inches below the surface and 

 salt dropped on the cut-off root. 



Some people think that grapevines will 

 grow an3'where because in their boj'hood 

 they found strong, luxuriant wild vines grow- 

 ing in damp places. Do not make a mistake. 

 Vines on low lands suffer much by the winter. 

 Hillsides and lean soils are good for grapes 



for hard winters. For manure that of the 

 cowyard is good. 



Grease, says a writer in the Rural New 

 Yorker, is fatal to all insect life. Insects 

 breathe by means of small pores on their 

 sides. Grease or oil that comes in contact 

 with the insects closes the pores and stops the 

 Ijreathing. Mercurial ointment kills as much 

 by the lard in it as by the mercury— that is, 

 so far as the vermin are concerned, but not 

 as to the animals that lick it off' from their 

 bodies, so that almost any oily or greasy ap- 

 plication will be destructive to insect vermin 

 that infest animals if it is applied where it 

 will do the most good. 



The importation of opium by this country 

 which in 181)1 was 109,.53i5 pounds, in 1871 

 had grown to 315,121, and in 1880 amounted 

 to 533,451 pounds. These figures indicate an 

 immense increase in opium eating. In 1876 

 it was estimated that the number of people 

 having the habit was 225,000, and now it is 

 thought to be fully 500,000. Some persons 

 become so accustomed to the drug as to take 

 immense doses. A Missouri farmer took forty 

 grains of morphia at once without apparent 

 injury, and there are several cases reported in 

 which sixty grains a day were taken regularly. 



A statistician has been figuring upon the 

 annual consumption by American manufac- 

 turers of the precious metals, which he esti- 

 mates as $13,000,000 gold and $3,000,000 

 silver. Two-tliirds of the latter is used in 

 making plate. Of the gold, the greater part 

 goes for rings and watch cases. It is esti- 

 mated that there are about 250,000 wedding 

 rings given in this country every year, aver- 

 aging $2 each in cost. There are 100,000 

 more rings given as gages (Vamour and a still 

 larger number bestowed in holiday presents. 



MORAL ECONOMY. 



People's intentions can only be decided 

 by their conduct. 



Strive for the best, and provide against 

 the worst. 



Be graceful if you can ; but if you can't be 

 graceful, be true. 



He who throws out suspicion should at 

 once be suspected himself. 



An effort made for the liappiness of others 

 lifts us above ourselves. 



There is always room for a man of force, 

 and he makes room for many. 



Time once passed never returns; the mo- 

 ment which is lost is lost forever. 



Pride breakfasted with Plenty, dined with 

 Poverty and supped with Infamy. 



There is a past which is gone forever. But 

 there is a future which is still our own. 



There are few occasions when ceremony 

 may not be dispensed with ; kindness never. 



A father's blessing builds houses for his 

 cluldren, but a mother's curse tears them 

 down. 



Reading, study, thinking, observation and 

 sensible conversation makes the mind grow. 



Argument in company is generally the 

 worst sort of conversation, and in books the 

 worst of reading. 



The discovery of what is true and the 

 practice of what is good are the two most im- 

 portant objects of life. 



