1881.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
201 
lated to, if not identical with, the “Japan 
Pea,” which was introduced some six or eight 
years ago, with strong claims as to its great 
value. The catalogues say that it should be 
sown “in rows 12 to 15 inches apart.” We 
would suggest to those who wish to try it to 
give it at least twice as much room as this. 
A Dangerous Pest Among Grasses. 
Some seeds, among them several of the 
grasses, are provided with admirable arrange¬ 
ments to promote their distribution, but these 
at the same time often permit the grass to be 
a nuisance to the traveller. Whoever in the 
far West has found 
himself in a state of 
torture until he could 
take off his flannel 
shirt and remove the 
cause, will not, as he 
picks out the grass 
seed, no larger than a 
pin, but much sharp¬ 
er, be much in ad¬ 
miration at the meth¬ 
od by which the 
‘ ‘ Drop-seeds ” ( Muh- 
lenbergia) are distrib¬ 
uted. These and oth¬ 
ers are simply annoy¬ 
ing, but there is one, 
at least, really danger¬ 
ous. This is the 
“ Porcupine - Grass,” 
Stipa spartea, found 
from Illinois north¬ 
westward into the 
British Territory, and 
southward in Arkan¬ 
sas, Nebraska, etc. 
The Stipas are one- 
flowered grasses, and 
their floret, which popularly passes for the seed 
{the seed proper being within it), is furnished 
with a bristle-like appendage or awn. In the 
Porcupine-Grass this is much longer than in 
any other northern species. The grass, in its 
general appearance, is much like an oat; in¬ 
deed, in some western localities it is known 
as “Oat-grass,” and “Wild-Oat.” It bears a 
loose-few-flowered cluster, each flower of 
which presents a most beautiful contrivance 
for disseminating the ripe grain, but which, 
by often placing the grain where it is not 
wanted, causes the grass to be regarded with 
aversion. The engraving shows a floret and 
its appendages of real size and one enlarged. 
The floret proper consists of two chaffy scales 
closely inclosing the seed, the outer one en¬ 
wrapping the other, and furnished below with 
a hard, bony point, the callus, as sharp as a 
needle ; this, except at the very point, is 
clothed with stiff hail’s, which allow the point 
to enter a substance, but act like barbs to 
prevent its withdrawal; less dense hairs upon 
the whole surface point in the same direction; 
this floret is from 3 / 4 of to an inch long. At 
the top is the awn, from 4 to 7 inches long 
(the extreme end is omitted in the engrav¬ 
ing), bent at right angles somewhat above 
the middle; that portion below the bend is 
closely twisted with a regular thread like a 
screw, and upon this are minute stiff hairs, 
each acting like a barb. Mr. Chas. L. Palmer, 
Clay Co., Minn., writes that: “These seeds 
are a regular pest to man and to animals; in 
walking over the prairie in summer, persons 
axe tormented by them when and where they 
least suspect. Sheep and dogs are apt to be 
troubled by them, and in their rubbing and 
scratching in their endeavors to get them out 
only help the points to enter deeper into the 
solid flesh, and are sadly tormented. Cases 
are known in which horses have been danger¬ 
ously wounded and even killed by these seeds 
entering the nostrils and penetrating to the 
breathing organs. In some places good grass 
is left unmown where this pest is common, 
and sheep cannot be safely pastured on such 
localities.” Mr. P. gives a bit of his own ex¬ 
perience : Last summer what appeared like 
a boil on his leg just above the ankle, and 
discharging slowly, disabled him for over a 
month; the case became alarming, as he was 
all the time in intense pain; at last, to his 
surprise, he discovered and drew out one of 
these seeds, the beard having broken off it 
was ejected by the suppuration, and recoveiy 
took place at once. He found that the boot 
he had worn had a rip just over the spot of 
the boil. The seeds have been known to 
enter the fleshy part of the leg and penetrate 
to the bone by working themselves forward. 
From these statements of Mr. P., and a 
knowledge of the plant itself, one can see the 
mischief it may work upon both men and 
animals without our having any suspicion as 
to the real cause. He states that it readily 
disappears before cultivation, and also where 
fire has ran over the prairie. The grass 
is only capable of mischief when its seeds 
begin to mature. When young it is readily 
recognized by its long awn, and it should, if 
it is local, be mowed as a measure of safety. 
Tying a Horse’s Halter. 
One is frequently obliged to tie a horse to 
a smooth post, and if the fastening is not 
properly done, the halter slips to the ground, 
and the horse is great¬ 
ly inconvenienced, 
and may even become 
entangled in the 
halter and injured. 
Mr. “J. J. J.,” Easton, 
Md., sends sketches 
of a form of halter 
knot, which he claims 
is easy to tie, and is 
perfectly secure. The 
knot is shown in fig¬ 
ure 1 ; and is fre¬ 
quently used by sail¬ 
ors under the name 
of “ clove hitch.” To 
make this knot, the 
Fig. l.-POST WITH KNOT. . g taken ^ 
the left hand, with one’s back to the horse 
and face to the post; pass the loose end 
around the post from right to left, bring 
it under the arm and carry it around the 
post above the other loop and pass it out un- 
Fig. 2.—THE KNOT. Fig. 3.—THE I,OOPS. 
der its own part and draw both ends tight. 
Take the loose end and pass it under the left 
arm and around the part attached to the 
horse, and down between the post and its 
own part. This knot, when drawn tight, is 
perfectly safe, even on a greased pole. Figure 
2 shows the knot with the post removed. 
This knot can be made by slipping two lsopa 
(o upon u), as shown in figure 3, over the 
end of the post, and drawing them up tight. 
What are Trichines and Trichinosis? 
The fact that some of the European gov¬ 
ernments have prohibited the admission into 
1.—A TRICHINE COILED IN THE MUSCLE (ENLARGED). 
their countries of American pork, hams, etc., 
on account of “ Trichines,” has naturally led 
many to ask what are Trichines, and what is 
Trichinosis, so often mentioned of late in the 
foreign news in the daily papers. The Amer¬ 
ican Agriculturist gave the first popular ac¬ 
count of Trichines published in this country ; 
this, however, was so long ago that the ma¬ 
jority of farmers of the present time were 
boys when this was given. In view of the 
renewed interest in the subject, and to com¬ 
ply with the many requests, we give a brief 
outline of the matter. If one examines a 
piece of pork containing Trichines, he will 
notice that the flesh presents an unusual ap¬ 
pearance, as if it contained vast numbers of 
little grains. An examination with a magni¬ 
fier will show numerous little bodies, which 
taper at each end, 
among the fibres of 
the muscles, and 
within each of these 
bodies is a small 
dormant worm coiled 
up in a spiral form, 
as in figure 1. If a 
piece of such flesh be 
eaten, it is digested, 
and the inclosed 
worms are set free 
within the stomach 
of the person. The 
worm at once de¬ 
velops to its full 
size, which is about ^ath of an inch in 
length, and becomes sexual. It both pro¬ 
duces its young alive, and from eggs, and is 
very prolific. The young worms, and very- 
minute they are, pierce and pass through the 
walls of the stomach and intestines, and 
make their way to all parts of the body. 
When they have located themselves in the 
muscles, they become “encysted,” or in¬ 
closed by a sort of membrane, or sac. In 
time this often becomes hardened by a de¬ 
posit of lime, and, being white, is quite con¬ 
spicuous. These minute cysts are about '| 30 th 
of an inch long, and 1 1, 0 oth of an incli broad, 
and contain the worm coiled in a spiral. Be¬ 
ing in size hair-like, its name Trichina is 
formed from the Greek word for “ hair,” and 
its specific name spiralis, refers to its man¬ 
ner of coiling when dormant. It is estimat¬ 
ed that a cubic inch of flesh may contain 
over 80,000 of these cysts. It may be readily 
imagined that these myriads of minute 
worms, in piercing the stomach and intes- 
THE PORCUPINE-GRASS. 
(Stipa spartea.) 
Fig. 2.—OLDER STATE OF 
TRICHINE (HIGHLY 
MAGNIFIED). 
