W. Albro at a late meeting of the Chemung 
Valley Tobacco Club. He said:—Ten years 
ago cigar manufacturers could not find tobacco 
that was too thin and silky in texture. To¬ 
day they want a leaf that will stand a natural 
sweat and two or three artificial sweats, so 
they can obtain a color of leaf as black as my 
hat. The important question then is:—How 
can we obtain such a leaf f I answer, by rip¬ 
ening our tobacco. The longer tobacco stands 
in the field the more gum the leaf will contain 
and tho heavier will be the yield per acre.” 
In times of drought tobacco will ripen pre¬ 
maturely. The leaf assumes the leading indi¬ 
cations of maturity—a light mottled appear¬ 
ance—and sometimes the plant is attacked by 
rust, causing damage to the crop. If the 
needed rain comes in time these indications of 
ripeness will gradually disappear and the plant 
will again commence growing. When the 
rust appears so as to afford signs of serious 
damage to the crop, it is best, to commence the 
work of harvest immediately, otherwise there 
will usually be no loss from allowing the 
plants to stand in the field until three weeks 
or even longer after the “ topping” is done. 
Chemung Co., N. Y. G. a. g., jr. 
in favor of the lath and hook method, as will 
be seen by the following table, which is an 
estimate for fitting a three-and-one-half tier 
curing barn, 33 feet wide and 96 feet long, 
suitable for curing four acres of tobacco, for 
hanging by either method. 
FOB HANGING WITH TWINE UPON POLE'S. 
The following materials are required, cost¬ 
ing at present about the amounts affixed. 
4G2 poles '04x5 in., 1C ft. long—7,700 feet—at $!) 
perM..—S‘ : i> SO 
Twine required for four acres. 4 oo 
Total. ,.,*13 30 
FOR HANGING UPON LATH WITH HOOKS. 
210 poles 2Wx5 in., 1C ft. long-3,500 feet—@*0 
per M. ..$31 50 
4,000 lath, I!-c.xin., 4 ft. long, (g $3 per M. 12 no 
200 lbs. hook's © $12 per 1U0 lbs. 24 00 
Total. $67 50 
contests anything like extermination. It has 
been introduced into some parts of the South 
for the double purpose of furnishing feed and 
Another method often adopted to secure 
uniform temperature is to bury the bees. It 
is often referred to as putting the bees in a 
clamp. In principle this is like a cellar, as 
both make the earth serve as protection. For 
a series of years 1 bad no loss by this method, 
but one exceptionally warm Winter nearly 
half of the buried bees died, while all in the 
cellar, in fact all others, wintered well. That 
burying bees might he made a success I be¬ 
lieve; but the bees are beyond the reach of 
examination, so if anything is wrong we do 
not know it, und so cannot remedy it; hence 
I hesitate to recommend this method, though 
with it I have had what would bo called ex¬ 
cellent success. 
Packing under and about the hives with a 
thick layer of straw, or, better, with chaff, 
which is held in place by use of a box which 
surrounds the liive, is a third method which 
has been used with more or less success. The 
packing should be at least a foot thick, and a 
tube is so fixed that the bees can fly out at 
any time when the weather is warm enough. 
Thus the bees are left on the Summer stands 
and need no attention after they are once 
packed. Last Winter, however, proved that 
this plan would not answer on very cold Win¬ 
ters. 
A fourth method, that of chaff hives, is 
the same in principle as the above. The liive 
is double-walled, and the inclosed space is filled 
in with chaff. In both these last eases a chaff 
pillow is placed immediately above tho bees. 
I have always objected to these chaff hives as 
awkward, costly and inconvenient. Last 
Winter added—and unreliable. 
There ought also to be abundance of young 
bees in the hive in the Fall. I have proved 
the importance of this by direct experiment. 
This is not only important in wintering, but it 
insures against spring-dwindling. To secure 
young bees in the Fall, the bees must be kept 
breeding through September. With the Sy¬ 
rian bees—I suppose the same is true of the 
Cyprian—or with a September honey harvest, 
this will be secured without extra pains. Oth¬ 
erwise, feeding a little daily throughout this 
month will continue the breeding. 
A holo onc-lialf inch in diameter cut through 
the middle of the combs to afford a winter 
passage is also desirable. 
A thick layer of chaff held by porous cloth, 
immediately above the bees, above which 
there should be small ventilating openings, I 
think desirable, though not essential to suc¬ 
cess, even in the cellar. If chaff hives or 
packing are used the entrance should be nearly 
closed; in the cellar or clamp it should be left 
wide open. 
Preparing for Winter—that is, seeing that 
there is abundance of honey, that it is in few 
frames, that there is little pollen, anil that the 
brood chamber is confined to about one cubic 
foot of space, by use Of the division-board— 
may well be done as early as the middle of 
September. Then, if there is a Fall harvest, 
the bees are still gathering and will be less 
cross. If there is honey to extract, it is thin¬ 
ner and more readily extracted. If the bees 
are to be fed, this gives a chance to have all 
capped up in good time. If storing is still 
going on, as is true with us this year, a few 
empty frames maybe put next to thedivision- 
• board, and removed when the harvest ceases. 
I believe that the above offers all needed 
hints to solve the vexed question of wintering. 
Ag. College, Michigan. 
SPIKELETS OF QUACK GRASS.—FIG. 49S. 
forming a turf to prevent banks from wash¬ 
ing. It stai-ts very early in Spring. There is 
no royal way to lull it. Thorough tillage will 
accomplish the object. I have killed several 
pieces in different ways without attempting to 
raise a crop at the same time. I have succeeded 
best in the following way. Plow late in the 
Fall, and go on to it. as soon as possible after 
the ground thaws out—not waiting for the 
soil to Kettle. Cultivate well every two or 
three days till no traces are seen, which will 
usually leave time for a late crop of potatoes 
or rutabagas in the same season. 
Experience ami good judgment are neces¬ 
sary to determine when tobacco is ready to 
harvest. Previously in my articles on this 
subject, I have stated that tobacco should be 
cut about two weeks from the time when the 
plants are topped. The inexorable laws of 
fashion are constantly changing and tobacco 
manufacturers demand a different leaf now 
from what they wished for a few years ago. At 
present there is a rage for dark cigars, and in 
order to meet the wants of manufacturers, 
growers must allow tliei r tobacco to become 
fully ripe before harvesting it, which gives 
the product “body” so that it may be made of 
the desired color by re-sweating. For this rea¬ 
son I would extend the time to three weeks 
after “topping” when conditions allowed. Of 
course the length of time required to ripen a 
crop of tobacco will vary with circumstances. 
Some varieties will ripen earlier than others 
and in very dry weather tobacco will ripen 
SMUT AND INSECTS IN WHEAT. 
Mr. Stewart, in his “ Remarks on tho 
Wheat Number,” on page 058, says that I 
made a mistako in my reference to smut, in 
tho Wheat Number. Referring to Johnson’s 
son’s Encyclopaedia of Agriculture, I find 
that the only kind of smut mentioned under 
that head is the Uredo segetum, to which 
various other scientific names are given. A 
part of the description of this fungus can ap¬ 
ply only to the Uredo tVetida, for it is said 
that smutted grains of wheat are composed of 
about one-third their own weight of a green 
butyraceous, fetid and acid oil, and also of 
nearly one-fourth of a vegeto-animal sub¬ 
stance similar to that which comes from 
putrid gluten. Besides, all the solutions which 
are prescribed for destroying t he fungus apply 
exclusively to tho stinking smut, for there is 
no other to destroy after the wheat has been 
thrashed. Now, the black heads wfaigh ap¬ 
pear in wheat have no fetid odor, or, in¬ 
deed, much odor of any sort. They are 
never seen except for a short time after wheat 
has been in bloom, for at harvest the black 
powder has dropped off or been blown away 
by tho wind. In the work referred to above, 
smut balls aro incidentally mentioned under 
the head of blight, wh re they are said to be 
analogous to the Uredo segetum. The term 
smut, as popularly used among farmers, mil¬ 
lers, and dealers in wheat, applies only to 
fetid smut, for that is the only sort which con¬ 
cerns them, since, if not taken out, it injures 
the Dour. IJtake this occasion to say that farm¬ 
ers, while they may be ignorant of the scien¬ 
tific names of things which come under their 
observation, frequently have more distinct 
ideas of the things than the books which pro¬ 
fess to teach them. 
Mr. Stewart, in his further remarks, says 
that Col. Curtis calls the midge the wheat 
weevil. Now Mr. Stewart has himself con¬ 
founded this same midge with the Angoumois 
grain worm (Anucampsiseercalella). The mag¬ 
gots of the midge, or European wheat fly, do 
not eat out the heart of the kernels of wheat, 
as he says they do. They either eat the pollen, 
which prevents the kernel from forming at all, 
or else, if it has already formed, suck at it 
from the outside, which causes it to shrivel, or 
If too fully developed for that, blotches are 
made in its color. The maggots-have generally 
disappeared at the time of harvest, there¬ 
fore no midges proper would be found 
in the screenings from the fan, as Mr. 
Stewart says they are. Mr. S. has also 
mistaken a habit of the Angoumois grain 
worm for one of the Tinea granelia. Dr. 
Harris, in his treatise on insects expressly 
states that the young moth worms do not bur¬ 
row into the grain, as has been asserted by 
some writers, who seem to have confounded 
them with tho Angoumois grain worms; but 
as soon as they aro hatched they begin to 
gnaw the grain and cover themselves with 
the fragments which they line with a silken 
web. This fully accords with my own knowl¬ 
edge of them, for they and 1 are old acquain¬ 
tances. I am familiar also with the midge 
and grain weevil; the Angoumois grain moth 
I have never seen. “This last,” Dr. Harris 
says, “ is somewhat similar in its habits to the 
Tinea granelia. for it, too, spins a silken web, 
but it differs from that not only in Its descrip¬ 
tion, but in tho fact that it lays its eggs most¬ 
ly on tho ears of wheat and barley in tho field 
while they are still growing and are soft anil 
tender; sometimes also on stored grain in the 
Autumn, from which it appears that it breeds 
twice a year. The little, worm-like caterpil¬ 
lars, after they are hatched, disperse, and 
every one selects a single grain into which it 
burrows, and remains concealed therein after 
the grain is harvested. Having eaten out the 
heart of the grain, they spin a silken web to 
divide the hollow lengthwise into two unequal 
TOBACCO-GROWING NOTES 
There are several methods of hanging to¬ 
bacco in curing barns, practiced by growers 
of seed-leaf tobacco. In the two more common 
methods the plants are either hung or strung 
upon poles with twine, or suspended upon lath 
by small wire hooks one end being driven into 
the butts of the plant stalks. In the latter 
QUACK GRASS - TRITICUM REPENS 
PROFESSOR W. J. BEAL, 
This grass is also known as “ Quick Grass,” 
“Twitch Grass,” Quitch Grass,” “Couch 
Grass,” and “ Dog Grass.” It belongs to the 
same genus as all of our cultivated wheats. It 
varies greatly. The spikes on thrifty speci¬ 
mens are nearly a foot long; on poor speci¬ 
mens, two inches or less. The leaves are flat, 
often rough on the upper side and resemble 
those of timothy—Phleum prate use. The grass 
varies in hight from six inches to three feet- 
and-a-half, depending on tho soil and situa¬ 
tion. It flowers in June to August. 
Gould says, “The farmers of the United 
States unite in one continuous howl of execra¬ 
tion against this grass.” This is owing to its 
habit- well known to most farmers—of send¬ 
ing out, long underground stems (not roots) 
which rapidly extend Lhu grass in even-direc¬ 
tion, especially In light soil. In good soil it 
will cut ft fine crop of ha y of excellent quality. 
In poor soil, the growth is short and small. It 
starts very soon after mowing and affords a 
good pasture where almost any other grass 
would do the same It, has undoubtedlyBeen 
introduced at, the East, but ou the Western 
plains it is indigenous. Where it vegetates 
freely'it does not seed, but when the stalks 
grow small and short, seeds are often devel¬ 
oped. It Is very hardy and adapted to a great 
variety of climates. When once introduced it 
comes to stay. Here is the great trouble: the 
farmer sometimes wishes to raise something 
else ou his fields and Quack Grass stubbornly 
QUACK CIRASS.—TRITICUM RF.PKNS.— FIG. 499, 
method there are several important advan¬ 
tages gained, resulting in a saving of time and 
iu securing the crop without damage to the 
leav ts from sun-burning or mutilation. 
much more rapidly than in wet seasons, but it is 
a common error to harvest tobacco too green, 
which results in loss in yield and in a product 
too thin in texture and too light in color to 
suit the present fashion. 
Tho difference in cost of fitting a curing 
barn for hanging tobacco by the two methods 
—using lath tuid hooks, or twine and poles—is 
I cannot better express my views on this 
subject than to quote tho remarks of Mr. W. 
