WEW-YOMER 
to remember that our Democratic Attorney- 
General says that “no man of sense ever ex¬ 
pected a Democratic Congress to increase the 
tariff.'’ Having tried that party last voar. and 
having been duped, they are not in a humor 
to try it again. And it seems probable that 
the Republicans at the first chance will restore 
the tariff. The wool-men are too numerous, 
too well organized, aud have too hearty a 
backing of sympathy from the entire body of 
farmers to make it safe to disregard or trifle 
with their just demands. And just in the same 
way. the farmers may and should combine to 
make their influence felt on all legislation af¬ 
fecting their interests. The only trouble was 
that they did not organize soon euongh, work 
hard enough, and put in money enough to 
prevent the reduction. In taking political 
action, every manufactoring, commercial and 
transportation business in the country looks 
first to its own interests; they all support that 
party which is likely to promote thair welfare 
the most. Why should not farmers follow this 
business-like example? 
obtain simply shows that the point on which 
the rod is placed is lower or higher than any 
other point on which vthas been placed, as the 
rod reading is greater or less, if the instru¬ 
ment is moved the line of sight 
will be higher or lower than 
at first, and the amount is 
found by comparing rod read¬ 
ings taken wit h the rod at the 
same point; for example, if in 
the first, position of the instru¬ 
ment the rod rending was four 
feet at n given point, aud in 
the second position of the in¬ 
strument it was six feet on 
the same point, the instru¬ 
ment would be in its second 
position two feet higher than 
at first, and a corresponding 
deduction would have to be 
made from the rod readings. 
This work has been reduced 
to a system by engineers as 
follows: A level lino 
SORGHUM 
ITS GROWTH AND THE Ml 
SUGAR AND SIRUP—THE \ 
CONSTRUCTION OF UNDER-DRAINS. 
PROF. H. W. WILEY, 
PROF. R. C. CARPENTER. 
LEVELING FOR DRAINS. 
The importance of obtaining and maintain¬ 
ing a true grade line I have tried in a preceding 
article to impress on the minds of my readers, 
and now propose simply to point out how such 
a thing can ho done. 
The instrument known as the Y-level, with 
a telescope from 16 to 20 iuebes long, is doubt¬ 
less the most accurate device yet produced for 
running a level line. The cost, however, 
which with roil, amounts to from #125 to #175, 
precludes the possibility of using it for far¬ 
mer's work. This instrument can hardly be 
run by ft novice, as it requires skillful hand¬ 
ling. and even then, the method of obtaining 
a grade line from the notes is a matter re¬ 
quiring rnnoh skill and experience. If the 
drainage to be carried out is extensive, it will 
pay to engage a competent civil engineer with 
such an instrument rather than have the work 
poorly done. He should set stakes by the side 
of the drain once in 50 feet or, at most, four 
rods, as shown in the diagram Fig. 228, the 
VARIETY OF CANE AND SEED. 
Tn the latitude of New York only the earliest- 
maturing varieties of sorghum can be culti¬ 
vated with safety. It is true that often excep¬ 
tional seasons or extra-favorable conditions 
will permit, the ripening of the later varieties, 
but it would be very unsafe, eucouraged by 
these unusual conditions, to roly for suecess 
on such late-maturing canes. There is one 
fact which leads farmers to prefer the later 
canes, viz, they produce a heavier yield. 
When they do succeed, therefore, the crop is so 
large that it is no wonder that they should bo 
tried again, An instance of the difference in 
yield between an early and a moderately late 
variety 1 can cite from my own experience. 
Eight acres Of excellent second river bottom 
land were planted in sorghum. No fertilizer 
of any kind was used Four acres were planted 
in Early Amber and four in Early Orange. 
1 he conditions of soil, time of plauting, culti- 
vutiou, etc.., were identical for both varieties. 
vV’hen the crops were gathered, however, a 
marked difference in the product was noticed. 
The Amber, harvested about September 25, 
gave, in round notubers, nine tons of clean 
stalks (i. i%, topped and bladed) per acre, while 
the yield of the Orange, gathered October 15, 
was 12 tons. The percentage of sugar and 
juice in the two varieties was practically the 
same. Where the season and latitude permit 
it, therefore, it is easy to see that the cultiva¬ 
tion of the later variety of sorghum Isa third 
more profitable than that of the earlier lteiy- 
iug on this result, there was planted near this 
locality the next season, 100 acres of Orange 
Cane every stalk of which, cut down by au 
early frost, was left to ferment in the field. 
The Amber Cane, grown side by side with the 
ubovo, matured, and was manufactured into 
excellent sugar and sirup. 
Presuming that the greater number of 
Rural readers are north of the latitude of 
Washington, I do not hesitate to say that the 
Early Amber is for them the safest and surest 
crop. The theory of the “survival of the 
fittest" is no less beautifully illustrated in 
plants than in animals. It is not etrauge, 
therefore, that Messrs. Miller and Kenny 
fouDd that variety the only one suited to the 
short, hot Hummers of Minnesota. Another 
experience of theirs, which is not unlike that 
of many others, is that while a high latitude, 
like that of Minnesota, will develop the earl 
lest varieties, it will not impart to them the 
highest vitality. The seed of the early plants, 
ripened in Minnesota, arc improved in vitality 
by being planted in Kansas. I dwell on these 
points because lam fully convinced that one 
of the main roads to success in the sorghum 
sugar industry Is, the development and main¬ 
tenance of an exceptionally early variety. 
We must, look to careful scientific selection in 
the fur north, for seed to secure a persistence 
of early sorghum farther south. For New 
York 1 should say the best seed would be from 
seed carefully ripened in Minnesota, planted 
as far south as Kansas, and thence rent to the 
Empire State. Fanners, however, can them¬ 
selves preserve the early maturing properties 
of their seed by carefully selecting, each year, 
those seed heads that ripen first. ,A very little 
time spent iu such a wise selection will give 
the very best seed to be planted in the suc¬ 
ceeding Spring. 
The careful selection of seed secures another 
advantage aside from curly maturation. Iu 
sorghum culture it Is of the highest import¬ 
ance that a “good stand" should lie secured 
from the first planting. The young sorghum 
plant is tender and easily discouraged, and 
gives little evidence of that wonderful vitality 
which characterizes the later stages of its 
growth. Replanting, which is quite successful 
with some crops, is wholly out of the question 
with sorgbura. The plants of the second 
growth, while still In the helplessness of along 
Infancy, would he overshadowed and suffo¬ 
cated by thu rapid later growth of the first 
pluuting. The planting of perfect seed pre¬ 
vent the necessity for replanting or a second 
planting, aud thus insures an oven growth of 
the crop. The plants which spring from good 
seed are “stocky” and sturdy; those, on the 
other hand, which come from seed of impaired 
vitality, are slender and sickly. In recom¬ 
mending Early Amber for the latitude of New 
York. 1 have no desire to disparage the claims 
of other aud allied varieties, us, for instance, 
the Liberian. While some of these sub-varie¬ 
ties may lie equal to the Am tier, there is a 
total lack of evidence of their being superior 
to it. I therefore advise the Northern farmers 
to stick to Amber for their crop, while they 
continue to experiment with every other va¬ 
riety which promises to produce good results. 
SOIL. 
Sorghum is largely independent of soil. It 
• - | t 
J'r- 
is assum- 
ed to pass through the ground i } y 
any convenient, distance—say riffll 
50 or 100 feet—below thestart- 
iug point, or ir the starting 
point is the lowest point, then 
through that. The result then _ ^ ‘ 
is expressed iu bight above IfiTijf.; 
that line. Thus in the Fig. ; '.p; 
281, the instrument is first 
placed at A, and the level 
sight line is a b o d <?, This is rW 
found by placing the rod at o t A' 4) 
to be, say, S.fi feet above o. 
Assume <> to be 50 feet above 
the level lino C D, then the 
hight of the instrument is 
equal to 50 + 8.6 = 58 6. 
Stake 1 is 5.8 below the sight 
line; hence the hight of this 
point above C D equals 58.6 
minus 5.3 equals 53.3; iu the 
same way we can find the hight [ |®lp 
of stakes at. 2, S, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 
and!)—Because we subtract, Bod ' KlK ' m 
we call these minus sights. 
When the instrument is set at B, the bight 
is found by placing the rod at 9 and adding 
this result.to the hight of 9above C V. Thus 
when the instrument is at A, if the rod at 0 
reads 2.8 feet the hight of !) equals 58 6 feet 
minus2 8 feet equals 56 8 feet. When the in¬ 
strument is placed at R, wo find it 7.8 feet 
above (0): then its hight would be 56.8 -j- 7.8 
64 1 feet, from which we subtract the other 
readings until the instrument is again moved. 
This is all done iu our note book as follows: 
mint 
ECONOMIC PORK. 
professor .t. w. sanborn, 
In one of the Rural Prize Essays the 
writer affirms substantially, that all agree 
that a pound of pork is made with less food 
when fed to the small breeds that, when fed to 
the large breeds. I trust that none will accuse 
me of a desire to be controversial in calling 
question this assertion and popular belief, 
such it is. There is not u shadow of a 
doubt that a young animal will make a pound 
of growth on less food than the same animal 
will at a later date. I must confess to having 
boon misled by the claims of the breeder's of 
the small breeds, for a brief space, unon facts 
that, have shown the above truth. Only oue 
stake A, indicating the center of the drain; 
the peg C, with its top driven flush with the 
surface, is a reference stake from which we 
obtain the depth. The stake B, is a record 
stake, on which is marked the depth of the 
ditch below stake C. The cost of setting 
Stakes this distance is hut little more than that 
of setting them twice as far. The wages of a 
surveyor will doubtless lie saved many 
times over in ditch construction, by having 
the depth marked frequently and accurately, 
and the drain will be certain to work when 
constructed 
W. & L. E. Gurley, of New York, have, 
within the last year, invented a level with a 
telescope and leveling screws, which com¬ 
bines a low price with au excellence nearly 
equal to that of the Y-level. Fig. 228 gives an 
idea of this level The price of the level and 
rod together is #80 It is a remarkable in¬ 
strument for the price, and is sufficiently ac¬ 
curate for a high grade of work, if any one 
has much draining and cannot readily secure 
a civil engineer, 1 would advise him by all 
means to get one of these. Before one can do 
accurate work with it, he will have to prac¬ 
tice in setting it up, leveling it, aud other 
details of handling. The method of using it 
is the same as for the larger Y-level, and con¬ 
cisely, is as follows: This instrument can ouly 
be used In sighting a horizontal line; inequali¬ 
ties of the ground are ascertained by measur¬ 
ing from the ground upward to the line. For 
the purpose of measuring, a graduated slick, 
marked in feet aud inches or in feet and 
decimals, is used, hold so that the numbers 
read from the ground up. These sticks are 
called “rods” by tbe instrument makers, and 
t The elevat ion of ditch above C! D is 
S found as follows; the distance com¬ 
prises 21 stations; the total rise from 
outlet to source is 7.6 feet; but if 
tbe ditch is to have a certain depth, 
the rise to bottom of the ditch will 
be so much less—call the depth at 
the upper oud 8.4 feet, then the total 
rise is 4.2 feet, or .2 per station. 
Then in the sixth column, com¬ 
mencing with the hight of the out¬ 
let, add .2 feet tor each station aud 
we have hight of ditch above re¬ 
ference line O'. D. Subtract re¬ 
sults in the sixth column from the 
fifth and we have depth of ditch at 
each station. The example chosen 
shows au intermediate very high 
rise, one not often occurring in 
practice. If the ground varies so 
that the inclination of the drain 
must be changed, the above method 
would be upplied to each section. The station 
distances should be uniform so that the num¬ 
ber ou auy stake will show the total distance. 
The above method requires a great deal of 
figuring, but no more than other methods, for 
using the Y-level and is most approved by 
engineers. Inasmuch as the efficiency of the 
drains will depend more on the correctness of 
the level than on any other condition, too 
much care cauuot be given to this point, for a 
fault iu a single small length might soon cause 
a blockade of all the drain above that point. 
Level. Fig. 229, 
some of them are beautifully and accurately 
made. Hee Fig 280. By sighting through 
the instrument when leveled on the rod, the 
reading so obtained (called rod readiug), is the 
hight of the instrument above the foot of the 
rod; if the rod be held on any other point, a 
similar reading is the hight above that point: 
the difference of these two readings Is the 
amount one point is above the other. This 
gives us no information of the point under the 
instrument, but simply of those points on 
which the rod is held, aud the information we 
