Nov. 1906.] 



425 



Miscellaneous. 



in high or manual training schools. The hearings on this bill before the legislative 

 committees have attracted much attention, and developed widespread interest in 

 favour of the measure.— U. S. Department of Agriculture, Experiment Station 

 Record, May, 1906. 



CHEAP ALCOHOL FOR RUNNING ESTATE EiNGINES. 

 It has been rumoured for some time that it would be only a matter of time 

 when every farmer, or nearly every one, will be able to manufacture his own light, 

 heat and motive power from the things which are now largely wasted. Prof. 

 Thompson a well-known scientist, writes :— 



" There are some facts which are not generally known which ought to be, 

 namely : That alcohol is produced and sold in Cuba for from 12 to 15 cents per 

 gallon, aud that it is an excellent fuel, as I have found by tests, for the running of 

 gas engines— taking the place of gasoline. At 15 or 20 cents a gallon, I think, it would 

 eventually displace gasoline. Burned in similar engines it produces no smoke, soot 

 nor disagreeable odour. Since alcohol mixes with water freely, a fire started with it 

 is one of the easiest to extinguish. This is not the case with gasoline or even 

 kerosene, both of which float on water and continue burning. To my mind, the 

 farmer should be the most deeply interested in the production and use of alcohol 

 for industrial purposes, especially in its use for farm power. 



A crop that is not marketable, or partly spoiled, be it a fruit, grain or other 

 product, could be made the source of cheap alcohol for industrial purposes. Alcohol 

 can be stored in tanks for an indefinite period without deterioration. Whether 

 denaturized or not, as I have stated above, at a reasonable price it is the natural 

 fuel for all gas engines, as the amount which can be produced is practically unlimited, 

 whereas with the increasing use of gasoline the price is sure to rise."— Inland 

 Farmer. 



COTTON MEAL AND COTTON SEED AS FERTILIZERS. 



The following notes on the uses of cotton meal and cotton seed and the 

 comparisons between the two, are from a paper read before the Cotton Seed 

 Crushers' Association in America by Dr. G. J, Redding, Director of the Georgia 

 (U.S.A.) Experimental Association :— 



It is well known to you all by history and tradition, and by personal experi- 

 ence and participation to many much younger than myself, that for " generations 

 before the war " and for some years thereafter cotton seed was the main reliance 

 of the farmers of the South as a manure. Just at this point it may be well to correct 

 some erroneous statements that gain currency in the public press ever and anon in 

 regard to the uses and abuses of cotton seed— statements that reflec b on the common 

 intelligence of the farmers of forty years ago and more. We have often heard it 

 said that cotton seed was considered a nuisance by our fathers and forefathers ; 

 that it was a burning and unsolved problem how to dispose of this two-thirds of the 

 output of our crops ; that the seed were permitted to rot in masses around the 

 gin houses, or were hauled off to the swamps, or thrown into the streams in order to 

 get rid of their objectionable affluvium. In a word, it was claimed that the farmers 

 of the old school did not know the value of cotton seed as a feed and as a fertilizer. 

 All of which statements are without foundation in fact, or with but little better 

 foundation than the charge that used to be made by our friends in the North, that 

 we cotton growers were accustomed to feed our slaves on cotton seed. 



The simple truth is that on a few farms on the alluvial lands along our 

 water courses, on which the soil was very rich — especially in nitrogenous matters — 

 cotton seed was not found to be effective as a fertilizer, particularly on cotton. The 



