•JUNES 
THE 
EW-YORKERV^ 
somewhat damp, but there it cannot be con¬ 
trolled as it can be in the cock. It will be 
wise to watch the cocks and perceive, by push¬ 
ing In the band, if all Is safe within them. 
When the hay is all made, it should be put 
under cover at once. A roof of some kind 
over it is indispensable. A hay shed can be 
put up for a very small sum. and if there is 
not room in the barn or over the stables, it 
will be an economy to provide a long bay shed 
20 feet wide, made of posts 18 feet long 6et 
eight feet apart along the sides, joined at the 
top by plates, and braced. A single roof of 
half inch dry boards, set close together, will 
be sufficient to carry off the water, the little 
which may ent«r at the cracks will do no barm. 
Every two feet in length of such a shed will 
hold a ton of uow hay. When the hay is drawn 
one man or boy should go about half an hour 
ahead of the wagons, and tbrow over the cocks 
and open them to give the hay a final airing 
and evaporate any excess of moisture. In feed¬ 
ing hay thus made, one secures every good 
quality of the grass without loss and adds to 
them somewhat in the process of euri ng. 
jskicntiftt autr istfui. 
THE TESTING OF VINEGARS. 
M. BENJAMIN, PH. B. 
In the January 24th issue of the Rubai, Nkw- 
Yorkeb, among the questions given iu “The 
Querist” is one relating to viuegar testing. In¬ 
asmuch as the writer has been further ques¬ 
tioned iu regard to the methods employed, it 
may uot be considered amiss to treat the sub j ect 
more fully. 
The strength of vinegar, or. more properly 
speaking, the amount of acetic acid it con¬ 
tains, may be estimated by means of a hydro¬ 
meter, called an acetometer; just the same as 
whiskey and other liquids containing alcohol 
are tested by means of an alcoholometer. 
Two varieties of the acetometer are made and 
sold,one of which is graduated from 0° to 8o 
Beaume; the other is divided into 100 parts 
and gives the percentage, in grains, of acetic 
acid contained in the sample. However, when 
we come to consider the fact that all vinegars 
containing less than three per cent, of acid, 
are said to be diluted with water, and that the 
strongest vinegar holds less than five per cent, 
and also that its specific gravity, on the scale 
of which water is the unit, varies but from 
1.017 to 1.019 In malt vinegar, and from 1.014 
to 1.022 in wine vinegar, it will be seen that 
the hydrometer yields results which cannot be 
relied upon. If such results were accepted, it 
would be a very simple matter to dilute the 
vinegar with water and then add some heavy, 
soluble salt which would increase the density 
until the desired specific gravity was secured. 
The other methods employed in tested vine¬ 
gars are mostly based on the determinations 
of its acidimetry. 
A method given by Blyth consists in takiug 
110 cubic centimeters of the sample and dis¬ 
tilling it until 100 cubic centimeters have been 
drawn over. The distillate will contain SO 
per cent, of the acetic acid. Its specific gravi¬ 
ty may theu be taken, from which the percent¬ 
age is readily calculated. It is necessary, 
however, to both test the distillate for hydro¬ 
chloric acid and to determine the strength of 
the original sample in order to obtain correct 
results. 
Another method and the one which is proba¬ 
bly used the most, is the direct estimation of 
the acidity of the sample. This is effected oy 
the use of a alaudard solution of sodie carbon¬ 
ate. This solution is made by dissolving 
53.043 grammes of pure dry sodie carbonate 
in one Utie of distilled water; one cubic 
centimeter ol this Bolntiou is equal to oue 
cubic centimeter of acid ; 530 grains dissolved 
in 10,000 grains of water is also used to make 
the standard. One fluid ounce ol the vinegar 
is poured out into a Biuall beaker or flask and 
a few drops of litmus solution added; this will 
immediately turn red on account of the acid 
iu the vinegar. The standard solution is then 
poured in from a burrette, drop by drop, until 
all elfurvoscence ceases (owing to the liberation 
of carbonic auhydride) and the blue color ap¬ 
pears. Towards tbe end of the operation it is 
best to boil the liquid so that the last traces of 
acid may be expelled. 
Otto’s acetometer is sometimes employed 
for this purpose. This instrument is a glass 
tube engraved with two scales on its surface, 
one at the bottom for measuring the 
vinegar and one at the top for mea¬ 
suring the test liquid. A quantity of 
litmus solution is poured into the tube and 
theu either five or teu cubic centimeters of tbe 
sample added, that is, up to the mark where 
the upper graduated scale begius. A standard 
solution ol 1.369 of uinmouic hydrate iB added 
until theacid is neutralized aud the liquid be¬ 
comes blue, Theuuinber of cubic centimeters 
used indicates the percentage of acid. 
The objection to the use of these last three 
methods is that they are only reliable in case 
the vinegar contains no other acid than acetic. 
The adulteration of all sorts of food and of ar¬ 
ticles used in the household economy has be¬ 
come so common that even vinegar is rarely to 
be bought pure. 
The most common adulterants are sulphuric 
acid, nitric acid, tartaric acid, hydrochloric 
acid and sometimes metallic salts. The first 
four must be eliminated in order to obtain the 
correct amount of acetic acid contained in any 
sample, and the latter adulterant would vitiate 
any results secured by means of a hydrometer. 
WHAT OTHERS SAY. 
Kindness in Handling Dairy Stock.— It 
is important that dairy stock, from the young 
calf to the old cow that is being fed for beef, 
should be handled aud treated kindly. If a 
calf is handled roughly and becomes wild and 
vicious thoreby, when it becomes a cow you 
may expect tbe same, but if handled carefully 
and treated with kindness, when grown up she 
will be mild aud gentle. It may not al way6 be 
so, but in general it is. There have been many 
cows spoiled by the person having the care of 
and milking them, by whipping or frightening 
them whenever they come in his way, or if 
when milking, a cow hoists her foot or kicks 
(which is generally caused by pain), such a 
fellow stops milkiag and commences whipping, 
or, worse, kicking the cow, aud she becomes 
enraged, holds up her milk, kicks back, aud is 
finally ruined. Never whip acow for kicking, if 
she does knock the milk pail out of your hand 
and sometimes upset and knock you, but be 
kiud and gentle with her, aud milk her out 
with as little excitement as possible, and if she 
gets over her kicking propensity it will be by 
mild and not by harsh treatment. Never whip 
a cow because she kicks, for it will do no good, 
but will do a great deal of harm.” So speaks 
Mr. Parcell in the Report of the N. J. A. S. 
Milk and Butter Preservatives. —A high 
German authority in dairy matters, Dr. De 
Kleuze, of Mnnieh, says that the preserving 
compounds bo widely advertised are nearly 
always composed of varying proportions of 
bicarbonate of soda, sometimes mixed with 
common salt, bor&cie acid, borax, mixtures of 
borax with common salt, salicylic acid, aud of 
late a mixture containing half of boraoic acid 
and'half of sulphate of potassium. Bicarbo¬ 
nate of soda him been in use a long time, and 
is still largely used. It acts by neutralizing 
the lactic acid which is formed in the milk, 
but its action is not satisfactory, as it is liable 
to give the milk a Boapy taste. Salicylic acid 
is also unsatisfactory as well as expensive. 
Boracic acid is a powerful antiseptic, aud pref¬ 
erable to borax. 
• For dairy ubc Dr. Dc Kleuze finds the above- 
mentioned mixture of boracic and sulphate of 
potassium superior to all other preservatives, 
and perfectly harmless as well as cheap. It 
can be obtained at any drnggist. 8lxty grains 
to a gallon of milk or a pound of butter are 
sufficient to prevent souring or rancidity.— 
Scientific American. 
The Rage for Sensation. —“ The Hour ” 
remarks: “ Nothing is more characteristic of 
American life than the extent to which it is in¬ 
fluenced and colored by sensational elements. 
Every year, nay every month aud every day, 
develop fresh evidences of this tendency. It 
is observable alike in literature, business, poli¬ 
tics aud society. Even religion, or at least the 
ontwaid manifestation of it, is not free from 
this besettiug evil. The preachers who attract 
the largest audiences are invariably of a sensa¬ 
tional turn. Many churches are social and 
religious clubs, iu which wealth and position 
in society are the sources of spiritual pride as 
well as of secular exclusiveness." 
Again : “ The representative men in our 
halls of legislation owe their position not to 
solid, but to showy and superficial qualities. 
Instead of being well grounded in political 
history aud philosophy, they arc versed in the 
wisdom of caucuses aud the arts of conven¬ 
tions. They compass ilicir cuds, not by argu¬ 
ment. but by manipulation. Their speeches 
abound in pretentious generalities which mean 
nothing, uud in asseverations of principles 
which they never dream of putting into prac¬ 
tice. The secrecy with which they pull their 
wires makes their triumphs appear only more 
startling. They may say much or little, but 
alike iu what is said, and in what is left uu- 
suid, is the suggestion of a desire to create a 
sensation. But adroitness of political manage¬ 
ment is seldom found united with elevation of 
character or aim, and thus it is that our 
shrewdest politicians, iu sacrificing so much to 
the sensational, lose the simplicity and strength 
of independent manhood.” 
By setting trees twelve feet apart, in a very 
faff yem t-hey pwt be inade uee of for iiy§ 
fence posts ; and by using them for this pur¬ 
pose the fence will not be tumbling down every 
two or three years. Maple, Chestnut, Butter¬ 
nut or some such trees should be used, as they 
will serve two purposes:—for fence posts, and 
then the Maple will give sugar, the others 
nuts.—New England Farmer. 
If churns are advertised to make butter in 
five minutes, one may be quite sure that they 
are bare-faced humbugs. I saw once a trial, 
says Dr. Kleuze in the London Agricultural 
Gazette, at which churns were produced which 
had been advertised to make butter in three 
minutes. Well, the minutes grew and swelled 
into quarters of hours, and, in fact, they were 
the longest minutes I ever passed. 
For Beef, Milk, Cheese and Butter.— In 
those sectious of country where beef is au ob¬ 
ject, the Short-horns will auswer the best pur¬ 
pose ; for the production of milk aud cheese, 
the Ayrshires, while for butter-making the 
Channel Island cattle hold the first rank, and 
of those my preference is for the “thorough¬ 
bred Jersey." 
So ?—M r. Conover, in the New -Jersey State 
Board of Agriculture’s Report, says: “To pro¬ 
duce a poor grade of butter will not pay, be¬ 
cause oleomargarine or refined tallow can be 
produced so much cheaper (and iu fact really 
a better article than rancid butter), that it will 
ultimately take the place of all the poor grades 
of butter." _ 
To Make Sheep Pay. —To benefit to the full 
extent by raising and keeping a numerous 
flock of sheep, roots must be grown for winter 
use, and when this is found to be true, and 
roots are grown on a proper field system, so as 
to cost but from five to eight cents per bushel, 
sheep husbandry will go ahead. 
Mineral and Farm Manures. —Dr. Lawes 
says: “I may say that 42 pounds of nitrogen, 
applied in the form of nitrate of soda, with 
mineral manures, to one acre of barley, has. 
for 25 years in succession, produced as large a 
crop as au auuual application of 14 tons of 
farm-yard dung per acre." 
MENDING ROADS. 
A favorite method with too many of 
the overseers of roads, is to repair them 
by scraping out the soft, loose earth or mud 
from the ditches alongside, and then gather¬ 
ing all the weeds from the gardens or other 
places, and loose trash generally to fill up 
the holes. These soon rot, the loose earth 
is ground out, and there is left a mud hole 
bigger and more unsightly than the original 
one. Such holes should be invariably filled up 
with pure gravel, if to be had; if not, with 
the driest, hardest 6oil to be found near by. A 
subsoil is better for thiB than a surface soil, as 
it has less vegetable matter in it to decay and 
form mud. After roads are smoothed and all 
ruts and holes filled up, they should have a 
coat of gravel, if to be obtained even at a con¬ 
siderable cost, unless they are macadamized. 
Then they can be kept hard, smooth and dry 
for a long time, without additional expense. 
-*-*_«- 
Utilizing Sewage. —The chemist says that 
200 ounces of ammonia exist in the average an¬ 
nual discharges of people. This is uow nearly 
all lost from want of proper earth or water- 
closets aud applying their eoutents to the 
soil. Could this be done, millions of bushels 
of grain, and thousands of tous of grass would 
be added to the world’s products; many dis¬ 
eases which now afflict Immunity would bo 
stamped out, aud the water we drink would 
be purified from much that is deleterious. We 
little know uow how often rain water, leach¬ 
ing through lecai matter, finds its way into 
springs and wells, aud yet when drawn out, 
it looks so pure and tastes so well, that the poi¬ 
son withiu it is not suspected; it cannot always 
be detected even by the most perfect analysis. 
- •-*-* - 
To make Plum Trees Bear.— When the 
blossoms are coming out, dig a trench around 
close to the tree aud fill it with boiling water. 
This will kill thecurculios before they leave 
the ground, aud you will be rewarded with trees 
loaded with luscious fruit. Try it. j. f. o. 
Jnhstrial ®ofirs. 
COLLAPSE OF THE IRON BOOM. 
As a rule, “ boonm” are worked in the inter¬ 
ests of certain classes, aud when the reaction 
comes, as coinc it always does, some have to 
suffer, and it not unfrequently happens that 
those for whose special benefit the “boom” 
was started are among the crippled. During 
the past spring, farmers as well as others of 
the general public, have been mulcted pretty 
heavily by the uureasouuble rise in the prices 
they have had to pay for all goods into the 
manufacture of which iron entered. This iron 
bfeppis” began last summer the “ iron 
men” saw that the return of prosperity would 
cause such an advance in the railroad and 
other industries which make large use of the 
commodity that the demand for iron would, for 
some time, greatly exceed the supply, and that 
before the furnaces that were out of blast 
could resume operations, or the rolling mills 
turn out the necessary supply, they could bring 
about a combination that could fix almost its 
owu price ou the product so much in de¬ 
mand. 
Last summer, before the “boom” set ia, 
pig iron was wortb from $18 to $17.50 per ton; 
bar iron, $1.75 to $2.25 per cwt.; nails, $2.50 
per keg, and other articles of irou in propor¬ 
tion. By the following December, however, 
prices had advanced from 00 to 100 per cent, 
and in February, ’SO, No. 1 pig was worth $50 
per ton; bar iron, $4 per cwt., aud nails $5.75 
per keg. These were the ruling prices at the 
time when the manufacturers were compelled 
to buy. Plows and all other kinds of agricul¬ 
tural implements as well as machinery for the 
season must be manufactured at once, aud the 
makers were compelled to pay the advanced 
rates for the crude material and, in their turn, 
to put up the price of the manufactured goods 
to the consumers. Some ot the most wealthy 
and euterprising of them began to import iron 
from Europe, for they found that, after paying 
the expense of transatlantic handling, the 
ocean freight and the import duties, they could 
lay’ down the foreign product even as far West 
as Chicago at figures lower than they would 
have to pay for the irou made in this country. 
This introduction of foreign competition, to¬ 
gether with the enormous amounts turned out 
from tbe new furnaces that were here and there 
started in the Uuited States, and the long-dis¬ 
used old ones that were relighted iu response 
to the heavy demand and exorbitant prices, 
soou overstocked the market and broke all the 
iron combinations, so that last April pig iron 
dropped $10 per ton ; and at the present time 
it is selling for about $22, and nails at $3 
per keg. 
This fall, however, comes too late to be of 
any material benefit to the farming commu¬ 
nity as far as the prices of agricultural tools 
and machinery are concerned, for the iron in 
nearly all these at present on the market, was 
bought at the high figures that ruled last 
winter. 
The only people who have reaped a benefit 
from this iron “ boom," were the speculators, 
who bought heavily at low figures on a rising 
market, and sold out at high prices, and some 
of the furnace men and ore owners. Many of 
the speculators, however, were caught on the 
fall, with large high-priced stocks or contracts 
on hand, and have lost all or a great part of 
their winnings, while many of the furnace men 
have hardly been compensated for the heavy 
cost of starting their works, and others have 
on hand a hateful burthen in the shape of 
onorous contracts with the ore men. Of the 
latter too, many have the regret of having 
missed heavy profits by holding their stock iu 
the hopes of higher prices. 
-» > » 
The Millers' International Exhibition. 
This Exhibition opened iu May 31st, at Oin- 
cinnatti, Ohio, and will remain open until 
June 26. It is attracting all over the country 
even more attention than its originators an¬ 
ticipated, although the preparations made 
for it both here and abroad must make it the 
fiuest display of the sort that has ever been 
made in any country. The large hall of the 
Permanent Exhibition building is filled with all 
kinds of milling devices aud machinery con¬ 
tributed by our own eouutry aud Europe, 
including ten complete flouring mills, showing 
in actual operation all the new processes of 
making flour, feed, etc., etc. There will also 
be a complete display of cereals of all sorts, as 
well as of flours, feeds, breads, cakes, etc. 
aud a fine exhibit of the various methods of 
bread- making iu use in all parts of the globe. 
Such au Exhibition will be of great use and in¬ 
terest uot to the millers alone, but to the 
farmers of the country also, aud the general 
public; for whatever cheapens or improves the 
processes of converting grain into flour is of 
importance, alike to the producers of the 
former and the consumers of the latter. More¬ 
over, it will tend to enlarge our foreign markets 
for milling machinery, especially in Great 
Britain, for so mueh attention has of late 
years been bestowed ou this branch of industry 
by the inventive genius of the country, that 
our machinery and processes are now ahead 
of those of any other country, and this Ex¬ 
hibition will serve to demonstrate this fact to 
others, and so secure their trade. Doubtless 
also, comparison of our own goods with those 
of other countries will suggest still further 
improvements iu some of the former, and lead 
perhaps to the introduction of some of the 
latter among us. 
This Is the first Exhibition of the kind- 
international in its scope—which has ever bsen 
held in the Uuited States or any other country, 
aud the prospect is that it will be crowned 
with the success, the labor, foresight and great 
1 enterprise of its originators ricnly deserve. 
