The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1883-02-08
RURAL TOPICS,
Some Practical Suggestions for Our
Agricultural Readers.

AgrlCultural RcadefS.
A soil would never get exhausted if managed
with skill, but would continue to improve IN
depth and fertility in proportion TO the indus
try bestowed upon il. The food of plants may
be exhausted by a repetition of cropping with
any one family of plants, but no part OF the
growing season is required for the soil to rest,
if properly managed by a judicious rotation OF
crops OF by supplying them with such food as
will COMPENSATE for what has been taken oil by
previous crops. The first object TO be attained
in many instances is thorough drainage and
aeratiOn; the next important step Is breaking
into the subsoil without bringing 1t to the sur
face and thus by a gradual deepening OF the
blowing healthy fertilizing strata will be es-
tablished on the surface to any desired depth.
A proper depth of soil being established, and
repeated STRINGS of the surface adopted as far
as the nature of the crop viii admit, plants VIII
continue in healthy luXurlance regardless, In
measure, of either excessive moisture or excess
i've drought BY attentive culture of the sur
face. noxious insects are disturbed and de-
stroyed, weeds are kept from gaining toothold
and committing their accustomed robbery OF
the soil and crops. The essential application
of manures may be made most benehclally
when the soil is established in healthy condl-
ton. and maintained in that condition by jul
QlCl0QS plOWl0g ana SuTIdCe CulIuICs
NOTES on INDIAN CORN.
This well-known cereal is a native of Amer
lea where it has been cultivated from time I'M
memorial 1t is stated that the 1ncas of Peru
cultivated corn in their gardens as elegant
plants, and among artistic works in gold of the
ancient Peruvians the imitation of the plant is
very frequent, and ears of corn have been found
in mummy graves in South America.
Indian corn was the great food crop of the
Aztecs Not only were they expert in the
preparation of the various articles of food made
from the grain, but their supply of sugar was
obtained from the stalks previous to the intro
duction of the sugar cane. They also made an
intoxicating drink from it, as is done in South
America at the present time. Indian corn was
not known in Europe till after the conquest Of
Mexico.
No other cereal is so universally and so ex-
tensively cultivated. The warmest regions of
the torrid zone produce it in abundance, and
varieties of it are adapted to the short, though
warm, summers of Canada. 1t is cultivated
from Canada to Patagonia and the South Sea
Islands, through every variety Of climate, and
over an extent, from north to south, OF more
than 1000 miles. 1t was introduced into At
RIGA by the Portuguese in the sixteenth cen
turv, and is cultivated more or less from the
Mediterranean Sea and the Libyan Desert to
the Cape of Good Hope. In Java and the
is grown in Central Asia, the islands of the In
dian Ocean and Australia and in Europe 1t is
produced in Hungary, Lombardy, France and
Spain; but the corn crop Of the United States
is far greater than that of the whole world be-
sides.
SUCCESS WITH TREES.
The great secret of getting trees into vigorous
and rapid growth lies in the preparation Of the
soil before planting. We once planted park
where the tree holes were dug out eight feet in
diameter and eighteen inches in depth; III ten
years after planting, the trees averaged thirty
feet in height; many of them, such as poplars,
naples and willows, were much higher than
this average. In digging holes the good sur
face soil should be thrown out on one side,
and the bad and inferior subsOil on the
other. The hole should then be filled by first
throwing in the good surface soil, and the neigh
boring surface may be robbed to fill the hole,
spreading the subsoil in its place. The differ
ence in five years growth between trees thus
treated and those merely stuck in small holes,
would surprise those not familiar with cause
and effect IN this line Of operations Careless
ness in planting viii be indicated for many
years by stunted, short yearly growths, moss
covered bark, and frequently by the death of
the plant after many yearly attempts TO sur
vive, while trees which are well set in properly
prepared ground proceed satisfactorily from
the first. A very old writer says that 81 SLOW
emily planter ranks among the most extrava-
CANT order of slovens; the labor, the plants and
the ground are thrown away"
TIE CAssAvA.
This plant is now attracting considerable
attention in Florida as plant for the manu-
facture of glucose. Both the sweet and bitter
cassavas are very extensively grown in the
West Indies and South America for their edible
tubers. The milky sap of the bitter species
has long been known TO be strong vegetable
poison, which is destroyed by grating the root,
afterwards expelling it by heat. The Chemist
and Druggist states that no attempt has been
made until recently to determine the quantity
of the poison yielded by the plant 1t has been
ascertained that the poison is prussic acid.
Fifteen samples of sweet cassava obtained from
different cultivatOrs in Trinidad all contained
prussic acid; nine out of the number yielded
sufficient from one pound of the root or half
pint of the juice TO kill an adult. The bitter
cassava shows higher proportion of the pois-
onous principle than the sweet, but they vary
very little, contrary to general suppOsitiOn.
The Juice of the bitter cassava, mixed with
mOasses and fermented, has been made into an
Intoxicating liquor, which is much rellshed by
negroes and Indians. Florida planters viii re-
guire to be careful in the use Of the plant, and
keep cattle from eating the poisonous roots.
sILos AND ENsILAGE.
There is still being much said for or against
silos, but the opposition is limited and tritling
compared TO those who find them profitable.
in the early stages OF the development of pro-
jects of this kind, it is to be expected that er-
rOrs will be made both of omission and commits
sion. But facts gradually accumulate; mis-
takes are recognized, and errors discovered to
be avoided in the future. One objection, the
cost Of building silos with stone and cement, as
originally adopted, is now shown to be unneces-
sary, as has been noted in previous numbers of
this paper. 1t is now stated that some of the
partial failures IN the preservation Of green
food in this way, have been referred to the
size Of the silos or pits 1t is found that small
pits, or at least pits which the means at com
mand can fill in two days, viii be better pre-
served than where the operation of filling re-
quires a week, as, while the Cling is being pro-
longed the material heats and termeDts before
il can be made air-tight. 1t is, therefore, bet
ter to have a number Of smaller silos than one
Of large extent which may take week TO fill.
YUCCA FILAMENTosA.
This plant is known as Adams Needle. 1t
is a low growing, stemless evergreen, having
cen to twenty-four inches in length. 1t is
choice ornamental plant for lawns, especially
when planted in clumps or groups Of several
plants. The flowers are produced in panicles
on stems which rise from three 10 five feet in
height The blossoms are gTeenish-whitc in
color. The leaves of this plant contain strong
fiber, which is split in threads, dried, and used
for various domestic purposes it is also known