246 
THE RURAL f3£W-¥©RI£R. • APRIL 24 
ted some more, after which she was turned 
out. The rest wore served in the same way. 
'Heroic treatment.” you say; yes, but 1 never 
had any more trouble with these cows. They 
soon became as docile as any one could desire. 
The secret was that aU the time their fears 
were being lessened instead of Vicing increased. 
While they were subdued, it was in such a way 
that they were not afraid of the second opera¬ 
tion. Though confined, they were free to 
move around; and all the time not a cross 
word or a blow was given. They were not 
afraid after that; and let me tell you, my 
friend, that fear is the source of nine-tenths 
uf the misconduct of brutes. 
&rborifullural 
FORESTRY No. 35- 
Forest Nursery. Part VIII. 
DR. JOHN A. WARDER. 
CHAP. 5. CONIFERS. 
Treatment: Seeds; Cone-harvest; Preservation; 
Wilding or Forest Seedlings; Number of 
Seeds to the Pound; Imperfect Seeds; Pro¬ 
portion viable. 
Owing to a lack of knowledge and experi¬ 
ence, the early nurserymen and tree-planters 
of our country were, fora long time, obliged 
to import from Europe a large portion of the 
material required to stock their grounds, not 
only exotics but also many of the native species. 
Of these latter the seeds were taken hence to 
Europe, where they were grown aud the plants 
were sent back to us. incurring risks and fre¬ 
quent losses on the voyage. It was said that 
our climate was not adapted to the production 
of young trees, aud it was asserted that we 
could not compete witli the cheap labor of 
Europe. Now, in truth, the dearer labor had 
its influence, but our ignorance of the details 
of practice was the chief obstacle to success. 
The first difficulty is more than overbalanced 
by the ingenuity of our people, who are always 
devising new methods for saving labor, and 
who have perseverance enough to learn the 
best modes of doing everything they under¬ 
take in earnest. And thus it has come to pass 
m our day that some of the people have learned 
a thing or two, even the mysteries of produc¬ 
ing cheap nursery stock. It must bo admitted, 
however, that large sums of money are still 
scut abroad for stocks that we should produce 
here at home. 
The earlier nurseryman who had not yet ac¬ 
quired the art of producing from seed the 
young Pines, Spruces, Junipers, Firs, Thujas, 
Taxodiutns and other conifirs. which were 
needed to stock his grounds, first supplied his 
necessities by gathering little plants from the 
native forests, where nature had sown the 
'seeds and nursed them under conditions fa¬ 
vorable to their production and preservation. 
These were transplanted to liis nursery grounds, 
often from great distances, and there sur¬ 
rounded by artificial conditions in as close 
imitation as possible to those the collector had 
observed in nature. Gradually the plants 
became reconciled to their new homes and to 
the new surroundings of soil and climate. 
lu these collecting excursions many a valu¬ 
able lesson was learned by the observing men 
who made them, and now, by reading, by 
study, and by practice, some of them have 
been able to accomplish that great desideratum 
for our American forestry, the home produc¬ 
tion, at cheap rates, of millions of little trees 
of the most valuable kinds—not only 
the hardy deciduous species, which are no 
longer pulled from the woods, except, perhaps, 
by the amateur nurseryman, but also the rare 
exotics and the lovely native species of the 
most coveted evergreens arc uow successfully, 
abundantly, yes, and cheaply produced from 
the seeds, nurtured (“schooled, as they say in 
Europe), carefully packed, aud transported 
all over the land for the enjoyment of thousands 
of planters. 
And how this is accomplished in the 
case of the delicate little seedlings of the 
conifers, many of which it was so recently 
considered impossible to produce under our 
existing climatic and other conditions, it is 
now proposed to relate. At best, however, 
this relation can lie but an outline, aud it is 
rendered by an observer who has had an op¬ 
portunity of looking on at the establishments 
of his successful friends, and who, to a very 
lynited extent, has handled some of the plants 
on his own grounds. 
Pinos, Spruces and Firs ripen their seeds 
successively ; some are annual, perfecting their 
fruits in one season, wliile not a few require 
two years to ripen their cones. Borne shed 
their seeds; iu others the scales remain closed 
and the fruit clings to the tree for years. 
Owing to their exposed situations iu northern 
latitudes and on high mountains, some kinds 
have but au occasional fruiting year. Mauy 
of this class produce their seeds only at or near 
their summits, and this requires the cone- 
gutherer to climb to great bights, for the 
fruit must be taken from the tree before the 
scales gape to shed the seeds. 
The season of the cone harvest is thus ex¬ 
tended: the Firs are ripe early, aud some of 
the Pines mature in September, so do the 
Spruces, the Hemlock and the Thujas follow ; 
the 'faxodiums do not usually ripeu until after 
a frost and after they shed their leaves, Some 
of the Piues, and notably the Cedar of Lebau- 
on, remain firmly closed for years ; the Juni¬ 
pers retain their berry-cones until Winter, 
and may be gathered at leisure ; the Chanue- 
cyparis. Biota and Retinisjioiu burst open in 
the early Autumn : the berry fruits of tlie 
Yews remain until Winter, 
The cones being plucked while yet green, or 
just ready to open their scales and shed thei r 
naked seeds, are Spread out upon floors, or 
upon frames raised above them, and so ar¬ 
ranged that the stirring of the coues will 
cause the seeds to fall through, so that they 
can be gathered, cleaned and prepared fox' 
storing or transportation. Some cones re¬ 
quire the aid of artificial heat to cause them to 
open aud release their seeds : the Firs, Taxo- 
diums, Biotas, Chamsecyparis burst, opeu of 
themselves when dry; the scales separating 
aud breaking to pieces, can be assorted from 
the seeds. 
When suitably prepared, seeds of this class 
may generally he preserved by keeping them 
in close packages in a suitable seed-room. 
The fresher from the cones the better, how¬ 
ever, as their vitality is rapidly deteriorated 
by ex]>osure to the air. These seeds vary 
greatly iu size, as will be seen by a 
glance at the following table, showing the 
number iu a pound. Some of the Pine seeds 
are quite large, and resemble nuts ; they are 
eatable, and being rich iu oil, they are apt to 
spoil by becoming rancid if kept too long. 
The season for sowing is the early Spring as 
soon as the ground can lx: pleasantly worked; 
but there are lands such as the Piiiares just 
mentioned, that may lie sowed in the Fall to 
keep them from spoiling or they should be 
packed away in sand and kept cool. The Ju- 
ni pera. as mentioned in Class 2, are often 
planted in the Autumn to give tlie hard nut¬ 
lets the benefit of a Winter’s freezing. The 
difference in the size of some of the seeds will 
be seen by reference to the following table 
kindly furnished by Mr. R. Douglas, who has 
had extended experience in handling these 
and other tree seeds: 
NCMBKtl OK SKKUH TO THK I’CU Sl). 
Abies Nordmaimbitui, N'orilinaiin’sSilver Fir.. 8,000 
" pectlnata, European Silver Fir. k,(xmi 
" plchta, Siberian Sitter Sir. 10,000 
" Eraser!, Frazer's Balsam.4S,0oo 
" Canadensis(Tanga),Hemlock Spruce,..,ldo,000 
" bulsaiuca, Balaam Kir...... 88,000 
' cxoelsn (I’Ici-il. Unit), Norway Spruce_08,000 
41 alba (IMcoai, White Spruce.180,000 
Biota nrlcntaUs, Chinese Arbor vita-.12 to 15,000 
Ceilrus ALluntlc*u, African Cedar. 7,000 
l.arix Euro pea, European Larch.60 to 75,000 
Pi min Cent bra, Swiss Pine. 2,71 ill 
“ Strolms, While Pine. 20,000 
“ Austrlaca, Austrian Fine. 28,000 
“ sylvestris, Scotch Pine. 80,000 
" Larlelo, Corsican Pine. 88,000 
rlsrlda, PltcbPino . 
“ Mugho, Mountain Plue. 70,000 
“ Pluaster. or maritlina, Seaside Plue. 12,(Ml 
Thuja occidentalls, American Arbor-vita?.820,(Ml 
Apple seeds... ut.ooo 
Poors.12 to 15,000 
Catalpa apeolosa.17 to |h,oo0 
Mr. Bagneris gives this table: 
Seeds. 
Scotch Pine, one pound. «2,50U 
Austrian 11 “ m.v 
f'loinler or Marltlma Fine, one pound. ‘J,800 
Weymouth “ “ .27,500 
Silver Fir 12,900 
Spruee (Norway l “ 55,300 
lAU'ch (European! “ 57,200 
Hornbeam “ * .11 to M,in 
European Oak “ 2oll 
Ju sowing any of these seeds it should ever 
be borne in mind that in certain years a por¬ 
tion of them arc imperfectly developed, that 
some may have boon damaged iu their prep¬ 
aration, particularly those conifers which 
have been exposed to heat in t.hc ovens used to 
separate them from the cones, others by 
want of proper care in their preservation, or 
simply by the lapse of time they have been 
kept after being removed from the cones (the 
safest place), and perhaps in some eases by the 
venality >f certain dealers who mix a portion 
of their old stock of dead seeds as an adultera¬ 
tion of their wares. This is brought to mind 
by t he following caution in the seed catalogue 
of a Ai m of Enropean seedsmen that has be¬ 
come quite famous. Whether used as a cov¬ 
er or as a caution is left for each customer to 
decide. 
“We should remark that many species of the 
Conifers? and other kinds yield only 50 per 
cent, of sound (viable) seeds, iu bad years, aud 
that it is impossible to separate the bad from 
tiie good. In their best condition the seeds of 
Larch aud Silver Fir will not produce more 
thau 40 per cent, of plants; whereas, iu good 
seed years the Nor way Spruce aud Scotch Pine 
will have 80 per cent, of germinative seeds.’’ 
MULBERRY PROPAGATION. 
A FiVE-FOl.D interest attaches to the Mul¬ 
berry tree: first aud least, Owing to the old 
story of Pyramusand Thisbc; next on account 
of the real aud still visible fact of its durabil¬ 
ity when grown where it fully ripens- - mummy 
eases made of Mulberry wood nearly 4,000 
years ago. are yet found iu sound condition; 
and even ends of burnt beams of the same 
wood arc still sound in the ruins of the palaces 
of ancient Assyria. Then it. is interesting 
from the use of The loaves for the production 
of the finest silk, and their bounty as shade 
foliage on the lawn. The fruit, too. of select 
varieties is enjoyable and abundantly yielded 
from the second year of a tree regularly on¬ 
ward. The White Mulberry with its varieties, 
which yields the best food of the silk-worm, is 
grown from cuttings as easily as the currant 
or grape. The Black Mulberry—finer as a 
fruit—will grow from stout cuttings of ripe 
old wood, firmly planted and given time to 
callus. Our native Mulberry, called the Red, 
but black too when ripe, is not quite so com¬ 
pliant. Choice varieties of it are propagated 
by root grafting: setting the grafts for a 
while iu mild bottom heat, aud planting out 
early in June, as is done with some refractory 
sorts of grapes. They can also be fluto-bnilded 
iu July or August, and the small buds at the 
base of a uew shoot are surest: two can be left 
on one flute. A thrifty young shoot just closing 
its terminal growth, should be chosen to re¬ 
ceive it. Mark the lougth of the. flute equally 
on bud-stick and stock by scribing them when 
side by side—equal in size—slit down and 
partly separate the bark of each: then, wholly 
detaching Hie flute of the stock, quickly sub¬ 
stitute t he other, taking care that the trans¬ 
ferred buds have not lost their woody cores. 
A pin is useful to hold the new flute in place 
until tied, but the operation is surest of succcess 
when the cambium liquid has become some¬ 
what thick and viscid. While yet in full 
growth and forming new leaves this matter is 
very watery and slippery. “w.” 
farm <!; amomij, 
SORGHUM SIRUP MAKING. 
I have manufactured sirup from Amber 
Cane the past three years. The first year my 
work was merely by way of experiment. 
Finding it was a good thing and an industry 
which should bo encouraged, the next year I 
got JOt) pounds of seed of I. A. Hedges llately 
deceased— Eds.], and induced tin- farmers In 
my vicinity to plant it, promising to put up 
apparatus sufficient* to manufacture nil that 
they would raise. The season proved to to a 
bad one. and the. crop was poor. We had 
'some good cane, however, and l succeeded in 
making u very good sirup. Last yeur those 
whose crops had failed the year before did uot 
generally plant, any; but there was much more 
planted by others, so that in making it up I 
worked about five weeks night and day, mak¬ 
ing about. 5,000 gallons ol very line sirup 
much of which granulated and could easily 
have been made into sugar had 1 hail a cen¬ 
trifugal. Several casks which we tilled with 
sirup were found to contain mush sugar, »o 
that scarcely a gallon of simp could be drawn 
off. I ran all my sirup quite heavy. The 
first year 1 used the “Clough” process of clari¬ 
fying mostly, just trying the alumina; the 
second year 1 used oulv the alumina, using 
lime first in every process. Last year alumina 
was my main dependence, although 1 gave the 
sulphurous acid a trial; but I did not like it as 
well, neither did my customers. It leaves a 
slippery taste in the mout h, while the alumina 
gives a clear, sweet, maple flavor. 
In order to make good gimp (I have never 
worked for sugar) the cane should be fully ripe, 
the tops cut off at the second joint, and the 
leaves stripped off; then the stalks should be 
cut at. the second joint from the bottom, and 
made into fair-sized bundles, well bound, care 
being taken not to let the ends rest on the soil 
to become “gritty.” It is well to haven frame 
to lay the stalks in as they are cut, Each 
afternoon the bundles should be piled up much 
as we make “cob-houses' to allow free circu¬ 
lation of air. It is better to pile them under 
shelter to keep off rain and dew, providing 
there is plenty of air. I find that close pack¬ 
ing is more injurious than exposure to the 
weather. The cane may he worked up as 
soon as cut, or, if properly cut and pileci, it 
may stand some time without injury; indeed, 
if the cane is somewhat green, it, will ripen 
by standing; the chemical separation will 
take place more readily, and, therefore, a 
better sirup will result. Frost will materially 
injure unripe cane, but a slight, l'rost is not 
detrimental to ripo eune. I had one lot 
last year, which was raised within CO rods 
of Lake Ontario; it was worked up three 
weeks after frost to which it was exposed; 
yet it made a fine sirup which soon turned 
to mush sugar. 
Here is my mode of manufacturing: I use a 
rigid, upright crusher run by water power, and 
get the bagasse very dry. 1 have not used the 
bagasse as fuel yet, but think i shall try it next 
Fall. From the crusher the juice nms into 
a vat which holds about “00 gallons aud which 
is covered to exclude floating particles and to 
prevent iu some degree fermentation. From 
t his vat, it is strained into the defecator, which 
is a long, shallow vat similar in shape to au 
evaporator, and set upon an arch; it has a 
cojtpei' bottom and wooden sides. Assoon as the 
juice enters this defecator we start a fire under 
it, and when we have what juiee we intend for 
a batch we add from three pints to two quarts 
of cream of lime to 10Q gallons of juice, test¬ 
ing with litmus pajier to ascertain when enough 
has been added to neutralize the acid of the 
juice. We then briug it to 200 0 Fahren¬ 
heit. when we draw the fire, and lot it cool 
about ten minutes, when there will bo a thick 
blanket, of scum on top. I draw the juice 
from beneath this scum by means of a swiug 
pipe which enters the defecator from the l>ut- 
tom, and lias a strainer in the Hat side which 
rests on the bottom, and a cone-shaped strainer 
ou the cud. The defecator is so made that the 
portion where this pipe lies is enough, lower to 
allow all the juice to run to that point and l>e 
drawn off. The juice runs from the swing- 
pipe into settling tanks where we sprinkle 
over its surface alxillt one pint of alumina to 
the UK) gallons of juice. This precipitates the 
floating particles yet left, and leaves the juiee 
clear. After it has cleared—which it should 
do iu thirty minutes or less—the juiee is drawn 
from the top into the receiver and is ready for 
evaporation. Care must lie taken not to draw 
(.iff any of tlie sediment, as this is found to 
contain a great amount of alum. If enough 
alumina has been used the sediment will be 
quite dense, and allow the juiee to be drawn 
down close. 
I use a copper Cook evaporator, the juice 
running on at one end, and boiling rapidly all 
the way through tlie several channels, crossing 
and rcerossiug tlie jam until it reaches the 
other end, where it is drawn off iu the form 
of sirup into large tin pails, aud allowed to 
cool before being put into the vessels prepared 
for it. The defecator and settling tanks are 
well washed after each batch and Saturday 
nights; and at any time when we stop for a 
few hours we sprinkle everything used with 
lime-water. 
The alumina was recommended by I. A. 
Hedges, and is made by dissolving one pound 
of porous alum in four gallons of warm water, 
and dissolving one pound of sal-soda in four 
gallons of water, and turning the sal-soda 
liquid into that of the alum until effervescence 
is produced, when the compound is allowed to 
stand and settle, the milky sediment lieiug the 
alumina we use. the clear water being thrown 
away. C. L. Bioklow. 
ENSILAGE IN NEBRASKA. 
The subject of ensilage, which has been at¬ 
tracting attention iu the Eastern States, is 
being tried with success iu Nebraska, and 
there will be a large number of silos built the 
present year. A description is here given of 
t he one at the West Point Creamery, aud of the 
success of feeding ensilage to milch cows. 
The building is 54x18, t he posts aud plates 12 
inches square, and the studding on tlie outside 
and the partitions between the four silos, into 
which the building is divided, arc 2x12 feet. 
The space of 12 inches is tilled with clay, pack¬ 
ed solid, rendering the walls of the silos air¬ 
tight. The building is set in an excavation on 
a hill-side, the upper side being under ground 
20 foot and the lower level with the roadway. 
The building cost $3,000, but the superintend¬ 
ent says that if building again they would use 
brick and cement the walls. Each silo is 12x40 
and !!• feet deep, holding ISO tons—00 pounds 
to the cubic foot. Last year they commenced 
tilling on August 20th with green corn, cut 
three-eights of an inch long with a cycle cut¬ 
ter. The estimated weight, on each silo is 00 
tons. The same amount, was put in last year 
m like manner. Then they opened the flirt, 
silo February 15, and commenced feeding to 
milch cows Oil pounds per duv. in two feeds 
with the addition of live quarts of wheat bran 
and three of coni meal. Previously they hail 
been feeding chopped corn fodder, with I la- 
same rations of bran and meal, and from this 
ration it. required 20 pound* of milk to make 
a pound of butter, which quantity was reduced 
to 22 pounds by feeding ensilage. But little 
increase in quantity was shown, but there was 
the above increase of quality. 
Ensilage feeding was continued until May 
27, when there was an abundance of fresh 
native prairie pasture, aud the increase in 
milk aud butter wus 50 percent Clover ranks 
high as food for dairy cows, but those who 
have tested both say it is not equal te our rich 
prairie grasses, and where pasture is frao noth¬ 
ing can be cheaper, lu feeding cut coi n fod¬ 
der there is always some waste; but with en¬ 
silage eveiy particle is eaten. Mr. King, the 
superintendent of the creamery, says I'Kl pounds 
