The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1879-02-06
Facts for the Curious.

Facts for the Curious.
In clapboarding, one bunch, laid three and
oae-half inches to the weather, will cover
twenty-sx square feet. Use five-penny
nails.
A cubic inch Of water, evaporated under
the ordinary atmospheric pressure, is con-
verted into ZOO cubic inches Of steam, or,
in unit Of measure, very nearly one foot,
and it exerts mechanical force equal to the
raising of 8, 120 pounds one foot high.
Cast steel is made by breaking blistered
steel into small pieces and melting it in close
crucibies, from which it is poured into iron
moulds; the ingot is then reduced to a bar
by hammering or rolling. Cast steel is the
best kind of steel, and best adapted for most
purposes.
than water is because it is a thicker liquid,
and consequently less heat is carried off by
evaporation of steam; therefore. the heat OF
the entire mass will rise more rapidly. Again,
top of heated milk, which Of course confines
the steam, and increases the heat.
The principles of acoustics are but poorly
understood. As general rule the ceilings
OF halls and churches should be at moder-
ate elevation only. Sometimes the hanging
up Of flags or draperies will improve the
acoustic properties, sometimes hood or
false ceiling becomes necessary. The whis-
pering gallery of St. Paul's London, offers
an interesting example of one of the princi-
pies of acoustics.
The article known as vegetable isinglass,
which has hitherto been derived from Eas-
tern Asia, is now extracted from French
factories. 1t is, IN its crude state, yellow :
ish gelatine. but which, after repeated ex-
periments under the aupices of the Industrial
Society, of Rouen, has been successfully
converted into what bids fair tc prove the
best sizing for cotton cloth known. Mace
rated in water for twelve hours, boiled for
fifteen minutes, and stirred till it is cold, the
article gives clear solution, which, as it
does not again become a jelly can be laid in
its cold state upon any textile fabric, and be
left dry. One invaluable property it posses
ses is that of defying, at common tempera-
lures, damp and mildew, and it is. there
fore being applied to give luster not only
to French prints and muslins, but to wool
ems and silks.
- DO NOT LET THE FARM RUN DOWN.
The fertility of the soil is the farmers
capita, on this depends largely his success Or
failure. and his great anxiety should be
how best to keep it up to the highest point,
at the least expense. It is a well known
fact that it is much easier to keep it up as we
90 along, than, after it has been allowed to
run down, to make spasmodic efforts to re-
store its former vigor. 1t does not pay to
raise small crops OF any kind; medium
crops may just pay expenses, while that
part of large crop which is in excess OF the
medium crop is nearly all profit. Hence
we know where to look for our profit, and
study to devise the best means of enriching
our lands at the least expense. There are
several ways suggested. One man feeds
stock; another ploughs clover under; an
other buys commercial fertilizers. The wes-
tern man uses up all the fertility of the soil,
and then goes farther west to repeat the
process. have seen something OF this sys-
TEN, having known lands in Central Illinois
which few years ago produced one hun
bred bushels Of ears of corn, and which now
produce but eighteen bushels in favorable
season. They tell US that this soil will never
wear out; know of none that wears out
quicker. The same is the case in our Eas-
tern States. The writer Was on some New
England farms some months ago, that had
once been the home Of thrifty but IMPROVE
de mt people. The life of the land was gone;
families were separated, and there was a
dull prospect for a young man to begin life
on such an. impoverished farm, SO these
/ bright boys from the New England hillsIdes
seek other and more lucrative avocations.
They are full Of energy and vitality, Injured
to the rigor of the climate, and the rough,
hard land. Agriculture cannot afford to
sacrifice such men. If farmers wish to keep
their sons at home, they must keep up the
fertility of the soil. Stock feeding is one
of the most important branches of farming,
and requires much judgment, care and at
tie ton. A prominent man said that to be
successful with flowers you must love flow
ers, and so to be successful with stock you
must love stock. The venerable John john
ston once told the writer that he owed his
fortune and his reputation as farmer to
one pile of manure. While poor and in
debt he bought an adjoining fifty acres on
which there was an old barnyard continuing
an accumulation of twenty-three years. ma
nure. He found it to be a mine of wealth.
He applied it to his crops which in turn
gave great returns, and this not only gave
him notoriety as good cultivator, but gave
him credit with moneyed men, who freely
rendered him all the funds that lie desired
to buy stock with. After securing an i'm
mense crop Of corn, he fed it to stock and
made another great quantity of valuable ma
nure, and SO on, year after year. Mr.. john
ston has fed thousands OF sheep and vast num-
bers of cattle. It has been said that in Is
years of sheep feeding. buying in the fall
and selling in the winter or spring, he never
but once failed in getting pay for his feed,
and handsome profit on the investment
This shows that his judgment must have
been superior, and that the stock had his
personal and undivided attention. A
wealthy stock farmer in Pennsylvania once
told the writer that one drove of cattle will |
half feed the next f: meaning that by apply
ing the manure from one lot of cattle to the
ground intended for corn, the crop would
be much larger, and that this increased yield
would cost almost nothing, while the extra
burden of stalks would certainly make the
Increase donation iyear after year.. After
he farm has become rich it costs almost no.
hing to feed stock, as they will live on the
urplus. believe it cost thirty cents per
ushel to raise corn, when you only raise
fly bushels of ears to the acre, but when
ne hundred and fifty bushels are raised, the
ost is reduced to less than ten cents per +
Fl. N. in The Country Gentle-