i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
449 
THE NEW MORRILL BILL. 
President W. I. Chamberlain is greatly interested in 
the passage of the new agricultural education bill, which 
was referred to last week. It will be remembered that 
the bill appropriates extra money for the agricultural 
colleges. President Chamberlain says : " The bill specially 
provides that the funds are subject to modification, or 
even reversal or discontinuance by any subsequent Con¬ 
gress, but the history of past legislation shows that if the 
funds are wisely used by the colleges, in the faithful pro¬ 
secution of the ends intended, this national support will 
never be withdrawn. But what is the purpose for which 
this new grant is made f Let us turn for a moment to the 
original purpose of the land grant itself. That was, in 
substance, to provide for the practical and liberal education 
of the industrial classes, in those sciences that are related 
to agriculture and the industrial arts. The bill does not 
exclude and, on the other hand, does not require instruction 
in sciences and in literature not closely related to agricul¬ 
ture and the] mechanic arts. But the original bill would 
seem by a careful reading to have intended to establish 
colleges different from those already existing at the time; 
that is to provide for technical rather than purely scien¬ 
tific or literary education : in other words, to provide for 
the training of skilled workers in the various occupations 
of life other than those known as the professions. But for 
two reasons in many of the States, the endowments were 
used largely to furnish much the same sort of education 
as that furnished in the older colleges, and to lead almost 
directly and naturally to the learned professions. These 
reasons were, first, the fact that the presidents and profes¬ 
sors of these new colleges were chiefly graduates of the 
older colleges and universities, and hence naturally taught 
what they themselves had learned. The result, indeed, 
was a large increase in the amount and quality of the in¬ 
struction given in pure science, and even in the application 
of the sciences to many of the mechanical and physical 
industries. 
The second of the two reasons was that, especially 
in the line of agriculture, there was very little de¬ 
mand for scientific education from the farmers them¬ 
selves. The general idea prevailed among them and even 
among the better educated classes, that agriculture was 
of necessity a mere art. a mere manual industry, where 
little brain and much muscle were required, and even 
while many of the scientific men had a somewhat ^ague 
idea that the sciences, especially of chemistry and biology, 
including botany, zoology, entomology, and the like, 
might be applied to agriculture for its uplifting and ad¬ 
vancement, yet they did not know exactly how. The 
matter was largely one of tentative experiment. The 
problem so far as agriculture was concerned was to find 
the men for professors of agriculture who had combined 
both the scientific knowledge and the practical acquaint¬ 
ance with detail, which should make them successful 
instructors in the application of the various sciences to 
the art of practical agriculture. In short, the colleges had 
neither the grist to grind, nor the exact knowledge how to 
grind it—neither the pupils in agriculture at the start, 
nor the knowledge how to teach them if they had them. It 
was necessarily a matter of slow growth with reciprocal 
help from the one side to the other, and the other to the 
one. The result was that in many of the States, the col¬ 
leges drifted almost wholly away from agriculture, and up 
to date, many of them have graduated scarcely a single 
student from the full four years’ course in agriculture. 
But 20 years’ experience in this line, with the work of the 
agricultural colleges in Europe, and the growth of the idea 
that the sciences do intimately and closely underlie agri¬ 
culture, and can give it beneficent aid, the time seems at 
last to have arrived when these colleges, if ever, must 
diminish their purely scientific and literary work, and 
show their fitness to give.valuable instruction in agricul¬ 
ture and the mechanic arts, or forfeit further support 
from Congressapd their State legislatures. 
Something of this idea seems to be clearly shown in 
Senator Morrill’s bill, at least in its present amended form. 
For whereas the orginal land grant was so liberal in its 
terms (being clearly the result of a compromise between 
two factions at the time in Congress) as to permit instruc¬ 
tion in these colleges in every branch of literary and scien¬ 
tific learning, the provisions of this new bill seem, whether 
by design or otherwise, specifically to shut out this wider 
interpretation. The wording is almost exactly, though I 
must quote from memory, “ to furnish instruction in agri¬ 
culture and mechanic arts.” The bill indeed provides for 
furnishing the necessary apparatus and facilities therefor, 
but it does not seem in any way to countenance the ex¬ 
penditure of the funds appropriated, upon instruction in 
mere literature, or in pure science, except so far as it can 
be clearly shown to have direct connection with agricul¬ 
ture and mechanic arts. Personally I happen to know that 
this was the distinct intention of those who secured the 
modification of the bill into its present form. That modi¬ 
fication met with the consent of Senator Morrill, though I 
am not now aware what was his original intention in this 
respect in formulating the bill. The leaders of the prin¬ 
cipal agricultural organizations had a hand, however, in 
the present modifications of the bill. Their distinct inten¬ 
tion, as I learned by long conversation with Col. J. H. Brig¬ 
ham, the Master of the National Grange—the intention of 
this vast organization of which he is the head and which ex¬ 
ercises more influence than any other organization upon 
the best thought of farmers in the Northern States—was 
to hold these colleges to more faithful and extended work 
for agriculture. 
A few of the colleges indeed have been, as I believe, 
wholly faithful to the original idea, a few indeed 
have been so faithful to agriculture as for a time to 
neglect the mechanic arts, which certainly claim a full 
and equal share in the original intent of the land grant. 
These colleges will find no difficulty whatsover in applying 
the whole of this new grant to instruction and illustration 
directly calculated to promote the interests of agriculture 
and the mechanic arts. It would also seem that the other 
colleges or universities which are now doing full work in 
pure science and literature, through the National and State 
aid thus far vouchsafed, may at least apply this new en¬ 
dowment solely to the purposes intended. On no other 
basis can this new bill pass Congress even for the first time, 
if the facts are known, and so long as its continuance de¬ 
pends upon the annual appropriations from Congress, it is 
clear to my mind that unless the various agricultural col¬ 
leges ancj universities shall apply these new funds honestly 
to the purposes intended, the great farmers’ organizations 
North and South will defeat the appropriation in the very 
next Congress. 
Let our legislators in Congress and she trustees, presi¬ 
dents and professors of our so-called agricultural colleges, 
and of the State universities that either absorb or have built 
themselves upon the land grants of 1862, let these all notice 
the exact facts in the case. Let there be no dodging of the 
issue; let there be no attempt to introduce new amendments 
that shall permit, under any pretence whatever, these 
new appropriations to be used exactly as the original land 
grant was used. It is universally acknowledged by those 
who stand closest to the farmers and have longest felt their 
pulse, that any such attempt would be suicide. The fact 
is that the inside history of the movement since Senator 
Morrill first announced this new bill, shows conclusively 
that it will meet with strenuous opposition from the agri¬ 
cultural classes, unless the appropriations are so carefully 
guarded as to prevent their diversion from the distinct 
uses of agricultural and technological instruction. From 
the States in which the “ university idea ” has most pre¬ 
vailed, and agriculture has thus far received little apparent 
benefit from the land grants, there have already come up 
indignant protests from the farmers. They say in effect 
(whether it be true or not) that the original land grant was 
diverted from its purpose; that agriculture has as yet re¬ 
ceived little benefit from it, and that there seems little 
likelihood that it will; that the farmer’s bread was given, 
not to the dogs, but to the learned professions already 
overcrowded, already offering large inducements, already 
aided sufficiently by the older colleges and universities. 
Some of them go so far as to say that it was a downright 
steal, and that this new bill will lay the basis for another 
steal of exactly the same sort. They demand that so long as 
farmers are taxed,as shown by the last census, on more than 
two-thirds of the nation’s wealth, and pay, as many believe, 
more than their full share of the taxes that come through 
a protective tariff, this new appropriation at the least shall 
be so carefully worded in its terms, and so carefully 
watched in its execution, that it will be honestly used for 
the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, and not 
for the promotion of the long-established literary pro¬ 
fession. 
The Farmers Club. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name and address 
of the writer to insure attention. Before asking a question, please 
see if it is not answered in our advertising columns. Ask only 
a few questions at one time. Put questions on a separate piece 
of paper.] 
Hair from a Tannery as Manure. 
A. D., Horseheads, N. Y. —What is the hair from a tan¬ 
nery worth for manure, and how should it be treated to 
render it available as plant food ? 
ANSWERED BY PROF. E. F. LADD. 
The percentage of nitrogen in hair is high, being from 
12 to 17 per cent., or about the same as that in nitrate of 
soda. Hair waste, as it comes from the tanneries, will be 
found to contain three to 10 per cent, of nitrogen, averag¬ 
ing about 6.5 per cent. If the nitrogen was in an available 
form for plant growth, hair would be a valuable fertilizer, 
but this is not the case, and, if left alone in the soil, it 
would be a long time before the nitrogen would become 
available. For this reason hair is considered of little 
value for immediate use as a fertilizer. It may be treated 
in numerous ways in order to hasten its decomposition 
and putrefaction. Put the refuse hair in a place where 
there can be no loss by leaching, and mix with it easily de¬ 
composing matter, such as damaged cotton or linseed 
meal, etc., and pour urine over the mass, and keep the 
whole moist, and the hair will gradually become broken 
down. Another process would be to mix ashes and lime 
with it, keeping the mass moistened. The quickest process 
would probably be to boil it in an iron kettle with a weak 
solution of lye. The lye could be prepared from caustic 
potash or by leaching wood ashes and lime, as is sometimes 
practiced for soap-makmg in the country. Even allow¬ 
ing the whole mass to stand without boiling, would ac¬ 
complish the same end. This mass could then be mixed 
with lime, plaster, soil, etc., and it would form a valuable 
fertilizer. Since we should have besides the nitrogen of 
the hair, potash salts that we have added in the lye, so 
that there would be no loss by using the ashes in this way. 
We would then be able to make the ashes serve a useful 
purpose before being used as a fertilizer, and, too, without 
diminishing the value of the fertilizing matter obtained 
from them. 
Handling Navy Beans. 
C. R. J., Abilene, Texas. —How are Navy beans har¬ 
vested and thrashed ? 
Ans.— Bean growers who have but a few acres to harvest 
still pull the vines by hand and thrash with the old-time 
flail. The practices in Western New York, the great bean¬ 
growing section of the country, are thus described by N. B. 
Keeney & Sons. “ Many of our farmers continue the primi¬ 
tive plan of pulling beans by hand, but the great majority 
use a bean puller made by William Bradford, of Brock- 
port, N. Y. This is a machine drawn by two horses, which 
pulls, or rather cuts, two rows of beans at a time, cutting 
the rows just below the surface of the ground ; then rolls 
the plants together, making one row out of two. It is 
desirable that this work should be immediately followed 
by mep or boys who will lift up these plants, and shake 
the dirt off from a little of the root, which will adhere to 
the plant, otherwise lumps of dirt and small stones are apt 
to be found in the beans after thrashing. The best thrash¬ 
ing machine is made by C. H. Bidwell, of Medina, N. Y. 
and costs about the same as a grain thrasher, and uses the 
same power. An ordinary grain machine can be used for 
this purpose, by taking nearly all the teeth out of the con¬ 
cave and one-half or more out of the cylinder, and then 
reducing the speed considerably, but even with these 
changes the grain machine is apt to split a good many of 
the beans, especially if they are dry, as they should be to 
thrash satisfactorily, and the cleaning is not done as well 
as in the case of a special bean thrasher.” 
Minnesota Amber Cane. 
Several Subscribers .—Will some of The Rural readers 
who have grown this crop give their experience with it ? 
How does it compare with corn ? Can the bagasse left 
after the canes have been crushed for sugar, be fed to 
cattle ? 
. ANSWERED BY MALCOM LITTLE. 
An experience of eight years or more in the use of this 
plant has led me to pronounce it one of the most valuable 
which we, at the North, cultivate. It is planted about the 
same time as corn, and requires a similar soil. The seed 
should not be put in over two inches below the surface. 
After the first start the growth is rapid, and late in July 
or early in August it is ready to be cut as green food for 
cattle. I consider it superior to fodder corn for this pur¬ 
pose, with the additional advantage that a second crop is 
often produced on the same roots, which is quite large 
enough for fodder before frost comes. A good crop of cane 
will yield a handsome margin of profit in molasses, after 
all expenses for seed, culture and manufacture are paid; 
while the seed and bagasse are still left. The seed is nu¬ 
tritious food, and is relished by all animals. I gather the 
cane in small bundles when ripe or just before frost, and 
cut off the heads, leaving them together. I put the cane 
through the mill with the leaves on, spread the bagasse on 
the ground like hay, and, when it is dry, stack it or put it 
in the barn for winter use. I feed the greater part of 
it to cows and young cattle, though all kinds of stock 
eat it well. I alternate the bagasse with hay and corn¬ 
stalks, and if there is any difference the cattle prefer the 
bagasse. My cattle never looked better than since I have 
used this kind of food. I do not have a silo, but I am told 
that Amber cane makes superior silage. For milch cows I 
give one feed per day of meal—about four quarts made into 
slop. I use a mixture of corn, oats and bran. There is so 
much moisture in cane as it comes from the field that it is 
very difficult to cure. I like it much better after it has 
been through the mill. The hard stalks are crushed so 
that animals can chew them easily and the trouble of cur¬ 
ing is very slight. I have never noticed any ill-effects from 
the use of bagasse. The seed requires a little longer season 
than corn to ripen perfectly. An average yield for an acre 
of Amber cane may be estimated at 3X tons of dry fodder 
worth as much as hay, from 25 to 30 bushels of seed and 
about 160 gallons of molasses, which will readily sell at from 
50 to 60 cents per gallon. Careful handling will turn out a 
grade of molasses which equals any other class in color and 
adaptability to culinary uses and it can be obtained abso¬ 
lutely free from adulteration and with all the sugar in it. 
How to Propagate Clematis. 
J. F. C., Address Mislaid .—How may clematis be pro¬ 
pagated ? 
Ans.— Clematis can be propagated by seeds, layers and 
grafts. The best time for grafting is January, February 
and March. The best stock for most kinds is Clematis 
coerulea, one-year-old or two-year-old seedlings. Cut off 
the head, graft in the ground, pot in l^-inch pots, put in 
a cool house and keep watered moderately. As the plants 
grow, shade them a little and plant them out in a frame or 
put them in a three-inch pot. If in layers, put them flat on 
the ground and place a little earth above each joint. In 
June they will easily root; only leave them on the plant 
till next spring, then do the same as above. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
Old Subscriber, Weston, Md .—My colt, otherwise thrifty 
and in good healthy condition, has recently begun to get 
its front feet crooked; it walks on the toes, the heels not 
touching the ground — it is becoming “club-footed.” 
What can be done for it, or is there no remedy ? 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
We cannot advise a satisfactory course of treatment for 
cases of this kind without a personal examination. Em¬ 
ploy a competent veterinary surgeon to examine and treat 
the colt. 
S. if. B., Timbervllle, Fa.—On page 374 a contributor 
to The R. N.-Y. says, that for a remedy for the painful 
effects of Poison Ivy. he uses common plantain. We have 
the broad and narrow-leaved plantains ; which is meant ? 
Ans.—T fie broad-leaved kind which grows close to the 
ground, and is generally considered a bad weed. Our con¬ 
tributor tells us that it Is still an effective remedy in his 
case. 
B. W. A., Saratoga County, N.Y .—How can I stop the 
growth of horns on a two-month-old calf ? 
Ans. —The most favorable age to practice dishorning 
is from three to six weeks old, before the embryo horn or 
bud is attached to the skull. With a sharp knife or gouge 
the “bud” can be quickly lifted out. If bleeding is ex¬ 
cessive apply cotton or lint to stop the bleeding and then 
use tar to heal the wound and prevent the flies from 
doing injury. 
