davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
Marett's Problem Dissected upon II
New Principle.

To the Editor Of the Comet:
Pardon me for submitting to you II solu-
ton of Hon. f. j. Marrett's quasi problem
No. 1, which will not require any unusual
types to print. And, from which it may
be seen that the problem, so-called, is both
elliptical and enormous. ga and b." says
Nh. Marett, "eXpend 5000 each for 200
acres of land. A takes his at $1.75 per
acre, and b at 1928" Mr.. Marett's asks,
ga solution of the problem or the reasons
of its inconsistency" The only solution
admissible on its face, is, that since each
pays 5000 in the purchase of 200 acres,
each is entitled to an equal value interest
in the same. If \ takes 5000 worth at
S1.75 per acre, he gets ia 81 acres, which
leaves b with only 50 81 acres at 1925 per
acre, or $192.S5 81 worth, making $7.14
81 of value interest less than A gets. Yet
the land is eXhau sted, and b is entitled to
8 21-63 acres more at the price. Here the
enOrmity is solved. 1t is affirmed that
each has paid his 5000, which is one term
of the proposition, but having alleged
SNNDiu aDShiu tVihs III pldSC VI plODbi
one, necessary term, Showing the price,
per acre, paid by at least one of the two
taking the lands in divisiOn), has been
omitted, and shows it to he elliptical. $50
long as A and b have the same number of
acres" says Y, ''the average is MAIN I
tanned" This assertion is unsOund. They
do not get the same value interest and that
is the only proper mean of division.
\ division of lands without a uniform |
value can be made only by fixing the |
values Of each quality. 1t is well under
stood, that, as commodities increase in |
value, the quantity purchasable with a
given sum decreases, and universally when |
values fall. If we say A takes 1.15 acres |
in 4 and takes 2.25 acres thereof, each |
acres being worth the cost price So, we |
easily find that A gets 1915 at one dollar,
and S7.5 acres for his $500; also that b |
gets 1926 acres at 81, and 1928 acres for
his $500. Together they get POO acres. !
agree with X, G.. and Jones, that the null
tiplication Of cents by cents is a palpable
and inhibited by the very
nature of mathematical rules.
GUIDE +. BENNIN.
Jackson, March IS. 1880.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27

e. p. Roe is very happy in the OPEN
ing paragraph of his Scribner article
on Strawberries for Home and Mar
ket." He says: "To people who live
in the country, small fruits are like
heaven, objects of universal desire
and very general neglect. AS the
warm weather approaches, people tire
of meats, and many, not vegetarians,
long for some substitute for the heavy
winter diet. Yet from how many
country breakfast tables continues to
rise the pungent odOr of that meat
into which the devils went, and out of
which there is no proof they ever
came" AS to the different varieties
of market berries, he says che does
not expect to see the day when will
sons or some other like berry is not
the staple supply of the market. The
continuance in public favor of the
miserable sour fruit, which will
keep over if not sold, rests entirely
with the consumer. Let citizens clear
ly recognize the truth-that there are
superb, delicious berries like the "Tri-
umph,' the Monarch the Charles
Downing and many others, and in
sist on being supplied with them, just
as they insist on good butter and good
meat, and the problem is solved. The
demand will create the supply.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27

The corn crop of the single State of
Illinois for the year 1879 is reported to
be 305, S13,377 bushels, and estimated
to be worth S97, 4S3, O52, or about 81
cents per bushel. 1t is difficult for
the mind to take in the full magni-
tude of these figures. Here are some
calculations that will help the cOncep-
ton: Load this corn upon wagons,
40 bushels to the load, and start them
off on the road so near together that
there shall be 100 teams in every mile.
The line Of wagons carrying this one
crop of Illinois corn would stretch
away rs, 1913, or more than three miles
around the world Again: Load this
crop upon railway freight cars, 285!
bushels or about tons to the car, and
make up these cars into a continuous
freight train, allowing 30 feet of track
to each car. The train would extend
600 miles, or nearly twice across the
continent, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific oceans Again: Suppose we
put this corn crop into square bin 20
feet deep. Let the arithmetical young
readers reckon how large this bin
would be each way. Also, how many
acres it would cover. Also, how many
pounds of pork it would make if given
to pigs weighing 100 lbs. each when
they begin feeding upon the corn, and
$50 lbs. when killed for pork.-Ameri-
can Agriculturist.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
How the Chinese Make Dwarf Trees.

We have all known from childhood
how the Chinese cramp their women's
feet, and so manage to make them
keepers at home but how they con-
trve to grow miniature pines and oaks
in flower pots for half a century has
always been much of a secret. They
aim first and last at the seat of vigJr-
Gus growth, endeavOring to weaken it
rs much as may be consistent with
the preservation of life. Take young
plant-say Seeding or cutting of a
cedar-when only two or three inches
high, cut off its tap-root as soon as it
has other rOOtlets enough to live upon,
and replant il in a shallow earthern
pot or pan. The end of the tap-roOt is
generally made TO rest on a stone
within it. Alluvial clay is then put
into the pot, much of it in bits the
size Of beans, and just enough in kind
and quantity to furnish a scanty nour-
ishment to the p ant. Water enough
is given to keep it in growth, but not
enough 10 excite a vigorous habit. So
likewise, is the application of light
and heat. As the Chinese pride them
selves on the shape of their miniature
trees, they use strings, wires, and pegs
and various Uthcr mechanical contri-
vanc-s 20 promote symmetry of habit
OF to fashion their pets into odd fancy
figures. Thus, by the use of very
shallow pots, the growth of the tap
root is out Of the question but the
use Of poor soil and little of it, and
little water, any strong growth i pre-
vented. Then, too, the top and side
roots being within easy reach of the
gardener, are shortened by his pruning
knife OF scared with his hot iron. So
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
THE MATHEMATICIAN'S COLUMN.
Below we present variety of sou
buttons and remarks from mathema-
ticians in different portions of the
State, all of which explain themselves:
The ElIipiicnI Nature of Feet Multi
piled by Feet.

JACKSON, March 18th, 1880.
To the Editor OF the Comet:
In your issue of March 18th. cores
pondent from Ashland, Miss, signing him.
self co." desires an explanation from "A''
as to the ''elliptical nature of feet multi
piled by feet" am glad that go" thinks
our book makers are wise men, and hope
he will persevere in his study of their def
nitions. One of the best books for this
purpose is Robinson's Progressive Higher
Arithmetic, edited by Daniel W. Fish, A.
NJ" from which obtained my definition
of multiplication. Both its editor and its
author certainly deserve place in that
galaxy of wise men.
The elipsis in the expression eject null
tiplied by feet" consists in the omis-
sion of the word ''number." We should
in every case say "the number of feet null
tiplied by the number Of feet" For in
stance, the number of linear units in the
base of rectangle multiplied by the num-
Der of such units in the altitude gives an
abstract number of superficial units in the
rectangle. The definition of multiplied
ton which quoted is universally accept
ed, and multiplication once defined, must
be used throughout in the same sense. ]
would like to see definition of multiple
cation which would make it admissible
to multiply concrete numbers together. A
full discussion of this apparent multiplied
ton of feet by feet would require, Mr..
Editor, too much of your valuable space.
In addition to this, am no book maker.
must therefore refer CO." to a book writ
ten by one of the greatest, ifn the great
est mathematicians our country has pro-
duced. refer to Albert Taylor Bledsoe,
and his Philosophy of mathematics. In
the first part of Chap. V, may be found an
exhaustive and lucid discussion Of the
whole question. y.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
Onions.

Mr.. Benjamin P. Ware, at farm
ers' convention at Auburn, Mass,
spoke as follows on the subject of rails
ing onions:
Heavy corn land is good for onions,
and is better the second year than
when first devoted to this crop. The
manure should, if possible, be applied
in the fail, of course, and should be
well worked in few inches deep. In
the spring have the ground fine, mel
low and smooth when the seed is
sown. Plant five to six pounds of
seed to the acre, allowing One-halt for
the maggot and other insects. Just
as they are breaking ground, light
hand cultivator is run close to the
rows, covering the plants and small
weeds with IL thin coat Of earth,
enough to just smother the weeds, but
through which the onions will readi y
find their way, though if the work be
delayed till the onions get some size
they, too, would be smothered; but
while they are yet short and straight,
little dirt will not injure or check
them in the least. BY using the hand
cultivatOr often between the rows,
turning the dirt both towards and
from the plants, very little hand
wedding is required, though the weeds
must be kept down at all events.
If the onions are stiff-necked when
they ought to be ripening off, roll the
stems down with barrel drawn over
the rows by hand. When ready to
harvest, pull six rows, throwing the
onions together in long heap, after
which pillow or cultivate the ground
where they grew to kill weeds; then
pull six more rows and throw upon
the freshly cultivated earth, and 50
proceed, pulling and cullivating, till
the crop is all gathered into rows and
the ground cleaned of weeds. When
thoroughly dried, store in bins thirty
inches deep, ia the barns or other out
Buildings, till they can be m rketed.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
THE OLD UIIAR
BY Il. Won sEUTTER,

Dids'tevsr gaze from bluff or height
From Vicksburg's balconies or spires--wesl
And view the Mlssis ippis gorgeous sight,
Calm, proud, and with majestic might,
Wind to the gulf-his final rest?
Dids't see the busy city just below,
The laden palace steamboats, rounding IN,
The distant ferry putting 10 and fro,
The wondrous sky with southern glow
Dds't see the sun set, or the day beginY
The horizon frames alone the forest grand
So calm, so still, 50 lovely desolate;
Far as the eye can reach, OF human hand
No sign, no spire, nor busy land,
Save natures grand expanse immaculate.
Dids't rest with ecstacy high on the bluff,
And long to taste that distant solitude?
Then is your heart and mind of fitting stuff,
And 1 II proceed--though not enough
Have proclaimed this lovely altitude.
Such were my thoughts, when thirty years ago
My heart was sick with dire nostalgia
Like native lake. this scene below,
This dreamy land scape had the glow
As peaceful smiled that green peninsula.
For where the mounts of western Tyml lave
Their green pedestas in the wavelets foam.
Where high tho Alpine SHOWS the summers brave
Eternal glaciers mirrowed by the wave;
There on the lake Of Constance, was my home,
But now, where then in youthful pride
| swam-and landed tired at last, and sore
Inc MISSISSIPPI from the Olnef size,
There PUSHES now the rivers mighty tide,
And that peninsula exists no more
tiny island, like an emerald star,
But marks the old bends" former spot.
Thus of an old friends life and love afar
There's left to me but this: An old guitar;
Both mark the past and plead: "Forget me not!'
stranger boy in this fan occdent
felt at heart his kindly deed:
Though the guitar is ruined and bent
Twas once In time noble instrument,
IT'S yours ii you repair 1t and succeed "
And so did, and now felt not alone
Nor yearned for homes associations.
Twas dear TO me, by word and work my own;
1t filled my heart and mind with sweetest tone,
And life with hopes bright scintillations.
When, after years of learning and of toll,
/ vcntured out on business ftfu wave
Twas he who "started" on this foreign soil
The young man. Oh, through life's turmoil
I've meier forgot that friend-long in his grave
In Joy or sorrow, through my changeful life,
Awoke to animated mem'rys light,
The past revived, the present made more bright
Yea, twas my safeguard ere found my wife.
For in my room with books, refreshed by song,
There was content at night and occupation,
1t kept aloOf me from the thrOng;
Its idleness and cards; its social glass and wrong
And snares of vice and dissipation.
AS years went by, growing babe would crawl
Far DER the carpet for the old guitar;
To touch with tiny fingers, strings and all,
And listen spell bound to the notes sweet call;
Twas baby's Mecca, Rome and guiding star.
Thus years DER me and my guitar took wing,
And often LIES sunshine and clouds would
Still my guitar sometimes love to riag- blend,
But when the wind sweeps gently DER each string
Eolian harp like softly then twill sing"
OF "long ago and of that absent friends
d. B. Downing Jeweer in vicksburg, died in 1855
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
PARAGRAPHS OF ALL SORTS.

The rush Of business Is SO great on
the trunk lines from the West to the
East, that there is an an average OF
only fifteen minutes apart of the
trains night and day.
A great many enterprises in Boston
have been stopped on account of the
high price of iron. There is no reason
for iron selling at such fabulous prices.
Mr.. Olive Dalrymple of Minnesota,
has put in this season, 10000 acres
in wheat, which requires 700 men, 1856
se'f-binding reapers, and 20 steam
threshers.
Sheep rot is prevailing to an alarm
ing extent, in sCme of the Western
States.
An old lady in Crystal Springs
pointed to u wagon, on which were
three bales of cotton, said; "My gal,
Sal, and another old mule made that
cotton"
G. w. Hungerford, of the Real Es-
tate journal, of stevens Point. Wis
consin, gives notice that he wishes to
exchange good Wisconsin lands for an
improved place somewhere in north
ern Mississippi.
Twenty-Five or thirty thousand cat
tie were lost in Idaho and Eastern
Oregon by recent snow storms. Also,
many cattle and sheep have persisted
by the recent SHOWS in Texas.
President Welch, of the Iowa Agri-
cultural College, says that of its 100
graduates, 81 are working in the line
of industrial education.
At the great national cat show III
Boston, last week, there were 300 prize
cats of every variety. Some Of the
educated cats were valued at $1,000,
and 81 were valued at $3.50.
New Iberia is a great egg market
Last May one house shipped from
there one hundred and thirty-two
thousand and thirty-siX dozen.
J. w. Bond, & Co., of Baltimore
offers prizes to the amount of $500 to
the boys of Hartford, Co., Md, for the
largest amount of corn made to the
acre. The competition is to be confined
to boys seventeen years of age and
under.
Damage to the recent vegetable and
fruit crops around San Antonio, Texas,
will amount to S2,000,00O.
1t is estimated that over 10000 col
ored people have left the Southern
States for Kansas.
A Scotch chemist has found out how
to make diamonds. They will no doubt
be cheap now.
In some portions Of Indiana, starch
factories are exempt from taxation for
a period Of ten years. Such an eXemp-
ton here would encourage manufac
tories.
The failure of crops in the United
Kingdom for 1879 is estimated at
$3.50, 100000.
Denmark exports as much butter as
the United States, with only one
twentieth the number of cows.
The value OF the poultry product of
Tenn, is equal to the cotton crop of
that State.
The Mobile Gazette, Il new paper,
will devote most of its columns toward
developing our industrial resources.
A commendable object.
Iowa has melted over S3S, 900, 900
from her wheat and corn last year
and no doubt most of it was sold in
the South.
Texas exports annually 100000
worth of hides.
Reports from all the wheat growing
States are, that the prospect for wheat
are very poor.
1t has now been found out that the
cause of the potato blight is micro
scropic fungus.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27

Editors Country Gentleman
Referring to the inquiry of w. IL.
H., d. III, we answer that he 'abors
under a mistake when he supposes the
COW pea will not grow in the North. 1t
will grow wherever the common snap
beans will grow, and like them, is
equally sensitive to frost. Ii Is, we
believe, the best renovator of worn
soils known, growing Off rapidly and
producing more than double the
weight of vegetable matter that red
clover does. Like clover it feeds
largely from the air, and when aided
by IS to 100 pounds per acre of super
phosphate, the growth isimmense. 1t
will grow fairly ON soils on which
clover could not exist three months.
The mode of planting generally
adopted here is to sow broadcast
about one bushel or five pecks per
acre, aud cover with one horse pillow.
They can be put in on plowed ground
with Thomas smoothing harrow, or
still better, with the ordinary grain
drill. Where the grain drill is used,
one bushel of seed per acre will be
ample. If the seed is sown in June,
as it should be in the State of New
York, the plant will be ready to turn
under by the latter part of August, or
whenever it begins to bloom, and if
lime or plaster is sown before blowing,
it will hasten decomposition, making
more available plant food for the sue
ceeding crop OF wheat or whatever
else may be sown.
We find the following analysis of
the haulm and leaves when the plant
is in bloom, but do not know by whom
the ANALYSIS was made:
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27

the little tree, finding itself headed
on every side, gives up the idea of
strong growth, asking only for life,
and just life enough to look well. Ac-
cordingly, each new set of leaves be-
come more and more stunted, the buds
and rootlets are diminished In proper
ton, and at length a balance is es-
tablished between every part of the
tree, making 1t Il dwarf in all respects.
In some kinds of trees this end is
reached in three or four years; in
others ten or fifteen years are neces-
sary. Such is fancy horticulture
among the Celestials, The Technolo-
pist.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
WHERE SOUTHERN MONEY GOES.

a correspondent Of the Country
Gentlemen, from Southern Illinois,
says:
This part lf the State is doing a full
and pr 5ftabIc business in the sale of
grain AMI hay, to supply the active
demand which an immense and high
priced cotton crop has produced in the
Gulf States. For the first time in sew
cral year, the farmers are selling their
hay at very profitable prices, and for
the first time since the war, hay has
been taken from first hands at an
average Of fully SO per ton. The
Illinois Central carries hay by car
load OTIS from all points south of
Et1ingham, for = per ton, to Cairo,
whence it is taken by steamers at very
low rates. These prices tOge her with
the failure of wheat on the low lands
will favor the seeding Of immense
acreage Of timothy and rcd-top, as
was the Use FIR years before and after
1868 and 1861. Corn, too, il moving
south i'm immense quantities. but
mostly hy rail. The bulk Of the crop
lis FIR up as Champaign county goes
t. meet the demands of the cotton
producing t't'lll y III w ilitll llltIt was
"a failure of corn as marked as the sue
cess with cotton.
The more money lac southern peo-
pie hayo, in the same proportion do
the Western States PROV rich. BY the
time our fdrne get through purchas-
in" mules, mat, corn AID hay, the /
great blk Of ous MOST profitable CO.
ton crop FIR 1879 viii have been con-
sum y, aud lha proceeds pocketcd by
the grain growers aLI stock raisers of
the West
Ii w could only i,arn to krcpa ror- .
tirn Of our c.ttan crop at home by
divyrsifying our industries, it would .
not ly D. better for the South, but
we believe even the West would lie
better Off IS TIE South would be more
ahle to buy from them.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27

What better could be desired for
wheat or corn?
In the summer of 1878, Col. Richard
Peters sowed cow peas on piece of
land on his plantation in Gordon
county, in the northern part of this
State, using as a fertilizer what is
known as the Ash compound-being
a composition of German kainit salts
of potash and grou d Charleston phos-
phatic rock. The growth of pea vines
was so dense that a four-mule team
could not pull the pillow through, not
wthstanding the pillow was one of
Avery's best steel pIows, having re-
volving coulter attached. Col. Peters
had to leave the vines until they were
killed down by the frost before they
could be turned under.
BARLOW Co., GA. M. X. IL Co.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
A Question for Mr. Marett.


YAzOO CITY, Mss, 1850.
To the Eiitor 81 the Comet
Please ask Mr.. Marett the distance be-
tween the points Of a five pointed star, cut
out Of the new American silver dollar. al
lowing the dollar to be 10 inches in
diameter. Respectfully,
J. W. MERCER.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
The answer to which is 1870 inches.

IA trigonomical solution of this
problem accompanied the answer, but
the characters are strangers to our
fonts, and we cannot present it.-ED.
COMET
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27

Manufacture If the little town of
Akron, Ohio, amounted for the year
ls75, b. slU,9I9,0n; AMI s3.mD,G0) Of
90 amount was rom agricultural i'm
plements, and ii ,gs.b1 from Iucifcr
matchrs. tits sal fiat the revenue
t. the government fDrl 1851 will amount
10 sl-H31H51 How easily such things
coull ,. manufactured n the South.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27

Mr. David Landalth, the head Of
the Z eat seel firm Of Philadelphia,
died at his home in Bloomsdale, on
the II ult., aged 7syears. His father
began the seed business in philadcI-
phia ~ any vcars ago.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27
The GrindstOne Problem.

To the Editor of The Comet.
Your issue of March 9th contains the
following problem:
A, b, G and d, buy grind-stone 30
inches in diameter, and 4 inches thick,
paying equal parts of the cost. A is to
use it until he wears off his pro rata and
turns it over to B. What is the diameter
when b receives it?
The answer to which is 1870 inches.
The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-03-27

. From s,0Jo 20 looDl pounds Of olo-
margarine H. sold daily in PhiIaIel-
phia.