239 
ELECTRICITY APPLIED TO AGRICULTURE.-SI. JOHN’S DAY RYE, ETC. 
At the seiond meeting, Mr. Meigs read a trans¬ 
lated article from the French, on the products of 
Abyssinia. 
Dr. Page, of Texas, followed up the subject of the 
agricultural pro 1 notions of Texas, showing it to be a 
country of great fertility. 
Mr. Ward of Arkansas exhibited three specimens 
of three varieties of the Arkansile—a stone, of in¬ 
imitable qualities for giving edge to tools of all sorts. 
These specimens are not in the same condition in 
which they come from the quarry. I have subject¬ 
ed them to a process which I do not yet reveal, by 
which their native properties are enhanced to such a 
value, that some nice artists have said they are, for 
the purpose of giving edge to certain instruments, 
worth their weight in gold. The stones of various 
colors were exhibited to the club and very much ad¬ 
mired. It has been stated by the best judges that 
those Arkansites are worth twenty times more than 
any oil stones in the world beside. 
The regular subject, substitutes for a short crop of 
hay was now introduced. 
Mr. Fleet —Millet has been recommended, as it 
ripens in a very short time—but the great difficulty is 
in.saving its seeds from the birds. When sown later 
it may be a safer crop, for the birds are then mostly 
departed. It is a pretty good substitute for a short 
crop of hay—yet I have never found stock to prefer 
its straw to hay. 
Dr. Underhill —It makes pretty good hay—but the 
land must be very rich, for it draws off the richness 
of the soil greatly; no crop more so. It ought 
always to be cut when in blossom, for then the sac¬ 
charine matter is in the stem. If you cut it after the 
seed is ripe, it is then of comparatively little value. 
But the best substitutes for hay are roots, and fodder 
made from corn sown broadcast or in drills. In this 
way a heavy crop is cut. Plant on low grounds that 
are moist, and cut when the corn silks. At this season 
you cannot rely on a supply from showers on your 
uplands. Plant on the low lands. At the same 
time plant the turnip both white and red. Use up all 
your white turnips first, then take to the yellow, for 
they are more solid, more nutritious, and will keep 
perfectly till next spring. 
Plant Deal’s Aberdeen turnip.—It is a hybrid, 
formed from the yellow Aberdeen and the ruta baga 
You may sow these turnips until the first of August; 
although it is better that the Aberdeens were in the 
ground now. The white turnip comes a little later. 
The white Norfolk turnip may be sown any time 
these three weeks. The white-globe turnip, excel¬ 
lent for the table—also the white Dutch, may be 
sown three weeks hence. Gentlemen ought to try 
all kinds. Rutabaga has, for some years,run rather 
too much to top—but 1 am raising it this season. 
Turnips may be sown between rows of corn, but 
free ground is decidedly best for them. 
Mr. Fleet —The Doctor should have made a dis¬ 
tinction between cold and wet or moist soil. The 
latter will do well, but the former will not answer.— 
As to corn stalks for fodder, there is some difficulty 
in curing it properly. 
Dr. Underhill —Lay a rail on crotches, stand up 
the corn stalks on both sides, leaning against the rail, 
and about three or four thicknesses, and they will be 
cured. They must not be bound together. A crop 
of corn stalks, sown broadcast or in «b*lls, as late in 
the season as this, is greater by tons per acre than the 
best hay. 1 advise sowing three or four bushels of 
corn per acre broadcast. The saccharine matter in the 
stalks remains there until the silking of the corn 
takes place; then is the time to cut it, for then it is 
present in the stalks, but after that it rapidiy disap¬ 
pears from the stalk, is then decomposed, and is con¬ 
centrated in the grain, and forms the farina. A peck 
of salt thrown over each load of stalks when drawn 
into the barn, will preserve them, if a little too green, 
and the cattle will relish them the better for it. 
Mr. Fleet —Some persons adopt the sweating pro¬ 
cess—first wilting and putting the corn stalks in 
stacks until they sweat, then spreading them out to 
dry. 
Dr. Underhill —I propose as a subject for the next 
meeting—The Destruction of Grain and Fruit in the 
United States, by Insects, and the Preventives and 
Remedies. Adopted. Henry Meigs, 
Secretary . 
Electricity applied to Agriculture.— Several 
experiments have been made in electricity in this vi¬ 
cinity the present season, on the growing crops; but 
so far as we can learn, without any decided advan¬ 
tage to them. Whether the disappointment in these 
experiments is owing to the extreme dry weather, or 
an improper fixture of the electrical wires or galvanic 
plates, we are unable to say; for certain it is. that 
electro-culture has been highly successful in many 
instances, in bringing crops forward much more rapid¬ 
ly than they would otherwise have been. 
St. John’s Day Rye. —Have any of our readers 
ever cultivated this crop in America? If so, we 
should be glad to hear the result of the same. Tt is 
extensively grown in Belgium, and with great suc¬ 
cess. From what we hear of this rye, it must be an 
excellent crop for early spring food, and soiling dur¬ 
ing a dry season. Mr. Saul says of it, in the New 
Farmer’s Journal, “ the time for sowing it is about 
the latter end of June or the beginning of July, and 
by October it will have produced a large heap of 
foliage fit for use. It will stand, with little change, 
during the winter, being cherished by the young 
growing foliage which shoots up early in the spring, 
and is covered with a thick mantle by the end of 
February or the beginning of March. It furnishes 
an abundant supply of fine green fodder, and possesses 
great merit from its superior-sweetness, and the long 
time it affords its valuable food. When left for seed, 
it will grow from six to seven feet high. 
Sheep and Wool in the South. —We notice in 
an article in the South Carolinian, that Leicester 
lambs 14 months old, from the flock of Col. Wade, 
Hampton, sheared from Hi to 13i lbs. of wool; and 
that 60 head of lambs dropped the present year , and 
shorn when hot weather came on, to relieve them 
from the oppressive heat of summer, averaged 4 lbs. 
each ! So much for growing wool at the South, 
where some folks are so stupid as to believe good 
sheep cannot exist! 
Great Yield of Wool.— The Merino flock ol 
Mr. J. Speed, in the vicinity of Ithaca, averaged the 
past season, five pounds clean washed wool per head, 
for which he has been offered 40 cents per pound. 
