494 Transactions of the American Institute. 



crop, and yields from forty to sixty bushels per acre. All crops 

 should be planted early. Potatoes are successful on sandy land, 

 and on loam when mulched. It has taken some time to learn the 

 peculiarities of the soil and climate. Peaches have been wonder- 

 fully successful, and apples yield abundantly. Surface coal crops 

 out over most of the State where the prairies terminate in bluffs. 

 Stc»ne suitable for fencing and building is abundant, and one variety 

 is easily sawed into blocks like wood. The Osage orange is planted 

 largely, and hedges can be constructed and guaranteed till suitable 

 to turn stock, at forty cents a rod; after that there is a State 

 bounty given of five cents a rod for eight years. The natural grass 

 starts early, and by June the poorest stock gets fat. Cattle buyers 

 from Illinois come to the farms to purchase, and the home market 

 is good. The railroads are all well endowed; five hundred and 

 twentj'-five miles are built; the Pacific road is laid three hundred 

 and twenty-five miles; the Atchiuson branch one hundred miles, 

 and will unite with the Omaha line at Fort Kearney. One road is 

 building from Lawrence to Galveston, and there are others also. 

 The school grants of land are very large, and school-houses and 

 churches are numerous. 



THE ROOTING OF HOGS. 



Mr. M. Metz, Bucyrus, Ohio, sends the Club a specimen of an 

 awl which he names " Swine's Jewelry," which is to be inserted in 

 hogs' snouts, and thus prevents rooting. 



Mr. Horace Greeley. — A good farmer never tries to prevent his 

 hogs from rooting, and I protest against such an instrument being 

 used. 



The Chairman. — A hog will earn fifty dollars during a summer 

 in loosening the ground. It is heresy to undertake to improve on 

 the works of Divine Providence. 



Mr. Wm. S. Carpenter. — A slit made in a hog's nose, when 

 young, will prevent his rooting. 



NrrRO-GLYCERINE FOR BLASTING. 



Mr. John Lillie, Fort Wayne, Ind. — Can the Club tell whether 

 nitro-glycerine may be profitably used instead of powder, for 

 blasting? 



Prof. Tillman. — ^Yes; but it should be made near where it is to be 

 used, and only about as fast as required for immediate consump- 

 tion. Both gun-cotton and nitro-glycerine undergo a slow sponta- 

 neous decomposition. For this reason the use of the former has 



