104 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
the horizontal bars of the fence by wooden 
pins shown at a and b. A piece of rope or a 
short wire passing over the ends of two of 
the pickets serves to keep the gate securely 
fastened. The opening is not designed for a 
regular gate, and could not be used for the 
passage of any vehicle, as the horizontal bars 
would be in the way. For a back gate to the 
garden such an opening would frequently 
be found convenient and save many steps. 
Different Qualities of Wool Upon the 
Same Sheep. 
- - 
The classification of the “stapler” or sorter 
of wool is founded to a certain extent upon 
the difference in the quality of wool according 
to the part of the sheep’s body upon which it 
Fig. 1.—■WOOL-REGIONS OX A SHEEP. 
has grown. In dividing the fleece it is spread 
upon the table with the sheared side down, 
and the various parts removed, and thrown 
into their appropriate places. The finest wool 
is obtained from the 
back — the portion 
marked a, a, in fig¬ 
ure 1. The next best 
quality extends from 
the thighs to the 
shoulders and covers 
the flanks, marked 
b. The neck and 
rump give the third 
grade, c, c, and the 
fourtli is produced 
upon the lower part 
of the neck and the 
breast and the ex¬ 
tremities, d,d. The principal differences that 
are kept in mind in grading the wool are: 
strength of fibre, fineness, and the curl. The 
last point is a more important one than might 
Fig. 2.—CURL IN WOOI,. 
Fig. 3.— KINDS OF WOOL, MAGNIFIED. 
seem at first sight. A long straight wave, 
as shown at a, in figure 2, is not desirable ; 
neither is the curl shown at b, where the 
fibre folds back abruptly upon itself. The 
greatest elasticity and strength is found in 
the regular and fine crimping shown at c. 
When examined with the microscope the 
wool fibres are found to be traversed with 
fine oblique lines, which give them a rough 
or scaly surface ; it is this which renders 
woollen fabrics so strong and durable. 
The illustrations in figure 8 represent some 
of the different kinds of wool and hair that 
are used for clothing. A portion of a fibre 
of Spanish Merino is shown at a; South- 
down, b; Camels hair, c; Mohair, or fine goat’s 
wool, d; Alapaca, e; Llama, /; Yak, g. 
“Guinea” or “Johnson” Grass. 
In March 1877 we gave a description, and 
an engraving of “Guinea-Grass,” Sorghum 
Halepense. As we there stated, botanists had 
made a muddle of it by placing it, some in one, 
and some in another of the genera Andropo- 
gon, Holcus, Milium, and others. There 
seems to be some danger of a similar con¬ 
fusion with the common names of this grass. 
Chapman, in his “Flora” says it is “culti¬ 
vated under the name of Cuba Grass.” In 
our travels in the Southern States, we found 
it called “Guinea-Grass” by intelligent nur¬ 
serymen and planters, who had no other 
name for it; the late Mr. Moore, who culti¬ 
vated it largely near Augusta, Ga., knew it 
as “ Guinea-Grass,” and this name is adopted 
by Mr. Howard in his “ Manual of Grasses for 
the South.” Mr. Post, who largely cultivates 
it in Alabama, calls it “Johnson Grass.” That 
high authority,the Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D.C., informs us that it is “False 
Guinea-Grass,” and also “ Means Grass,” and 
moreover “Egyptian Grass.” Then comes 
Col. Killibrew, the wide awake Commissioner 
of Tennessee, who speaks of it as “ Egyptian 
Sugar Cane, as its proper name is.” We 
came near forgetting that this is also the 
wonderful “Green Valley Grass, or Sorgo- 
halepence',” which was a few years ago ad¬ 
vertised with a cut of a man reading in the 
shade of it, and which, producing a wonder¬ 
ful crop of grass above ground, was to yield, 
we don’t now recollect how many bushels of 
nutritious roots below the surface. With 
this multiplicity of names we are all the 
more inclined to adhere to that which we 
adopted, after due consideration, in 1877, as 
being the one by which the grass would be 
most generally recognized in the Southern 
States, namely—“ Guinea-Grass ”—and when 
we speak of “Guinea-Grass,” let it be under¬ 
stood that we refer to the “ Cuba,” “ John¬ 
son,” “Means,” “False Guinea,” “Egyp¬ 
tian,” and “ Green Valley ” grass of others, 
and especially to Sorghum Halepense. As 
there may be some danger of confounding 
this with some of the forms of Sorghum vul- 
gare, the Durra Corn, we give an engraving 
of a panicle, which specimens from Mr. W. 
H. Carson, allow us to present. The panicle 
is more elongated, more branching and open 
than in any form of the Durra, while the in¬ 
dividual seeds, instead of being as in Durra, 
more or less globular, are flattened and much 
like an enlarged Broom-corn seed- The grass 
has a very large and fleshy perennial root, 
which is likely to make it troublesome if al¬ 
lowed to become a weed in localities where 
frost does not kill it. The results obtained 
by the late N. B. Moore, who for many years 
cultivated 100 acres near Augusta, Ga., from 
which he took three and four cuttings each 
season, and which is said to have yielded him 
from $7,000 to $10,000 annually, show that 
this grass is valuable in the Southern States. 
Recently its cultivation has been undertaken 
on a large scale by 
Mr, Herbert Post, of 
Alabama, who is 
very well satisfied 
with it thus far. As 
to its success in 
northern localities 
we have no other 
information besides 
that given in Mr. 
Post’s circular; he 
says that he has sent 
seeds to Michigan, 
Wisconsin, Iowa, 
Kansas, Missouri, 
and California, from 
all of which he has 
had favorable re¬ 
ports. We look upon 
the “jGuinea,” the 
“Johnson,” or what¬ 
ever of the many 
other names Sorg¬ 
hum Halepense may 
be called, as a grass 
worthy of trial. 
When we describe a 
new plant, many 
take this as a recom¬ 
mendation of it, 
hence we wish for 
it to be, in this case, 
especially under¬ 
stood that we give 
it as a comparative¬ 
ly new thing, of 
which we have no 
personal knowledge, but of which the reports 
are sufficiently favorable for us to commend 
it for trial only. We always advise our 
readers to not depend upon a novelty in vege¬ 
tables, etc., for their main crop, but to stick 
to tested sorts while they at the same time 
try new ones. So with grass and other farm 
seeds; a trial can be made without a con¬ 
siderable expense. A small patch will tell as 
much as a field of several acres. While we 
advise keeping up with the times we also ad¬ 
vise, with all new things, to “go slow.” 
THE GUINEA-GRASS. 
(Sorghum Halepense .) 
A Chicken Feed Trough. 
- 
Mr. John Stewart, Allegheny Co., Pa., sends 
sketches of liis feed-trough for chickens. It 
Fig. 1.—THE CHICKEN TROUGH OPEN. 
consists of a long trough, made of inch boards, 
fastened to end pieces, which rest upon the 
ground. A cover is made of similar boards, 
Fig. 2 .— THE CHICKEN TROUGH CLOSED. 
sloping downward, one side of which :s 
fastened to the end pieces by two pins—-one 
