235 
THE BUBAL HEW-YOBHES. 
ricntifir anil Useful 
♦ 
METEOROLOGY AND AGRICULTURE. 
Perhaps our most progressive agriculturists 
have neglected to give such attention to the 
labors of our Signal Service as it demands. 
No doubt many have dismissed it with the 
idea that it relates, practically, only to com¬ 
merce; but to no class is a study of the atmo¬ 
sphere of greater utility than to farmers. 
They are subject constantly to the effects of 
changes in the atmosphere, and as its phenom¬ 
ena must be governed by law, who cau have 
more to gaiu by a methodical study of these 
phenomena ? Some farmers of close observa¬ 
tion, before the present facilities were offered 
them, formed for themselveBa system of signs, 
as they called them, which came very near to 
the future moods of the weather. These early 
observations must have extended over a very 
limited area. But now the thoughtful agricul¬ 
turist may have at his baud extensive scienti¬ 
fic observations made dally over vast areas, 
which he may compare with those of his own 
locality. The instruments by which these ob¬ 
servations are made arc much more accurate 
than could be obtained even 25 years ago. Our 
Government has achieved a world-wide dis¬ 
tinction by its immense system of observations 
made at more than 200 stations within the ter¬ 
ritory of the United States, having exchanges 
with the stations and chief meteorologists of 
the Northern Hemisphere. The reports of the 
Obief Signal Officer contain the meteorological 
work of the world. All this wealth of material 
aud data from which to study the moods of 
the weather is within reach of intelligent farm¬ 
ers. Our Signal Service is performing a work 
more extensive, more thorough and reliable 
thau is produced by the aggregate observations 
of the meteorologists of alt the world besides. 
This work could not have been done by in¬ 
dividual enterprise, nor could it be done as 
thoroughly by the Government through civil¬ 
ians as agents. Military discipline seems nec¬ 
essary to the regularity and certainty of such 
work. 
But we commenced this notice with a view 
of calling attention to a particular feature of 
these Signal Service reports which does not 
seem to have been properly appreciated. Our 
immense territory, haviug such a variety of 
climate and productions, has been a puzzle 
eveu to our own citizens. Information is 
eagerly sought from those who have eveu 
traveled through these wide spaces, trying to 
learn something of climate and productions. 
But the signal stations, located at various 
points across this wide belt between the Atlan¬ 
tic and .Pacific Oceans, give the most reliable 
information. These give a scientific and most 
accurate statement of all the facts necessary 
to determine the climate of this vast terri¬ 
tory. Each station gives you the lati¬ 
tude aud longitude, the temperature, ba¬ 
rometric pressure aud humidity of the atmo¬ 
sphere, elevation above sea level, force aud 
direction of the wind, and the rainfall ot every 
day in the year. Here is a body of informa¬ 
tion which, when studied, gives the most com¬ 
plete knowledge of atmospheric changes and 
a better insight into the climate than could be 
obtained from the recollection of au intelligent 
resident for years. This information now ex¬ 
tends, at many stations, over a period of five to 
ten years. 
These annual reports of the Chief Signal Offi¬ 
cer are of very great service to Lhe agricultu¬ 
ral editor, who requires just the information 
here giveu to adapt his instructions to such 
widely varying conditions of climate and sur¬ 
roundings. His readers are scattered across 
the continent, and the aptness of instruction 
must depend largely on understanding the 
climatic.couditious. These reports are so defin¬ 
ite in their information that the expert may 
read the agricultural situation by them more 
fully.than by auy mere temporary survey in 
persou. 
They must also become more aud more valu¬ 
able year by year, and the press should urge 
upon Congress the necessity of giving the Ser¬ 
vice a liberal support. Gen. Myer, the Chief of 
the Service, is fully appreciated by foreign sci¬ 
entists, as their very cordial reception of him 
has testified. Let us hope that our Govern¬ 
ment will give him the means of greatly en¬ 
larging the usefulness of the service. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
Gen. Le Duo and Congressmen.— “ In the 
stand I have taken,” remarked Gen. Le Due, 
Commissioner of Agriculture, before the Elmi¬ 
ra Farmers’ Club, “ I have incurred the enmity 
of certain members of Congress, aud they 
muke it pretty lively for me sometimes. I 
found upon assuming my duties that the or¬ 
ganic law of the Department read, ‘ the Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture shall purchase new 
and valuable seeds and shall distribute them 
among agriculturists.’ This law admits of but 
one construction, and-” 
Col. I’iollet—“And there were no agricultur¬ 
ists in Congress.” (daughter.) 
Commissioner—“But few, if any. I then de¬ 
cided that the Government seed store should 
pull down its sign and hang up its ahutters f 
and, in the future, we would try and make it a 
Department more worthy of its name. I ad¬ 
dressed a letter to each member of Congress 
calling his attention to this law, and asking him 
to furnish me with the names of the prominent 
agriculturists of his own district. I had no 
care whether they were Democrats or Repub¬ 
licans, white or black, rich or poor, so long 
as they were those upon whom I could rely 
for intelligent service and report? So far as I 
know, not a single answer was returned to this 
circular. Then I said to myself, all right, 
there is an organization called the Grange. 
(Applause.) its members should know some¬ 
thing about this matter. So I sent letters as 
nearly as I conkl to the different Granges, for 
no one at that time had a list of them. I made 
out to fiud them through my correspondents, 
whom I asked for a list of those in each county, 
and to-day I have a list giving me the names 
of the master and secretary of every live Grange 
in the United States. (Applause; cries of 
“Good! Good!’’). I doubt if any other per¬ 
son has such a list." 
Farm Schools for Girls. —France has ag¬ 
ricultural schools for girls. One of the chief 
Is near Rouen, which is said to have been 
begun with a capital of one franc, by a Sister 
of Charity and two little discharged prisoner 
girls, and to be now worth 160,000 dollars. The 
establishment has now 300 girls from six to 
eighteen. The farm, entirely cultivated by 
them, is over 400 acres in extent. Twenty- 
five Sisters form the staff of teachers. More 
than one medal of the French Agricultural So¬ 
ciety has been awarded to this establishment 
at Darnetel, and' the pupils are in great de¬ 
mand all over Normandy on account of their 
skill. They go out as stewards, gardeners, 
farm managers, dairy women and laundresses. 
Each girl has, on leaving, an outfit and a 
small sum of money, earned in spare hours. 
If they want a home, they can always return 
to Darnetel, which they are taught to regard 
as home.—Loudon Farmer. 
Healthy Pigs.— Mr. J. J. Mechi, the Eng¬ 
lish farmer who never fails to tell the farm 
journals of his country all that transpires at 
Tiptree Hall farm, says that he often reads 
with regret, but not surprise, of diseased pigs 
—and knows, from exteusive experience, that 
it is avoidable. For some years he kept large 
numbers, until, owing to their proximity to 
the house, they became a uuieaueetohia grow¬ 
ing family. But, although Ije had so many, 
and bo closely packed, they were exceptionally 
healthy—and he gives reasons for their being 
so. He was frequently told that owing to his 
having so many (some 200) there would be 
diseaso, but he felt perfectly sure it would not 
be so, seeing the cause for disease was not 
present. 
Pigs have a desire to huddle together, aud 
they thus create a putrescent atmosphere, es¬ 
pecially if on. soft 6traw. In his case they 
were always on sparred wooden lloora, the 
spars being three inches wide, with an interval 
between each spar, aud a deep pit under them, 
so that the change of temperature caused by 
the heat of their bodies and their breathing was 
continually circulating and changing the at¬ 
mosphere around, under and above them— 
there should be, of course, escape open tugs for 
the heated air in the npper part of the sty, or 
shed. There can thus be no staguatiou of air 
—so fatal to man and beast. In cold weather 
they may be very closely packed or inclosed, 
as they have no woolen jacket, and have no 
long and strong bristles, like the hogs of cold 
countries. 
Of course the urine fulls between the spars, 
and the solid they generally deposit in one 
corner. 
In hot, summer weather he was most succcss- 
Itt\ \n fattening Logs, without fear of fever 
(frequently so destructive). In a shed that 
would hold 40 or 50 (sparred floor, with a deep 
pit under it), Mr. Mechi turned on a jet, as 
from a fire engine, and lu a few minutes they 
were all washed clean, and refreshed, and 
would mb their 6kins as clean as the back of 
hishand. A fresh lot, coming in from market 
dirty, were soon cleaned under a shower of 00 
gallons per minute. Those who prefer putting 
a little straw on the boards in winter can do so 
—the urine will still run through, and the air 
circulates, which is the great desideratum. 
It is lamentable to see pig mismanagement— 
burrowing in manure, getting heated, and then 
by exposure catching cold and lung disease 
(heaves), or fever. Pigs are gross feeders, 
and soon poison a non-circulating atmosphere. 
The laborer’s pig being alone, escapes tbe dan¬ 
ger of close company and consequent poisoned 
atmosphere. 
He has fattened hundreds of cattle on spar¬ 
red floors without a particle of straw or any 
sweeping of floors, the excreta all passing 
between the spars to tbe pit under them. He 
once bad twelve white cattle on these spars 
from IheTime they were six months old nntil 
sold fat at two years old, and they were al¬ 
ways clean and healthy. In fact, from calves 
until full-grown for the butcher, his cattle 
were constantly on sparred floors. They al¬ 
ways fattened as quickly and grew as well as 
those on straw in covered yards, and were es¬ 
pecially he&ithy. 
It is worth noting that sheep on straw un¬ 
der cover do not get foot rot. and can do 
with little straw; but in open yards, exposed 
to rainfall, they will get bad feet unless very 
fiequently littered. The opening between the 
spars may be according to tbe size of the ani¬ 
mals; a quarter inch of opening would per¬ 
mit free circulation of air; one and a half inch 
is a good size for cattle. 
To Raise Such Hogs as require two and 
three years to mature, of course, will not pay; 
says the Planters’ Journal, aud the great fault 
of all Southern farmers is that they trust too 
much to others for what they should do or see 
done themselves. 
Oleomargarine.—English Views.— From 
along editorial in the London Farmer we make 
tbe following notes : Oleomargarine or butter- 
ine, as our readers know, is au artificial butter 
made from animal fat. The invention is due 
to the ingenuity of a Frenchman, M. Mege, the 
of Vinceuues. We have heard it said that the 
late Emperor Napoleon III. was greatly inter¬ 
ested in the production of artificial butter, and 
gave his powerful aid towards developing such 
a manufacture. However, the credit of the 
invention belongs to the country over which he 
at one time ruled, and the Yankees have since 
been its greatest patrons. The skillful people 
who make wooden nutmegs have taken to 
manufacturing artificial butter ou a large 
scale. 
Mr. Archibald states that during the last two 
years the quantity of fat manufactured into 
oleomargarine and oleomargarine butter by the 
Commercial Manufacturing Company has 
been, on reliable authority, stated to be about 
200,000 pounds per week, yielding 80,000 
pounds of oil and butter. Of this about 75 per 
cent, or 50,000 pounds, per weok was the oil 
product “oleomargarine,” all of which was ex¬ 
ported in barrels or tierces, for the most part 
under the name of' ‘ oleomargarine,” but some¬ 
times as “butter fat,” er simply as “oil.” This 
would give a yearly exportation by this com¬ 
pany aloue of about 3,000,000 pounds ; but it 
is estimated that nearly an equal quautity is 
uow being made by the outside manufacturers, 
so that the total quantity of oleomargarine 
exported from New York may be stated in 
round numbers as about 6,000,000 pounds an¬ 
nually. 
French official reports declare it to be a per¬ 
fectly wholesome dietetic material, and the 
Parisian octroi officials impose on it the same 
duties which are chargeable on ordinary butter. 
The New York Board of Health declare oleo¬ 
margarine to be “ a wholesome article of food.” 
Whatever may bo its absolute merits, it ia 
necessary that it should be sold under its real 
name, and not as butter, ft is manifestly in¬ 
jurious to the agricultural, as well as to the 
public interest to allow the artificial to be sold 
as the genuine article. 
But the large demand for the article in any 
form must have a serious effect on the trade in 
genuine butter. It will continue to be sold, 
and dairymen have to face the fact. Good 
butter will always be preferred to oleomar¬ 
garine. The contest is one between it and the 
lower kinds of but'er. The lesson to be learnt 
is that whilst poor, badly-made butter will be 
at a discount, butter of the first quality will 
always command a high price, and dairymen 
should not make any other if they wish to hold 
their own in uresence of the rival industry. 
Few things, says Truth, are more insisted on 
both in private and theoretically than the ne¬ 
cessity of having the courage of one's opinions. 
Publicly and practically nothing pays so badly. 
It is all very well to be courageous and high- 
iniuded, to snap one's fingers in the face of 
prejudice, to speak tbe truth in the face of su¬ 
perstition; doubtless this is one’s bounden 
duty; but if so, then one must learn to be con¬ 
tent with duty, per se, and courage, like virtue* 
must be its own reward It is useless to ex¬ 
pect public support if one says or does things 
contrary to the current feeling of society. 
Friends in private will pat one on the back 
warmly enough, laud one’s courage, admire 
one’s pluck, uphold oue’s views, carry the torch 
of glorificaliou all around oue's action and not 
leave a square inch uu ilium mated; they will 
even make a whole lapful of pellets for future 
shooting, aud urge one on oue's grand career 
with all the power there is in praise, all the 
strength there is in sympathy. But those very 
people will shrink from one in public, and 
deny both the banner they have bowed to and 
the friend they have just encouraged. 
CATALOGUES, ETC.. RECEIVED. 
Thirty-Second Annual Circular of the 
Invincible Vibrating Thrasher for steam and 
horse power, manufactured by Roberts, Throp 
& Co., Three Rivers, Michigan. A valuable 
work of 32 pages, filled with fine engravings 
and instructive reading matter. Our readers 
should send for it. 
Spring Trade List of Nursery Stock, 
6 old by Farley & Anderson, Union Springs, N. 
Y. This firm now offers for the first time the 
Dutchess Grape illustrated in the Rural of 
Dec. 6.1879. 
Trade Price List of Nursery Stock, for 
sale by A. Hance Son, Red Bank, N, J. 
Jiihstral Implements. 
THE HOOSIER CORN DRILL. 
The three main considerations in planting 
grain are: effective planting, economy of seed, 
and the production of more grain to the acre. 
These three objects are secured by planting 
with a good drill, such as that we here 
present to the notice of our readers, in the im¬ 
proved Hoosier Com Drill, manufactured by 
the Hoosier Drill Co., of Richmond, Ind. The 
best experience is that the separate distribution 
of seed is as essential to the growing of large 
crops of corn as to the growing of large crops 
of cabbage. 
The drill here shown drops with great regu¬ 
larity one grain in a place, and is so arranged 
that it can be adjusted to deposit them 12, 16, 
or 20 iuches apart, to suit the requirements of 
various kinds of soil. It also, at the same 
operation, does the covering uniformly in 
depth, and its covering shares can be adjusted 
to cover deep or shallow. There is economy in 
its use from the fact that no thinning is 
necessary, and no reclaming either, iu case 
good seed is used. 
The following calculation will fully demon¬ 
strate that no corn grower cau afford to be with¬ 
out at least one good drill. Take, for instance, a 
crop of 40 acres, au increased yield of 10 bush¬ 
els per acre, which is very moderate, as the 
increase is often 20 bushels, will make a total 
increase of 400 bushels over hilled corn. This 
at 50 cents per bushel gives a clear gaiu of $200 
the first season, as the time and labor saved 
will fully pay for the drill. At only 25 cents 
per bushel, there is still a net gaiu of $100, 
which is a neat little sum. 
Thedrill above referred to, has also an attach¬ 
ment for planting beaua, peas, broom corn and 
sorghum, which goes with every drill free of 
charge. We strougly advice all who may need 
a corn drill to write for full particulars which 
will be promptly furnished by the manufac¬ 
turers. 
the hoosier corn drill.—fig. 110 . • 
