would evaporate and thicken with age, which 
it could not do if the cells were impervious. 
Comb honey would also absorb moisture and 
become thinner in a damp place. Crystalliza¬ 
tion is not due to evaporation, but to a law, 
and is hastened by cold, and is often attended 
by expansion, not contraction. Crystalliza¬ 
tion also varies. Some honey is quick to 
granulate, others slow, and some does not 
crystallize even iu our coldest Winters. 
Mr. Hall said unless honey had some pollen 
iu it, there would be no trouble from moths. 
Ho fumigated by putting sulphur on a very 
hot iron. If coals were used they must lie 
wholly charred so as to emit no smoke. Sul¬ 
phur fumes alone could never injure the taste 
of honey, and would only color the propolis 
or pollen. Mr. Newman, Oh io, said even comb 
houey was improved in quality by allowing 
it to remain on the hive for a time; although 
it would be darkened a little, it would be 
enough better to pay. « 
Mr. C. F, Muth thou presented n paper on 
our markets. The low price of honey is due, 
not to over-production, but to general depres¬ 
sion. There is not a surplus of houey, nor is 
there lass consumption. Times are hard and 
people will not pay large prices. There is no 
speculation. All trade is dull. Extracted 
honey has become a staple article in the mar¬ 
ket. Adulteration, which is rarely, if ever- 
practiced by bee-keepers, is carried on by 
dealers . and is doing much to in jure the mar¬ 
kets. The pork packers of Cincinnat i are now 
taking large quantities of extracted honey. 
They found the New Orleans molasses too un¬ 
certain, of ten lacking sweetness. Honey is a 
most excellent substitute for cane sugar. 
We can quicken the market by insisting 
that dealers shall stop adulteration, and by 
practicing can' and neatness. Have uo dirt 
about the apiary. Use only new, clean barrels. 
Charred barrels injure honey. Whisky barrels 
«ire very bad. Houey in one-pound sections 
sells best though there is a demaud in some 
place? for two-pound sections. Mr. Heddon 
said he could get just ns much houey in one- 
half pound sections, and could get three cents 
more per pound for it. The sections must have 
full sheets of foundation so as to go to market 
without injury. Mr. Manuru of Vermont, 
shipped this year to Boston, and sold 11 tons of 
one-pound sections while two tons of two- 
pound sections were being sold. He said the 
one-pound would sell best, and if all would use 
this size the sections could be procured cheaper. 
They could then be had for $2.50 per 1,000, 
while now t hey cost *4.00. 
T. G. Newman, Illinois, urged the plantiug 
of honey pi nuts: a succession of honey plants 
the year around was very desirable. Alsike 
and Sweet Clover wen- both highly praised. 
Mr. Newman,of Ohio, had furnished bass-wood 
trees to all in bis village, and to farmers close 
by who would plant and Cure for them. He 
found he had done very wisely. Others had 
found it paid well to furnish Alsike Clover 
seed to farmers. 
Mr. Hayhurst, Kansas City, showed that 
shipping bees by the pound was very profit¬ 
able both to buyer and seller. He always sent 
a queen along, gave good ventilation, fed with 
good candy, and sent several packages in a 
single crate. The bees should not be allowed 
to gorge themselves with houev just before 
being caged. Four ounces of good candy each 
day per pound of bees, are enough. A pou ud of 
bees with a queen could lie sold in May for $3 
—not for loo. These will make a good colony 
before the season ends. With care, even a 
half pound of bees will rnuke a good colony. 
He sold to an Iowa man, last Spring, 11 one- 
pound packages of bees with queens. They 
were put on to three frames each, fed a little, 
and gave him 400 pounds of comb honey be¬ 
sides enough to winter the bet's. 
Mr. A. I. Root, said buying bees by the 
pound was a good way to start an apairy, and 
to restock after winter losses, Mr. Hethoring- 
ton had secured live good colonies iu a single 
season from a single pound of bees with a good 
queen. 
The Potato of the Future.— Prof. Lem¬ 
mon proposes to create the potato of the fu¬ 
ture by using the original species, selecting 
those found on the mountains and plateaus 
of the Southwest. He selected Solanum tub¬ 
erosum and Solatium James!i us most promis¬ 
ing. The first slightly resembles some vari¬ 
eties in cultivation. It is ascending iu habit, 
about two feet high, or less, with mostly sim¬ 
ple stems, lanceolate-oblong leaflets; large pur¬ 
ple flowers, followed almost surely by abund¬ 
ant bolls of seed. The tubers are produced 
upon long, slim white stolons, and are de¬ 
pressed oval in shape, from one-half to one 
inch in diameter, and of a purplish color 
when first exposed to the light. Solanum 
Jamesii is usually smaller, with prostrate 
branching stems, larger and narrower leaflets 
(the minute interposed ones being fewer), a 
less number of flowers to the umbel, which is 
white and more deeply incised into lobes. 
The stolons are usually much shorter, and the 
tubers are smaller, nearly round, and when 
first dug are of a beautiful snowy white. 
Both species were found growing side by side 
in Southern Arizona. They had even pushed 
their way into the few gardens in that re¬ 
gion, as though friendly to cultivation, and 
inviting attention. These wildings were sent 
about the country for tidal. Many cultivators 
pronounce them utterly worthless as pota¬ 
toes, while others find the size somewhat in- 
( increased by cultivation, and a few are of the 
opinion that these little wildings null yet 
prove the means of producing some of the ear¬ 
liest and best of potatoes. 
Pot ato Experiments. —Mr. Edmund Hersey 
gave, before the Mass. State Board of Agri¬ 
culture, the results of numerous experiments. 
Small “seed’—the product of small potatoes 
planted from year to year, gave better results 
than large potatoes cut to an average of two 
eyes. The seed ends gave a larger crop than 
the stem ends. Potatoes from Nova Scotia 
used as “seed” were 50 per cent, more pro¬ 
ductive than home-grown tubers. The speak¬ 
er would not have the farmers take his ex¬ 
periments as a guide for themselves, as the 
character of different soils and climates 
greatly affects all crops. It was to discover 
a principle rather than to formulate a rule 
tbat he had worked. If land be very poor, 
small cut pieces must fail, as the plant will 
starve lief ore it is strong enough to draw 
sufficient nourishment from the soil, while in 
a very rich soil, planting whole large potatoes 
may be wasteful. Hilling is advisable on 
wet land, level culture on dry. The cause 
) of scab is a conundrum. Two years’ work 
showed that scabby seed caused scabby crops, 
but the third seasou the reverse was shown. 
An overdose of nitrate of soda brought 
potatoes entirely free from scab. The perma¬ 
nent shape of potatoes cannot be changed by 
| selection. Permanent changes must come 
through the crossing of plants in the blos- 
J som. The crop piav be greatly affected by 
using sound or unsound tubers. Potatoes for 
I planting should not bo exhausted by growing 
I sprouts in Spring to lw rublied off by hand¬ 
ling. Large crops are possible only on land 
that is fertile and well cultivated. 
Starch in the Potato. — The English 
Farm and Home says the potato is the most 
prominent among starch foods. The boiling 
breaks up the starch granules and makes the 
little nitrogenous material more soluble. Po¬ 
tatoes cooked in their skins retain more of 
the potash salt and ro this extent are more 
valuable as food. Potatoes that cut soap- 
like have become waxy, .some of the starch 
having been rendered gummy before the gra¬ 
nules were broken up. One reason why the 
Irish prefer potatoes boiled in their skins is 
that the system thus gets its demand for 
potash salts, which are furnished sufficiently 
to others by salads, fruits ami other vege¬ 
tables. Potatoes while essential as a part, 
of a mixed diet, ai'e not nearly so valuable 
for food as many imagine. Two-mnl-one- 
half pounds of potatoes have only the nitro¬ 
gen of three-quarters of a pound of bread, 
and the carbon of one pound. Potatoes to 
be os cheap per pound as bread should cost 
less than one-third as much. It is especially 
so with laborers who require strong nitrogen¬ 
ous food, In a comparison of nitrogen, one 
pound of oat-meal is worth six pounds of pota¬ 
toes. For those inclined to eat too much 
flesh they serve for dilution as in the stew. 
TnE Potato in the South. —The Farmer’s 
! Journal notes the fact that one merchant in 
Sumner County, Tennessee lias handled 4.000 
barrels of Tennessee raised Irish potatoes the 
present season, second crop. He paid out 
among farmers over £9,000, The potatoes 
won' ship)>ed to Kentucky where they are 
preferred to any other for spring planting. 
The variety was the Early Rose, The South¬ 
ern papers have long advocated the growing 
of the potato as a profitable el'll]? for their 
section. At present the poorer classes of 
people eat very few potatoes. The effects of 
an exclusive “hog and hominy” diet are plain¬ 
ly visible throughout the South, in a race of 
sallow-faced dyspeptics who worship the 
frying pan. The introduction of the potato 
among the poorer people at the South would 
be au inestimable boon. The crop is hard to 
save in such a moist climate, yet it. is thought 
that it could be secured in as good condition 
as the ordinary sweet potato. In 1884 the 
(4uIf States with 13 per cent, of our total popu¬ 
lation, produced only 3.066,465 bushels of po- 
i tatoes or per cent, of the total crop. 
December 1st the price per bushel in these 
States averaged 96 cents, against 53 cents as 
the average of the whole country. For years 
it has been said that beef and butter never 
could be produced in paying quantities at the 
South, Events have proved the folly of this 
assertion. The potato culture of the future 
may tell the same story. All that is needed 
is a better system of storage. 
Potatoes as Food. —Prof. Atwater, in his 
admirable lecture on the Chemistry of Foods, 
gives some suggestive figures as to the nutri¬ 
tive values of potatoes. The average compo¬ 
sition of the tuber is given as 75.5 per cent, 
water, .2 protein or flesh-fonning material. 
.2 fat, 20.7 carbohydrates, .8 woody fiber 
and . t mineral matter. It is far below beans 
and peas iu nutritive value, but superior to 
turnips, sweet potatoes, cabbage, carrots, etc . 
etc, As to digestibility, experiments iu Her 
many show that the percentage of dry food in 
potatoes lost as excrement was 9 1 ~s, of beef 
5; of eggs, of rice, 4; of cabbage, 15; 
of bread 5’t' and of milk 8 to 10. With po¬ 
tatoes at 50 cents per bushel and other foods 
at corresponding prices it was found that 25 
cents would purchase, in pounds. 
Potatoes. 
Protein. 
.59 
Fats. 
1 -° 6 
Garbo 
hydrates. 
6.06 
Beans. 
1.16 
.11 
2.69 
Wheat bread. 
.49 
.11 
3.03 
Salt cod. 
.57 
.01 
Pork (salted). 
.04 
1.19 
Beef (round). 
.29 
.11 
Cheese (skimmed)... 
1.20 
I .21 .28 
The average ration for an ordinary man is 
given as .26 pound protein, .12 pound fat 
and 1.10 pound carbohydrates. The average I 
cost of a pound of protein in potatoes at 50 
cents per bushel is 14 cents; in beans 14 cents, 
oat meal 15, corn meal 12, salt cod 38, mack¬ 
erel 80, ham 48, corned beef 86. These figures 
show that potatoes are a cheap and service¬ 
able food, but they are by no means a “per¬ 
fect food,” and will be most valuable when 
used in combination with other foods richer 
in protein. Prof. Atwater calls attention to 
the fact that in every section where the peo¬ 
ple confine themselves to one kind of food, as 
rice in China, the potato in some portions of 
Ireland and Germany, and [>ork and corn meal 
in some parts of the South, they are, as a rule, 
ill-nourished, and suffer physically, intellectu¬ 
ally and morally. The evil results following 
an exclusive use of the potato as food are 
remedied, in some cases, by the use of milk 
eaten with them, or by the eating of beans 
fish or oatmeal, all rich in protein. 
Marl. —Prof. Kedzie, of the Michigan 
Agricultural College, has issued a bulletin on 
“Marl.” in which he says that the value of 
marl depends almost entirely upon the 
amount of lime it contains. A good way to 
form a fair estimate of this is to use a solu¬ 
tion of one pound of muriatic acid to one 
quart of rain water; pour a cupful of this 
over a tablespoonful of the supposed marl; 
if it effervesces, it is marl; if not. probably 
it is a clay; and its value depends upon the 
proportion that is soluble. A very simple 
way to distinguish between marl and clay 
is to place a lump in a glass of water; if 
marl, it will crumble down into a diffuse 
mass; if clay, it will remain unchanged. He 
says: “When marl is applied to the soil it 
destroys the acid condition, decomposes the 
sulphate of iron which is sometimes present 
to an injurious degree, and affords the alka¬ 
line condition iu soils so necessary for nitri¬ 
fication and the preparation of plant food. 
Its application will be particularly beneficial 
to soils that are light and sandy, containing 
a fair supply of vegetable matter; on soils 
that run to moss and Buuch Grass and on 
thwse so open and porous as to prevent fruit¬ 
fulness. It is also very beneficial on soils 
having au excess of vegetable matter, such 
as cleared “cat-holes’ 1 ami muck beds. To 
secure the full benefit of marl, it should be 
near the surface; in fact, it should be finely 
pulverized and mixed with the surface soil. 
A good method of securing the necessary 
fineness is to throw it to the surface and ex¬ 
pose it to the action of the frost.” He has 
found it paid to mix a small proportion of 
salt with the marl—say, eight to ton per cent, 
on heavy days. On sauds entirely destitute 
of humus he thinks it would do little or uo 
good. The dose of marl he would recommend 
is from 50 to 100 bushels per acre, and there 
is no danger of injury to the land by an “over¬ 
dose," as it is mild in form and has none of 
the burning properties of lime. 
SAMPLES AND COMMENTS. 
S. C. Pattf.f: would sooner pay 81..50 for 
good corn meal than 15 cents a bushel for 
potatoes for feeding purposes. Straw and 
potatoes are not suitable to lie fed together, 
because they both contain an excess of car- i 
bonaceous matter. He would substitute cot¬ 
ton-seed meal for potatoes every time, because 
the cotton-seed meal contains an excess of 
albuminous or flesh-forming matter, and 
should always be fed with something which 
contains an excess of heat-forming elements. 
A correspondent of the Midland Far¬ 
mer, as au experiment, planted the sprouts 
that broke off the seed potatoes. They mostly 
grew in some places too thickly and had to be 
thinned out, but they made a crop of rather 
small potatoes. This shows that in scarcity 
of seed, or with new varieties, much may be 
done to save seed. These bad no coaxing or 
special care, but were treated like the gen¬ 
eral crop. The vines were all the season 
more delicate and spindling than from the 
sets, but their growth is among the “easy 
possibilities. ... .... 
In the culture of the wild potato by the 
Indian squaw, the tubers are neither planted 
nor cultivated. They are simply dug. The 
largest only are put in the basket, while the 
smaller ones, or those too deep or too far 
from the hill are alone left, to perpetuate the 
species, and small potatoes on long stems are 
the legitimate result of such culture. 
The red color of the mangels—and red is 
only a concentrated yellow—is found to im¬ 
part a high yellow color to the butter of cows 
fed upon them ... 
Mr. Meech owns up that his Meech’s Pro¬ 
lific Quince is somebody else’s Prolific 
Quince . .*. ... e . 
Again we advise those intending to plant 
pear trees, to order one or more of the Fred¬ 
erick Clapp...*....... 
The Weekly Press guards its readers against 
tree butchers now commencing to travel about 
the Country. In many cases they do far more 
harm than good. . . 
Keep the farm animals happy, is the good 
advice of the Times . 
The same journal remarks that experience 
has shown that a permanent laborer with his 
family comfortably lodged in a cottage on the 
farm, and with a small garden for his own 
use to work in his spare time, is worth* far 
more to his employer, as compared with a 
| transient workman, than the use of the house 
and the land comes to..... 
Mr. Theron E. Platt writes to the Home¬ 
stead that, after careful microscopic exam¬ 
ination. he is convinced that scab in potatoes 
is cause-l bv fungus growth. and not by at¬ 
tacks of worms and insects. 
The practice of cutting the tubers for seed 
planting is condemned in the report of the 
California Academy of Science, as tending to 
the ultimate degeneration of the plant. Though 
the potato continues to give fair crops after 
such treatment, it only proves what great Dat¬ 
ura! vigor anrl (lower of resistance this won¬ 
derful plant possesses, and what Christian for¬ 
bearance it displays when thus vilely assasin- 
ated decade after decade. . 
The original habitat of the potato has been 
discovered as being in two regions equi-distant 
from the equator, north and south. It is 
thought that the northern species of Arizona 
and New Mexico should be expected to give us a 
better, stronger tuber, than the long-cultivat¬ 
ed foreigner, from the low sea-coast of Chili... 
In his paper on the Indigenous Potatoes of 
North America, read at the meeting of the 
Horticultural Societv, at New Orleans. Prof. 
J. G. Lemmon stated that the common potato 
had been nearly blotted out of existence from 
our dells and gardens once, and. under pres¬ 
ent modes of treatment, it is believed, it may 
be at any time destroyed. The potato is Amer¬ 
ica's best, gift to mankind, being next to wheat 
in rank among the plants in the whole world. 
It can lie said to grow wherever man can live. 
It is pre-eminently the poor man' bread* On 
several occasions it has averted famine over 
wide regions of the earth. Certain districts 
have been able to sustain twice the population 
they could have done without the potato. 
Send for the catalogues advertised and look 
them over carefully, now that farm work is 
less pressing than at other seasons .. .. _ 
Could you not spade up that bare place in 
front of your house and plant a few roses next 
Spring? Or you might sow seeds of petunias, 
portulaca, zinnias, pinks, or, better still, the 
Rural's Garden Treasures . 
Don't you like to see a honeysuckle running 
over the wood-shed or smoke-house. 
We have already begun to mail our seed dis¬ 
tribution .. . 
If one-half of what we have heard regarding 
the everbearing qualities of the Earhart Rasp¬ 
berry be true, it is the most desirable black¬ 
cap known. ........ ... 
The Michigan Tradesman has been investi¬ 
gating the losses caused by the '“red streak” 
iu Late Rase potatoes, noticed by Prof. Beal 
last week. It is said that the defect has 
killed the shipping demand for the Late 
