626 
THE RUBAI. HEW-YORKER. SEPT-22 
ently ripe on the 23d of August, were 
dug; weight, eight pounds six ounces; num¬ 
ber twenty-seven besides six very small ones, 
ranging in size from a shot to a rifle ball; the 
fifth small hill was still as green as a mouth 
before. Of the remaining eight hills, all have 
large tops, one hill measuring fully five feet 
across, and all are green, some of them being 
in blossom for the second time, and new 
stalks ha ve pushed up through the ground out¬ 
side the first growth. But the most puzzling 
thing is that the potatoes dug do not corres¬ 
pond in shape or color with the description of 
Blush Potato given in Rural New-Yorker. 
We think they more resemble the Rose, 
while those who have seen the Chicago Mar¬ 
ket, say they greatly resemble that. Is it the 
Blush Potato? Is it ‘‘a freak of nature?” or 
did I, through mistake, receive the wrong 
potato? is the query of a puzzled farmer. 
[We cannot account for it. None but Blush 
Potatoes were sent to applicants. Eds.] 
Oak Hill, Greene Co,. Sept. 2.—My Blush 
Potato weighed 1% ounce, and I have in 
return a yield of 13 pounds 5 ounces; two 
alone weighing 15 ounces each, f. m. 
Nova Scotia. 
Belmont Station, August 29.—Hay an 
average crop in most places, although very 
light in other places. Oats, barley, buck¬ 
wheat, average crops. Potatoes blighted, and 
early ones are rotting somewhat. The bugs 
did not do much harm this year, but there 
will be some beetles wintered over for next 
year. The fruit trees were much hurt with 
caterpillars in June. The Blush Potatoes are 
looking well. I have nine hills. The melons 
did not come up. I h *ve about four acres of 
Mold’s Ennobled Oats raised from the pack¬ 
age sent three years ago in the Rural’s Free 
Seed Distribution. They stand up well, and 
are a heavy crop on good land. Shoe ]*eg Com 
eight feet high; will not ripen here. l. d. 
Ohio. 
Short Creek, Harrison Co., Sept. 2.—Our 
pastures and com, in Eastern Ohio, are now 
suffering for rain, and wheat sowing must 
necessarily be kept back till sufficient rain 
falls to moisten the rough and cloddy surface. 
G. H. H. 
Pennsylvania. 
New Castle, Lawrence Co., Sept. 5. —Alj 
the seeds received last Spring did splendidly. 
The wheats received a year ago did quite well. 
Will sow them again in a few days. The 
Blush Potato I cut to nine eyes and planted 
May 15, 12 inches apart. I dug to-day 84 
tubers weigliiug 241^' pounds. The largest 
weighed 14 ounces Let our friend who ques¬ 
tioned the Rural’s Report about one year 
ago, figure the yield of an acre at this rate. 
I think that was TOO bushels; how do about 
2,000 bushels an acre strike him? J. vv. c. 
Texas. 
Selma, Bexar Co., Sept. 4.—I always recom¬ 
mend the Rural when an opportunity offers, 
but people here hate to deviate from their 
primitive ways of farming, and as I am quite 
young, I do not like, to advise new methods, 
for I was called “cracked,” once by an old 
neighbor, because I cultivated my corn when 
it was so dry that the dust would rise in a 
cloud from under the cultivator; but he had 
nothing to say when I gathered nice, plump 
ears in the Fall and sold him some com in 
February. Another one traded me three 
dozen hens and roosters to boot for six bushels 
of corn because he had nothing to feed them, 
and he was a hard-working anti steady man, 
but he had wrong ideas about the nature and 
wants of crops. But I need not “blow,” for 
all I learned of fanning 1 learned through the 
RURAL. Although there are inauy subjects 
and words of which I know nothing, 1 read 
them, and by and by I get a glimpse, as it 
were, of the meaning and learn a great deal 
1 think may do me good iu future years. I 
have a pair of good mules, and intend to keep 
them as long as I farm, and just so long will I 
read the Rural. g. w. 
Virginia. 
Woodstock, Shenandoah Co., Sept. 3. —My 
small Blush Potatoes had eight eyes which 
were planted in eight hills, occupying 20 square 
feet of poor ground; when up three inches 
they were hilled slightly; then 1 covered them 
with fresh horse manure and left them undis¬ 
turbed till the last of July, when I dug 105 
tubers of which 64 were of fail’ cooking size, 
and 80 larger than the one planted. The aver¬ 
age weight was three ounces. Estimated yield 
per acre over 900 bushels. One hill was in¬ 
jured and yielded only one-half as much as 
any other hill, i f any one has beaten this 1 
would like to hear from him. i have 17 grape¬ 
vines from the Niagara seed. My wife has 
some beautiful flowers from the little package 
of seed. Wo have had a long and severe 
drought. Corn very much injured. Wheat, 
rye, oats, barley, hay and early potatoes—fine 
crops. A large yield of clover seed will lie 
saved; swine are already thrashing it, others 
are storing the crop in barns, or stacking or 
ricking it. My Fultzo-Clawson Wheat took on 
a singular freak; it all came with long beards. 
Mr. Wysor informs me that it has no beards 
at all—mine has surely. A. M. 
West Vinrinia. 
W. Liberty, Sept. 3. —I cut my Blush Po¬ 
tato to one eye to the piece and planted eight 
hills with a piece in each in my garden; and 
on August 29 dug 22 pounds of potatoes. They 
look well and I will save them for seed. From 
the Niagara Grape seeds I have 12 plants 
growing. w. l. h. 
Wisconsin. 
Livingston, Grant Co.. Sept. 7.—My Blush 
Potato weighed about three ounces, and con¬ 
tained 10 eyes I carefully cut it in ten 
pieces. I planted them April 25 in garden 
soil of black loam in drills, two feet 
eight inches apart, and each piece twelve 
inches apart. They came up May 21. I hoed 
and manured with stable manure and wood 
ashes the same as my general crop on the 
same land. I banked the earth around them 
in June. Stalks ripe and potatoes drawn 
September 4. Number of potatoes 73; weight, 
18 pounds 4 ounces. Average nearly four 
ounces; one largest, one pound four ounces; 
ten largest, seven pounds three ounces; seven¬ 
teen too small for market use. Season wet to 
July: August and September dry. w. f. 
&[)t (Querist. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
(Every query must tic accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to insure attention.1 
THE STEWART PROCESS OF DEFECATING 
SORGHUM JUICE. 
G. L. J., New Comer, hid .—What is Stew¬ 
art’s process of defecating, or clarifying sor¬ 
ghum juice? 
A ns. —Stewart’s process, as practiced by 
Prof. Collier at the Agricultural Department, 
is briefly as follows; After the topping or 
stripping the sorghum, it is passed through the 
mill and when sufficient juice has been ob¬ 
tained it is heated in a tank to a temperature 
of 80 deg. Centigrade—182 deg. Fahrenheit. 
After the juice has reached this temperature 
there is added to it, with stirring, cream of 
lime until a piece of litmus paper dipped in 
the juice shows a purple or bluish-purple color. 
The heat is then raised to the boiling-point 
and so soon as the juice is in a lively state of 
ebullition the fire is drawn and the thick 
scum is removed from the surface of the juice. 
After a few minutes the sediment from 
the juice subsides and the clear liquid is de¬ 
canted off into a cooling tank or tub by means 
of a siphon, leaving a muddy sediment equal 
to about one-tenth to one-twentieth of the 
bulk of the juice. This sediment is then 
drawn off by means of a stop-cock, and filter¬ 
ed through a plaited-bag filter and the clear 
filtrate therefrom is added to the liquid pre¬ 
viously siphoned off. The clarified juice 
which during this operation is not allow¬ 
ed to cool below (56 deg. Centigrade or 
150 deg. Fahrenheit, is next emptied iuto 
the evaporating pan and to it there is 
there added, with stirring, a solution of sul¬ 
phurous acid in water, until the lime present, 
is neutralized, as shown by the reddening of 
litmus paper when dipped iu it. Evapora¬ 
tion is now hastened as much as possible and 
the juice is concentrated to a sirup at a boil¬ 
ing point of 108 deg. Centigrade—equal to 
2:36 deg. Fahrenheit, or thereabouts. When 
tile simp has reached this density it is drawn 
off into wooden tubs, the fire having been pre¬ 
viously drawn from under the evaporator. 
By allowing the tubs to stand, the sirup it is 
found crystalizes and sugar is obtained by 
pressing out the molasses by means of an or¬ 
dinary screw r press, the mass of molasses and 
sugar from the tubs being inclosed in an or¬ 
dinary grain bag. The sugar thus obtained 
by Prof. Collier w as greatly improved in ap¬ 
pearance by the addition of live to ten per¬ 
cent of water, the wiiole being stirred into a 
mush and again subjected to pressure by 
which the adhering molasses was almost en¬ 
tirely removed, and sugar nearly white in 
color was obtained. 
The treatment of the juice varies somewhat 
under different conditions. Stewart himself 
says that the chemical changes produced in 
the juice follow the graduated introduction of 
his two standard solutions, designated re¬ 
spectively, Solutions A. and B. Solution A. 
consists principally of a very concentrated 
liquid saccharateof lime of standard strength 
and productive of uniform results. Where 
it can’t be procured milk of lime may be sub¬ 
stituted. In preparing it lime of the best 
quality should be used, being carefully slaked 
and w ashed in boiling w*ater to remove any 
potash it may contain, for lime itself is only 
slightly soluble in hot water. After the ex¬ 
cess of water has beep (hrsilted enough Jjaie 
is mingled with it to form a fine sediment of 
the consistence of thin cream when the coarse 
particles have fallen to the bottom of the ves¬ 
sel. In describing his process Air. Stewart 
takes k heating tank capable of holding 100 
gallons. 1 he treatment he prescribes will be 
substantially the same under other conditions. 
Heat should be applied rapidly as soon as the 
juice begins to enter the tank and when it has 
been filled and the temperature of the liquid 
has risen to 180 deg. Fab. a point just endurable 
by the hand immersed in it—add seven pints 
of the milk of lime, or a proportionate quanti¬ 
ty for any measure under or over 100 gallons 
of juice. Stir it thoroughly, bring up the 
heat to the boiling point, and then shut it off 
and remove the blanket of scum quickly with 
a large skimmer. Allow the liquid to rest a 
few minutes, to permit the suspended floccul- 
eneies, or coalescing flakes, to subside some¬ 
what, But without waiting for this to lie 
aceompl shed completely, begin to draw* off 
by means of a siphon, orswiug pipe, the up¬ 
per portion of the liquid into a wooden 
cooling tank at a low er elevation, and contiuue 
drawing off until the muddy sediment is 
reached, which may be then swept out through 
a large pipe into a bag or strainer, so that the 
clear juice may be pressed out from it and 
added to that siphoned off from the tank. At 
this stage of the process the juice is strongly 
alkaline anti of a light wine color. A ther¬ 
mometer is kept immersed in the juice, and 
as soon as the temperature has fallen to 150® 
Fahrenoit five pints of solution B. are poured 
into the juice if it Is the contents of the 100- 
gallon beater, or in that proportion. The 
juice is then admitted Into the evaporator and 
after the characteristic scum which forms al¬ 
most immediately has been removed the juice 
is seen to be brilliantly transparent and of a 
light golden color. Except to take aw*ay the 
thin coatings of scum which coutinue to form 
to some extent, the only care that need be 
taken iu evaporating is that it should be con¬ 
ducted as rapidly as possible from a shallow 
bed of juice. After it has reached the condi¬ 
tion of a not very thick sirup (as indicated by 
a boiling temperature of 225 deg. F.) it is ready 
to be received into the ‘ ‘ finisher”—a flat cop¬ 
per pan over a small detached funiace, in 
w'hich Mr. Stewart advises that the final stage 
in the concentrat ion of the sirup should be ac¬ 
complished instead of “ finishing it off” in the 
evaporator. When admitted into the “fin¬ 
isher” it should be of ‘ ‘the brightest golden hue, 
and perfectly dear.” 
The patented Stewart Solutions together 
with a full account of the Stewart process of 
Sorghum Sugar and Sirup making, which 
would fill nearly an entire.issue of the Rural, 
can be obtained from F. L. Stewart, Murrys- 
ville. Pa, 
SYMPTOMS OK CONTAGIOUS PLEURO-PNEU- 
MONIA, ETC. 
L. O. J, A., Tenafiy, N. J. —1. When aud 
how should rhubarb roots lie transplanted? 2. 
Is it too late to sow turnip seeds now, aud can 
the seeds lie harrowed in? 3. What are the 
symptoms of contagious pleuropneumonia? 
Ans. —1. Prepare the laud as for any crop; 
—thut is, plow or spade under, aud harrow or 
rake. The roots rnuy lie planted now or iu 
the Spring. It is now too late for this season. 
Yes, if you prefer broadcasting to drilling. 
3, The earliest noticeable symptoms of contag¬ 
ious pleuro-pneuuiouia among cattle are the 
follow ing: There is a slight rise iu the tem¬ 
perature discernible by the use of the ther¬ 
mometer, For instance, should the temper¬ 
ature of a health)* animal be 100 degrees, that 
of an infected one would, at this stage, range 
from 102 degrees to 104 degrees. Accompany¬ 
ing this high temperature are a slight loss of 
appetite, a decrease in the flow of milk, a dis¬ 
turbed respiration, uuusuul sounds fuintly 
audible in the bronchial tub's, a slightly 
quickened pulse, often an occasional shivering 
fit, rarely a slight, hard, dry cough, especially 
after drinking, and generally a disposition to 
keep apart from the rest of the herd, and if 
pregnant, frequent abortion. A few days after 
the commencement of the first stage, the 
second may begin. Its symptoms are decidedly 
feverish. The temperature rises to 108 degrees 
or higher. The flow of milk rapidly dwindles; 
the breath is noisome; the breathing rapid aud 
labored, while a low grunt evinces pain at 
each expiration, us with outstretched neck the 
suffering l least tries to breath more freely. 
The bowels are constipated; the urine scanty 
and high-colored; the cough frequent, hard 
and paiuful. The coat Is staring, the skin 
yellow and scurfy, adheres to the ribs. Pres¬ 
sure between the ribs, just behind the elbow or 
along the spine or loins, gives pain, expressed 
by a low groan. Pain is also caused by hand¬ 
ling the wind-pipe along w hich the air courses 
with a rushing sound plainly audible by 
placing the ear at the bottom of the neck. 
Btill louder sounds cun be beard at the base of 
the lungs by listening at the top and sides of 
the chest, a little behind the shoulder-blade. If 
only owe lung is a (footed this sound is louder 
in the other owing to the greater amount of 
w*ork it has to do. The animal either stands 
motionless with the fore-legs wide apart, 
crouches on its sternum or lies on the side most 
affected to allow freer action to the opposite 
lung. 
The hot stage of the fever is never long ow¬ 
ing to the lack of sullicient vitality to w ith¬ 
stand the injuries to the lungs that then occur. 
As the disease i regresses, the nostrils become 
dilated; a limpid discharge, often of a puru¬ 
lent nature, flows from the eyes and nose, the 
extremities as well as the horns and ears 
grow cold; the body wastes rapidly: water col¬ 
lects iu the chest; the pulse becomes weak and 
irregular; the animal gapes and grunts, drops 
and dies often from internal drow ning or a 
distension of the rumen by gases resulting 
from the arrest of digestion. In one form of 
the disease the auimal for a long time appears 
to get neither better nor worse. Muco¬ 
purulent secretions are discharged from the 
eyes; the appetite is capricious; there is a con¬ 
stant troublesome cough, and portions of the 
lungs are regularly expectorated along with a 
putrid, highly offensive pus. The auimal rap¬ 
idly grows emaciated, and an offensive diar¬ 
rhoea precedes a hasty death from consumption 
in from four to six weeks from the appearance 
of the first symptoms, 
A post-mortem examination discloses a large 
collection of w ater in the cavity of the chest, 
in which are floating large, yellow flakes of 
coagulable lymph. The surface of the lungs 
is united to the riba by a “ false membrane,” 
and the lungs themselves are greatly increased 
iu size—lungs which would ordinarily weigh 
five and eight pounds, after disease have been 
found to weigh 30 and 75 pounds respectively. 
Instead of being of a bright sa lmon color, dis¬ 
eased lungs are grayish or mottled and their 
surfaces are rough, thick and hard, instead ot 
being smooth, soft and elastic. 
SPLINTS, CURB, ETC. 
L. /A, Belmont, N. S. —1. What is the 
cause of splint in a lioree’s leg and a remedy 
therefor ? 2. What is a curb on a horse’s hind 
leg and what will cure it ? 3. How should a 
water-tight concrete floor strong enough to 
stand cartage be made for a manure cellar ? 
4. What will keep sandstone from sealing off 
owing to wet and frost ? 5. Will Lima beaus 
grow here f 
Ans. —1. Splints are bony enlargements 
on the splint bones on the. outside and 
inside of the ennnou bone, the inside 
splint being generally more severe and fre¬ 
quent. The causes of the defect are not well 
defined, but it is generally attributed to blows 
or a sprain. It is also thought to be some¬ 
times a consequence of great weight and 
strain, while it is probable there is often a 
hereditary predisposition to it. While the 
splint is forming there is inflammation of the 
lxme-coveriug membrane, causing lameness, 
and on pressing the leg with the hand the ani¬ 
mal will shrink when the splint—a small, 
hard swelling, often not bigger thau a pea—Is 
pressed. Iu case of much inflammation, the 
horse stands resting the toe on the ground 
with the leg slightly bent. When the tumor 
is so well developed as to be easily seen it is 
generally unattended with lameness, as the 
bone-covering membrane (periosteum) has 
accommodated itself to the new* formation, 
and the inflammation has subsided. Thus, a 
small, invisible splint is likely to cause more 
lameness than a large, visible one. If the 
blemish is not objected to and there is no 
lameness, it is* far better not to meddle with 
it, for in the course of a few* years it will dis¬ 
appear by absorption as a matter of course, 
while it often happens that iu attempting to 
remove a splint by some Irritating application 
extensive inflammation is caused in the 
fibrous structure attached to it, and lameness, 
which before didn't exist, henceforth becomes 
very troublesome. If for any reason, how¬ 
ever, treatment, is thought necessary, the fol¬ 
lowing blister will generally prove effective : 
Biniodule of mercury, one drain: lard, one 
ounce; mix, aud after shaving the hair off over 
nuil around the splint, rub a little iuto the 
skin every evening until a free watery dis¬ 
charge is produced from the surface. To fa¬ 
cilitate this the leg should be fomented with 
very hot water every morning and afternoon, 
und this should lie continued for several days 
after the ointment has been discontinued. If 
after a week’s interval the splint doesn’t ap¬ 
pear much reduced in size, the ointment should 
lie re applied and repeated at similar intervals 
until the splint is removed. In some eases 
scarification, with a seton.or a seton alone, or 
even firing will bo needed, but in such rare 
instances a veteriuary surgeon should be eou- 
sulted. A splint is not considered an “un- 
soundness" unless it causes lameness. 2. Curb 
is an enlargement on the bind leg about two 
iuebes below the hock. It is SOlnel iiues eaused 
by a blow, but more frequeutly^by a strain of 
the tendons or of the sheath through which 
the flexor tendons pass, (’urby bocks (ire 
