Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-02-24
NEW YORK FARMERS, CLUB
From Moore's Rural New Yorker.

Of corn-meal and hay for food for
stock made by the Department of
A agriculture in the report of 1865, viz:
That twenty-five pounds of corn
meal is equal in nutrition to one
pounds of hay. He, Whip
pie, has been taught that ten bush
els of corn to one ton of hay is equal
to two tons of hay. He asks the
opinion OF the Club in the matter
WHY WEEDS GROw-J w. Van
deuberg asks the club to tell him
why, after blowing new ground and
planting To com, new varieties OF
weeds come up and grow which
were never seen Oh the land before.
Bird Professor informs the
gentleman that the seeds of the Can
ada thistle and some other weeds
have downy wings and float through
the air, and are conveyed from one
point to another. And he had found
the cr"r-, of Cedar birds packed full
of app re and wild rose seed; and thus
are seeds scattered which terminate
and develop under favorable condi-
tons. White clover often appears
in fields, after an application of ash
es, where it had never appeared be-
fore. One of the learned Doctors of
the Club explained that the changed
mechanical condition of the soil con-
sequent upon blowing it was favora-
bic to the termination of seeds which
had long lain dormant In it. The
modest young man who had never
married a rich widow, informed v.
that Oleaginous seeds remain in the
ground a long time without germin-
ating-sometimes thirty or forty
years. Prof. Peters said the Geolog-
zeal Professor, if careful student,
ought to be able to give important
Information on this subject. Seeds
were carried, in the early geological
periods, in the drift. And from eX-
cavations several feet beneath the
surface he had known new. and
strange plants to spring after the ex-
cavated earthhad been exposed to the
action of the atmosphere.
STRAIGHT VS.. CROOKED RAIL
FENCEs.-A New Yorker named
Geo. r. Clark, without a doubt a
wag of infinite parts of his neighbour
hood, propounds the following con-
vulsive conundrum to the learned
savans. He knows of good, straight
rail fences in his town, and asks :
"If straight rail fences can be made
as durable as crooked ones, are they
to be regarded and should they not
be urged as an improvement of the
latter ?n
President Fly, with the wonderful
wisdom forwhich;h he is notedwhen an
intricate or delicate question is To be
disposed of disposed of this by say
ing, "Some are opposed to any fen
ceS.p
DEssICATED SWEET POTATOES
Samples of dessicated sweet potatoes
having been, at a previous meeting,
referred to the Clubs Chemical Pro-
fessor, that dignity made n learned
report thereon He had received six
quarts of the dessicated tubers.
These had been prepared in various
ways and cooked. 1t had been
found that by the process of dessica-
ton the peculiar flavor of the pota-
TO was entirely lost, and thus prepar-
ed it cannot be regarded as a substi-
tute for the condensed or canned tu-
Der. Only I'm the form of flour or
meal can it be made valuable. As
-four it was made into excellent
buildings, pancakes, and, mixed
with a little wheat flour to cause the
particles to adhere, biscuits We're
made from it, samples of which were
distributed among the crowd. How
ever nutritious and healthful these
biscuits might be, they were not re-
mark able for flaV0r-were rather in
sipid though it is proper to say that
some professed to discover remark
able quality and flavor in them. The
Chemical Profession thought that
properly prepared, this tuber might
be made an important substitute for
SO t..n. 4 l..
grains.
said the skin should be removed, the
tuber sliced into thin slices of uni
form thickness not more than one
fourth inch-and the moisture evap-
GRATED III the quickest possible time.
Coffee had been made from it, APP
preaching more nearly to the real
berry IN flavor than any substitute
he had ever tried. He suggested
that coffee would hence-forWard as
soon as this learned report got circu
lation-be likely to be adulterated
with this tuber, and he urged that it
be put upon the market under It's
own name and sold rs a substitute
for coffee.
\ distinguished and sensible
Black berry Professor hereupon wax
ed indignant, and properly denounc-
ed the suggestion of any substitute
for the invigorating and health-pro-
noting Mocha, Java, ct. at, berry.
He was opposed to anything that
should affect the use of coffee or tea
Mr.. Quinn regarded this business of
dessicating vegetables an important
ene-one much more extensive than
is generally supposed, and to grow
into one of great utility TO the food
consumers of the country.
KEEPING SWEET PoTAToES.-Da-
vid Dutton of Richmond, Iowa,
sends the Club his and his neigh
bors mode of keeping sweet potatoes,
by which they are successful. They
procure enough lure sand to answer
their purpose and burn it in a kiln
until ii is thoroughly dry. They fill
boxes or barrels with potatoes, and
pour sand into them, filling the in
terstices and covering the tubers
then keep them in warm room
does not say how warm.
SWEET POTATO PLANTS are pro-
pagated by Mr. Dutton in this wise
He makes an ordinaryhot-bed in the
spring, and after the rank heat has
escaped plants his tubers, and over
the bed builds frame with a double
inclination or roof; and instead of
using glass frames to exclude cold
air and confine the heat. he spreads
over the frame common brown sheet
ing, which is lifted when it Is neces-
sary to water the plants.
NORWAY OATS.-A correspondent
at Sparta, Wis, has seen an adver-
tisement of these oats and wants the
Club To tell him whether they are