AMKl’.TCAN' AG-RICUI^TURIST 
[Februaet, 
48 
Thus far the winter has been remarkal)le for 
the long continuance of sleighing. No un- 
Hsunlly heavy snow storms have occurred, but 
tlie falls have been so timed that the winter 
roads have mostly remained in admirable order. 
Family rides and pleasure parties have made 
the otherwise dreary hours bright with enjo}^- 
ment; it lias been spring time in the social 
world, if not in the almanac. No field repays 
cultivation better than the home circle. It can 
scarcely be too often urged that the children 
should e.xpect and find greater enjoyment in 
the company of their parents and each other, 
than among strangers. The winter season is 
especially the time to strengthen home attach¬ 
ments, because so many attractions abroad are 
offered, and the comparative leisure gives better 
opportunity for recreation. Books, papers, and 
games within doors, rides in the family sleigh, 
and other out-door pleasures, may and should 
leave memories so bright that, in after years, 
the hearts of the children will ever turn with 
strong yearnings to the old homestead. The 
commandment, “ Honor thy father and mother,” 
will be rendered easy of performance, if parents 
do not neglect this essential part of duty. 
CoAi. Ashes.— Let any one doubting the 
value of hard coal ashes for manure, try them 
for walks. Dig out the soil Ihree or four inches 
deep, throw into the bottom any coal cinders, 
oyster shells, small stones, or other rubbish, for 
a foundation; then put on tlie ashes. Roll 
them, and the walk will be smooth, hard, and 
dry. If this does not quite satisfy one’s taste, 
let him just put an inch or two of fine gravel 
over the ashes; tlien roll smooth and solid. 
No wind will spoil such a walk, nor will it be 
muddy. It is the cheapest of good walks. 
A Live Farmers’ Club—Sorghum in Mass. 
The Springfield Republican publishes some 
of the doings of the wide-awake Farmers’ Club, 
of Wapping, in Deerfield, Mass. Weekly 
meetings are held at a school-house, which are 
regularly attended during winter and spring, 
by both se.xes. At a recent meeting, “ Sorghum 
Culture” was under consideration. Last year 
sorghum seed was received by the club from 
the Department at Washington, and Mr. Hiram 
Root offered to be at the e.xpeuse of machinery 
for producing syrup, if some dozen others 
would each raise small plots, and give him half 
the product for manufacturing. The plan was 
agreed to, and the machinery, consisting of mill 
and evaporator, were procured from Mansfield, 
Ohio. Five or si.x acres of the cane were raised. 
Tl>e results of the different plots were various, 
but the whole was sufiiciently remunerative to 
encourage future trials. Mr. Root produced 
154 gallons of thick, heavy syrup, from three- 
fourths of an acre. This account indicates the 
value of farmers’ clubs, and also shows the ad¬ 
vance being made in Sorghum culture. Many 
similar successful experiments were made in 
iierv localities last summer, and the day seems 
not far distant when the whole land will be 
sweetened with this northern home-grown sjwup. 
How a Pioneer Established an Orchard. 
Mr. 1. W. Rollins removed from New Eng¬ 
land to Minnesota, in 1855. At that time the 
locality where he settled was entirely new, 
there being no land under cultivation in his 
neighborliood. He did not wait until he could 
afford to invest in fruit trees before he provided 
for an orchard, but sowed apple seeds the first 
spring. In three 3 "ears he had trees ready to 
plant in the orchard, and in four j^ears more 
gathered his first fruit. He has noiv a healthy, 
thrift}’- orchard of 300 trees just coming into 
bearing. Many persons after they establish a 
new farm wait more than nine j’-ears before they 
are ready to plant an orchard of young trees, and 
then several years more for it to yield returns. 
A little providence at the beginning in starting 
the seedlings, a little skill in budding or graft¬ 
ing, and care in setting and protecting the 3 ’-oung 
trees, are all that is needed to soon give the poor¬ 
est settler in new countries a vahiable orchard. 
The too frequent use of authority impairs it 
If thunder were continuous it would excite no 
more sensation than the noise of a grist-milL 
