The National tribune., 1882-04-08

L
and Farm says that in river bottoms, where
| land is very rich, cotton should be checked
4 by feet, which will give 300 hills to the
acre. One hundred bolls of cotton will weigh
a pound. Any of the improved varieties OF
cotton, well cultivated, in good season, Will
mature $50 bolls, or q pounds per stalk.
This will make $3.50 pounds of seed cotton
| per acre, if each hill has good stalk. To
do this requires care in planting and care IN
cultivating, but it can be done. The great
advantage of checked cotton is that it re-
quires less hoeing
THE CHINESE POTATO. - Twenty five
! years ago this plant was introduced as a
wonderful production designed to supersede
the common potato as well as the sweet
| potato, as it was said to combine all the good
qualities Of these popular roots with others
peculiarly its own. The botanical name OF
this plant is Dioscorea Batdtas. 1t has
tuberous root, with a twining stem, which
grows from 90 to 80 feet in season. 1t is
said to be extensively cultivated in China
and Japan for it's tubers, which are used for
food, and take the same place in consump-
tion as our potatoes do here.
The tubers, or roots, are long, rather slen-
der, and of unequal thickness; they contain
large quantity Of starch and mucilaginous
matter; they are very white, and when
cooked are very palatable, and are preferred
by many persons to the sweet potato, which
they somewhat resemble in taste; they are
nutritious and wholesome food.
Various attempts have been made to popu-
larize the cultivation of this plant in this
country, but, although it is excellent food
its growth is too protracted and the yield
too scant to make its culture profitable.
1t is of easy culture and the roots are
quite hardy. They remain in the ground
for several years, gradually increasing in
size. The stem is Of such rapid and slender
growth, and the foliage so ornamental, that
the plant is frequently used as a summer
covering for arbors and lattice work
A great drawback to its culture is the
depth to which the roots penetrate, which
renders their removal a costly operation. 1t
is stated that in China there are varieties
which form roots quite close to the surface,
and are also more productive, but these have
not yet been introduced into this country.
CHEESE MAKING. In cheddar cheese
making in England acidity is Systematically
developed in the curd when the whey has
been removed from it by keeping the curd
warm and piled up in heaps. In other sys
TENS it has been more or less unconsciously
employed, as in the Cheshire, by warming
the curd in an oven; in the Derby, by leav-
ing the newly formed cheese unsalted for
day or so, or, in some cases, by leaving a lit
tie curd of one day to mix with that of the
next; and in the Stilton by leaving the curd
to drain slowly, without pressure, for time.
By a judicious employment of acidity, Eng
lish cheese makers claim to secure quicker
ripening cheese and one whose flavor is more
highly developed.
YIELD OF ORANGEs.-A. B. Clark, post
master at Orange, will this season gather
10000 boxes of oranges-about 5000 oran-
ges-trom six acres of orchard planted six
years ago last summer to trees budded with
the Wilson's Best. This, so far as we know, |
is the best yield Of fruit ever reported in
this State-age of trees considered. If the |
fruit is sold at $3.50 per box it will net about |
5000 per acre, which is certainly good enough |
although some people might grumble and say
an orange orchard don't pay-Ricerside (Cal.) |
Press
ANOTHER REMEDY FOR THE CURCUIro |
OR PLUM-WEEvIL.-The Elmira RusJand- |
man states that q farmer near that city re- |
ports complete success in protecting plums |
from the curculio by the use of air-slacked |
lime. For two years he applied the lime |
after the insect had begun its Tavages and |
had fair crops. Last year he distributed the |
lime earlier, and secured complete immunity
from the curculio. The trees wore so heavily
laden that props would not sustain the limbs
and they broke over the supports The plan
Is very simple: all that is required is to
scatter air-slacked lime freely over the tree,
covering the foliage and fruit.
SUGAR MEAL.-A new danger is said to
have appeared in feeding sugar meal"
which is sold by the glucose factories, for
fodder. This meal is supposed to be the
part Of corn, and to have come
in contact with nothing but water in the
course of its preparation. If this were true
there ought to be no harm in feeding it when
fresh. The fact is, that in the vicinity of
Buffalo, New York, it has gained the reputa-
ton of sour meal, from its strong acid taste
An unusual amount of cholera infantum has
lately prevailed in a city in the western part
of New York State, which is claimed to be
due to the acid in the milk Of the cows fed
on this meal. Cheese makers have had such
bad luck in making cheese, which they claim,
also, is due to the acid in the meal, that they
have in many instances refused to receive
milk from dairies where this Is fed.
ESSEX BREED OF SWINE. - The good
qualities Of this breed are stated as follows:
They are very peaceable and quiet, scarcely
ever attempting to root; are very fond of
grass and vegetable diet and on full sup
ply of fallen fruit and grass they will always
be fat and growing and at any time fit for
the butcher, whether they are young or old.
Their skin is thin, ears small, and faces short,
md they have very small proportion of
waste when slaughtered. Their flesh is fine
grained, with large proportion of ham and
shoulder. Some may object to their color,