assumption that population must and will in¬ 
crease faster than food. Experience has sup¬ 
plied no facts in support of this theory. With 
even the grossly imperfect agriculture of 
Europe and America food has increased 
faster thau population, and SO far is barren¬ 
ness from overspreading the earth, that 
scarcely anywhere is fertility really decreas¬ 
ing. 
I think it may be stated as an admitted fact 
that, up to'date, the raannrial resources of all 
agricultural land, where general farming is 
practiced, are sufficient, if fully and skillfully 
utilized, not only to keep up, but to increase 
the productiveness of the soil. At present the 
careless waste of the elements of fertility in 
America is immense, and the losses to the na¬ 
tion thus incurred equal, I fully believe, all 
other wastes and losses united. 
But there are, besides temporary and occa¬ 
sional needs on all farms, demands made in 
specialties of agriculture anti horticulture for 
a supply of fertilizing material in excess, 
sometimes in large excess, of that afforded by 
any accessible organicmaterials commonly 
applied to that use. From these needs comes 
the great, and I think almost the only, legiti¬ 
mate demand for mineral fertilizing materials. 
With this demand comes the absolute necessi¬ 
ty, on the part of the class of cultivators 
which uses them, of so much seieulific instruc¬ 
tion as will enable^,hem to make use of them 
understanding^, aud thus economically. 
Without this instruction, and heretofore for 
want of it, all that has been taught on this 
subject in the farm journals and otherwise 
through the press, has been in a great, degree 
unavailing, so that to-day it is only by a sort 
of accident that farmers reap any sufficient 
profit from the use of the complete chemical 
fertilizers which they buy. 
The extent „to which scientific instruction 
should bo carried iu our schools to equip their 
pupils for the end uamed. is not great, but it 
should include the elements of chemistry, and 
of that part of geology which has reference to 
the origin, structure and composition of soils. 
So far, these things are either not, taught at 
all in our rural schools, or, if taught in the 
better class of them, not, from the practical 
point of view, and consequently not usefully. 
This very difficulty materially limits the value 
of this and the two succeeding articles which 
will complete what I propose to.say’ou the sub¬ 
ject,for I have found,after many years of labor 
as au agricultural editor, that uo attainable 
degree of simplification iu the use of language, 
of reiteration and careful specification, is 
sufficient to convey and fix the essential facts 
in the minds of those who, however other¬ 
wise intelligent, have no knowlede or under¬ 
standing of the sciences named. A farmer 
using chemical fertilizers with no knowledge 
of chemistry, is wandering blindfolded in a 
wilderness. 
|3om0 logical. 
NORTHERN NUT CULTURE. 
PROFESSOR J. L. BUDD, AMES, IOWA. 
I am glad to notice in. the Rural and other 
Northern papers a new interest in syteinatic 
nut culture. The Rural says: “There is an 
immense field for the improvement of nuts by 
crossing.” Beyond doubt this is true; but 
just now the great unworked field is iu the 
way of the selection and propagation of our 
best native sorts: the correction of Nature’s 
faulty distribution aud the introduction of 
the best nuts from like climates. As instances, 
we have in this cou itry select varieties of the 
sweet chestnut, which are nearly as large as 
the best of Europe or Asia, and much finer in 
texture and richer iu quality. 
The pecans of Southern Iowa, Illinois and 
Kansas we find—like the hardy catalpa—to be 
hardy and fruitful far north aud oast of their 
native range. Where tried on the prairies 100 
miles north of its native haunts, the pecan has 
proven during the recent test winters quite as 
hardy as Catalpa speciosa, aud the chances are 
that it may be profitably grown wherever the 
latter will thrive. 
The large Shell bark Hickory of Missouri 
and the West, is also found to thrive far 
north and east of its native range. The Black 
Walnut and Butternut of the West sport into 
varieties with thinner shells and richer seeds, 
or as the people call them, “meats,” We also 
have sports that seem to be natural crosses of 
the Black Walnut and Butternut. 
In the way of introduction from like cli¬ 
mates the most promising field would seem to 
be the introduction of Juglans regia (English 
Walnut) from East Europe aud the north¬ 
ern parts of Centra] Asia; and the introduc¬ 
tion of the large filberts from the same inter¬ 
continental regions. When at Saratov on the 
Volga in 1833, we found large walnut trees 
loaded with nuts quite equal in size, thinness 
of shell and quality of seed to the best grown , 
in France. The trees all showed slight injury j 
of stem and forks, which, we were told, was ; 
brought about, by a test winter six years pre- I 
vious; but, upon the whole.their walnuts were 
thought quite as hardy as many of their profit¬ 
able varieties of the apple aud pear. 
I brought home six of the nuts aud planted 
them in rich garden soil where, during the re¬ 
cent test winters, which on the college grounds 
killed the Miner Plums, Early Richmond 
Cherry and all apple trees of the grade of hard¬ 
iness of Ben Davis and Grimes's Golden, the 
plants have stood about as perfectly as our 
native walnuts. 
Beyond a reasonable shadow of doubt, the 
Juglans regia, of Northern Bokhara, Samara 
and Savatov may be profitably grown over a 
very large part of the Northern States from the 
Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. So far as 1 
know, the line ftllierts of Eastern Europe and 
Western Asia have not been tested with us; but. 
reason and common sense indicate that they 
shou d succeed better than those from the soft 
aud equable climates of Southwestern Europe. 
I might add that we have every reason to 
believe that the Juglans regia and the filberts 
of the hill country northwest of Pekiu, China, 
would succeed well over a large part of the 
Northern States. We have Snow Pear trees 
fine crop. The growth of the vine was strong, 
many branches being a dozen feet long. The 
wood had ripened perfectly. The foliage was 
notably healthy. It ripens with the Concord,or 
very nearly with it. Bunches wore received 
from Mr. Gunn, Nov. 28. It is an amber 
grape, inclining to r claret color i. i\, lighter 
in color than Catawba, with less purple and 
more of au ambev color. As compared with 
the Catawba we may say that the quality is 
much the same. Possibly it is a trifle sweeter, 
with less astringeucy and somewhat less pulp. 
The skin is very thick. Iu seven Catawba 
berries there were 31 seeds; iu seven Alice 
berries there were 20, both lots being about, 
the same size. The berries of the latter cling 
to the stem firmly. Bunches medium uot 
shouldered. Among the bunches sent was one 
which Mr. Gunn says was cut Sep. 31. It had 
been hanging up by the stem from that time 
until sent to us, exposed to the air. The ber¬ 
ries were apparently changing to raisins. 
This is a good grape aud we have hopes it may 
prove worthy of general cultivation. It is 
unquestionably a fiue keeper. We are re 
quested to state that these grapes are from a 
vine fruiting the second year, and that the 
berries and bunches may therefore grow larg¬ 
er on older vines. 
Dec. 22. Mr. Gunn writes us that he has 
trench was filled nearly full of very well rotted 
manure and the ground was leveled off. They 
were kept well cultivated until the young 
growth was so large that they could no longer 
be worked. In the fall 1 saw them, and never 
before did I see such large yearlings. Many of 
them had made canes 10 or 15 feet loug, and as 
large as the finger. The plan is worth y of trial 
by all who wish extra-nice vines. 
j. s. WOODWARD. 
YLICE GRAPE. From Nature, rig. 21. 
from that region, that have stood 40° below 
zero, aud Prof. Sargent sent us a peach from 
there, that seems about as hardy as the Miner 
Plum. Truly, we have much room for ad¬ 
vance work in experimental agriculture. 
(l\)t tHimjarfr. 
THE NEW GRAPE “ALICE.” 
Regarding this promising grape (See Fig. 
21) Mr. Ward D. Gunu of Clintondale, Ulster 
Co. N. Y., writes as follows: 
“Thehistory of the ‘Alice * 1 Grape is Topsi- 
cal—it growed or came up. Perhaps * chance 
seedling’ is a trifle more agreeable than ‘wild¬ 
ing’ to the horticultural ear; but I suppose 
they are synonymous. In the spring of 1884 
the vine was taken up from its original place 
near an old stone wall where it had been 
growing, aud set in the vineyard. The stony 
and rough condition of the place where it 
grew prevented its transplanting without loss 
of a large proportion of its roots, consequent- 
y it made little growth in ’81. In ’85 it made 
a fair growth, ripening its wood perfectly, 
and bearing a small crop. During the winter 
of ’85-6 it was left tied to the upper wire, and 
in the spring appeared alive to the terminal 
buds, and set fruit throughout. No special 
care or culture, or manuring had been given 
it.” 
Several well-known persons who visited 
Mr. Gunu’6 place Oct. 11, say that there were 
about one dozen vines in fruit, all bearing a 
DCS. 
still a few bunches left,aud that they are keep¬ 
ing finely. A vine will be sent to the Rural 
Grounds next spring to be tested there. 
HOW TO GROW GRAPE CUTTINGS. 
I recently saw a plan adopted iu growing 
grape cuttings, which was very successful 
both in the numbers grown aud the size of 
plants produced when one year old. The cut¬ 
tings, made In the fall, were two buds long 
“tied in small bundles and buried in a dry 
place, top end down,” aud so deep that the 
“bud end” was about one foot below the sur¬ 
face aud plenty of soil was worked down 
among them. As cold weather came on a lit- 
le straw litter was thrown over the spot— 
enough to prevent the frost from reaching the 
cuttings. In early spring the earth was re¬ 
moved to within two inches of the cuttings 
and fresh, strawy horse manure was placed 
two feet or more deep on aud over them. This 
in fermenting warmed down to the butt ends of 
the cuttings aud induced rapid eitllusiug and 
the formation of roots. At the propel* time 
for planting them out, a piece of ground was 
made rich, mellow and fine; a trench was dug 
as in ordinary planting of cuttings. When 
the cuttings were taken out of the pit, where 
buried, many of thorn were found with roots 
two or three inches long, and all were beauti¬ 
fully callused. They were planted about 
three inches apart; soil to the depth of two 
inches was filled iu and firmly trodden aoout 
the lower ends. A little more soil was then 
thrown directly next to the cuttings, when the 
SORGHUM HALAPENSE AND ITS MANY 
ALIASES. 
HENRY W. RAVEN EL. 
It is a misfortune to the farmers of our 
country that so many of our cultivated grasses 
and clovers have received such various loca 1 
names iu different sections. 1 he. same may 
be said of our fruits and vegetables. These 
aliases serve to distract aud confuse. They 
read to frequent disappointment and to loss. 
How often does a farmer purchase, under a 
new name, an old acquaintance, one perhaps 
that he has already tested and found wanting. 
These changes of name are often perpetrated 
with fraudulent intent, but perhaps of tenor 
will in innocence or ignorance. An errou- 
ious name applied once in print becomes so 
quickly disseminated by the numerous agri¬ 
cultural journals that no correction can ever 
suffice to exterminate it. Still it should be our 
aim to make these corrections for the benefit 
of those who wish to be exact. 
The widespread and really valuable grass, 
Sorghum halapeiiso. is one of these unfortu¬ 
nates and 1 propose in this article to say a few 
words on the subject . This grass is now known 
in different sections of ‘he country under var¬ 
ious names. Here in South Carolina where it 
was first introduced, towards the close of the 
last century or early in the present, it is known 
as "Means Grass” from the fact of its having 
been introduced in the “Means settlement” in 
Fairfield Count} - . Thence it has spread 
through all the adjoining counties as it ma¬ 
tures plenty of seed. In 1840 Mr. Johnson, of 
Alabama, who had moved from that section 
Several years before, while on a visit to his 
friends in Fairfield, took some of the seeds 
back to Alabama, where it was found so valu¬ 
able that, it was soon cultivated extensively, 
and propagated under the name of “Johnson 
Grass,” This is a well authenticated fact, as 
I have learned from parties who were well 
posted in the matter. From Alabama it has 
spread all over the West aud into Texas un¬ 
der the last name. By late agricultural pa¬ 
pers I see it is called “Australian Millet” in 
parts of the Northwest. 
A few years ago a friend in New York sent 
me seeds of a grass which lmdbeen given him 
as coming from Morocco aud which was highly 
esteemed under the name of “Morocco Millet.” 
On examination they looked suspiciously like 
an old acquaintance, but they were carefully 
planted. On blooming and maturing seed 
they proved to be the old Sorghum halapeuse, 
root and seed. I had some difficulty in eradi¬ 
cating it from my garden. 
The story of its introduction into Ibis coun¬ 
try, which has got into print and has a wide 
circulation, is that it was sent by the Sultan of 
Turkey to Gov. Means of Sou th Carolina. This 
is erroneous aud should be corrected. It was 
here probably before Gnv. Means was born. 
In 1840 Mr. Johnson took it to Alabama from 
the State where it had been known for 40 or 
50 years as Means Grass. Gov. Means was 
uot Governor until about 1851, or about 
10 years after Johnson bad taken it to Ala¬ 
bama. This fact quashes effectually the fab¬ 
rication about the Sultan and Gov. Means. 
Aiken, S. C. 
[It will be remembered that the R. N.-Y. 
sent seeds of thisgrass to its subscribers several 
years ago. Our little patch sown four years 
ago has not been killed out by the winters,aud 
we learn from correspondents that in some 
places having about the same climate the roots 
have also survived the winters.—E ds.] 
iiclft Crops. 
TOBACCO RAISING IN NORTH CARO¬ 
LINA.—I. 
M. B. PRINCE. 
Living, as we do, in the center of the fa¬ 
mous Golden Tobacco Belt, aud near one of 
the largest leaf markets, the sales for the year 
ending December Si, 1885, amounting to 
8,15.8,182 pounds, I have bad an opportunity 
to observe the business from the sowiug of the 
seed to the shipping of the product, and an 
account of the process will, I hope, be intei 
