1884 .] 
AMERIGAJ^ AGBIOULTUEIST. 
545 
Vegetable Soap and Horse-hair. 
A plant long known to the Spanish residents of 
California as “Amole,” grows in various parts of 
that State. At Monterey it is found in the pine- 
clad hills not far from the city, and it extends up 
the Sierra Nevada to near the snow line. The 
leaves of the plant form a cluster which spreads 
flat upon the ground ; they are about a foot long 
and have wavy margins. From the centre of the 
cluster of leaves arises the flower stalk, some three 
to five feet high, according to the nature of the 
soil; its many branches bear small, purple- 
veined white flowers which, together, 
form a loose panicle. Though the flow¬ 
ers are numerous, but few are open at 
once, as the blooming commences at the 
base of the branches and gradually pro¬ 
gresses upwards ; they bloom only in the 
afternoon. The flowers have the general 
structure of those of the Lily family, to 
which the plant belongs; its botanical 
name is Chlorogalum pomeridianum. The 
engraving shows a portion of the flower 
cluster, behind which the leaves and bulb 
are indicated in outline. The bulb, which 
varies in diameter from an inch to four 
inches, is surrounded by a thick covering 
of brown hairs, which resemble the fibres 
on a cocoanut. This hair, which is eight 
or ten inches long, is much used in 
upholstering under the name of “ Eureka 
Hair.” To prepare it for use, the hair is 
first cleaned by a picker; after it has 
been steamed and dried several times, it 
is curled in the same manner as horse¬ 
hair, i. c.,by twisting it into a rope ; this 
gives it a curl which is retained after the 
rope is picked apart. When dyed black 
this hair closely resembles horse-hair, and 
is used for the same purposes as that 
material. The finest hair grows on the 
high Sierras, that from near the coast be¬ 
ing too coarse for the upholsterers. The 
bulb itself is used for the same purposes 
as soap. The Indians were acquainted 
with this use of the Amole; it was adopt¬ 
ed by the Spanish settlers, and their de¬ 
scendants continue to employ it at the 
present time. In washing, the clothes 
are rubbed with the bulb just as if it were 
a piece of soap, and like that it produces 
a thick lather. Two other species of Chlorogalum 
are found in the State, the bulbs of which possess 
saponaceous properties, but are destitute of the 
hairy covering of the true Amole, or soap-root. It 
is said that the gathering of Amole gives employ¬ 
ment to between one and two hundred persons, 
and that the Eureka hair exported in the Cen¬ 
tennial year amounted to seven hundred tons. 
Passages in Wire Fences. 
A plain wire fence of any kind, is a barrier not 
easily passed without injuring it, and if the fence 
be one of barbed wire, it is a problem to pass it 
without injury to one’s self. There must generally 
be to each lot a gate large enough for a team and 
wagon, but in a boundary fence, one is often 
obliged to go a long distance before finding a gate. 
In England, the need of a way in wire fenees for 
foot-passengers, that should answer for such fences 
as a stile serves for a hedge, has led to the invention 
of various devices, one of which is shown in the 
engraving. This is called “ Birkwood’s Biped 
Pass,” and, simple as it appears, it is patented in 
England. We give the “ Pass,” rather in the way 
of suggestion to those who would construct some¬ 
thing of the kind, than as something to be copied. 
A SOAP AND HAIR PLANT {ChloTogulumpomeridianum). 
If any of our readers have made use of any 
contrivances to afford passes in wire fences, we 
trust they will favor us with sketches of them. 
Wheat and Meat.—An Actual Con¬ 
versation. 
Late last September we were in the village of 
Spencerport, N. T., situated on the Erie Canal and 
the N. T. Central and Hudson River R. R. “What 
are you paying for wheat ?” we asked one of the 
largest dealers in farm produce. — “ We have 
been paying eighty-flve to ninety cents for dry 
wheat; now we are paying from seventy-flve to 
eighty cents—but it must be A 1 wheat, and dry 
enough to grind to bring eighty cents. The wheat 
we have sent to New York was graded soft, and of 
course we have lost money, and it makes us cau¬ 
tious.”—“ Do yon ship by canal?”—“No, we send 
by rail. The wheat is too soft and the weather too 
warm to ship in boats. Millers want wheat, and 
there is but little coming in. Farmers are busy 
digging potatoes, and there is as yet little doing in 
wheat.”—“ What are you paying for potatoes ?”— 
“ That depends on the quality. Potatoes are very 
scabby this year. We are paying thirty-flve cents 
per bushel for fair to good potatoes, and farmers 
are drawing them in quite freely.”—“ Are you tak¬ 
ing in any apples?”—“Oh, yes,” he said with a 
smile, “we are paying seventy-flve cents a barrel 
for small barrels, and one dollar for flour barrel 
size. That is the situation to-day throughout this 
section.”—“That is for early apples,” we said, 
“ what shall you pay for winter fruit ?”—“ It is too 
early to answer this question with the late kinds 
of apples, but there will be the same difference in 
the price between the large and small barrels.” 
We stepped into a buteher’s shop. There was a 
nice fresh ham on the block, and the butcher was 
cutting off a couple of steaks for a customer. 
“ What are you paying for pork ?”—“ I paid seven 
and a half cents for this, and I have some coming 
in to-morrow at eight cents per pound. It is more 
than it is worth, but I paid it because I had to have 
it, and could not get it for less.”—“What sized 
pigs do you prefer?”—“About two hundred 
pounds; and for this reason, I cut up what my 
customers order from day to day for fresh 
pork, and put down the parts that are not 
wanted, and in ten days I have fine 
‘pickled pork,’ which, at this season, sells 
better than regular salt pork. Of course 
the best fresh pork is from pigs weigh¬ 
ing about one hundred pounds, but it is 
rare that we can get any pigs of this size 
that are fat enough.” The consumption 
of fresh meat among farmers, he said, 
was far larger than formerly, especially 
beef. Farmers do not like mutton. He 
bought nearly all his beef in Buffalo. 
Sheep and lambs, and calves, and poul¬ 
try, and pigs, he got from the farmers in 
the neighborhood. When we came baek, 
another produce dealer met us and re¬ 
marked, “everything is cheap except 
meat. I have to pay fourteen to fifteen 
cents per pound for beefsteak. It is too 
high. ” A long freight train wen t past on 
the railroad, loaded with cattle, sheep, 
and pigs. This is a sight so common, 
that we take no notice of it. But several 
cars were loaded with live poultry, on 
their way to New York and Boston. This 
is something new. A few miles from the 
village we passed the farm of Mr. Scran¬ 
ton. He and two men were digging 
Beauty of Hebron potatoes with four 
tine forks, not hooks. The potatoes were 
sorted and barrelled in the field. He 
thought potatoes paid better than wheat, 
and the late varieties better than the 
early sorts. Farmers were everywhere 
busy at work. Stone-fences were being 
built, houses and barns re,shingled, re¬ 
paired and painted, the roads were in 
excellent condition, and everything in¬ 
dicated a thrifty, energetic, and prosper¬ 
ous community. The low price of grain, however, 
must have a depressing effect somewhere. True, 
other things are cheap. “ Everything is low ex¬ 
cept meat,” expresses the situation elsewhere, 
as well as at Spencerport, and the conclusion is 
inevitable. Farmers must raise more meat. J. H. 
Simple Home-Made Plant Stand. 
Mr. L. B. Corey, Suffolk Co, N. Y., sends us a 
description of a plant stand, made in two hours at a 
nominal cost. Four pieces of half-inch iron rod 
(in this case part of an old lightning rod), had holes 
punched through them at proper hights, in which 
screws two inches long were inserted into the 
ends of inch boards, cut to the desired length and 
width for shelves. The iron rods served as posts, 
and the whole was firm and durable, and quite 
pretty. As many shelves may be used as de¬ 
sired, or the hight of the plants will permit. The 
stands would be improved by staining the shelves. 
