IP IN D FA LLS. 



51 



for agricultural schools of a high grade. To expect 

 agricultural colleges to flourish without feeders is chim- 

 erical. Agricultural colleges and scientific farming on 

 a large scale must start from plenty of seeds planted in 

 good soil and in the spring-time of life. The common 

 schools, in an eminent degree, have the point of vantage 

 for the prosecution of this work, and there is need 

 enough of scientific farming. — Henry L. Clapp, before 

 Mass. Horticultural Society. 



Tools and Brains. — I have been much interested in 

 the series of letters from your Tarrytown correspond- 

 ent about the exquisite tools they have succeeded in 

 making. Now, honest confession, they say, is good for 

 the soul, and I have to confess that I am interested in 

 the manufacture of the despised "wheel hoes" some- 

 times mentioned, but I can appreciate Mrs. Tarryer's 

 troubles. While very interesting reading, I think it 

 would not be out of the way to remind those that con- 

 template falling into their footsteps that it takes brains 

 as well as tools to secure the proper result, and that, if 

 the same care is bestowed in keeping the wheels oiled 

 and the blades sharp on a wheel hoe as Mrs. Tarryer 

 takes to keep her special hoes sharp and keen, and they 

 are used intelligently, they will, if rightly made, give as 

 surprising results in their way as the watch-spring 

 hoes. Of course, there are wheel hoes and wheel hoes, 

 but all of them will do pretty good service if properly 

 managed. 



There are no two of the human family alike, and I 

 am reminded of the difference in methods of Mrs. 

 Tarryer and other gardeners in the use of their tools, 

 as in mechanics. I have seen a carpenter carry a great 

 chest full of expensive tools, tools of every description, 

 around with him in building a house. For each part of 

 his work he has a special labor-saving tool that is a 

 "gem.'' But another carpenter who builds the adjoin- 

 ing house, carries his tools to his work on his shoulder, 

 and does as complicated work with them as his col- 

 league, and by the time carpenter No. i has hunted up 

 all the uses he can put his tools to, carpenter No. 2 has 

 finished his job and is well started on another. Even a 

 better illustration is in the different number of tools 

 different wood engravers use ; some have a tool for 

 everything, and some a very few. While, unfortu- 

 nately for genius in this world, the vulgar cannot appre- 

 ciate the flavor of crops raised with twenty hoes any 

 better than they can of that raised with one. They can 

 taste the brains that is mixed with the cultivation, how- 

 ever. — G, R. 



Sources of Fertilizers. — Professor C. H.Whitcher, 

 in speaking before the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety, gave the following facts concerning sources of 

 plant food : Barn-yard manure is the standard fertilizer, 

 but there is a limit to the quantity which can be pro- 

 duced. Every stalk of corn sold carries so much of the 

 soil with it. To supply phosphoric acid, bones were 

 first used in 1750, and later, about 1780 to 1800, they 

 became a comparatively common manure in England 

 and Scotland. It was not, however, until 1814 that 



;hey were ground. The next step was the process sug- 

 gested by Liebig in 1839, of dissolving bones in sul- 

 phuric acid, which made the greater part of the phos- 

 phate of lime soluble in water. In the United States, 

 bones were first used about 1790. The first bone-mill 

 was established in 1830, and superphosphate, or dis- 

 solved bone, was first tried in 1851. In 1843 phosphatic 

 rock was discovered in Spain, and in 1868 in South 

 Carolina. The later contains from twenty-five to 

 thirty-two per cent, of phosphoric acid. Three million 

 dollars worth of it are now mined annually. The phos- 

 phoric acid in these rock phosphates is insoluble, but 

 when ground and treated with sulphuric acid, they are 

 converted into superphosphates or soluble phosphates. 

 Another valuable source of phosphoric acid is bone- 

 black, a waste product from the manufacture of sugar, 

 containing about thirty-four per cent, of insoluble phos- 

 phoric acid. 



The original source of potash was wood ashes. In 

 1868 the first potash salts from the mines at Strassfurt, 

 in Saxony, was brought to the United States. 



There is a large proportion of nitrogen in barn-yard 

 manures, and two per cent, in bones. Nitrate of 

 potash (saltpetre) was one of the earliest fertilizers 

 used; it contains about thirteen per cent, of actual 

 nitrogen. Its value is to great to permit its use in agri- 

 culture, and a substitute has been found in Chili salt- 

 petre, or nitrate of soda, which contains fifteen per 

 cent, of nitrogen. One of the best sources of nitrogen 

 is the sulphate of ammonia, made from a waste product 

 of gas works. 



Automatic Ventilation. — The American Garden 

 experiments with automatic ventilation, which were 

 mentioned in the last issue (p. 741) are not yet com- 

 pleted. They will be reported in due time. 



Recipes. — Apricot Jam. — Skin and stone the apri- 

 cots, weigh, and allow one pound of sugar for each 

 pound of fruit ; place the fruit on flat dishes, strain 

 over it the sugar, and allow it to remain twelve hours. 

 Break the stones, blanch the kernels, and put them 

 with the sugar and fruit into a preserving kettle. Let 

 all simmer very gently until the apricots look clear; 

 take out the pieces singly, and as fast as the scum rises, 

 carefully remove it. Put in small jars. 



Quince Marmalade. — Slice the quinces into a pre- 

 serving kettle, adding sufficient water to float them ; 

 put them on the stove and stew for about three hours, 

 until reduced to a pulp, then strain to remove the skin 

 and seeds. Allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar 

 to a pound of fruit. Stir well from the bottom to pre- 

 vent burning until it is reduced to marmalade, which 

 may be known by dropping a little on a cold plate 

 when, if it jellies it is done. Put up hot. 



Chow-Chow. — One pint of string beans broken in 

 small pieces, one pint of small onions cut in two, one 

 pint of green tomatoes chopped coarse, one quart of 

 cabbage or cauliflower chopped coarse, one quart of 

 very small cucumbers, six green peppers, one bunch of 

 celery, one tablespoonful of salt, one cup of sugar. 



