1884.] 
AMEEIOA^T AGEIOULTUEIST, 
lOT 
Chat with Readers. 
The Management of Ijarge Stones.— A friend at 
Newcastle, Dei., gives Ills method of removing large stones 
from the ttelds. A trench is dug around the stone, and in 
this a fire is built of any rubbish or trash at hand. Our 
correspondent says that the heat opens the seams in the 
stone and it may be easily broken apart into pieces suitable 
for use in building, etc. 
Roof for a Poultry House.— D. S. Darfs, Mitchell, 
Ind., asks us which makes the best and cheapest covering 
for poultry houses ?’’—If the house is to be permanent, it 
should have a permanent roof, such as shingles, or tin or 
other metal roofing. A number of roofing materials are 
advertised; these are of paper or some coarse fabric im¬ 
pregnated with some v/ater-proof composition. We have 
had no experience with these of late. Some tivelve years 
ago we tried some very popular at the time, and do not care 
to try any more. 
Nest Eggs.—TFm. K. Deisher, Berks Co., Pa., gives us 
his method of making nest eggs. This is not netv, but it 
will no doubt be useful to many readers. “ fuse only good 
sized eggs, with strong shells. I make in the small end a 
hole about an eighth of an inch across, and in the other end 
a half inch hole. By blowing through the smaller hole, the 
contents of the shell will be driven out. Plaster of Paris is 
mixed with water, thin enough to pour. The shells are to 
be filled with this, using a spoon to fill them if necessary. 
When the shells are full, they are set aside for twenty-four 
hours. Trim off any superfluous plaster with a knife. 
These eggs are in appearance exactly like real eggs, and 
being heavy, are not thrown out of the nest. 
Leaves as Manure.—IF. S. H. Hale, "Elk Creek, Va., 
asks us if leaves are of much value as manure, and how they 
can best be turned to account when one has nothing to mix 
with them. Muck and woods-earth, so highly valued as fer¬ 
tilizers, are essentially decomposed leaves, and leaves, if 
completely decomposed, would have a similar value, 
leaves by themselves, thrown into a heap, kept moist and 
occasionally turned, will decompose, but very slowly. They 
need the contact of fermenting material to cause them to 
decompose rapidly. The usual method is, to treat them with 
stable manure; one part to two parts leaves. If hot-beds 
are used, this mixture of manure and leaves gives a more 
gentle and managable heat, and are preferred to clear ma¬ 
nure. Without the aid of fermenting manure, the leaves 
must have time to decompose and make them available. 
The Manure Heap.— “A Subscriber,” Evanston, Ill., 
asks us if we advise throwing all the washing water and 
slops from the house upon the manure heap. This is un¬ 
covered, and added to daily by that which is thrown out 
from the stable. The reply to this would depend upon the 
size of the heap, and the quantity of liquids supplied by tbe 
house. The heap may be injured if too dry, by burning or 
“ fire-fanging.” If, on the other hand, it is too wet, the ma¬ 
nure will be shut out from the contact of the air, and con¬ 
sequently can not decompose, and will remain unchanged. 
The liquids from the house may be in such excess as to 
cause a washing away and waste of the soluble portions of 
the manure. The house waste should be utilized, but be 
under such control, that they may be added to tbe heap in 
the needed quantity. 
CraubeiTy Culture iu Nova Scotia.— “ff. S.” 
writes us from Kings Oo. that he proposes to engage large¬ 
ly in cranberry growing this spring, and asks us to send him 
the names of practical cranberry growers with whom he 
can correspond. He says that bog lands, with muck from 
six luches to two feet deep, can be bought at from twenty- 
five cent's to five dollars an acre, but with poor facilities for 
flowing. Unless the ground can be flowed at will success¬ 
ful cranberry culture is not possible. The best advice we 
can give “ H. S.” is to procure “ Cranberry Culture,” by J. 
J. White. We do not recommend this work because it is 
published by the Orange Judd Company, but for the reason 
that it is a most complete work,giving just what the novice 
wishes to know, the conditions necessary to success more 
in full than any other work on a special culture with which 
we are acquainted. 
Shells for Poultry.— A. H. Davis, Mitchell, Ind. In 
View of the fact that oyster shells are largely and beneficial¬ 
ly used for poultry, asks if “ the shells of the common 
mussel, so plentiful in our western rivers, will not an¬ 
swer in place of oyster shells for poultry.” He can get any 
quantity of these shells by hauling them from the river, 
while the transportation on oyster and clam shells would 
make them very costly. This is one of the questions that 
must be answered on general principles. Shells, whether 
of the salt water oyster and clams, or of the fresh water 
Clams or mussels, known to naturalists as Uaios and Ano- 
dous, etc., have essentially the same composition. Shells 
consist of carbonate of lime, with which there is more or 
less animal matter. The animal matter in oyster shell is 
less than one per. cent. Probably that in fresh water shells 
is more, but we doubt if there is any appreciable difference. 
If near the coast, where oyster and clam shells go to waste, 
we should use them; if in an inland locality where fresh-wa¬ 
ter shells would be cheapest, we should use them, with 
no doubt that they wouid be equaliy useful. 
Pruning Evergreens.— J. A. Scott, writes us that he 
some years ago set out a number of Norway Spruces, which 
are now three to four feet high. He wishes to know if it 
will Injure the trees to cut back the branches about one- 
third this spring. If pruning will injure them, he would like 
to know what to do with them. Not iongago it was sup¬ 
posed that evergreens could not be pruned; now it is a 
common practice. There Is one kind of pruning that should 
never be given; removal of the lower branches. Our cor¬ 
respondent does not state why he wishes to prune. If the 
branches do not grow evenly, or if the growth is not stocky 
and the tree is not well clothed with side branches, pruning 
will remedy them. In pruning make the cut upon the un¬ 
der side of the branch, beginning the cut towards the center 
of the tree, and let it slope outwards. Observe to always 
cut to a bud, so that this will continue the growth. If by 
accident a tree has lost its leader, turn up one of the upper 
branches, and tie it iu an upright position to a stake. 
Saving Mitcli Trouble to Mr. Murphy.—N. Mur¬ 
phy, Clark Co., Ohio, having raised some of the insect pow¬ 
der plants (.Pyrethrwn,) and being much pleased with its 
beauty as a flower and its efficacy in killing insects, wishes 
to extend a knowledge of the plant to others. He sends us 
an advertisement, in which he offers, for five cents, to send 
one hundred seeds of Pyrethrum, with directions for culti¬ 
vation, but says be can only send a hundred seeds, “ as I 
haven’t got them.” IVe do not doubt that Mr. Murphy 
makes this offer in good faith, but we cannot publish it. 
He has no idea of the trouble that the insertion of his offer 
would give. He probably has not enough seeds to give the 
applicants he would have a single seed each. Some twenty 
years ago we published a few' offers to furnish seeds to all 
who would send a stamped envelope. In each case a re¬ 
quest came asking us to say that tbe seeds were all gone. 
One conscientious man wrote us that it cost him a sum that 
he could ill afford to return the stamps that had been sent 
him. If seeds are worth sowing they are worth buying, and 
we do our readers a good service in refusing all such offers. 
Making Charcoal.— Mr. A. D. Martin, Grand Coteaii, 
La., asks us for the best method for making charcoal. It is 
more economical to burn the wood in a kiln, than in the 
old form of a “ pit.” 
The waste is less, and 
the product more val¬ 
uable. Around kiln, 
shown in the engrav¬ 
ing, may be twelve 
feet iu diameter, and 
sixteen feet to the top 
of the dome. The wall 
rises perpendicular 
for half the hight, and 
is then drawn in grad¬ 
ually until four feet 
across at the top. A 
flat iron plate fits the 
top. An iron band is 
placed around the 
center of the kiln, to 
give it sufficient strength. Several bricks are left loose, to 
be removed to admit air w'hen desired. The doors are for 
filling in the wood and removing the charcoal. A similar 
kiln may be made with parallel walls for making charcoal 
on a lai ge scale. 
“ How Is Corn Hybridized ?” is asked by J. S. 
Harmon, of Madison Co., Iowa.- In the strict use of the 
word, hybridizing can only take place between diflereut 
species of plants. As our many kinds of corn are all varie¬ 
ties of one species, when one kind is fertilized by another, 
the result in not a hybrid, but a cross. Corn has its two sets 
of organs, male and female, not iu the same flower, but in 
diflerent flowers on the same plant. The flowers at the top 
of the plant, the tassel, produce pollen only. The pistillate 
(or female) flowers are concealed within the husks, but 
hang out their long pistils (the silk) to receive the pollen. 
If our correspondent wishes to experiment with corn, he 
should select the kind to be the seed-bearer and the one 
which is to fertilize it. These two kinds may be planted 
near together, but at a distance from all other varieties of 
corn. As soon as the corn selected for seed-bearing shows 
that a tassel is forming, it should be cut away; this will pre¬ 
vent the silk from being fertilized by its own pollen, and if 
far enough from other kinds a complete cross will be pro¬ 
duced. 171100 a cross is thus obtained the seeds should be 
sown where other kinds can not fertilize the plants. By 
selecting the most desirable seed year after year, and allow¬ 
ing the seeds to be self-fertilized, a new variety may be 
established. 
Afraid of Mullein.— “ J. W. Appleton," Munroe Co., 
West "Va., writes us that he is clearing a great deal of land, 
upon which the mullein appears so thickly that he is afraid 
it “ will choke out the grass.” He has looked through all 
his back volumes and finds nothing about mullein, and asks 
us what he shall do. Mullein is a biennial plant, which pro¬ 
duces a vast number of seeds. The seedlings arc engaged, 
the first year, in preparing for flowering the next. The 
first season the leaves form a rosette, which lies close to 
the ground and is not very noticeable, but they are quietly 
storing up material in the root. When the second spring 
opens the plant appears in full force. The quiet work of 
the previous year now shows itself in the vigorous flower 
stalk, four feet or more high, the upper part crowded with 
flowers, which are followed by pods, each containing numer¬ 
ous seeds. There is no specific method of killing mullein, 
or any other weed, but we must treat all weeds according to 
their manner of growth. A blow of a sharp hoe will cut off 
the tuft of leaves and prevent preparation for the second 
year. As a precaution, cut down at once all flower stalks 
that appear and not wait until a crop of seeds is ripe and 
ready to be scattered. It is a comfort to know that the 
plant does not endure beyond the second year. If the 
flower stalks are removed, the ground cannot be re-seeded, 
and the pest will die out. Its going may be hastened by 
killing the young plants. 
Sorghum. Sugar in Kansas. 
E. B. riERCB. 
Sorghum sugar making received a decided impetus thtf 
past season from the success attained at the two manu¬ 
factories located iu Central Kansas, one at Sterling and 
the other at Hutchinson. Thousands of barrels of light 
brown sugar were made at these establishments, and its 
uniform quality and the certain results daily secured 
without a single failure, demonstrated conclusively that 
the manufacture of sugar from sorghum is at last getting 
beyond the domain of mere experiment. Of the two, the 
Hutchinson works are on the most extensive scale. 
Their crusher, fed by an endless carrier, is capable of ex¬ 
pressing the juice from twenty-five tons of cane per hour. 
Five large boilers furnish power for the machinery and 
heat to evaporate juice,—Under the most favored condi¬ 
tions, the standing cane has been cut, and its sugar and 
molasses packed into barrels ■within the same twenty- 
four hours; hut as a rule it was found necessary for it tO' 
stand from one to ten days in order to crystalize before 
going into the centrifugals. These are simply machines- 
for separating the crystalized sugar from the uncrystal- 
izable syrup by the aid of centrifugal force, and have been 
in use in Cuba and Java and on all large sugar planta¬ 
tions for several years past. A hollow cylinder, three 
feet in diameter, making one thousand revolutions per 
minute, w'ill throw the mixed sugar and molasses to its 
circumference with a force greater than five hundred 
times its own weight, and striking against the fine sieve 
on the circumference, the yielding syrnp goes through 
while the sugar is retained on the inside. By this 
means from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds 
of sugar is separated from an equal amount of molasses 
in about fifteen minutes. The Hutchinson mills have 
four of these centrifugals and have turned out four barrels 
of bright C sugar per hour, including stoppages, or forty 
barrels per day of ten hours. 
Then the main question of securing sugar from Sor¬ 
ghum is now one of capital and business management. 
The same means th.at insures success in conducting a. 
creamery will insure it here, while the outcome of the 
latter is vastly more remunerative as a few figures will 
show. As an illustration of the possibilities, take an 
acre of ground planted with the best variety of Sorghnm, 
“ the Links Hybrid.” If carefully cultivated it produces 
twenty to forty tons of cane per acre, according to sea-- 
son and fertility of the soil. The Early Orange variety 
yields fifty to sixty pounds of sugar to the ton ; the Am¬ 
ber, seventy to seventy-five pounds, and the Link’s Hy¬ 
brid, ninety to one hundred pounds—all weighed with 
leaves and seed on. Now the Link’s Hybrid is worth at 
the mill, leaves and seed on, delivered the same day as 
cut, two dollars per ton, or for twenty tons, forty dollars 
per acre. At the mill the acre will yield: 
2,000 lbs. sugar, @,5c. .$100.00 
2.000 lbs molasses, @23^c. . . 50.00 
30 bushels of seed, ®40c. 12.00 
Total gross product.$102.00 
Now wherever coal can be laid down for two dollars 
and a half or three dollars per ton it is a cheaper fuel 
than to prepare the bagasse for burning, but this has to 
be got out of the way. The highest result would be ob¬ 
tained if another factory were at hand to transform it 
into paper stock for the many articles for which this 
stock is coming into use. Boards for finishing purposes 
are now made from straw at Lawrence, Kans., and ship¬ 
ped to Chicago, the gre.atest lumber market of the world. 
—One average acre of wheat straw will make two thou¬ 
sand feet of lumber, but as bagasse is better for this pur¬ 
pose than straw, and the yield many times more to the 
acre, it must eventually take its place. This lumber can 
be made in any color to imitate any kind of wood, and 
be made water-proof or fire-proof. As it can be formed 
at once into any shape without waste of material it 
promises to be the future material for furniture, musical 
instruments, building, etc., etc. The immense alkali 
deposits of the plains will furnish the needed soda. 
The Hutchinson sugar mills have a capacity in a good 
season to work over two thousand acres of cane. This, 
according to the above estimates, would give a product al¬ 
most surp.assing belief, say four million pounds of sugar, 
worth two hundred thousand dollars at five cents per lb.; 
as much molasses, worth one hundred thousand dollars, 
at two and a half cents per pound ; sixty thousand bushels 
of seed, worth twenty-four thousand dollars at forty cents 
a bushel, and four million feet of lumber worth one hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars at twenty-five dollars per one thou¬ 
sand feet, or the total of $424,000.—The possibilities of 
the industry are thus imperfectly foreshadowed. A de¬ 
scription of the machinery and its cost may perhaps be 
given in another communication. [Our correspondent 
takes a very hopeful view of the subject. He has not allow¬ 
ed for the cost of the bagasse-paper-wood machinery. Ed.] 
