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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 481 
the past. We want teachers with established characters, 
so that they can mold character in the right direction. 
The young bov or girl teacher cannot, by any means, 
always do this. We want teachers who possess some fund of 
general knowledge, who have had some experience in the 
world. Boy and girl teachers in their teens have not these 
qualifications. We want men and women of practical 
common sense, of gumption, as teachers in our country 
public schools. The mere book-worm, no matter how 
learned, is not the teacher for the country schools. We 
ought to have men who can teach the boys how to graft, 
to bud. to measure land, to lay drains, to shoot, to swim, 
to measure timber, sawed and on the stump, to measure 
corn in the crib and hay in the mow ; in a word, teachers 
who can teach with and without text-books. There is 
another need. Every town or township should have an 
academy or high school, to which those ambitious youths 
who desire more than the district schools can furnish, 
may go. This academy should be partly supported by 
public money and partly by fees. DR. G. G. G. 
WISCONSIN CELERY CULTURE. 
J. M. SMITH. 
Consumption of celery greatly increased; trenches no 
longer dug; cultivation, “banking," cutting, cost 
and amount of labor required; storing and market¬ 
ing ; varieties , etc. 
The consumption of celery has increased wonderfully in 
the West within the last 10 years. With this increase of 
consumption have come cheaper and more expeditious 
methods of growing and handling it. We no longer dig 
trenches in which to put the plants, but set them on top 
of the ground in the same way we set cabbage, except that 
we put the celery plants in rows about 3,K feet apart, and 
about six inches apart in the rows. We do nothing to the 
crop, except to keep it clean, until the plants are from six 
to eight inches high, when we give them what we call 
the first handling. This consists in running a plow or 
cultivator through between the rows; men follow and 
gather the stalks in one hand, and with the other draw 
some of the loose earth around the plant, and press it 
closely around it in order to compel the stalks to assume 
an upright growth, which most varieties will not do of 
their own accord. If the celery is designed for a late 
winter market, I think it better to do but little banking 
beyond the above-named, as it keeps better in a pit or else¬ 
where, and will bleach itself during the winter. For fall 
and early winter use, we go through it about three times 
in the process of banking. In the early handling four men 
will about go through one acre in one day, and do it well. 
In banking it will take at least six men, and, in a heavy, 
clay soil, more than that number. We almost always 
bank it twice, and I think it safe to estimate the cost of 
banking at not less than from $15 to $20 per acre. 
All that is intended for either early or late winter use, 
we leave in the ground until we fear hard freezing 
weather. An ordinary white frost will not damage it. 
When we are ready to harvest the crop, one man has a 
heavy long-handled garden spade which he strikes down 
through the banking and under the plant; his assistant 
has hold of the top of the stalks and lifts it out of the 
ground with the earth still clinging to its roots. It is ex¬ 
pected that each blow of the spade will loosen one plant. 
Other men follow and gather them up and set them in 
boxes, which are put upon a wagon and hauled away 
either to the cellar or pit where they are to be kept until 
sent to market. At the pit or cellar they are taken out of 
the boxes and stood upon the ground. We are careful in 
the handling to shake off as little of the earth from the 
roots as possible. As a general rule, I like to give them a 
thorough wetting about the roots after I have finished 
handling them. Here they are left until they are taken 
out and dressed for market. Wheu we gather the crop, 
we break off all dead or decayed stems and leaves, aud 
leave only the fresh, green portions to go into winter 
quarters. 
The real demand for celery with us commences about 
Thanksgiving, and continues steadily until the following 
spring. Previous to the above date, the sales are compar¬ 
atively light. When preparing celery for market, we 
break off the coarse, outside leaf stems and then use 
knives with blades about four to six inches long, in trim¬ 
ming off the roots. It is then put into a tub of water and 
washed clean. For this purpose we use cheap, stiff brushes, 
which are much better than either a cloth, or the naked 
hands. This being done, it is tied up in bunches of either 
one-half, or one dozen in a bunch, as our customers prefer. 
It is carefully packed in clean boxes, and shipped to cus¬ 
tomers as they order. I rarely sell any on commission, and 
my customers do not often order more than three or four 
days’ supply at a time, as it is of much better quality when 
fresh from the cellar or pit. It is supposed to be ready for 
the table when it leaves for market, though the consumers 
often take off some of the outside leaf stems, which are 
nice for soups, and use only the centers for the table, 
which are considered much the best. It will readily be seen 
that it requires no small amount of labor to grow and pre¬ 
pare an acre of celery for the market. A good crop ought 
to give 1.G00 dozen bunches. I grow it almost exclusively 
as a second crop. I am about commencing to set plants 
for the winter market—July 10 —and shall continue to set 
it as I take off other crops, until about the 1st of August. 
The later it is grown, provided it reaches a fair size, the 
better it keeps through the winter, and the better is its 
quality. The White Plume is a very popular variety at 
present. It is a very quick grower, very showy upon the 
table and is much liked at hotels. It is not a good winter 
keeper, aud is in my opinion far inferior to the Golden 
Dwarf both in quality and as a winter keeper. 
Green Bay, Wis. 
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.] 
Importance of Sweet Cassava as a Food Plant. 
Several Subscribers .—Will some of your Florida sub¬ 
scribers tell us about the cultivation and value of cassava ? 
ANSWERED BT SHERMAN ADAMS, ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA. 
The most productive, as well as one of the most useful 
and important, of the many vegetables that can be grown 
successfully in Florida is Manihot aipi, or sweet cassava. 
It thrives upon any soil that is not too wet, and is es¬ 
pecially suited to the high pine lands, though the better 
the soil the more productive the plant. It is surprising 
that its cultivation is not more general, as it makes an ex¬ 
cellent food, which is highly relished by beast and fowl, 
and when properly prepared, gives a large variety of appe¬ 
tizing dishes for the household. It yields immensely, 
from three to 20 , or more, tons per acre, and requires little, 
if any, more care or labor in its cultivation than a field of 
corn, while the product of a single acre will give more food 
than six acres of wheat. In tropical countries, the poison¬ 
ous kind, Manihot utilissima, is chiefly grown, and from 
it is derived the principal breadstuff of the people, the 
poisonous principle being dispelled by heat. Arrowroot 
and tapioca, as well as cassava, are manufactured from 
the tubers of both species. 
Cassava can be planted at any season of the year by 
sticking a whole or a piece of a stalk four or five inches in 
the ground, leaving two or more leaves above the surface, 
and will grow from year to year if protected from frost. 
If the canes are cut and the roots left in the ground, it can 
be readily protected from frost by hoeing the earth up over 
the stumps. To grow a good crop of sweet cassava, the 
only kind cultivated in Florida, put the ground in a good 
state of tilth by plowing and harrowing. The more fertil¬ 
izer one harrows in, the more vigorous will be the growth. 
In this latitude, the best time to plant is from the middle 
of February to the first of March. If planted earlier it 
may be nipped by frost, and, if much later, the heat re¬ 
flected from the sand will scorch the tender leaves before 
it gets sufficient growth to shade the ground. The plant 
bears seeds in pods about the size and shape of Irish potato 
balls, four white seeds to each pod, resembling somewhat 
a sunflower seed. The crop is secured, however, by plant¬ 
ing pieces of the stalks of the previous year’s growth, 
which have been cut before the first frost and stored in a 
dry place. These are cut with a fine, sharp saw into pieces 
three to four inches in length. The ordinary mode of 
planting is to run furrows four feet apart, and three to 
four inches deep, and drop the seed pieces at intervals of 
four feet, turning the furrow back upon them. A later 
method is to make holes with a sharpened stick, put the 
seed piece in, top end up, kick on a little dirt and press 
it down with the foot about an inch below the level of the 
ground. The after cultivation is about the same as for 
corn, but the surface is kept level. A handful of cotton¬ 
seed meal, or any other good fertilizer, scattered around 
the plant at the first hoeing has a good effect. 
The cassava is not only a useful but, also, a very orna¬ 
mental plant, growing from three to six or more feet in 
hlght according to the fertility of the soil, cultivation, etc. 
The main stalks, of which there are frequently several to 
each hill, are smooth and of a pale green color. Circling 
aronnd these are numerous slender, red branches from six 
to 16 inches long and at the end of each a drooping fan 
made up of seven or eight sharp pointed, dark green leaves 
from four to 10 inches in length and IK to two inches wide 
at the broadest part. The main stalk usually divides near 
the top into two or three branches. The plants are quite 
symmetrical in shape and present an impenetrable foliage 
giving a dense shade. The size of the tubers, which vary in 
number from one to half a dozen to each plant, is indi¬ 
cated bv the thriftiness of the stalk, and they weigh from 
one to 10 or more pounds each. They usually grow nearly 
horizontally with and at a depth of three to six inches from 
the surface. They are very brit'le and a novice finds con¬ 
siderable difficulty in getting them out whole and is sur¬ 
prised to see how easily it is done by an experienced hand. 
The tubers grow to a length of from one to five feet with a 
diameter of one to four inches. They are dug as wanted, 
as the roots usually begin to decay in three or four days 
after digging, though I have a root that was dug last 
winter, laid up on a beam and forgotten, that appears per¬ 
fectly sound and is dried as hard as a bone. If the frost 
cuts down the tops, no matter, if you have saved your 
seed for the next season’s planting. The stalk dies down 
if frozen, but in South Florida, where we seldom have ice 
thicker than window-glass, they sprout up the next spring 
and grow right along as if nothing was the matter. Per¬ 
haps they are cut down again by a late February frost, 
but they sprout up again and go right on growing as vig¬ 
orously as ever if not frozen below the lower buds. 
Cassava can be prepared in so many ways that a long ar_ 
tide would be requisite to give even a partial description. 
For live stock, the tubers should be washed and sliced in a 
hay or vegetable cutter. For household use they may be 
boiled like potatoes, with or without their outer skins, which 
wring off easily showing the beautiful pink skin under¬ 
neath. Cut in thin slices, or grated, they make an excel¬ 
lent addition to soups and stews. Grated and mixed with 
corn meal and wheat flour and cooked on the griddle, or 
baked in the oven, they make excellent cakes, or they may 
be used in raised bread if added at the last kneading. 
Boiled and chopped when cold, they are an excellent sub¬ 
stitute for potatoes in hash or codfisn balls, or are good as 
fried|cakes.by themselves. Starch is made by grating the 
roots and washing them thoronghlv. laying the pulp aside 
to be made into puddings or dried for future use. When 
the water settles, the starch will be found at the bottom 
of the vessel. By the addition of other ingredients the 
grated root makes exc a llent custards, puddings, etc , etc. 
In fact, there are few products that can ne so acceptably 
used in so great a variety of ways. Cassava is % erv car¬ 
bonaceous, hence quite fattening. For stock and family 
use there is no product that can be so easily secured or 
that will give so great and satisfactory returns as 
cassava. 
Tuberculous Cows? 
X. Y. Z., Fort Littleton, Pa .—Several of my cows have 
a bad cough. One has been affected with it since I bought 
her in February. She is quite thin in flesh, has fallen off 
in her milk, and, at times, seems to be greatly distressed 
by it, as it is violent and frequent. Others of the herd are 
troubled somewhat in the same way. They are well 
taken care of. being sheltered at night during wet 
weather, and sometimes put in the stable during the day 
if heavy rains come. Particular symptoms I cannot de¬ 
scribe, as I do not know what The Rural wants to know. 
Give treatment. 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
The history and symptoms point to tuberculosis as the 
cause of the trouble. Owing to the dangerous character 
of this disease, not only to the cattle but to man (being the 
same as tuberculosis or consumption in man) we would ad¬ 
vise the employment of a competent veterinarian to ex¬ 
amine the herd at once : and if they are found tuberculous, 
the infected animals should be slaughtered and such 
measures as may be necessary to prevent further spreading 
of the disease should be adopted. It would be perfectly 
proper for our inquirer to report the case to the State Vet¬ 
erinarian so as to have the herd officially inspected, and, if 
they are found diseased to secure the co-operation of the 
State authorities in suppressing the outbreak. 
CEdema and Partial Paralysis In a Mare During 
Pregnancy. 
J. A. F., Foyil, I.T .—What ails my mare and what can I 
do for her ? She foaled on May 21. About two weeks 
previous to that she became swollen all along the belly, 
apparently got very stiff in the back and hind legs, so that 
she could scarcely walk. Since foaling she has been clumsy. 
When still she stands with her hind legs out behind, and 
her back gives down a little, and where the back-bone joins 
the hips, it appears sunk in. She runs on the range, and 
has no feed except what she picks up there. I worked her 
a little up to within two weeks of foaling. This is her first 
colt; she is six years old. 
Ans.—CE dema or dropsical swellings, especially along 
the ventral surface of the chest, abdomen and udder, are 
not uncommon in the mare during the last month of preg¬ 
nancy. Accompanying such swellings there is usually 
more or less stiffness, or rarely partial paralysis of the 
hind quarters. These cases usually recover without treat¬ 
ment, within a few davs after parturition. For treatment 
in this case, apply a mustard poultice over the loins, give 
one table-spoonful of the following powders in bran, 
twice daily : Powdered gentian, six ounces ; powdered nux 
vomica, two ounces; mix. 
Umbilical Hernia In a Calf. 
M. W. Y., West Leyden, N Y —In my two-months-old 
heifer calf there is a swelling about the size of a goo*e egg 
at the navel. It appears to be getting larger. What 
should be the treatment ? 
Ans —If the swelling continues about the same size, a 
severe blister to the sac will check its growth and cause it 
gradually to disappear. If the blister fails, or If the sac is 
growing more rapidly, apply clamps, as in castration. 
Place the animal on his back and force the contents of the 
sac into the abdomen, then apply the clamps tightly over 
the skin close up to the belly, and allow them to be worn 
until they drop off._ 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
J. H. P., Broome Co., N. Y. —What are the names of the 
grasses Nos. 1, 2 and 3 inclosed ? 
Ans.—N o. L Holcus lanatus ; Soft Grass, Velvet Grass. 
No 2. Dactylis glomerata: Orchard Grass. No. 3 Festuca 
elatior var pratense. Meadow Fescue—Randall Grass. 
A. S. B., Fort Littleton, Pa.— About what time (latest 
date) may millet be sown in this latitude (Fulton County. 
Pa.) for hay ? How much seed to the acre ; what kind of 
soil is best adapted to it, and what particular kind of mil¬ 
let would you recommend ? 
Ans. Sow one bushel to the acre. Allow seven weeks for 
it to mature. Hungarian Grass. 
Subscriber, Barnesvllle, Ohio. —When should Black 
Locust trees be cut or deadened so that they will not 
sprout ? Is there any benefit in salting the stumps ? 
Ans.—T he middle of August is the best time in your 
locality. We have had no experience with salt. 
E. N. H., Watsonville, Fa.—As suggested in one ot the 
numbers of The Rural, I sent for the Crosby sweet corn; 
so far I find it a good grower, but greatly inclined to 
sucker, almost every individual stalk having from two to 
four suckers. Some of them look as though they might 
produce ears if left. My small garden is rich and could 
stand the drain on it from the corn, but is it advisable to 
let the suckers grow, or should they be cut off to produce 
a fine corn for table use ? I shall let a few hills have their 
own way. From present appearances the variety would 
produce a world of fodder, as I put only four and five 
kernels in a hill, and they have multiplied three or four 
times. 
Ana—U nless the corn is too crowded let the suckers re¬ 
main. Removing them will not increase productiveness, 
and you will simply lose so much fodder. Many of the 
suckers produce ears. 
