FEB. 7 
would Indorse all that bad been said of the 
Charles Downing. It grew in favor on ac¬ 
quaintance. He also liked the Monarch very 
much. If confined to one variety, it would be 
Triomphe dcGand. Champion was worthy of 
all Dr. Hexamer had said of it. Sharplesswas 
very promising ; so was Miner’s Prolific. ThJs 
was very productive aud stood the sun well. 
He could not distinguish any diflerenco be¬ 
tween Champion and Windsor Chief. Golden 
Defiance was his best late berry. Springdale 
had always done well Crystal City was very 
early. He thought spring cultivation very 
beneficial; had seen failures where it waB 
omitted. Moisture was essential for success. 
Irrigation would eventually bo practiced. 
Mr. Crane bad grown Strawberries for 25 
years. Had practiced irrigation years ago and 
prolonged the crop till the 15ih of July. Min¬ 
er’s Prolific wa6 appropriately named; Its 
foliage stood well. It was his beet variety 
last year, Charles Downing did not do as well 
as formerly. Durand^ varieties with him were 
failures. 
Mr. Parry approved of what had been said 
generally. One of the best crops be ever 
rateed was of hoyden’s SO on a piece of ground 
Just suited to them. He was emboldened by 
his success to plant it largely the next year, 
and lost all from drought. He cited an in¬ 
stance of a nun in Gloucester, who succeeded 
admirably with Triomphe de Gaud by irriga¬ 
tion. 
Mr. Collins iudorsed much that had been 
said, especially regarding Charles Downing. 
Continental was a valuable variety in his vicin¬ 
ity, it pays as well as any of the late sorts. 
Mr. Parcel! asked if any one had experience 
with commercial fertilizers exclusively, and 
got no response save from Mr. Lovett, that he 
had seen beneficial effects from the use of 
Mapea’s fruit and vine manure. 
Mr. Claywood thought there was too much 
crowding of plants. Ho advocated hill cul¬ 
ture; hud used a spoonful of sulphur about 
the roots of the plauts when set, aud had had 
no trouble with “grubs.” 
Dr. Trimble had never seen such berries in 
market as the late Mr. Knox of Pittsburg used 
to send to New York, and they were Jucuudas. 
Mr. Roe prized it highly. He grew 190 bush¬ 
els per acre of It last seasou. 
Mr. Ward would speak a good word for the 
Great American. Though so much hud been 
said against it, with the 6auie culture and 
alongside the Downing, Boyden’s 30, etc., he 
had realized 60 per cent, more for it the past 
season. 
And thus ended the strawberry discussion. 
It had covered nearly the whole field owing 
to the groat latitude allowed, and w&b of much 
interest? but the main question of “future 
profit” was not touched upon. If my readers 
can solve the problem from thi6 digest of the 
discussions they can do more than I can. 
E. W. 
Experience W'Ith the Pea-Weevil.— Four 
years ago my pea Beed was so badly eaten by 
the weevil that I planted double the quantity, 
to insure a full row. What vines came up 
were not strong. 1 saved the first peas on the 
vines, however, for seed, and lied them up in a 
sound oag. The next spring I put peas, bugs and 
all in boiling water for about a minute. The 
following year I found I did not have half the 
quantitv of bugs, aud last spring 1 found but 
two in a quart of seed. I live a hail mile from 
any pea-raiser, 60 that I am not troubled by 
the immigration from other pea-vines. I think 
if every one would follow the plan of putting 
the seed iu boiling water, the pest would soon 
be got rid of. j. m. m. 
Jfiflii Crojis. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH TOBACCO. 
G. A. GOTV, JB. 
Wishing to experiment somewhat with dif¬ 
ferent kinds of tobacco, I procured, last spring, 
seeds of six varieties, namely Havana, Cape, 
Silky Prior, Ohio Broad-leaf, Lancaster and 
Chemung Broad-leaf. The seed of the first 
two varieties was Imported | the last three are 
varieties of the Connecticut Seed-leaf and the 
Silky Prior is a variety largsly grown in Vir¬ 
ginia. 
The seed was sown iu the usual manner, and 
the plants, as soon as they became of suitable 
size, were set out in a good, fertile, well-pra- 
pared soil. Owing to the dry weather which 
prevailed during the greater part of the grow¬ 
ing season, the tobacco did not make as large 
a growth as I anticipated. The plants, while 
growing, received the same care that is usually 
given them, and when ripe were cut and hung 
up to cure in the manner followed by tobacco 
growers here. When the tobacco was thor¬ 
oughly cured, it was taken down and the leaves 
stripped from the stalks. The Havana aud 
Silky Prior were planted in adjoining plats of 
equal size. The Havana from the plat weighed 
*9 pounds and the Prior 78 pounds, or at a rate 
per acre of 1200 and 1800 pounds respectively. 
The other varieties were not weighed. In the 
quality and size of the leaf as well as in the 
manner of growth when In the field, there is a 
marked contrast. The leaves of the Havana 
are very small compared with those of the 
seed-leaf varieties, the largest being about 10 
inches in length aDd four or five inches wide, 
while some leaves of the Ohio Broad-leaf have 
measured three feet In length and 18 Inches in 
width. The quality of the Havana is good, 
and when assorted, it turned out a larger per 
centage of wrappers than any other variety 
that I have tried. The Cape resembles the 
Havana, except that it does not grow so tall 
and has somewhat larger leaves. The 8ilky 
Prior is of good quality and runs well as to 
wrappers, but the leaf Is not a6 fine In texture 
as the Havana and grows of ranch larger size. 
The other three varieties resemble each other 
so much that I can detect no marked variations 
in the quality, the main difference being in the 
character of growth in the field and the size of 
leaf, the Ohio Broad leaf being the largest and 
most “ leafy " variety, aud consequently, as It 
has cured out well, the most profitable kind to 
grow in this locality. Our crop of 11 acres, 
grown the past summer, is mainly of this 
variety, and we have sold it readily for 16 ets. 
per pound “ through.” Havana tobacco, to be 
made as profitable to growers as these seed 
leaf varieties, would have to command a much 
larger price per pound, as the yield per acre Is 
from one-third to one-half less, ami the ex 
penae In growing it is no less, as It “ suckers ” 
more aud requires a longer period to bring it 
to maturity. 
Chemung Co., N. Y. 
-- 
Jot fojtirs. 
THE U8E OF PEAT FOR FUEL. 
HENRY STEWART. 
Sorghum in Connecticut. 
Some 26 or more years ago, some small pack 
ages of sorghum seed received from the De 
partment of Agriculture, were grown here a6 
a curious plant, supposed to be of the broom- 
corn family. But from that time forward for 
twelve or fifteen j ears, no attempt was made 
to grow It, or uutil a little excitement grew 
out of the Introduction of some sirup said to 
have been made from the sorghum cane. The 
result was the erection of a mill for grinding 
or pressing the cane, aud a large pun of cop¬ 
per for evaporation; and then, some far¬ 
mers engaged In the cultivation of the crop ; 
but as It was au cutiroly new thing, and they 
were wanting in experience, the results were 
not as satisfactory as anticipated, and yet by 
no means discouraging. The first sirup was 
of a very poor grade In comparison with what 
is now produced. But so favorable was the 
result that from that time on there bar' Been 
more or less of sorghum raised here and manu¬ 
factured into sirup. In some instances the 
yield has been quite large; but figures are not 
at band, except of one case iu which Sfi gallons 
of excellent Birup were obtained from 40 rods 
of ground. So far as the cultivation is con¬ 
cerned, It varies but little fiorn that of corn, 
although at the first weeding, it may bo a little 
more difficult unless planted upon very clean 
laud- Messrs. Brown aud Utley are the manu¬ 
facturers hare, and Mr. Brown has made close 
observations upon the subject and has become 
fully satisfied that the character and condiiion 
of the soil influence the result very much. 
This section contains a great diversity of soil, 
and therefore there has been an opportunity 
for learning some facts touching the case. In 
the first place, Mr. Brown is satisfied that itre- 
quires a warm, sandy soil and should not be 
planted too early; that If planted upon a moist 
wet., peaty soil, the yield of sirup will be much 
less and of poorer quality. He usually plauts 
alter he has planted his corn, and upon a HOil 
that is dry, warm, sandy aud fertile, aud ap¬ 
plies bo liberal a quantity of manure—hog 
manure he considers the best—that it grows 
rapidly through the season. The sooner the 
juice is expressed after the cane is cut, ibe 
better, as there will be more and a better 
sirup. It should not be allowed to get f rosted, 
as that would greatly injure the sirup. One 
of Mr. Brown's customers kept an accurate 
account, and the entire cost of his crop was 25 
cents per gullon. He was offered 80 cents per 
gallon for the entire crop, but refused. 
Tolland Co., Conn. Wu. H. Yeomans. 
-- 
Drooping Sorghum.— For several years 
I have laised it and shall continue to do so. 
Stock of all kinds eat it greedily, but 1 deem 
it especially valuable iu the poultry yard. 
The “good wife" who superintends this de¬ 
partment, feeds the youug chicks “ab initio” 
with this grain with the best results. Corn 
rye, oats etc., are grains that are too large 
for the little fellows to swallow ungiound. 
the flour must be wet into a paste to become 
available. All this muss ami trouble can be 
avoided by feeding ungiound drooping sor¬ 
ghum. 1 commend it especially to those 
who use incubators. It does uot require a 
long season for its maturity ; hence it is adap¬ 
ted to a wide territory. Until forty bushels 
are Bent away, Rural folks can obtaiu trial 
packages gratis, by sending a stout envelope 
addressed and stamped to R. H. Crane. 
Orleans, Neb. 
very 
Peat when free from sand, makes a very 
good fuel, giving out great heat, and when 
covered with ashes retaining a slow combus¬ 
tion for a long time. In burning. It emits a 
sweet-scented smoke which Is very pleasant 
as it is borne by the breeze to the passing 
traveler. Its only fault Is that the ashes are 
light and are easily wafted by a very light 
draft of air from the fire-place into a room. 
But what is there of all the useful things 
which nature has provided us with, that has 
not some drawback In the using of it? Ef¬ 
forts have been made to utilize peat for fuel 
In this country for the purposes of smelting 
iron aud firing under locomotive boilers; but 
while we have coal and wood so cheap and 
readily available, the vast beds of peat which 
exist will probably remain dormant except 
for private household uses. The peat for 
the purposes above mentioned was com¬ 
pressed by powerful machinery into hard, 
solid masses not unlike the W. Va., splint 
coal, or the brown coal known as the 
lignite which is common iu the far Northwest. 
But peat may be prepared for fuel with 
little trouble. 
In Ireland, Scotland, Wales and parts of 
England where there are extensive bogs or 
peat swamps, the peat Is cut out In systematic 
but very simple fashion as follows:—The moss 
and sedges, with the upper layer of the peat, 
are removed by sharp-edged spades, wheu the 
brown, fibrous peat, which alone is used for 
fuel, is laid bare. This is cut out into blocks 
about nine inches long, six wide and six inches 
thick, with a tool called a skean. This is 
like a spade wilh upturned sides, and all the 
edges ground sharp. As the tool Is thrust 
down into the peat, it cuts out a block of the 
size above meutloned. These are piled up 
in perpendicular ranks, like those of bricks 
in a brick-vard, to dry. Iu drying, they Bhrlnk 
to about two Inches iu thickness aud some¬ 
what less in length aud width than when 
first cut. These blocks, or “ turfs,” as they 
are called when dry, foim the only fuel of 
thousands of persons who live ou the poor 
aud small tracts of laud (uot to be called farms) 
that we are now reading so much about in 
connection with the distress in Ireland. They 
are also peddled about the streets of large 
towns and cities adjacent to tracts of peat 
bog, and are used there for summer fuel In 
wealthy homes and to make an agreeable and 
cheerful fire ou chilly summer evenings, as 
they are kindled readily and give a fierce, 
glowing heat while burning. 
There are thousands of acres of useful peat 
in thousands of localities in America, which 
might be made very valuable as fuel. Iu the 
prairie regions peal is plentiful, and as one 
goes further north into the treeless regions 
of the North Pacific Railroad, there are single 
peat swamps of hundreds of acres which have 
millions of tons of peat In them. The best 
peat lies deep in the swamp, below the 
upper layer, which has turned black and 
pasty by decomposition. It is the fibrous, 
brown matter that makes the best fuel, as it 
1 b tough and bears drying and haudllng and 
does not melt down, so to speak, into pow¬ 
der, as the black upper layer docs. Once 
peat becomes dry it is practically indestructi¬ 
ble, and if left in a heap soon decomposes aud 
breaks down; 60 that iu dryiug the blocks, 
it is necessary that they bo piled with wide 
open joints between them aud the pile made 
not over two feet wide, so as to give free pas¬ 
sage to the air. The pile Is also covered with 
the coarse weeds of the Bwamp to shed rain. 
Lastly, frost is the great disintegrator, and 
peat for fuel should be cut only in the sum¬ 
mer time ; if cut in the winter the frost would 
soon reduce it to powder. 
-« ♦ » - ■ ■ ■ 
HUNGARIAN HAY FOR HORSES. 
Since I am asked by the Editors to answer 
the questions of R. II. C., of Orleans, Nebraska, 
on page 59, I would say in brief i Hungar- 
rian hay has iu some way got the reputation 
of injuring horses when fed to them for a long 
time. How it got this bad name 1 do uot 
know, but presume In the same way that clover 
bay did, viz., by being fed when improperly 
Cured. But clover hay, when properly cut and 
cured, is an excellent feed, and Is extensively 
fed by the Duich farmers of Stark and the 
neighboring counties in Ohio, uiid to the greut 
advantage of their horses,especially in point of 
fatness and sleekness. But it is harder to cure 
than timothy, unreliable to must or mold in 
the mow, and is then most injurious to horses, 
and very liable to cause permanent heaves. 
The same is true of Hungarian grass. It is tar 
harder to cure than timothy, and apt to grow 
musty, and is then, of course, injurious. 
Again, it is more liable to have dirt and dust 
in it, as it does not form a turf-like meadow 
grass. Hand-raking is a remedy for this evil. 
Another trouble is rust. The pure, black¬ 
headed, (black-seeded) Hungarian is seldom 
attacked, but I have had the yellow-headed 
(yellsw-seeded) millet rust badly. In that 
case I should uot deem it safe hay for horses, 
no matter how well cured. 
One thing more :—It should not be ripe when 
cut. Then the straw is of little value and the 
seed very heavy and very hearty, and might 
well injure horses. The heads are Immense, 
and since the straw wheu ripe is nearly worth¬ 
less, the horses will select the heads, and eat 
an over-ration just as they will of any grain. 
But If the hay Is free from these faults, I 
should consider It a safe Iced. One thing, 
however, I had almost forgotten to mention :— 
It has a curious power of Increasing the secre¬ 
tion of urine; but I have not lound this per¬ 
ceptibly injurious to the animals, though I 
have fed It largely to cows aud considerably to 
horses, for several yearB. In a word, I should 
say:—“See that the hay Is free from rust, 
dust, must, aud over ripeness, and I think you 
will find It safe " W. I. Chamberlain. 
Jarm (L : totiomi). 
IOE-HOUSES ON THE FARM. 
¥. K. MORELAND. 
It Is a matter of some surprise to thinking 
people how very few farmers, even those who 
are well-to-do, own ice-houses. A farmer may 
have all the modern farm machinery, elegant 
and costly buildings with all the modern im¬ 
provements, but unless there exists some press¬ 
ing reason why he should have an Ice-house, 
he will get along without it. Farmers will live 
all summer without fresh meat, except ou rare 
occasions ; use butter Just abontas firm as oil; 
drink water or milk that is lukewarm, and 
suffer numberless other inconveniences which 
are the result of a lack of ice, for the simple 
reason that, niue farmers out of ten cannot see 
any profit in going to the expense of erecting 
the necessary building. Even those liviug ou 
or near streams that furnish good ice, are slow 
in lulling into the habit of storing a quantity 
of it each year. In regard to this matter of a 
supply of Ice: Jet one man in a ueir hborhood 
build an ice-house, store a quantity of ice Tn 
good shape and use it one season, and the next 
at least one-half of his neighbors will follow 
his example. Of those who do not, a email 
portion may be unable to do so, but the re¬ 
mainder can borrow ice from their more provi¬ 
dent neighbors, or are too shiftless to make 
even ordinary citizens. 
One reason why so few farmers have these 
conveniences is not only the cost of the build- 
lug, but a lack of knowledge of how to keep 
ice. One of my neighbors built a house of 
stone, making a building that would have 
answered for a root cellar. His ice did not 
keep a month longer thau if it had been In the 
open air. An lee house need not be au elabor¬ 
ate structure. I have known good ones con¬ 
structed of sluhs or rails and. straw. But It is 
much better to have one substantially made. 
There are on most farms some small out-build¬ 
ing which has fallen Into disuse, aud which, 
with very little trouble, can be turned into a 
good ice-housc When this Is possible it should 
be done, as it saves useless expense. I have 
even kuown ice to be safely stored in one end 
of an unused mow Wheu it is as economical, 
the better way is to have a building expressly 
for it. This should be no larger than is re¬ 
quired to contain the needed supply. It should 
be square iu shape, aud high enough so that 
when the Ice is stored it will form a pile In the 
Bhapc of a cube. When the dairy does not 
require a constant supply every day, three 
cords will be found a very good supply for au 
ordinary family The bnildiug should be well- 
drained, and wheu the ice is stored—and it 
should be packed as closely as possible—the 
whole should he well covered with sawdust. 
In storing it, between it aud the wall of the 
building a Space should be left, which should 
be filled with sawdust, closely packed. It 
should be ventilated, otherwise the ice will uot 
keep. 
There are from four to five mouths in the 
year when Ice Is a necessity, when it is almost 
impossible to be comfortable without it, and 
for that length of time lust year my supply of 
ice cost me about four cents per day. Its value 
iu the household fur that length of time 1 dare 
not compute. We use it morning, noon aud 
night in the preparation of iced drinks. With¬ 
out it the butter used in the family would be 
unpalatable. By the use of a small ice-box. 
fresh meat eua be kept until consumed, Too 
many cellars are so constructed that without 
ice it. is almost impossible to raise all the cream 
on milk during very hot weather. With a 
Cooley creamer, however, and a liberal ueg of 
ice, no difficulty Is experienced in getting all 
the cream iu Hue condition. I know that It 
was impossible, by any practicable test, to de¬ 
tect any signs of cream on my skim-milk. 1 
think that the use of ice iu my dairy alone last 
season paid not only for my creamer, but also 
for my ice-house and supply of Ice. 
