PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMER'S CLUB. 277 



cloth, woven with cotton warp and asclepias fillinr^. The cotton was 

 entirely burnt out and destroyed by cjdorinc, which did not injure tlie other 

 fiber, and it was subsequently re-workeu. 



Coal Ashes — Do tuey Prevent Wood Ashes from Making Soap ? 



!Mr. Geo. Bartlett, practical chemist of this city, proved by analysis and 

 experiments conducted before the Club that there is notliing in coal ashes 

 wliich has any natural tendency to prevent wood ashes from making soap. 

 lie said it was possible that the aslies of English bituminous coal might 

 contain sufficient sul[)huric acid when mixed in cojisiderable quantities to 

 prevent the ley from making soap; but he does not believe an}'' such result 

 possible from an admixture of anthracite coal ashes. Mr. Bartlett's expe- 

 riments and processes were witnessed with great satisfaction, and members 

 obtained much valuable information. One -instructive experiment showed 

 how colors changed by the addition of other substances. For instance, a 

 glass of water colored deep red with beet juice, having a little solution of 

 potash added to it, becomes of a bright orange yellow. Then by the addition 

 of a few drops of sulphuric acid, the alkali is neutralized and the color 

 restored. By similar means stains are sometimes removed from garments 

 when it is known what has produced the discoloration. 



Baling Uncured Hay in the Beater Press. 



'Mr. E. "V\". Stewart, North Evans, N. Y., asks the following questions: 

 " Can the Club tell me whether hay only partially cured may be baled by 

 the Beater press into the solid 500 pound bale with safety ? It has been 

 asserted that grass quite green may be pressed into these solid bales and 

 keep in good condition. If this is a safe process it will greatly cheapen 

 the preparation of hay for market and add 20 per cent, in weight of hay. 

 besides being in a more succulent and palatable state for cattle. Then it 

 can be stored in a small space and save much barn room." 



Mr. Solon Eobinson. — This question I am. happily able to answer. Ex- 

 periments have been tried, on hay fit to go in barn, with satisfactory 

 results. 'It will undergo the sweating process, in the bale, the same as in 

 the mow, and for a short time look, from the outside view, as if it had 

 " been done for" — but when the sweat is over with, the color becomes 

 restored, and when the bale is opened it is found to be as green and fra- 

 grant as it was on the day it was pressed, and it will then, of course, 

 remain thus fur ages — for aught we can tell. 



Still I would not advise farmers as a general thing to put up uncured 

 liay, but I do earnestly advise them to try experiments with this press 

 because I fully believe the value of hay may be increased twenty- five per 

 cent, by i)acking it before it has been sun dried in the usual manner, until 

 much of its value has been dissipated. The compactness of these bales is 

 so great tlmt the air is mostly excluded from the interior, so that the hay, 

 although it might turn lilack during the sweating process, will remain so 

 sweet that it is eaten with the greatest avidity by cattle, and we have no 

 doubt it is vastly more nutritious than hay from which all the natural juices 

 have been evaporated. I have no doubt that grass can be cut when tolera- 



