PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 65 



mon salt (muriate of soda) and sulphuric acid in a large iron retort, lined 

 with clay bricks, where it is raised to a very high heat, and the vapor 

 passed over into a condenser, and the residuum is principally sulphate of 

 soda (Glauber salts) and not sulphate of lime, which is commonly called 

 plaster of Paris. It may be a very good manurial substance, but it should 

 not be sold as sulphate of lime, the action of which is well known upon 

 plants. This substance usually sells at $8 and $10 per ton, and higher 

 than plaster. Perhaps this is adulterated. I should judge by the price 

 that it was so. 



Prof. Nash. — I have just tried this substance, and find that it is nearly 

 all soluble in cold water, which proves that it is not plaster, which is so 

 insoluble that 100 pounds per acre is as good as more, because that is as 

 much as all the rain of one year would render soluble. I should think that 

 this substance was principally composed of a sort of impure Glauber salts, 

 which is a good fertilizer. 



Dr. Church. — Yes, and so is common salt, and also sal soda, which may 

 be used advantageously, 500 or 600 pounds per acre. In answer to the 

 question, whether it is as good as plaster as a deodorizer, I should say not, 

 nor as good as a solution of common salt. As to the solubility of plaster, 

 the rule is that it requires "750 times the weight in water of the plaster to 

 be dissolved; but in practice it is better to say that one pound of plaster 

 will require 1,000 pounds of water. 



Scalding Onion Seed. 



Solon Robinson read an extract from a western agricultural periodical in 

 relation to scalding onion seed, from which we abstract the following: 



" The seed is placed in a saucer and boiling water is poured over the 

 seed, when little sprouts, as large as horse hairs, were shooting out of 

 the opened ends of the seeds. The water did not remain on the seeds over 

 three seconds. It is said that this process advances the growth of the 

 onion two or three weeks beyond the ordinary method of planting." 



Prof. Nash. — In pouring boiling water upon trees to kill grubs, would 

 you make a basin of earth around the base of the tree and fill that with 

 hot water? 



Solon Robinson. — No, I would pour the water from the spout of a tea- 

 kettle directly upon the tree, near where the grubs were, and the steam 

 will cook them but won't injure the bark. 



Cost of Groaving Sorghum. 



S. Ward, of Lane, Illinois, gives the following as a correct statement of 



the cost of raising and manufacturing one acre of sorghum according to 



his experience: 



Use of one acre land $3 00 



Plowing 1 00 



Dragging and marking out 50 



Seed 50 



Planting : 1 00 



Cultivating 1 00 



Hoeing 1 00 



Stripping 4 00 



Cutting and topping 2 00 



•"Am. Inst."1 5 



