CALIFORNIA RYE GRASS, 
grow, and having a very bad winter, a great 
share of it winter killed. In the spriug I 
thought that my wheat crop would not 
amount to much. Then came the heavy 
drouth, and that, of course, still made it 
worse. But, however, in the month of 
August, I harvested and threshed the re¬ 
maining crop, and realized one hundred and 
forty-eight bushels of wheat, worth $3 per 
bushel; said wheat weighed sixty - two 
pounds to the bushel, just as it came from 
the machine. 
I think that some of it yielded nearly 
forty bushels per acre. I plowed very deep 
and top-dressed witli nearly forty loads of 
well rotted manure per acre. Soil, muck 
and sandy loam; previous crop, barley ; 
second previous, corn. The wheat was 
sown September 18th, 1869, and harvested 
the last of July, 1870, averaging 32 mid 
10-13lb bushels per acre. T. C. Pa h ick n 
Jefferson Co., N. V. 
alone; that its effect is seen immediately on 
its application to the juice. 1 also know 
that there are lots of cane which contain a 
white, starchy substance, which cannot be re¬ 
moved except by the use of silicate of soda ; 
and in such cases the quantity of silicate 
must he increased. My experience is that 
when lime alone is used the corn stalk or 
pumpkin taste is not removed. 
Mr. Wagner states that lie used each of 
the three methods, and yet he does not men¬ 
tion the sulphate of alumina at all. There 
are three methods, each having a distinct 
patent. As Mr. Wagner lifts spoken of the 
first two, 1 will mention the third. In this 
method lime, baryta, silicate of soda, and 
sulphate of alumina are usod; and this 
method is decidedly the best of the three. 
It. is wonderfully strange to me that Mr. 
Cr.ouGn, who has spent years of time and 
thousand? of money, has employed every 
available means of testing his improvements, 
is familiar with the means employed in treat¬ 
ing cane juice in all parts of the world, has 
submitted his improvements U» many of the 
most prominent chemists and most intelli¬ 
gent practical operators in the country, has 
applied them practically in hundreds of 
places, and has the testimony of hundreds 
of practical operators who are now using 
them successfully, should he accused of 
palming off a swindle upon llio people of 
this country, by such a blast as that from 
Iowa. 
I 11 the interest of sorghum, in Justice to 
Mr. Clough, (with whom I am personally 
acquainted, and by reputation I know him 
to be an honest, upright man,) and as a sub¬ 
scriber to your paper, I claim a space in 
your columns. I. M. Partin. 
arm 
c0tT0tmi 
Mn. X. A. Willard, in his notes from the 
Pacific Coast, mentioned a species of wild 
Rye Grass which was highly prized by stock 
raisers in lliat Slate. In one of his letters 
be sent us a small specimen from which the 
accompanying illustration was made. The 
specimen was not in a first chws condition 
for determining the species but it is doubtless 
STORING TURNIPS. 
SALT AND LIME FOR SMUT. 
Thousands of bushels of turnips are de¬ 
stroyed every winter from carelessness in 
storing. They are often placed in a warm 
cellar, and hundreds of' bushels in one heap, 
where they become healed and rotten. They 
may ho stored In cool cellars, particularly 
in the more Northern States; hut not more 
than a half dozen bushels should be put into 
one bin or box. Barrels are far more con¬ 
venient than boxes, and hold enough for 
safety to the turnips. Where the crop is 
large, it should be Stored in heaps in the field, 
covering with straw or hay until the ground 
begins to freeze; Ihen throw on a few Inches 
of soil, leaving an air-liole at the lop. Make 
the heaps in a dry place, and gather only in 
dry weather, cutting off leaves and long 
tap-roots. 
There arc, as a general rule, more turnips 
injured in winter by heat, than frost, in con¬ 
sequence of being placed in large heaps. 
Twenty-live to thirty bushels is as many as 
it is safe to place together, and then very lit¬ 
tle protection is required. If every farmer 
would only take clue notice of how his tur¬ 
nips keep through winter, he would soon 
learn just how to manage them and pre¬ 
vent loss. 
Many persons appear to think that the use 
of suit and lime for smut in wheat is a new 
discovery. At the meetings of the Farmers’ 
Club in this city, the subject often comes up, 
and some of the wiseacres who never read 
agricultural papers or books, will refer to the 
use of salt and lime as though these materi¬ 
als were never used except in their own im¬ 
mediate neighborhood. How many centuries 
ago salt was used as a preventive against 
smut in wheat, we do not know; but Jeth¬ 
ro Tull, in his “ Horse-Hoeing Husbandry,” 
1733, says:—“ Brining of wheat to cure or 
prevent emu (tineas, (as I have been credibly 
informed,) was accidentally discovered about 
seventy years ago, in the following manner, 
viz:—A ship load of wheat was sunk near 
Bristol, in autumn, and afterwards, at ebbs, 
all taken up, after it had been soaked in sea 
water; hut it being unfit for making bread, 
a farmer sowed some of it in a field, and 
when it was found to grow very well, the 
whole cargo was bought at a low price by 
many farmers, and all of it sown in different 
places. At the following harvest, all the 
wheat in England happened to be smutty, 
except the produce of this brined seed, and 
that was all clean from simutiness.” 
The above may or may not be true, but it 
shows conclusively that salt was known as a 
preventive from smut, early 4 in the seven¬ 
teenth century. It was also recommended 
to soak seed wheat in strong brine, and then 
roll it in dry powdered lime, the same as is 
industrial (tapirs 
THE HABIT OF BORROWING, 
In this, as in everything else, the habit, of 
borrowing becomes second nature. It is one 
of the worst social habits that one can indulge 
in. It. is alike injurious to the borrower and 
the lender—the accommodated and accom¬ 
modating. When once begun, it is just 
like every other evil practice, hard to over¬ 
come. Wo hold that it is n species of sin, 
from the fact that it frequently induces hard 
feelings—criminations and recriminations. 
The habit is found to prevail in all classes of 
society. The lawyer, the physician and the 
minister—to a greater or less extent, borrow 
books, etc., from each other. When the 
lender wants to use the borrowed article, in 
all probability it cannot lm found—or, if 
found, is not in as good condition ns when 
loaned 
HOP CULTURE: 
Iicasons of tlm Season. 
The season has had its lesson for the hop 
grower. It has made him smart, and lie is 
apt to remember it. The hop started early 
in the spring. The ice, or some other cause, 
having affected it, it did not start evenly; 
there was a difference of several weeks’ 
growth in the hills I hat constituted the yard. 
i'L is looked discouraging — and it pro veil 
disastrous, as will be seen. 
The season was a dry one, retarding the 
vine. The early aiul late vine, however, 
came on until the blossom put forth. Now 
showers sot in ; the vine grow, but not the 
leaves so much as the hop; this, in the early 
growth, (the forward vine,) showed larger 
and finer than we were accustomed to see 
Imps of late years; but there were hut few 
such vines. The rest, the main crop, lin¬ 
gered ; so at least it seemed ; it seemed never 
to gel out of the burr, and growers became 
perplexed and frightened; they considered 
their crop a loss. But all at once it put out, 
and the growth of the young hop was un¬ 
precedented, and a fine, hop too. Tt reached 
its impurity in duo season, having from the 
favorableness v' the season gained a few 
weeks in advance upon former years. 
And here wo will note the error. The 
hop was picked too early; the late and main 
crop was therefore premature, while the early 
hills, ripened weeks before, were too late, 
showing a dark hue, and hence hurting a 
fine lot with which it was mixed. But such 
was the case—all were picked together, the 
immature and over-ripe, t he main crop, how¬ 
ever, being too green, lacking strengt h, lack¬ 
ing the smell and flavor which are so com¬ 
mon to ripe hops. 
Here was the fault—picking these hops 
(the early and late) together; they should 
have been kept separate, each picked in its 
due time. This would have afforded good 
hops all round. As il was, the owners wished 
to secure both at otic picking, so they spoiled 
both; to a great extent is this the case, for 
both were iu a had condition. And this is 
the case commonly; few have taken advan¬ 
tage of the time, and picked each in its place. 
The few that have done so, have a choice 
hop; or those that had but a few early 
among t hem, and have permitted the crop 
to ripen. 
Il is for this reason — the great variance 
in the crop—that prices in the opening of 
Um varied so much, running from 
twenty to llnj <... n Ls, and over. The hop 
growers are to blame llien.oaves ibr the had 
stale of the market. It was not enough tu-.it. 
the hops were in the condition they were, 
they must be rushed to market, must be 
sold, and hence the price Went lower than 
there was any necessity for. 
It is a most excellent policy to raise the • 
best quality, anil when there, is a market, sell 
the ciop; it will command a leading price. * 
This is so witli farm produce in general, the 
hop included. ’ * 
Another thing: —Many yards will be 1 
plowed up,—this in consequence of the bad 
success of the crop. And yet wo arc told 
by close calculators that the hop has done 
as well, with all its drawbacks, as other 
crops. The safe, the successful plan, we c 
may say, is, to continue the crop when it is a 
ouec established on good ground and in a a 
good locality. Old, rich hop growers are an 2 
evidence of ibis. The hop hi this section a 
lias been the making of many farmers—those s 
who persevered, mid are still not only grow- t 
ing hops, but liuye invested more largely in I 
the business, and have attended to it, giving <1 
the necessary cultivation. Like corn, the s 
hop responds to this.— f. g. ’ 
an Elymits , a very extensive genus of grasses 
found in ail parts of the world. Wc have 
several native species, the E. vuillis or Soft. 
Bye Grass is quite common all through our 
North vvi stern Slates and Territories. Il is a 
perennial grass growing about three feet high, 
and is quite nutritious,although not equal to 
our best cultivated species. It is quite 
doubtful if any of the \viid grasses of the 
Western plains are worth cultivating at the 
East, but. they are exceedingly valuable in 
their native localities, and probably superior 
to the more nutritious cultivated species, and 
will grow luxuriantly where these will not. 
orsesuan 
HORSE HARNESSING MACHINE 
Hard t hough is and expressions are 
the result. The farmer borrows some agri¬ 
cultural implement from his neighbor—a 
hoe, plow, rake, spade, cart, wagon, harness, 
scythe, or some other of the many tools 
which arc likely to he brought into daily 
use on the farm. The result is, in five cases 
out of seven, that the lender has to send for 
the article loaned, and as frequently finds it. 
in a dilapidated condition 
Suel Foster, Muscatine, Iowa, writes 
the Iowa Homestead:—A few years ago the 
Hon. Peter Melendt rode up from town 
with me in my buggy, and as I drove into 
the buggy bouse I said to him, “ Bit still and 
take out your watch, and time mo in un¬ 
harnessing my horse." He did so, and 
| when the harness was off and hung up, lie 
I stretched himself back in the buggy and 
gave a hearty laugh, and said, “ Tldrly-two 
seconds, the quickest lime on record for un¬ 
harnessing." 
If any of my special friends will do me 
honor to ride up from town with me, and 
will keep the secret, I Avili show them the 
rapidity and case of its working. 
The machine consists of two small iron 
pullies, cost fifty cents; a small cord three 
yards in length, five conls; a wooden hook 
which the Lord furnishes me in the woods. 
One pulley is fastened to a joist directly over 
the horse’s hack, the other a yard to the left. 
The hook is to draw the harness up with, 
the cord being through the two pullies, with 
an iron ring through the left hand end of 
the cord to fasten upon a largo nail to hold 
the harness up, The harness must he made 
with the collar open at the bottom, with the 
hames attached to the collar, so that the 
harness will raise up from the horse. The 
lines arc left over the dash, nor arc they un¬ 
buckled from the bead-stall; the tugs are 
left hitched to the buggy, bo are the hold- 
hacks, and the shafts are left in the loops; 
the head-stall is taken off with the lines at¬ 
tached and hung upon the hack-saddle; the 
haine-strap is unbuckled, tho two girths un¬ 
buckled,and all the harness, with the shafts, 
are drawn iq* together. 
1 sec no reason why a two-horse buggy or 
wagon could not be arranged in the same 
way. Unhitch the snap of the hold-back, 
am! hitch it upon the inside, amt draw the 
hell up A'. ith the two harnesses. 
My horse soon learned to hack into the 
harness, and J let it down on his hack, and 
the harnessing is facilitated more than the 
unharnessing. Now I aui used to the ma¬ 
chine, 1 can't do without it. 
COOKING FEED FOR STOCK 
Of course, hard 
feelings, perhaps unkind words, are Indulged, 
and often a. life-time estrangement arises from 
borrowing some simple tool. 
We, therefore, InsLt that as far as possi¬ 
ble, this practice should cease. If every 
one who is able to supply himself with books, 
tools, <&c., would do so, much trouble would 
be saved to all. There are some few in¬ 
stances in which the practice is admissible; 
for instance, when a man misplaces a book 
and is bound to use one immediately; or 
When a farmer or gardener breaks an imple¬ 
ment and is compelled to use one before be 
can have his mended—in such cases, bor¬ 
rowing is not wrong, and a clever, liberal 
neighbor will never refuse to loan anything 
Jte can spare if such circumstances present 
themselves. We know farmers who own 
and cultivate from one hundred and fifty to 
three hundred acres of land, and have not 
$o0 worth of tools of their own—who bor¬ 
row a wagon to haul firewood, a cart to 
haul out manure and plow, to break up 
ground at, seed time, rakes, forks, etc., to 
Cap up and stack from twenty to filly acres 
of meadow and small grain; and I know 
some of them who borrow from men who 
have only a small garden patch to cultivate, 
THE CHINESE YAM 
1 wish to speak a few words in praise of 
that neglected esculent—the yam. I cannot 
give any reason why they are not more gen- 
erally grown, unless it ho that the people are 
ignorant of their many lino qualities. To gel 
the greatest remuneration for labor should 
ho the aim of everyone; and right hero I 
wish to say that to raise the yam it takes, 
comparatively speaking, no labor at all. Get 
the right kind of soil, and properly prepared, 
plant your tubers, anil your work is done 
until you want to dig one for cooking. 
Yams were first introduced into thiscoun- 
tiy by the Patent Office about fifteen years 
ago. Tho result from the tubers distributed 
over tho country the first year did not moot 
the expectations of most of those experi¬ 
menting with them; consequently they were 
abandoned as being a wort bless product. But 
others who better understood the nature of 
its growth, preserved the roots for a second 
planting, and found that they attained a 
much larger size. 
When cultivated in a deep, rich, loose soil, 
the small tubers, after the first year, will 
penetrate the earth perpendicularly two or 
mure feet, ami will continue to increase in 
size from year to year, ami will not become 
woody, like those of the parsnip and many 
other plants, after the first year’s growth. 
' t wenty-four hours; turn on steam and cook 
until done, when tho barrels should he full. 
7o Malce Mush. —Fill as many barrels half 
full of water as you wish to make barrels of 
mush; bring the water nearly to a boil by 
passing the steam to the bottom; stir in 
each barrel one and a-ltalf to one and three- 
quarter bushels of meal until well mixed; 
then cook until done, Avhun the barrels 
should be full. 
7b Cook Vegetables .—Fill the barrels full, 
and if no other cover is at band, chop the 
top fine with a shovel; then cover them 
over with bran meal or provender, and cook 
until done; have holes in the bottoms of the 
barrels to carry off condensed steam. 
To Scald Hogs .—Set a cask (if a box is 
not used) on an incline against your plat¬ 
form ; pass your steam to the bottom of the 
water until sufficiently hot. 
7b Wash Clothing .—Pass the steam into 
your tub of water to heat it to do the wash¬ 
ing ; the clothes can be boiled after by steam 
in the tub, or any wooden vessel without 
fear of rust. I 11 all eases, pass the steam to 
the bottom to boil any substance, and shut 
off steam, or take out tho pipes when the 
cooking is done, as tho boiler in cooling off, 
draws the substance into it and the pipes. 
1 liese, of course, are exceptional cases, 
but by no means isolated. We venture to 
say that you mav look around in anv nebdi- 
borhood, and find lids true to a greater or 
lesser extent. Now, we insist that this is 
downright knavery, to use the mildest furin 
of expression applicable lo the case. There 
is no excuse or justification for it. If the 
borrowing were reversed, it would be all 
right ; for the poor man is often unable to 
purchase such lltings as his necessities re¬ 
quire, and the men of wealth in every neigh¬ 
borhood should, ns a species nl' noble charity, 
lend fo their less fortunate fellow mem 
However, as far ns any man can possibly 
supply himself with the requisites of farm 
operations, lie should do it. Often, it costs 
more in time and trouble waiting to borrow 
and return an article, than the article itself 
is worth. 
It matters not that you have but infrequent 
use for an implement; the knowledge that 
you have it in possession, ready for use at a 
moment’s warning, is valuable to you as a 
satisfaction. If I only needed a scythe to 
mow a yard. I had rather buy one than bor¬ 
row it, if it had to hang in the tool house 
ever afterwards unused. If I needed a two- 
horse plow to break up a garden one hun¬ 
dred feet square, 1 bad rather buy one than 
borrow it, if it had lo remain in the crib the 
balance of the year unused. Let all avIio 
are able, adopt my rule, and my word for it 
von will all he better neighbors, the one to- 
Avard Hie other. Woodaian. 
Stanford, Kj\, 1870. 
REFINING SORGHUM 
A Deli-line 
ol (lie Cloiiali Process. 
I saw an article in a late Rural New- 
Yorker purporting to have been written 
by J. Wagner, Farmington, Iowa, to the 
Farmers’ Club, Avherein he gives Lis experi¬ 
ence in the use of the Clough refining pro¬ 
cess. After having tried carefully, patiently 
and exactly each of the three methods sent 
him on different lots of cane, he is t hen con¬ 
fident that he knows all about it. and then 
says it is a humbug, Isasmuch as the silicate 
of soda and the sulphate of baryta does no 
good. 
I would say that I have used the Clough 
Process carefully, patiently and exactly on 
different lots of cane, and am free to say lliat 
it is tho most valuable discovery that ever 
has been made in the interest of sorghum. 
I do know that the silicate of soda is not 
worthless stuff; also tho baryta. I am well 
acquainted with the action of lime alone, 
and know of the partial or imperfect coagu¬ 
lation that takes place when lime only is 
used. I also know t hat when the silicate is 
used, a more perfect, defecation takes place 
than can be obtained by the use of lime 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN, 
To Prevent a Colt from J n laying. 
Pass a good stout surcingle nround Ills 
body; put on his halter, and have the halter 
strap long enough lo go from his head, be¬ 
tween his fore legs, through tho surcingle, 
and hack to one of his hind leg*. Procure a 
thill strap, and buckle around the leg be¬ 
tween the foot and joint; fasten the lmlter 
strap In this—shorter or longer, as the ob¬ 
stinacy of the case may require. It is also 
tip top to keep colts from running where 
there is likely to be danger from the result. 
If the thill strap should Cause any soreness 
on the leg, it may be wound with a woolen 
cloth, and it Avould be well to change from 
one leg to the other occasion ally, During 
the summer and fall I have been practicing 
on a very unruly colt, and could find noth¬ 
ing that would answer tho purpose till I 
tried the above, lie is now as docile as a 
kitten.—II. D. Edgakton, Allegan Co., Mich. 
Scrntclies on Iliirses. 
J. B. Potter, Lake Co., O., writes:—“ My 
remedy for scratches on horses or cows is an 
ointment made of equal parts of tar, sulphur 
and lard, applied every day. I have never 
failed of effecting a speedy cure.” 
JEFFERSON CO., N. Y., WHEAT, 
