The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1882-10-12
NOTES AND EXTRACTS.
Digest Of Information Collected From Various
Sources.

| A Digest Of Information Collected From Various
Sources.
| There are two difficulties in the way of max
! ing sugar from sorghum the first is in produc-
! ing cane in which the gum and glucose, or
! grape sugar, have passed on to the condition of
! true sugar at the time of ripening of the seed.
! This depends almost exclusively on the inten-
sity of light and heat at the period Of ripening.
Before the head appears, the juice contains
gum, with n little glucose; as the bloom APP
pears the gum is rapidly transformed into giu-
cose, and this fades the glucose begins to pass
into the condition Of true sugar; but if the
light and heat fail at this point, the transfer
nation becomes slow, or is entirely suspended.
A fair srup, with half the sweetness of sugar,
may be made from this juice, but the presence
of gum and glucose prevents the crystalization
of the sugar that has been formed.
TOADs AND BEES
The Canadian Farmer says: Those who keep
bees need to look out sharply for toads. Go
among the hives in the "gloamin'," and ten to
one you will see solemn toad beside each of
them, with face upturned heavenward as
though praying. So he is, phonetcally speak
ing; but photography, with all its advantages,
fails here, for you must spell. that word with
an "e.' He is preying on your bees, and if
you watch him closely you will see him every
now and then dart out his long, Shiny tongue
and gather them in with a CELEBRITY and gusto
perfectly marvellous. Toads are valuable in a
garden but destructive III an apiary.
FEEDING.
Deficiency of food is not less injurious to the
animal health than an excess of it. If continued
for many days it leads to wasting of the body,
weakness of the muscles, great depression and
fever Animals insutiiciently nourished prove
susceptible of contagious disorders, which they
quickly contract when exposed TO infection.
Moreover they become more readily the victims
of parasitic affections. Lice and the peculiar
minute plant or fungus to which ringworm is
due are both found to flourish and propagate
vigorously under the influence of poverty and
dirt
BAGGING TOMATOES.
The Rural NetU Yorker states the result of bag
cling tomatoes, which procured fruit of a bril-
liant color, and when cooked were less acid
than usual, and the fruit ripened and colored
round the stem the same as elsewhere. Bag
ging gave no protection against rot. The same
is said of grapes. 1t has been frequently as
serted that covering grapes in paper or in a
thin muslin bag, would prevent them from
rotting, but the assertion does not seem to be
realized by those who have tried it. The grape
rot has not yet been met by a sure preventive
FEEDING CATTLE.
good guide for a safe quantity of grain per
day to maturing cattle is one pound to each
hundred of their weight; thus, an animal
weighing one thousand pounds may receive
ten pounds of grain.
In using roots, it is one guide to give just so
much, in association with other things, so that
the animal may not take any water.
Never check the fattening process, for as soon
as an animal begins to fret for food, it imme-
diately begins to lose flesh.
SUGAR FROM BEETs.
Experiments made in the United States De-
partment Of Agriculture in 1872, reveal the
important fact that the quantity of sugar in
the beet diminishes as the summer tempera-
ture increases. In 10 climate that shows
mean temperature of 700 for the three summer
months can sugar be proftably made from
beets.
Inc price Vi sugar Will HOG pSIlhlJ Jlt
facturer to pay more than five dollars for a ton
of beets, and ton of hay can be put On the
market with less labor.
SUGAR BEETs.
Sugar beets have been tested and results show
them TO be most nourishing, and yielding a
milk without foreign flavor, and rendering the
milk without yellow hue so common when
carrots are fed. In France and Belgium hun
dreds Of farms grow them exclusively TO feed
cattle upon. In feeding bects caution must be
taken to supply the cattle with an ample
amount of hay to avoid any bad results.
RAINFALL.
The average rainfall Of the United States is
twenty-nine inches, or $4,000 barrels to the
acre. Over 100000 of our population have
more than the average of rain, 22OO0000 hav-
ing between forty and fifty inches In the
regions having this large average rainfall the
average population to the square mile is largest,
while but few live where the average annual
rainfall is less than twenty inches.