PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 317 



accounts of its remarkable value as a fiber plant; yet that value has never 

 been fully developed, and probably never will be, as it never can compete 

 with flax and hemp. 



Bagasse for Manure. 



Mr. L. C. Hough, Brownlielm, Lorain county, Ohio, asks: "Can you 

 tell the value of sorgo bagasse, and the quickest and cheapest way of con- 

 verting it into manure ? I have a large pile of it, which I should bo glad 

 to turn to the best account. Many others are similarly situated, and we 

 shall be glad of any practical information. Will you please bring the mat- 

 ter before the Farmers' Club ? " 



Mr. Lafayette Foster writes from Plainfield, Will county, 111., on the same 

 subject. He says: " Is the crushed cane, thoroughly rotted, as valuable as 

 barnyard manure for farming land ? Is the sorgo cane, uniotted, worth 

 hauling upon farm land for manure ? " 



Wm. J. Townsend, Skaneateles, N. Y., said in reply to these questions: 

 "There is a person in my neighborhood who has grown considerable Chi- 

 nese cane, and esteems the refuse, when well rotted, as a very valuable 

 manure. For the purpose of correcting thp acidity he mixes with it a small 

 portion of lime." 



Other members stated that experiments with bagasse, of the true cane 

 as well as Chinese cane, had proved it of very little value until it had lain 

 several years, and become thoroughly decomposed, and even then it retains 

 so much of its acid that it is apt to prove injurious to crops, unless mixed 

 with lime, or composted. 



Mr. Solon Robinson — The Louisiana planters think that the labor 

 required costs more than the value of the manure. Some of them dry it for 

 fuel, and some of them build furnaces to burn it out of the way — some of 

 them try to burn it in piles, and others haul it to the river, the study is how 

 to get rid of it the easiest way. In an unrotted condition it would be dele- 

 terious to land if hauled upon it, and of course worse than worthless. 



The most profitable use that can be made of bagasse upon the Illinois 

 prairies would be as fuel to boil the juice. But for that it requires consi- 

 derable labor and expense for handling, drying and storing. Bagasse is, 

 on the whole, a nuisance that most cane growers would be glad to get rid 

 of if they could without expense. If any neighbor thinks it of sufficient 

 value to pay for hauling away from the mill as fast as it accumulates, let 

 him have it and thank him for the favor. 



Cornstalk Fodder. 



This qiiestifjn was again agitated by a letter from Mr. Peter Planks, Me- 

 chanicsburg, Cumberland count^^ Pa., who is much in favor of chopping the 

 stalks, and thinks that when thus treated they are good feed, and will go 

 twice as far as fed whole, and thus pay well for the time. The cows keep 

 fat upon the cut stalks, wet and mixed with meal. 



The Chairman said that in his experiments in feeding cornstalks he had 

 found the but-ends more valuable than the tops. His plan is to give the 

 stalks to the cattle as they grow, and let them eat what they will, and 

 then gather the refuse and pass it through a cutting machine. 



