water, but soluble in water containing ammo¬ 
nium citrate, and a third very difficultly soluble 
in anything except acids; the second form is 
more valuable than the third for plant food, 
and is unquestionably more easily taken into 
solution by direct contact with the rootlets. 
Albert and Vollbrecht first compared soils rich 
and poor in lime as to their behavior with sol¬ 
uble phosphate; in a soil rich in lime 78 per 
cent, of the phosphoric acid became insoluble 
in wate’- in four hours, and after twelve hours 
90 per ceBt. ; but none was insoluble in citrate, 
so that the change had reached only the second 
degree of insolubility; at 14 days, when the 
last examination was^ide, 95 per cent, of the 
acid had become ius^Wrle in water, but only 
four per cent, was insoluble in Citrate; there¬ 
fore while nearly all the acid was fixed in the 
upper layer of soil, nearly all of it was still in 
a form easily accessible to the plant through 
contact with its feeding rootlets, and was also 
distributed over the surface of a large number 
of soil particles. In a soil poor in lime, with 
but about one per cent, of carbonate of lime, 
after 14 days only 42 5 per cent, had become 
insoluble in water; in another soil with 0 5 per 
cent, of carbonate of lime , 32 per cent, of the 
phosphoric acid became insoluble in the same 
time ; therefore iu the one case more than half 
of the acid was iu a condition to be carried 
off by a soaking raio, and in the other two- 
thirds of it might be leached out. 
The inference from these results is that the 
use of high-grade superphosphates rich iu 
soluble aerd, on sandy or clay soils poor in 
lime, is not judicious; and this inference is 
supported in a conclusive ruauoer by the fact 
that in localities iu Germany where such soils 
predominate, the use of superphosphates has 
fallen off by four-fifths since the introduction 
of the high grade wares ; the farmers have not 
found them profitable, and have substituted 
for them bone meal or raw Peruvian guano, 
noth of which contain within themselves some 
pr ovision for the folutioD of their phosphate 
For the same reason the use of crude Peruvian 
guano is better on such soils rather than of that 
which has been treated with acid, or the re¬ 
fined guano, as they call it in this country ; the 
treatment with acid conver ts a large portion of 
the phosphate in the guano into superphos¬ 
phate. The same investigators found that iu 
soil from newly reclaimed bog-land, ihe soluble 
phosphate was not fixed at all, aud that, more¬ 
over, the phosphate soluble in citrate was 
rapidly converted into phosphate soluble in 
water by the bu-uus compounds that abound 
in such a soil; hence on such land the use of 
rich supers would be injudicious. 
These conclusions are confirmed by results 
of experiments with phosphates on a large 
scale on sandy soils and reclaimed bogs, where 
it was found that just as good results, and in 
some cases even better ones were obtained 
with phosphate soluble in citrate, or reverted 
phosphate, as with superphosphate. These 
considerations may serve to explain some of 
the failures iu the use of superphosphates, and 
to suggest in such cases the trial of liberal 
dressings of bone meal. 
Jfarm ftopm 
WESTERN FAEMING—HI. 
W. I. CHAMBERLAIN. 
I promised to give some account of the 
scenery and the farming lying along or near 
the line of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon and Co¬ 
lumbus railruad. The scenery is some of the 
finest in Ohio. Thongh the C., 0., C. and I. 
road to Cleveland is nearly parallel to this for 
quite a distance northward from Columbus, 
that road seems to have had an instinct for 
level ground, and this for hills. The C.. C., C 
and 1. road goes through much fiat “low” 
land, and yet it is not low. It is really the 
water 6bed or back-bone between two systems 
of creeks and rivers, nearly all the way from 
Cleveland to Columbus. But it is a very broad 
and fiat " back bone,” and needs under-drain¬ 
ing just as much as if it were a few leet or 
a hundred feet lower down. Any soil needs 
under-draining if the water stands on the Bur- 
face or even a foot below the surface much of 
the time. The highest land on the wriler’s 
farm is near ly a dead level aud greatly needed, 
and was vastly improved by, drainage. And 
the same may be said of this long, flat stretch 
cf a hundred miles or more between Cleveland 
and Columbus on the 0., C., C. aud I. road. 
Really good farming, fine farming, fine stock, 
good buildings, good clover and successful ro¬ 
tation of all kinds of crops will never be found 
here, I tbiok, without the tile drainage of con¬ 
siderable portions of the area. And I am de¬ 
lighted to find the work already fairly begun, 
and tile factories already existing in consider¬ 
able numbers. 
But the C., Mt. V- and Columbus road strikes 
bo;dly off through hills and valleys and across 
streams in a most delightful way. You would 
think \ ouiself in Vermont, so high and steep 
THE BUBAL MEW-YOBKEB. 
MABCH 27 
are the hills, rising to an altitude of six or 
eight hundred feet above the level of the im¬ 
mediately adjacent valleys. Only for a short 
distance, however, is the scenery so bold, and 
the bills so steep as to prevent cultivation. 
Soon, as you whirl on north through Knox 
aud Holmes counties, the hills grow less bold. 
They are fine. Indeed, bat arable to their very 
tops, and covered with fine fields of wheat. 
The soil is gravelly much of the way, and does 
not need artificial drainage, and one can afford 
to plow the hill sides, with that advantage on 
his side. And it is not at all surprising that the 
farming is more advanced and really satifac- 
tory here. There are few better counties for 
farming anywhere than portions of Knox, 
Holmes, Wayne and Summit, through which 
this road passes, and Stark, of which it barely 
touches a comer. And there are few better 
farmers than the “ honest Dutchmen” who till 
the most of this good land. One could almost 
imagine himself in the fine farming region of 
Eastern Pennsylvania described in the first of 
these articles. 
Stark Co. is perhaps, on the whole, the best 
for general tillage. The fine, large bank barnB, 
huge straw Btacks, rank clover and other grass 
in its season, sleek cattle and horses, aud fine 
fields of waving wheat, oats, barley, rye and 
corn, that cover it6 rolling surface in summer, 
fill with delight the eye at all trained to beauty 
of agricultural landscape. I find less to criti¬ 
cise aDd more to admire ard heartily commend 
in the farming here than in almost any region I 
have visited. Possibly “ distance lends enchant¬ 
ment to the view,” and I might see more faults 
if I lived in the midst of the regions I now 
know only by occasional inspection from car 
windows, or from a buggy, as 1 have driven 
through. But the farmers of these grain re¬ 
gions seem to me to come more nearly up to 
my ideal of good faimiDg, and to what their 
laud is capable of, than we at least do in the 
clayey dairy regions of tnc Western Reserve. 
They develop Nature's resources of fertility 
bettor than we. They do it more than we by 
clover, rotation, thorough tillage, the use of 
lime, gypsum, etc., and by the careful saving 
of manure from animals. 
Their great, warm barnyards are the very 
paradise of fat cattle and young stock. Their 
cattle are largely wintered on corn and ttraw ; 
for experience long ago taught them what 
chemistry only lately demonstrated, that these 
two feeds complement each other exactly, and 
together make a complete fodder. Those 
great, warm barnyards, too, are both labora¬ 
tories and store-houses of fertilizers. Straw is 
in superabundance. The farmers feed all they 
can, use all they can as bedding in the stables 
at night, and spread it over the yard to be 
picked over by catrle and fowls (aud some¬ 
times pigs} all day. and gradually tramped 
into manu* with the droppings and urine of 
the stock. It makes a great mass of not very 
rich manure, but in a properly constructed 
barnyard, where there is neither eaves' wash 
nor leaching through the soil beneath, and 
where the straw stack is systematically worked 
down just fast enough, we have about as near 
an approach to the perfect u'ilizing of the feed 
and straw of the farm as it is possible to get 
without more labor than our prices of land and 
produce will warrant. 
These old farmers know nothing about the 
scarcity of bedding and ab6or*.ents so common 
near the seaboard, and until very lately in the 
Ohio dairy regions. They scout the idea of 
raking up leaves or road dust for absorbents. 
They would as soon think of handling straw 
with a spoon. “ Vy, man, it von’t pay 1 And 
den, vot should ve do mit to big straw stack ?” 
They have little to say of the barbarity of 
Btanchions, but they have their opinion of the 
man who will let his cattle and horses sleep 
on a bare, wet floor. They think that man is 
just fit to sleep on the floor himself. 
About the only improvement I would suggest 
to the excellent grain farming of much of this 
legion, would be an increase of the amount of 
live 6tock. They have abundant room to 
stable it in the basements of their huge bank- 
barns, half of which is now often nearly useless 
and nearly a third part “left out-of-doors ” as I 
have elsewhere remarked. They have, too, an 
abundance of grain and of straw for feed, with 
clover and timothy for change. And cattle 
are just the machines to turn this coarse fod¬ 
der rapidly and profitably into good manure. 
good, of course, just in proportion to the 
amount of grain, shorts, clover, etc. fed, and 
the care with which the urine is saved. I have 
elsewhere strenuously and repeatedly argued 
that the only salvation or at least renova¬ 
tion of our clayey dairy farms, is the drain¬ 
age of portions o? them, and the gradual 
increase of their grain area, with the care¬ 
ful use of Btraw r , chaff, etc., as bedding and 
absorbents; I now argue and believe that 
though the case is not so bad on the grain 
farms I speak of, yet a large increase of the 
live stock would, if properly managed, be a 
very great benefit, and would greatly increase 
the resources of the farms. Nature has made 
almost any of our farms rich enough iD avail¬ 
able or latent fertility, and has set us the ta6k 
of wisely developing, using and Increasing it. 
ft|c Apiarian. 
AIDS AND HELPS TO BEE-KEEPERS. 
At the outset I wi6h to state that I shall 
not, perhaps, present anything new to exper¬ 
ienced bee-keepers, but simply hints and helps 
to beginners. I am almost constantly receiv¬ 
ing letters from those who seek to know the 
best way to commence bee-keeping. Many 
seem to think it a matter requiring much 
knowledge and instruction. One of the moat 
frequent questions is: “Would yoa advise 
me to undertake it without previous study 
aud some practical knowledge?" The an¬ 
swer to this is plain. If you wish to keep cows, 
you buy cows, and begin to learn to milk by 
milking them. If you wish to keep poultry t 
you buy as many fowls as you can afford, and. 
having done this you are interested to know 
more abont, their proper care, and you read 
about them, watch them, and are a poultry 
keeper without more ado I advise you to go 
about bee-keeping in the same way. Buy a 
few 6iands. or even one, then get the theory 
from bee books or journals ; watch your bees 
and continue the practise with the theory. 
There is nothing about the matter that is 
mysterious in a practical sense now, thanks 
to those who have practically investigated 
the “mysteries” for us. If you can afford to 
spend the money and can get Italian bees in just 
the right hives, that is, of course, the easiest 
way. If not, buy just what you can get, and 
as soon as convenient, transfer the bees to 
good movable frame hives and ihen Italianize. 
Decide what hive you will adopt, and do not 
allow yourself to think it must necessarily be 
a “ pateuted" hive. The best hives, aud those 
most widely iu use at the present by success¬ 
ful and scientific bee keepers.are covered by no 
patents, and can be manufactured at one dollar 
and a half each—or less. Always use good 
material, and knowing the dimensions of the 
hive you adopt, you can easily obtain widths and 
lengths that rau be cat with little waste. A 
wor d right here to my old, experienced brother 
bee-keepers. You who have purchased hives 
etc., let me offer you a money-saving hint. 
Obtain a rood foot-power saw, manufacture 
your own Lives aud save 50 per cent. You 
can easily cut up material for twenty hives 
per day. With it yoa can manufacture every 
thiug needed, from a complete hive down to 
a r ' prize" dovetailed section box. The 
“Barnes” (Rockford III.) combined saw is good 
for this purpose. I have found it of the 
greatest practical benefit, aud I doubt if there 
is, or can be, a more useful article to the 
apiarist than a thoroughly good foot-power 
saw- Beginners in bee-keeping will find it a 
pleasure to make their own supplies, and will 
take pride in doing it well, and earefully. 
That little “ all" once iu the Savings Bank, or 
the few dollars wisely laid awayiu the “ ances¬ 
tral stocking," will come very handy by-and- 
by to purchase from your nearest supply 
dealer the honey and wax extractors, comb 
foundations, and other necessities for your 
apiary. Oue piece of advice I deem very 
necessary: Remember you canuot expect to 
begin where other people have arrived by 
years of practical labor and study. There is 
no “ royal road” to success in this business, 
any more than in other branches of industry. 
Perseverance, patience, and, withal, a little 
courage, are the requisites. Skill will come 
in doing what is necessary, and in no other 
xcay. J. G. Bingham. 
McGrawville. N. Y. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
The Uses of Manure in the Spring.— 
Many persons hesitate to draw out their man¬ 
ure and spread it uniil they are ready to turn 
it under supposing some waste to occur by 
exposure to the weather. It is very doubt¬ 
ful if this suspected waste really takes place, 
says our contributor. Henry Stewart, iu the 
N. Y. Times. It is true that manure freshly 
turned or spread smells strongly, but in most 
cases there is no value or virtue in this scent. 
Decomposing mixed vegetable and animal 
matter, such as is found In the contents of a 
barn-yard, gives off much catburetted and 
and sulphuretted hydrogen, and these gases 
are those which escape most freely from man¬ 
ure-heaps. The scent of ammonia is not 
nearly so disagreeable as that of these gases, 
and is pungent to the uostrils ard to the eyes. 
It is easily testrd. By dipping a piece of red 
litmus paper in pure water, and exposing it 
to the vapors which escape from a heap of 
manure, the red color will be changed to 
purple if ammonia be present; or, if the am¬ 
monia is abundant, the color will become 
blue. It Is very rarely that this effect cau be 
noticed in the strongest-flavored manure-heap, 
for the reason that as water absorbs 700 tiineB 
Its volume of ammonia, and as fresh manure 
contains 75 per cent, of water, so long as 
there is any water not yet saturated with 
ammonia, none of this can escape into the 
air and be lost. 
A ton of manure having 1.500 pounds of 
water in it, which is about 25 cubic feet it 
follows that it will dissolve or absorb about 
17.500 cubic feet, of ammonia gas before it is 
saturated. Besides this, manure contains 
much sulphuric acid in combinations from 
which it will escape to combine with ammo¬ 
nia and in this «-ay a large portion of the am¬ 
monia formed in tbedecomposilion of the man¬ 
ure will be changed to sulphate of ammonia 
which is & stable compound. 
Therefore the fear that ammonia may 
be lost is hardly to be entertained so long as 
the manure is moist: a day of warm wiud 
and sunshine will certainly do mischief by 
evaporating the moisture, and this is the only 
risk of loss to be feared. It may be perfectly 
safe to draw out and spread manure in cold 
or showery weather at this season, but the 
work should not be permitted to go so far 
ahead but that it may be covered with the 
plow if the necessity occurs. 
But in some cases the practice la convenient. 
Twenty loads a day may be hauled and dropped 
in small heaps, thus releasing the team from a 
waste of time in waiting while the manure is 
spread; and as soon as a certain quantity is 
dropped, a spare hand may be employed to 
do the spreading while the team is at woik 
covering. From the foregoing it will be gath¬ 
ered that this work is essentially one for early 
spring. It may be done when the ground is 
too wet to bt plowed, or while it is still crusted 
with frost. Better still, it may be done by 
means of sleds on the last snow with much 
economy of labor, and an onerous labor is out 
of the way before the hurry of plowing and 
sowing comes. 
The method of throwing the manure, as it Is 
hauled out into small heaps, is sometimes ob¬ 
jectionable and sometimes to be preferred. It 
is objectionable aud injurious when it remains 
in that state for a lengthened period. It con¬ 
tains, when in the ordinary condition in which 
it is found at this season, about seven per cent, 
of soluble matter. One heavy shower falling 
upon a small heap of three or four bushels will 
wash out of ri a large portion of this soluble 
matter, enriching excessively the small portion 
of the ground upon which it rests, and depriv¬ 
ing the larger part over which it will finally be 
spread of its due share. The crop will show 
the result by an excessive growth iu those 
spots where the heaps were placed. This ex¬ 
cessive growth is an injury, and doubly so; a 
waste occurs in two ways ; grain will lodge or 
be affected by rust or grant from rank growth 
in some places and it will be robbed elsewhere; 
in the same way, corn will run to stalk from 
over-fertility in these places, and make a weak 
growth in others. This is so obvious, and has 
been so often observed, that it is surprising 
that many farmers will persist in the practice. 
To Detect Oleomargarine.— One of the 
main difficulties in opposing oleomargarine is 
the want of an easy method of distinguish¬ 
ing the stuff from genuine butter. M. 
Donny has an interesting note on this question 
in a recent number of the Journal de 1 Agricul¬ 
ture. Artificial butter, snch as is met with in 
large quantities in commerce at the present 
time, behaves in an altogether peculiar man¬ 
ner if heated up to 150 deg. or 160 deg. C., 
equal to 320 or 350 deg. Fah , in a porcelain 
capsule or a test tube. At this point it pro¬ 
duces but an insignificant quantity of froth, 
but the mass exhibits a kind of irregular ebul¬ 
lition, accompanied by violent starts or jolts, 
which threaten to eject the melted butter from 
the vessel. It turnB brown, but this phenome¬ 
non takes place in the following manner 
The fatty portion of the sample preserves its 
natural color, and the caseous matter, which 
alone acquires the brown tint, separates from 
it in the form of clots attached to the sides of 
the vessel. Natural, unadulterated butter 
heated in the same manner, behaves quite dif¬ 
ferently. Heated up to the above tempera¬ 
ture, it produces an abundant froth; the 
“jumping” is far less marked, and the mass 
turns brown under different conditions. A 
considerable portion of the brown coloring 
mutter remains in suspension in the incited 
mass, so that the latter acquires the characte¬ 
ristic brown aspect familiar to those who are 
acquainted with the sauce called “flu beurre 
noir ." In this respect all natural butters be¬ 
have just alike. It is curious that such a sim¬ 
ple test as this has never hitherto been pointed 
out as a suitable method of distinguishing true 
butter from artificial imitations. 
Japan Persimmon.— Our readers may re¬ 
member that the editor of the N. Y. Sun took 
us to task for the expression of an opinion that 
this Persimmon (DiospyrOs kaki) wa3 not har¬ 
dy in this climate. Now he states as follows: 
We have before us a catalogue of one of our 
Long Island nurseries, dated. Iti4, in v lie 
