4886 
825 
THE BUBAL MEW-Y0BM1R. 
stereoscopic views make you acquainted with 
the very objects. Knowledge of the skill in 
mechanical and perspective drawing not only 
made solid geometry and mechanics clearer 
than it is possible without, but opened wide 
the door to useful invention. . . . 
The motto of the Iowa college is, “Science 
With Practice,'’and even our oldest colleges 
and universities are beginning to believe that 
practice is the road to science; that is, to class¬ 
ified knowledge. The truth is worthy of the 
very lips of Christ. “If any man will doHis 
will, he shall know of the doctrine ” Soon all 
will, he belieVes.be compiled to give the fullest 
facilities to scientific baud and eye training to 
aid the training of the mind. . . . 
It seems plain to Pres. C., from the known 
facts of history in regard to the passage of the 
act, that the intention of Congress was to 
found a class of colleges essentially different 
from the class that then existed in this coun¬ 
try. viz; in the main, literary and classical 
colleges, founded chiefly to educate young 
men for the Christian ministry (a nohle end), 
or for law. medicine and literature, with 
courses of study adapted to that end, and in 
point of fact actually sending the hulk of their 
students into the so-called learned professions. 
Up to several vears after the time the laud 
grant was made, the classical colleges drew 
half their students from the farms and re¬ 
turned only one out of fifty of their graduates 
to the farms. That is, of the farmers’ boys 
that came to them, they sent hack to the farms 
only one in 25, The percentage was probably 
about the same for the mechanic arts. Now, 
it seems plain that if these new colleges were, 
by the very title of the act, to be for the 
benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, 
and if their “ leading object” must he, by law. 
“to teach such branches of learning as are re¬ 
lated to agriculture and the mechanic arts.” 
then their subjects of study, their methods of 
instruction, and their entire atmosphere and 
tendency must be different from those of the 
old-time colleges, founded to educate men for 
the Christian ministry and the learned pro¬ 
fessions. Otherwise these “industrialand ag¬ 
ricultural” schools will be found taking 25 
young men from the farms and shops to every 
one they return to them. This matter seems 
to be clear and plain. And yet. oftentimes the 
presidents of these land grant colleges, like 
Pres. Chamberlain, graduates of classical col¬ 
leges, but not like him in after life, in provi¬ 
dence of God, thrown into earnest sympathy 
with the interests of agriculture and indus¬ 
trial affaire, have in their inaugural and other 
addresses used their wealth of logical and the¬ 
oretical resources iu trying to prove that the 
law of Congress compels about the old-time 
classical and literary courses in these new col¬ 
leges. With sadness, he is compelled to believe 
that oftentimes “the wish is father to the 
thought.” 
Woburn Ensilage Experiments.— Owing 
to the agricultural hard times in England of 
late years, a great deal of attention has been 
devoted to the eusilage problem. Stock rais¬ 
ing for the shambles and the dairy has become 
the sheet-anchor of English agriculture; if 
that gives way the industry will drift to wreck 
on the rocks of domestic landlordism and 
foreign competition. Owing to the frequent 
rains and moist, uncertain climate, enormous 
losses are incurred annually in the curing of 
bay in the open air; hence various plans have 
been tried for drying hay artificially in mow 
and stack; but hitherto with no marked suc¬ 
cess. The system of eusilage affords a means 
of preserving grass in a condition suitable for 
feed without Cluing, hence its great impor¬ 
tance to hard-pressed English farmers; for if 
the losses ordinarily incurred in curing hay 
are avoided, the gain will lie equivalent to a 
decrease of outlay in feeding stock, so that 
English stock owners will have a bet ter chance 
to compete with their foreign rivals. As 
Indian corn—the principal fodder plant ensil¬ 
aged in America—is not. grown as a field crop 
iu England, experiments have been made in 
ensilaging the various grasses, rape, vetches 
and different cereal plants cut green. The 
most important English experiments in this 
and other agricultural problems are those 
made at Rothamsted, bv Sir .John B. Lawes, 
and those made by Dr. Voclcker. at Woburu, 
one of the country seats of the Duke of Bed¬ 
ford. The results of the ensilage experiments 
at Rothamsted were condensed in a late issue 
of the Rural; the results of those at Woburn 
are given by Dr, Voeleker in a late report iu the 
“Journal” of the Royal Agricultural Society. 
The first year’s experiments lasted four 
mouths, and were directed to the testing of 
the relative feeding values of silage made 
from inferior grass, as compared with roots 
and hay-chaff. The evidence of the experi¬ 
ment showed distinctly in favor of the latter. 
A second experiment was tried m 1885-fi, the 
silage on this occasion being made from 
meadow grass of very greatly superior quality 
to that employed previously. The bullocks 
used in the experiment were three-year-old 
Herefords, “as these, in all the experiments 
at Woburn, have proved much quieter and 
more kindly feeding and regular animals than 
Short-horns.” The experiments were on “sour” 
silage v. roots and hay-chaff; “sweet” silage 
v. roots and hay-chaff; oat. silage c. roots and 
hay-chaff, and oat silage v. hay. The results 
showpd that bullocks fed on sour grass silage 
of good quality will fatten well, although uot 
quite so well as when fed on a mixture of 
roots and bay-chaff. In the case of sweet 
silage there was also a gain in favor of roots 
and hay-chaff. It was proved, however, that 
oats cut green and made into silage will pro¬ 
duce a very valuable feeding material, and 
one which, in the instance under notice, 
proved superior to either roots and straw- 
chaff mixed, or to hay. Further, the interest¬ 
ing fact, has been brought out that such silage 
will, if well made, keep perfectly good for at 
least two years, so that its immediate con¬ 
sumption is not imperative. 
Honey and Honey Plants.— The flavor 
of meat depends considerably upon the cha¬ 
racter of the food upon which the animal has 
been fed. For example, there is a perceptible 
difference between com-ted beef and beef 
made from an exclusive diet of cotton-seed. 
In a still greater degree does boney appear to 
be influenced by the food of bees. Dr. Brown, 
iu the American Bee Journal, states that there 
are localities where the honey no* only takes 
its flavor and odor from the flowers from which 
it has been gathered, but it also does, to some 
extent, imbibe the medicinal and toxical pro¬ 
perties of the plant. The observations upon 
which this opinion is based were taken at the 
South. The leaves of Heleniurn tetmifolium 
have a bitter, nauseating taste. During the 
war, au extract in the shape of tea was used 
to some extent as a substitute for quinine. 
Honey from this plant is bitter and possesses 
medical properties. Honey from the Yellow 
Jasmine possesses all the toxical properties of 
the tissues of the plant. Dr. Brown knows of 
six cases of poisoning by eating Yellow Jas¬ 
mine honey within the past four years. It is 
well to remember that we have less than a 
half-dozen plants that, secrete nectar of a dele¬ 
terious quality; and nature has most, wisely 
set limits to this function by either causing 
them to bloom at an unpropitious season, or 
by making their bloom uninviting to the bees, 
or by curtailing the honey to the smallest pos¬ 
sible amount. 
Capillary Siphon. — Iu the Scientific 
American Dr. T. O’Connor Sloane shows how 
the action of capillary force can be put to a 
very practical use. This force can be seen in 
a lamp wick or in blotting paper. If any ob¬ 
ject which water can wet has one end placed 
in a vessel of water, the fluid will rise on it. 
If the object be bent into the shape of a siphon 
and has one end carried below the level of the 
water, it becomes a true siphon and will slow¬ 
ly empty the water. A towel, for example, 
placed in a pail of water with one end hang¬ 
ing over the side below the bottom, will emp¬ 
ty the pail. A capillary siphon can he easily 
made by doubling and bending a piece of wire 
into the proper shape. This serves as a frame 
about which strips of muslin are wrapped. 
With one end placed in a pitcher of water 
with the other end falling a little below the 
bottom of the pitcher, the water wiil quickly 
begin to drip away from the end outside the 
pitcher and in time will empty the vessel, Iu 
treating cases of inflammation, it is frequent¬ 
ly necessary to resort to irrigation, that is, 
frequent applications of cold water. This is 
usually effected by applying wot cloths to the 
place and continually renewing them. This 
involves constant attention, and this is impos¬ 
sible without an attendant. If a cloth could 
be spread over the inflamed place and a slow 
drippiug of water bo maintained from a simple 
capillary siphon, the desired result would be 
reached with very little trouble. 
Chicago as a Grain Mart.— The fact 
that receipts of wheat, at Chicago this season 
have declined, and that what it has lost in this 
direction has been gamed largely by Minne¬ 
apolis and Duluth, has stirred up newspapers 
as well as members of the grain trade in the 
Northwest. It is noted, too, that the chief 
grain inspectors at Chicago and a committee 
from the Chicago Board of Trade have been 
examining the methods of handling grain at 
the northwestern cities named, presumably 
with the Intention of improving their own 
when they get home again. It is alleged that 
Chicago has thus far graded wheat which was 
not quite clean quite low. against the merits 
of the, gram, and that from this practice the 
opportunity to buy good wheat cheap and 
clean it (say at Milwaukee, after paying extra 
carriage) has given rise to a regular business 
in that line at the cost of consigners. Mean¬ 
while the practice is working its own cure, 
and Chicago is surprised to realize that Min¬ 
neapolis, St. Paul and Duluth grade wheat 
subject to cleansing, that the elevators are all 
fitted with cleansing apparatus and that a 
State weighing law are among a few reasons 
why Chicago's long supremacy as a grain mar¬ 
ket had begun to show signs of a decline. 
To Cure a Stumbling Horse.— Some 
good horses, says the Pittsburg Stock¬ 
man. are addicted to stumbling while walking 
or moving in a slow trot. A well-versed vet¬ 
erinarian states that there are two causes that 
would tend to produce this faulty action; one 
a general weakness in the muscular system, 
such as would be noticed in a tired horse: the 
other, a weakness of the exterior muscles of 
the leg. brought about by carrying too much 
weight on the toe. To effect a cure, he adds, 
lighten the weight of each front shoe about 
four ounces; have the toe of the shoe made of 
steel instead of iron, it will wear longer; have 
it rounded off about the same as it would be 
when one-third worn out, in order to prevent 
trioping; allow one week’s rest; have the legs 
showered for a few minutes at a time with cold 
water through a hose, in order to create a 
spray; then rub dry briskly from the chest 
down to the foot. Give walking exercise 
daily during the week for about an hour twice 
a day. When you commence driving again, 
omit the slow jog, either walk or send him 
along at a sharp trot for a mile or two. then 
walk away, but do not speed for at least sev¬ 
eral weeks. By this means the habit of stum¬ 
bling from either of the above causes will be 
pretty well overcome. 
Wool Supply in the Argentine Repub¬ 
lic. —Consul Baker, of Buenos Ayres, reports 
that the wool season of 1885-86 in the Argen¬ 
tine Republic already exhibits a large deficit 
in the returns for the previons year. The re¬ 
ports for this season from October 1 to Julv 
15 are 284.000 hales against 315,000 for last 
year. The apparent shortage m the total 
wool clip is about 30.000 hales. The deficit in 
reality, however, is much larger than this, as 
every year heretofore there has been an aver¬ 
age balauce of 20.000 bales carried from one 
clip to the next, while this season there is no 
stock whatever on hand; so that the actual 
deficit is upward of 50.000 bales, equal to up¬ 
ward of 30,000.000 pounds. The prospect for 
the approaching wool clip (1886-87) is thought 
to be still more unpromising. The Winter 
had been very severe on the flocks.—Winter 
there is Summer here —1 he next clip, it is 
predicted, will be 75.0o0 bales, or 45,000,000 
pounds below that of 1884-85. 
Succulent Food eor Stock.— In behalf of 
the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 
450 inquiries were recently sent out to farmers 
there asking their experience during the re¬ 
markable Winter of 1885-86. It appears that 
as a rule the root crops were short, and the 
questiou was asked, “How did you provide 
food, and especially succulent food, for your 
cattle and sheep during the long Winter/” 
The answers, according to the Live Stock 
Journal, are various—some having benefited 
by having silage; others had to use a large 
quantity of purchased food, brewers’ grains 
proving very helpful in several instances; 
while hay and grain were used to a much 
greater extent than usual In the preparation 
of food, too, advantage was found by pulping 
and chaffing: but it seems that those suffered 
least who had provided a succession of catch 
crops for spring consumption. Kohl rabi 
helped several prominent stockmen greatly 
through the Whiter. The well-know u Charles 
Howard knows of no crop so valuable and 
early and cheaply cultivated as the cabbage, 
which has greatly helped him through many 
difficult Summers with all kiuds of stock. 
Several others speak very highly of cabbage 
as stock feed in Winter; some sayiug that it 
is a very reliable plant, for “however great 
the drought, it produces a succulent winter 
feed more valuable than silage.” 
POINTERS. 
A writer iu the N. E. Homestead says that 
a Cotswold sheep in thin flesh with long legs 
is a pitiful sight. On the other hand, this 
breed when perfect is scarcely equaled by any 
for beauty. It is urged that we separate the 
lambs, breeding ewes and others into suitable 
flocks, according to size aud condition. The 
vigorous and strong should never be wintered 
with the young and weak. The experience of 
the writer goes to show that the above sugges¬ 
tion pays better than the same labor applied 
iu any other way to the flock.. 
Mr. A. W. Cueever, of the N. F. Farmer, 
has fed many bushels of apples to dairy cows, 
giving them all they would eat, without expe¬ 
riencing any evil therefrom. Small quanti¬ 
ties were given at first. 
A N. Y. Tribune writer says that two 
Viuiees of saltpeter, dissolved iu a quart of 
warm water and thrown into the cistern, will 
remove the offensive odor of the water........ 
The Medical Reporter believes.that.the pro¬ 
hibition of the indiscriminate traffic in nar 
cotic drugs is a question demanding the atten¬ 
tion of the people as urgently as does the 
liquor question. . 
The Reporter speaks of chloral or chloro- 
dyne-satu rated women, and says it must be 
made a grievous crime, punishable by the 
severest penalties, for a druggist to sell any of 
these drugs save on the prescription of a phy¬ 
sician, etc. ...... . 
In an address before the National Swine 
Breeders’ Association. Prof. Morrow savsthat 
those engaged in swine imnrovement have 
been remarkably successful. Not in one breed 
alone, but iu a nnmber. there has been extra¬ 
ordinary development in the qualities desired 
—rapid growth, early maturity, quiet disposi¬ 
tion, readiness to lay on flesh. Differing in 
minor points—color, size, form as to detail— 
there is comparatively little essential differ¬ 
ence between a half dozen leading breeds; and 
they are becoming more and more alike. 
The time, however, has come he thinks to 
call a halt; at least long enough to consider 
the situation. The results gained are not all 
good. 
An extraordinary development, taxing the 
organism, is at the cost of lessened or checked 
development of some other characteristic or 
function...... .... 
We have lessened the vitality of our hogs, 
and increased their liability to disease. In 
many cases, there is lessened productiveness. 
We have gone beyond the popular demand for 
fat meat, aud raised a protest from the con¬ 
sumers who demand more of lean meat. The 
model hog of the breeder and feeder, ou the 
one hand, and of the butcher and consumer 
on the other, is becoming more and more dif¬ 
ferent. . . 
Prof. Morrow advises that we breed from 
mature animals. Select breeding stock with 
reference to health, activity' and vigor, and 
not alone with reference to early maturity, 
ease of fattening or possession of the minor 
points distinguishing breeds. Cease to magnify 
petty points as essentials, thus limiting our 
selection. Recognize the fact that grass and 
clover are natural and admirable foods for 
hogs, old and voung. Give exercise to the 
young and all breeding hogs. Give some va¬ 
riety of food and not corn alone. In food, 
water and shelter, give that reasonable care 
to secure good sanitary conditions, which com¬ 
mon sense and experience dictate. Trust 
little to the advertised specifics for diseases. 
And help each other bv experience and words 
of encouragement, in national. State and breed 
associations.. 
Brown affirms, in the Boston Traveler, that 
the system of indorsing is all wrong, and 
should be utterly abolished. He believes that 
it has been the financial ruin of more men 
than perhaps all other causes. 
A double white begonia is spoken of In 
high terms in a late London Garden. The 
flowers are perfectly double and pure white... 
The Tamarisk is a little tree rarely seen in 
the farmer’s grounds. It is as feathery as an 
asparagus plant aud perfectly hardv. Its 
long plumes of pink flowers are beautiful in 
their way... 
Corn, says the Rural and Stockman, as an 
exclusive diet, is wholly unfit for a horse. It 
is the most heating food that is fed. Corn 
meal ought always to be fed with cut hay.... 
Certain facts about the hog cholera have, 
says the Weekly Press, a disagreeable interest 
for others than the rearers of swine. It seems 
to be the practice of pork producers ivheuever 
the infection appears in a lot of bogs to sell 
them at once. The probability is that the 
greater portion of them will die and therefore 
they are hurried off to market to give 
the butcher’s knife a ehauce to get ahead of 
the cholera... 
Waldo F. Brown met a farmer a week or 
so ago who said; “One of my hogs died on 
Monday, another the next day. and two the 
third. I loaded them cn the cars that night 
and had them in the city by morning, but 
four were dead iu the car.” Auother man 
who has a large farm run by a tenant said to 
Mr. Brown: “My tenant came to town aud 
said, ‘I believe my hogs have the cholera.’ 
I knew he would have hard work to par his 
rent, and l said to him, 'Go homo aud load 
those hogs on a car to-night.’ But he foolish¬ 
ly waited a week before he sold, and 20 out 
of 40 died.” Now, these are facts which have 
come to Mr. Brown’s knowledge, and he 
says, iu the Farmers’ Review, that a large per 
cent, of the hogs marketed during the last six 
weeks have been from herds that were infected. 
A writer in the PtaOa. Press says that if 
milk turns a blue shade with the approach of 
cold weather it is au unfailing sign of poor 
shelter or insufficient feed, or both causes 
combined. It shows that part of the carbon 
iu the food that has been used_to make cream 
