AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[October, 
402 
Whiit ttlic firocers Sell Us. — A Manual for 
Buyers, by P. H. Felker. The title hardly indicates the 
fact fhat this work, while’ it tells what the grocers sell us, 
also serves to show what they should not sell us, as one 
of its principal objects is to point out the natural impuri¬ 
ties and intentional adulterations of the many articles in 
daily use. Few who have not given special study to the 
subject, are aware of the extent to which adulteration is 
carried on in spices, coffee, and a host of other things, 
and as a matter of economy, the purchasers should know 
how to choose between the good and the bad. Besides 
this,the work has an educational value ; many very intelli. 
gent persons would he puzzled to tell where and what 
Tapioca, Sago, Chocolate, etc., came from; all such 
things should be taught to children, and this will serve as 
an excellent text-book in such matters. The book, while 
valuable to buyer, is no less so to sellers. Second Edi¬ 
tion, Published by the Orange Judd Co , price, $1.00. 
The Grasses and Forage Plants of 
Alabama. — By Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. This 
is a catalogue of the native and naturalized grasses of 
the State,'giving their botanical and common names, 
the kind of soil in which tney naturally grow, 
counties where collected, duration—whether annual 
or perennial—and a brief indication as to whether 
worthless, of little value, or valuable. All such catalogues 
are useful, especially in the Southern States wliere the 
climate is unfavorable for most cultivated grasses, and 
it is necessary to depend largely upon the indigenous 
and naturalized species for forage. The author, long 
known to us an industrious and accurate botanist, adds 
to the value of his catalogue by notes on some of the 
tropical and other grasses now cultivated to some extent, 
and, what is of the most importance, remarks upon the 
agricultural value of such native grasses as appear to 
be most worthy of the farmer’s attention. The grass cat¬ 
alogue is accompanied by another, giving the trees and 
shrubs of that State, of equal though less general value. 
The pamphlet does not bear the name of any publisher, 
but we suppose that it may be had of the author. 
— 9 
The Crescent Seedling Strawberry. —Mr. 
H. H, Smith, of West Haven, Conn., complains that the 
article in Sept,, page 34(1, is “ doing great injustice to me 
in the cast given to the Crescent Seedling.” Then he inti¬ 
mates thatanother nurseryman had something to do with 
the article, and winds up by saying, “I can ask no less 
than the discontinuance of my advertisement from this 
date.” Certainly, Mr. Smith. This is a tolerably free 
country, and one can advertise where he thinks it will do 
him the most good ; but if any one thinks that his adver¬ 
tising or not advertising, will change an editorial opinion, 
he labors under a mistake. It is a common error with 
those of limited experience, or who are engaged in the 
sale of a few varieties of fruit, to make a personal matter 
of all criticisms upon their fruits. In discussing the 
Crescent Seedling, we did not discuss Mr. Smith. Or, if 
he regards the injury as to his business, then every nur¬ 
seryman in the country can complain, for the ’•Crescent” 
is offered from one end of the country to the other. Mr. 
Smith’s implication that another dealer had some¬ 
thing to do with the article, is simply without the re¬ 
motest foundation in fact. Mr. Smith is very un¬ 
reasonable. In August, 1878, we figured the “Crescent,” 
and allowed Mr. E. P. Roe, to say just whatever he 
pleased about it. If the notice in September last, 
was an “ injustice” to Mr. Smith, that in the previous 
August must have been, as he identifies himself with the 
“ Crescent,” a justice to him. Yet he never even thanked 
us. It is well for Mr. Smith and every other person with 
fruit hobbies to know that a fruit, when offered to the 
public, becomes then a legitimate subject for pomo- 
logical criticism, just as a book when published is open 
to literary criticism. An editor has only to do with the 
fruit as it appears to him, and he gives his opinion of 
it for the benefit of the public ; he does not stop to con¬ 
sider whether one nurseryman or all the nurserymen 
will sell more or less plants—if he did his opinion would 
be of no value. Mr. Smith thinks otherwise, and, be¬ 
cause he has a different opinion of the fruit from ours, 
very inconsiderately prevents thousands from knowing 
where a fruit he regards so valuable can he had. The 
“ Country Gentleman” not long ago had a notice not 
especially favorable to the “ Crescent.” Did Mr. Smith 
withdraw his advertisement from that also ? If so, how 
will people learn of the “ Crescent”? We will be more 
liberal than Mr. Smith and say that whoever wishes to 
buy the “ Crescent,” a wonderfully productive berry, 
of nc t high quality, quite too soft for a distant market, 
but no doubt profitable for a near market, can get the 
plants of Mr. II. H. Smith, West Haven, Conn.—and of 
almost any other dealer of small fruits in the country. 
Eaves-Trou"lis on Barns- It often happens 
that the “ barn yard well ” fails in summer, while at 
the same time there are frequent showers. If there were 
eaves-troughson the barns, and the rain which falls upon 
the roof collected in a cistern, there would be an abun¬ 
dance of water for use. The annoyance of dripping eaves, 
wet and sloppy barn-yard, and waste of manure by wash¬ 
ing, aside from the value of the water saved, show the 
'utility of providing all barns with good eaves-troughs. 
Yield of BSread from Floor. -At a late meet¬ 
ing of the Miller’s Association, of Indiana, the Flour 
Testing Committee reported that a barrel of flour will 
make from 270 to 280 pounds of bread, or an increase of 
nearly a hundred pounds per barrel. The bakers were 
required to give light and wholesome bread in all cases. 
Veterinary Education.— A movement is on 
foot to establish a Veterinary Department in the Univer¬ 
sity of Pennsylvania. This science needs more attention. 
Corn on Prairie Sod.—” A. W. M.,” N. Y. Corn 
is planted on newly-turned prairie sod by turning the sod 
not over three inches thick, and dropping the corn in 
every third furrow. As few weeds grow the same season, 
no cultivation is required. After the corn is taken off, 
the surface may bo well harrowed; and wheat or rye 
sown, but it is usual to plant corn several times in suc¬ 
cession before sowing wheat. Potatoes may be planted 
on newly broken prairie soil witli good results. 
Cinchona or Peruvian Baris.— Experiments 
have been begun to test the practicability of growing the 
trees in California. Several thousands of seedlings have 
been raised by the Agricultural Department of the State 
University, to be distributed when large enough. 
Poisoning by Poison Ivy or Rhus.— One 
more remedy is proposed. The Rag-weed or Roman 
Wormwood is bruised, the juice squeezed out, and ap¬ 
plied to the affected surface. It is gratifying to know 
that this pestiferous weed can be used for something. 
torrents, and soon great hail stones rebounded from the 
sidewalk. The enthusiastic reporter, regardless of the 
storm, secured several specimens, carefully measured 
them with a pocket tape-line, and noted down the exact 
figures. Some young clerks in the offices above, seeing 
him repeat the operation, began dropping large chunks 
of ice from an ice-cooler. The reporter carefully meas¬ 
ured these and recorded the result. The eyes of the 
awe struck Chinamen stood out with unusual roundness 
and prominence. One of the clerks above, in chopping 
off' the block of ice accidentally dropped the balance, 
some 20 lbs., which fell with a crash, spattering the 
water right and left. Just then an awful crash of thun¬ 
der startled all who heard it. This was too much for 
John Chinaman. They both ran yelling up the street, 
the last one saying as he cleared the doorway:— 
“ Whoopee up. Icee wagon come necctee. Good-by John.” 
Diagram Representations,— Mr. Alfred Gray, 
the excellent Secretary of the Kansas State Board of 
Agriculture, shows much originality in his use of dia¬ 
grams in representing the various statistical conclusions 
which he has obtained in his State. We reproduce three 
as illustrative of how much a few lines will show. Since 
1876 the acreage of winter wheat , etc., has been as follows: 
WINTER WHEAT. 
1876— 758,600 
1877— 857,125. 
1878- 1,297,555 
1879- 1,520,659, 
BARLEY. 
1876- 82,299. 
1877— 70.704 
1878- 56,258. 
1879— 45,851. 
FLAX. 
1876 -59,138,73. 
1877— 27,735.37. 
1878— 37,001.70. 
1879 —69,383. nT 
The Travis Wheat Hoe.— Last month, p 360, 
we stated tiiat Mr. Travis did not manufacture the Wheat 
Hoe that he invented. This was done under the impres¬ 
sion that Mr. T. had placed the manufacture in the hands 
of other parties, but we learn from good authority, Mr. 
Travis himself, that while engaged in farming, he also 
makes his Wheat Hoe at Brandon, Oakland Co., Mich. 
Loss at Kllburn. —The “ Agricultural Gazette” 
(London), states that the Royal Agricultural Society has 
sustained a loss from its late exhibition at Kilburn, of 
£10.000. This is no doubt due to the long continued bad 
weather. They have, nevertheless, added about a thou¬ 
sand names to their permanent list of membership. 
The heavy-bars are made on a scale of a selected num¬ 
ber of acres to the inch. In this way the general rela¬ 
tion of the years is easily seen; in fact it st?i/ces the eye. 
For example, it is evident that there has been a constant 
increase in the number of acres devoted to winter wheat, 
but that increase has been irregular. The decrease in 
barley has been about as rapid as the increase rf wheat, 
but with more uniformity. Flax lias been subject to 
great variation ; or we may, by beginning with 1877, say 
that the increase in the acreage of this crop has been 
rapid, quite uniform, more than doubling in two years. 
Items of Interest. 
Preserving Cider.— For many years the Sulphite 
of Lime has been more or less employed for arresting 
the fermentation of cider. This often imparts a slight 
taste, and, on this account, as well as from the fact 
that the cider dissolves more or less lime, its use is 
much less general than when first introduced. The Pre¬ 
serving Powder advertised in our columns is essentially 
vegetable in its origin, and may be used with safety. 
The N. Y. Horticultural Society.— There 
is no reason why all the monthly meetings of this Soci¬ 
ety should not be—what several of them have been the 
past season—occasions of great interest to all who at¬ 
tend. Members and all interested in horticultural mat¬ 
ters will usually find the exhibitions at these meetings 
of interest, and there are often instructive papers read 
by members and others. At the meeting for this month, 
to be held at 2 o’clock, p. m , on the 7th inst., William 
Saunders, Esq., of Washington, D. C., will present his 
views on Tea Culture in the United States. The propo¬ 
sition to cultivate Tea in this country has been made the 
subject of much ridicule by the daily papers, which have 
not taken the trouble to inform themselves upon the 
matter. If the editors will attend this meeting and 
learn what really is proposed, they may find less to ridi¬ 
cule than they at first supposed. The Society's rooms 
are at No. 355 West 33d st. Take elevated railroad. 
Tl»e Clover-Seed Crop.— The amount of clover- 
seed annually harvested in the United States is not far 
from 700,000 bushels, about one-half of which is used at 
home, the remainder goes to Europe, mostly to England. 
Some clover-seed is grown in nearly every Slate of the 
Union, but the first six are the following : Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, New York, Indiana, Michigan, and Maryland. 
“Icee Wagon Come Nextee.” — “A little 
nonsense, now and then, Is relished by the wisest men,” 
especially when they are weary with hard work of body or 
mind. Friend Burdette, of the “ Burlington Ilawkeye,” 
is doing a good deal to rest tired people in this way, and 
the “ DetroitFree Press,” is working in the same line, as 
witness the following: A correspondent says that 
a young reporter of the “Boston Telephone,” caught in a 
heavy shower, stepped into a doorway where two Chinese 
“ washee-washees ” had also retreated. The rain fell in 
A corn plant can produce four thousand fold ; but 
fifty-fold is not far from the average_The front of a 
horse's head, when in natural position, shou d make an 
angle of 45 degrees with the perpendicular... Scarlet 
Fever caused more deaths in New York State last year 
than Yellow Fever in the South, but there was no un¬ 
usual alarm ...Chicago slaughters 8,000 hogs per day_ 
375 bushels of wheat from 10 acres are reported at Dun¬ 
dee, Mich_New York City pays four millions of dol¬ 
lars per year for her milk_From the report of the U. S. 
Consuls, on the condition of labor, it is seen that the 
wages in the United States are double those in Great 
Britain and France ; three times those of Germany, and 
four times those of the Netherlands... .According to the 
English Consul at Tien-Tsin the deaths in China during 
the late famine were9,500,000 individuals.. Dr. Oliver 
Wendell Holmes is 70 years old_The maize crop is re¬ 
ported a failure in Syria.... The advance sheets of the 
Illinois crop report show the average for winter wheat is 
19f bushels per acre....During the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1879, six million acres of Government lands 
were taken as homesteads... .The acreage of winter wheat 
has doubled in Kansas in three years.... From the 
Aleutian Isles to Eastport, Maine, our possessions ex¬ 
tend over 197 degrees of longitude, or more than half 
around the globe_By actual count it is ascertained 
that 27,000 fairs are held annually in France_Over 50 
patents have been obtained for cow milkers, yet none of 
them can be commended for general use....A good 
farmer's good rule: “ Feed your land before it is hungry, 
rest it before it is weary, and weed it before it is foul.” 
_Massachusetts has about three dogs to one sheep. .. 
The first cheese factory in England was established in 
1870, they have not more than 25 in all the kingdom — 
Don't forget—“No frog, no foot; no foot, no horse,” 
and have your horses shod often and by only those who 
follow this old adage....An apiary should be provided 
with a supply of water—wet sand will allow the bees to 
got water without danger_This is the time to build 
the ice-house which was so much needed during the 
summer... .Weevil eaten peas will grow, but do not 
make good, strong plants.... A sheep was sheared at6.45 
in the morning, and eleven hours after, the Emperor of 
Austria was presented with a suit, consisting of a hunt¬ 
ing jacket, waistcoat, and pantaloons, made from the 
wool. This is quick work in the manufacture of clothing. 
