The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1481 
Sugar from Palm Trees 
(Continued from page 1479) 
For stai’ch production the Philippine 
farmer selects the so-called “males,” these 
being the semi-sterile types which in most 
cases produce only the abortive female 
flowers. This type is evidently never fer¬ 
tile, and consequently never produces ma¬ 
ture fruit, the flowers usually dropping 
off in the form of hard, hollow shells. 
These spikes are usually cut off as soon 
as they appear, so as to retain the valu¬ 
able material in the trunk, which other¬ 
wise may deteriorate. To test the degree 
of ripeness for starch it is customary to 
chop a deep notch at the base of the 
trunk. If the tree is ready it is chopped 
close to the ground. The main part of 
the trunk is then cut into blocks, which 
are again cut into smaller pieces and 
pounded in a wooden or stone mortar until 
reduced to a fine meal. This is then 
placed in vats and washed thoroughly to 
separate the starch grains. In order fur¬ 
ther to purify the starch it is subjected to 
various changes of water, and, being 
heavier than the impurities, it readily 
settles to the bottom. It is then col¬ 
lected and after being dried in the sun 
is ready for market. The remaining resi¬ 
due is boiled to a thick gruel and used as 
food for hogs. 
Bermuda Grass in Virginia 
What do you think of Bermuda grass 
for a pasture? Can I buy the seed, or 
must I get the roots? Can I grow it in 
a pine field with about 25 pines per acre? 
Can I get the grass started without break¬ 
ing the ground very much? I have seen 
advertisements in regai-d to timber-killing, 
claiming a preparation costing about 
$4.50 per gallon will kill all kinds of 
brush and bushes. What do you think 
of it? r J. c. ii. 
Concord Depot, Vt. 
In the sandy soil of the coast region 
and tidewater Virginia. Bermuda grass 
is the best Summer pasture, but I would 
not advise it for Bedford County or any 
part of the upper Piedmont section of 
Virginia. Bermuda seldom, if ever, makes 
seed in this climate north of Arizona, and 
seeds always give a low percentage of 
germination. It is usually grown by 
planting cuttings of the running stems in 
Spring in rows two feet apart, and it 
soon covers the land. It is especially a 
hot weather grass, and turns brown with 
the first frost. In your section you can 
grow grasses much better suited to your 
conditions. I found in the hills of Albe¬ 
marle County years ago that I could make 
the finest sod by sowing a mixture of 10 
lbs. of Orchard grass, 10 lbs. of Red-top 
and 5 lbs. of extra clean Kentucky Blue 
grass. The Orchard grass and the Red- 
top grow quickly and shelter the slower 
Blue grass, and if the pasture is taken 
care of the sod will be mainly Blue grass 
in a few years. But I found in Albe¬ 
marle and in all Piedmont Virginia that 
farmers fail to realize that pasturing is 
exhaustive on the soil; their pastures, no 
matter how well started, soon run down 
and finally consist of poverty grass, hen- 
nest grass, as the colored people call it. 
Animals that graze on the grass, espe¬ 
cially young stock, are getting their bony 
frames out of the grass, and are taking 
phosphate from the soil. I know pas¬ 
tures that have been unbroken for 75 
years or more, and today make more 
grass than ever; but these pastures get 
‘100 lbs. of raw bonemeal every Spring, 
and all weeds are kept mown off before 
blooming and seeding, so that now those 
old pastures are clean Blue grass. In 
Bedford County, Virginia, you can make 
and maintain a Blue-grass pasture. We 
can do it here in our piuey woods sandy 
soil, in the southeast corner of Maryland, 
for we have grown right here as heavy 
a sod of dean Blue grass as ever grew 
in Kentucky. A farmer from the Lime¬ 
stone Valley and Blue-grass section of 
Virginia called in my office when on a 
business trip East. lie remarked I had 
said that good Blue-grass pastures can be 
made in any part of Virginia, and he 
doubted it. I took him across the road 
from my office and asked him if he ever 
saw a finer sod of Blue grass. He was 
amazed to see it, and to find th%t the 
soil was sandy. 
Bermuda will not grow in shade of 
trees. It is peculiarly a sun-loving grass, 
and if you want to grow grass you must 
get the land in condition to grow it, and 
then maintain it. Trying to make a good 
pasture without proper effort and prepara¬ 
tion will fail. Better save your $4.50. 
Many weeds can be killed by spraying 
with sulphate of iron, commonly called 
copperas. The best way to kill sprouts 
from cut-down trees is to blow up the 
Stumps and put the laud into a good 
course of farming. w. f. massey. 
Curve of Apple Barrels 
In manufacturing apple barrels how 
are the staves shaped or curved? 
Albany, I’a. P. W. S. 
Stave bolts are cut the length of stave 
desired; then if too wide for staves they 
are sawed into blocks of different thick¬ 
ness, as staves never run uniform. Then 
the staves are sliced off by a knife that 
causes them to curl a little, giving the 
oval, shaped ready for the barrel. They 
are then jointed, leaving middle of stave 
tull width, and the ends narrow, so as 
in make bilge in the barrel. The cooper 
uses form hoops to draw the narrow ends 
ot staves together and a heater (the bar- 
>s set over the heater) to make the 
r,\, e . ?°me out where it should stay. 
4 be jointer is like a machine for cutting 
trees with foot power. Barrels are sell¬ 
ing now at $1.30. C. A. 
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