davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09

second year, will be to maintain a uni
form growth among the branches and
| prevent shoots in the center.
1t is q good plan to plant the orchard
| in land intended to carry corn or cotton,
| every time the crop is worked the trees
| will be worked also; or in other words,
| don t fail to stir the soil often and well
| during the spring and early summer.
| Each subsequent year the crop should
| never be close enough to smother the
| trees.
| We desire to state on our own re-
| spousibility that where it Is desirable TO
bring it into early bearing, the LIE Conte
pear should not be headed back severely
in the pruning. 1t has a tendency TO
slender up little like the Lombardy
poplar, and until it is allowed to do this
it will not bear much fruit. On several
occasions we have seen this theory Gf
theory it could be called), fully verified
by neighbo1ing orchards of exactly the
same age, on lands of precisely the same
character and under substantially the
same treatment with the exception that
the trees of one were cut back at the top
to make them stocky while those Of the
others were permitted to run up like the
poplars. The high-growing trees bore
season the stocky trees yielded no pears
at all worthy of mention.
Mr.. Stone further states that the lie
Conte and Keiffer are not only the most
profitable pears, but are among the most
profitable fruits of any kind. Compare
these pears with peaches and decide for
yourself 1t is generally admitted that
peaches do not, in most sections, bear
more than two profitable crops il five
seasons, while these pears very seldom
fail. Then the peach is of comparatively
short life, so much SO that when it has
finished Its race and died these pears will
be in full vigor and increasing yearly in
point OF profit. He would not cry down
the peach as Improbable, nor would he
say these pears are more profitable while
the peach lasts, but taking both for
lifetime the pears are, undoubtedly, by
far the most profitable. LIE Contes and
Keiffers at eight years old Will bear from
five to ten bushels, say five, and take
the lowest net returns, 81 per bushel or
So per tree. Now fifty trees per acre at
So per tree gives us the sum of $3.50.
This is not twice in five years, but Gnnu-
ally, and it VIII beat cotton, corn or
peaches.
We believe it is now considered a
rather well settled fact that these pears
can, under proper management, be made
a first-class success in all parts of Texas.
The only pears we saw on the trees at
Fort Worth this season were LIE Conte
pears, all others appearing to have been
cut off by the March freeze and the sub
sequent severe drourh. We do not in
clude the Keiffer in the word others, we
saw no Keiffers large enough to bear.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
Nitrogen In Agriculture.

No crop can grow without an ample
supply of nitrogen, no matter how rich
the soil may be in all the other elements
of plant food needed. Some species of
The question of whence comes the main
supply of nitrogen is a mooted question,
some scientists maintaining that it comes
from one source ana some from another.
1t has long been commended that certain
so-cailed heterogeneous plants absorb q
large proportion of their nitrogen direct
from the surrounding atmosphere,
though there is school of scientists who
now affect to doubt this. The noted NJ.
Georges Vile belongs to the school not
doubling it, and in his celebrated lectures
delivered at the experimental farms at
Viucennes, France, he points out the
quantity of nitrogen that certain crops
are supposed to gather from the air.
His estimate is made upon an acre of
land, and we mention here only such
crops appearing in his enumeration as
would directly interest the people of
Texas. Wheat gathers from the atmos-
phere 5234 pounds of nitrogen, peas 81 3
pounds, beets ll41a pounds and alfalfa
264 pounds.
If this be correct (and NJ. Georges
Vile is certainly high authority, the
farmer will see that alfalfa is the most
powerful ogen-supplyIng crop that he
could raise. Under its culture no land
well supplied with the usual mineral ele-
ments of plant food could ever become
poorer.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
Those Injured Coils.

I have seen in your excellent agricultural de-
partment of HE GAZETTE two letters from per-
sons asking for information as tc what treat
ment would be best for injured colts One OF
the colts seems to have been strained
by rough handling and haltering in
the pasture, while the other was in
jured by falling into we'll. L have
studied the cases we'll as / can from
symptoms given, and have concluded that both
are rat her bad cases. In case of the colt
strained at the haltering would commend
absolute rest for at least year. No romping and
playing over pastures should be permitted. BY
pursuing this course the animal, being still
young. might outgrow the sprain, but in nv
opinion there is no other chance for him, and
no treatment that would do him any good.
In case of the colt that fell into the well, and
upon whose ankle bony knot has already
formed. l would not be willing to recommend
any treatment. A surgical operation at the
hands of the best science might relieve him, but
unless he is an extremely valuable colt it would
scarcely pay.
There are many .'horse doctors'' who would
recommend this thing and that in both cases, eI-
pectiug pay, of course. but am not that kind of
horseman. 1t would all be apt to do good to
anyone save the horse doctor. VETERINARIAN.
Mobile, Ala.
We sent copies Of The GAZETTE con-
tanning the letters referred to, to a noted
veterinary surgeon of our acquaintance.
If he clearly understands the cases what
he says above may be fully relied upon.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09

| in the case Of vegetable matter, where
! everything is removed from the land, the
| source of supply is cut off. leading to ex-
| treme poverty of soil, as a matter OF
| course. No soil can be a perfect soil
| without humus, aud no imperfect soil
can be entirely productive. Humus must
| be one of the elements, and there is but
one avenue through which it can come
| the decomposition of vegetable matter.
stiff clay soils, like those of our Texas
prairies, dry out, bake and crack open
in times of drouth, where there is de-
ficiency in decomposed vegetable matter.
In this dry, packed and cracking condi-
ton the means of lifting moisture from
below by capillary attraction is cut off.
Then, the compact or baked surface
does not permit the entrance of dew
charged atmosphere at night. and even
were this last otherwise the compact
clays would hold so much heat entirely
through the night time that no moisture
would be condensed from the atmosphere
and retained. On the other hand If the
soil was porous from presence of vege-
table matter the damp night air would
pass into it, and meeting the cooling eff
fects from below, would soon bring 1t to
a temperature lower than that of the at
mosphere above ground. So soon as
this condition had been established, the
moisture carried into the porous soil by
the night air would be- promptly con-
densed and retained. The moisture
would be left in the soil on the same
principle governing in the case of water
gathering on the outside of an ice
pitcher. The moisture so gathered and
retained in the soil each night of dew
would go far towards preventing any Sc
rious effects of Grouth through the day
succeeding.
Persons who have never made study
of this matter, might wonder how it is
that the damp atmosphere gets down into
q porous soil, anyway. The thing can
be explained in a very few words. In
obedience to Nell-known laws all atmos-
phsre warmer than the stTatu II tmmedi-
ately surrounding 1t has a tendency to
rise. You see it in the hot air and smoke
that goes upward through a chime!
fiue. Now, when the uir has, at night,
cooled down to a temperature below that
characteriZiug it at the day time, there
still remains in the porous soil atmos-
phere not yet SO cool as THAT above. The
soil has protected it against such rapid
cooling. As result il is lighter than
the atmosphere above and so 1t at once
rises out of the soil aud floats upward.
This leaves vacuum in the soil which
must be filled; the cooler atmosphere
above is drawn in to fill it, and so soon
As this atmosphere has reduced the tenn
perature of the soil below that of itself,
aided by the lower tenn Derature of deeper
in the ground, the moisture which the
atmosphere carried in with it Is con-
densed and retained.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09

OF course this don u mean cotton grown
in Northern state, for none OF the
Northern states grow cotton, but it
means cotton grown along the northern
limits of the cotton regions. 1t DOM ex-
actly mean that, either, but rather refers
to the manner in which cotton grown IN
those regions is usually handled. The
term is one used by the Popular Science
Monthly, and the writer of the article in
which il occurs says Northern spinner
lately mentioned to him that the est-
mated waste at the factory was about IA
per cent, though it was usually put at
10 per cent. This estimate is based upon
the grade known as "middIings, and
certainly seems larger than most persons
would be apt to suppose. They cay the
greatest waste is found in the cottous
from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and
the "black belt' of Alabama, where
cotton is mainly made by negro labor.
The cottons from the upper regions of
Alabama and Georgia are clearer, and
there the cotton is made almost exclu-
sively by white labor-by the farmers,
assisted by their wives and their chill
dren, who handle the staple with far
more care than would characterize its
handling by negroes.
The assertion with reference TO Texas
is evidently q little too broad, for we
certainly have here a more extensive
white labor cotton belt than exists in
any other state. The writer further re-
marks that the cotton marketed at Mari
eta, in Cobb county, about twenty five
miles above Atlanta, is generally beau
tifully white and clean. 1t is gro wn
much more abundantly than before 1860,
and almost always by the aid of fertil-
iZers, which hasten the maturity of the
cotton, so that the crop of that part of the
country is much sooner prepared for the
market than in the lower counties, where
It was often plowed in to make way for
the new crop. 1t is carefully kept to it
self, the which has enabled it to build up
a reputation that invariably leads to the
commanding of higher figures than are
paid for cottons OF the egro-hendiiEg
regions.
If there is really anything in
this statement our white labor cot
ton growers of North Texas might
gain something by posting them
selves with reference to the matter.
At present ell their cotton is shipped sim
ply as Texas cotton, and long before
reaching the final market il has been
mixed promiscuously with the great ma
Their down in the state. If by keeping it
to itself it might be made to bring more
than it is now bringing under existing
arrangements the producer ought to
have the benefit of that possible gain.
The matter is ono well worthy the atten-
tion of Alliance people in upper Texas.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Astronomical Phenomena - Steam Discovery.
New Feather for Cot.on-steel Telegraph
Wire-Edison Defended, Etc.

Our astronomical phenomena are
specially interesting for this week. On
Monday morning. 10th, the moon will be
in conjunction with the planet Uranus,
but the great distance of the planet from
us will render that event of no special
Importance to the naked eye observer.
On Wednesday morning, 18th, the moon
will be in conjunction with Murcury-
also invisible, as the moon will then be
just on her change. On Friday night :,
l4th, conjunction will occur with
Venus, affording a very pretty sight if
the weather happens to be clear.
For some time past Mars has been
rapidly approaching Jupiter-on Thurs
day night, 18th, Jupiter will be over
taken and the planets will appear less
than one degree apart, being then at
their nearest approach. The conjunc-
ton may be seen from dark to about 10
O'Clock. p. m, when the planets will
set together. Next night they will still
appear very near each other, but it will
be seen that the space between them has
widened little. The contrast in their
colOrs will render the scene unusually in
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
LeConte and Keller Pears.

Ir. B. W. Stone of Townsville, Ga.
pioneer, so to speak, in the oriental
pear industry, the which originated at
his town and has since spread to the ut
termost ends Of the Southern states, tells
US that the land for the LIE Coute pear
should be deeply and thoroughly pre-
pared regardless Of previous condition or
natural character. II what we call poor
land, it should be we'll enriched with de-
composed stable manure-if rich land
Blu: cIayeY, it should still have stable
manure to make it open and friable. 1t
must furthermore be land OF frst-class
dramas e-never plant the LIE Conte on
land not entirely well drained. Lay
off in rows and dig holes two feet deep
and two feet in diameter and throw in a
little top soil i, breaking down the sides of
the holes aud intermingling the break
ings with the top soil afore named.
Don't think of striking your trees di-
rectly into unprepared land-if you pur-
sue any such course as that your trees
will never pay you for your trouble, and
you will go out of the pear business I'M
wept and unsung, and carry along with
you the conviction that under any chain
of conditions or circumstances the LIE
Conte is nothing more nor less than
humbug ahd failure.
The LIE Conte pear, says Mr.. Stone,
should be planted thirty ny thirty
feet each way. The Keiffer,
very near relative OF the LIE
Conte, should be planted twenty-five
feet apart each way. Set trees in the
prepared holes the same depth they grew
in the nursery, II trees started from
cuttings-if grated trees they should be
set so the junction will be about three
inches under the surface. 1t is best to
have the bottom of the hole little higher
in the center and place the tree on top OF
the crown, allowing all the roots to in
cline downwards and not overlap each
other. Fill up the hole so when settled
it will he level. Remember the trees
grew In firm soil, SO be sure and make
the soil very firm around the roots.
When the one year old trees are
planted they should be cut back to
eighteen inches or two feet. Some of
them may have branches spreading
equally apart around the trunk; three to
FIVE Of these shoots should be selected to
form the main branches on which to
build the whole head and the remaining
removed; those reserved should be cut
back SO when the new shoots come out
the tree will spread most, which gener-
ally leaves the branches only about one
foot long. From the shoots prod uced on
these during the season at and below the
cut one or two OF the strongest are Sc
lected on ths outer side, and the others
rubbed off while they are soft. The
trunk must be kept clear of ali shoots by
rubbing them of as soon as possible.
The attention required after this (the
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
Texas for Grapes.

Numerous letters have reached us OF
late asking if, in our opinion, Texas pre-
sents natural peculiarities entirely suited
to grape culture. OF course Texas is not
the same in all her sections. yet consider
ing the state as whole, our answer to
our correspondents has invariably been
yes Generally speaking, We have
seen nothing whatever that could be held
up as against extensive grape culture,
unless it should be, in soma cases, a def
ciency in natural water supply. Where
provisions for artificial water supply, as
needed, have been made there is, we
feel entirely sure, no missing link 80 far
as relates to the possibility Of eminently
successful grape culture in Texas.
But we don't want any person to take
our mere word in the matter. We now
have before us the descriptive catalogue
of Messrs. T. S. Hubbard & Co. of Free
donia, N. Y, extensive nurserymen
who make a specially of grapes, which
devotes considerable space to an EXPOSE
ton of the requirements of the vine. It
may be accepted as high authority in its
line, hence we draw upon it for the fol-
lowing, leaving our readers to form their
own conclusions as to whether or not
Texas fills the bill:
Grapes will not thrive on low, wet
soils, but succeed best on high, dry
ground, having q free circulation of air
which helps guard against diseases OF
the vine, mildew, rot, etc., with
enough slope to carry off the surplus
water. Good success. however, may be
obtained in favorable climates, even on
low land. where the soil is dry. But in
all cases dry soil is to be regarded as
one OF the most important features.
The best soils for the grape are those
containing more or less clay, with mix
ture of dislntegrated rock, rotten shale,
small stones, limestone, etc. Gravelly
and sandy soils are often admirably
adapted to the grape. as is also sandy
loan or alluvial soil when we'll drained,
especially II in q limestone country,
where they are more or less Influenced By
the disintegrated rocks.
No natural soils arc entirely every.
thing that could be required for the
grape. The best soils known may be
mad, better for his purpose by the vine.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
Euric,,ins Rich Land.

Mr.. T. d. Curtis, an agricultural lit
terateur always accepted as high
authority, says no land can be so rich in
the mineral elements of plant food that
it might not De improved in productive
ness by the addition of certain manurial
agents. All land to be productive must
carry within its composition liberal
amount of dscomposed vegetable mat
ter. If destitute of vegetable matter
the land will neither absorb nor retain
moisture. There Is always a poor
growth without sufficient dampness and
cial fertilizers work better, as their ad-
vocates admit, s'when used with barn.
yard MANURE
Moisture is the big thing IN any soil +.
No plant can feed without moisture.
The natural fairness of the land may be
something wonderful to contempla
yet without moisture to take that fat
ness into solution, the only condition in
which plants can get at it, the land must
remain q barren waste. Rich land with
out moisture may, go far as plant growth
is concerned, be classed as the poorest
land known to agriculture.
Land with too much standing and
stagnant moisture Is land ON the other
extreme. 1t is all we'll enough SO far as
available plant food is concerned, but it
becomes poisoned by the stagnation. In
such case drainage becomes an essen tial
TO success, yet Mr.. Curtis is satis-
fed that even drainage lie often
carried to excess. Men sometimes drain
their lands until they render them
drouthy, thus carrying them into the
other extreme to be avoided.
Mr.. Curtis says it should be the con-
slant aim OF every farmer to increase the
vegetable matter in his soil. There ia
little danger of getting too much of this.
Thousands upon thousands of acres of
the best soils, naturally. known to the
American continent, drag through their
rounds of comparative unproductiveness
for lack of this one simple element:
Humus or decomposed vegetable matter.
And a large proportion of the old. ex-
haustIve farms that were once productive
have reached their present condition
through the using up and failure to re-
store that one peculiar element. In q
limestone country, where the min
eral elements OF soil have
come from the disintegraded
rocks, there is little danger Of
exhausting the mineral elements by crop
ping-the dissolving rocks will supply
them 80 fast ~ plants take them up-but
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.

TINS department is devoted to answering such
questions may be asked by our subscribers,
which may be of general information. Inquiries
of personal character that require answer by
mail should always have stamps inclosed. Please
give full name and postofics address, in add1-
ton to any such signature 'tSubscriber,' or
"a. G. D.. - not for publication, but to enable
US to communicate promptly with the inquirer
Parties desiring answers by mail must 1nclose
lamp for return postage.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
Corn WeeyIl Again,

Can you give me through THE GAZETTE a re-
liable remedy for keeping weevils out of corn,
or destroying them when they are in. W.
Mexia, Tex.
No. Many remedies have been pro.
posed, but we know of not one tina. We
think could be depended upon.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
Shiftless Farmers.

Many Northern papers are constantly
having more or less to say about the
slatternIy methods and general shiftless-
ness Of Southern farmers, and not few
of our own people who read Northern
agricultural literature to the exclusion
of the home product, take up the refrain
and echo the Northern expressions in the
premises. One hears enough in this way
to lead him into the belier (should he not
happen to know better) that nothing is
ever wrongly done by our Northern cous-
ius OF the soil. For instance, "The
Southern farmer does not take kindly to
dairying, so says the noted Henry
Stewart in a paper now before US. The
thing Is left In thai kind Of shape, Great
ing or intending to create, the impress
sion that the Southern farmer has this
failing all to himself. Had he
desired to to be just in his accu-
sation Mr.. Stewart might have added
with entire correctness, "And ditto the
Northern farmer. 1t ia to he pre-
sumed that by ''dairying' he means the
so-called high class article which en-
braces scientific soiling; scientific meth
DDS employed in the handling Of milk
and cream, and in the production of but
ter and cheese, etc., all associated with
careful records kept of each COW q yield,
the cost of keeping each COW, the effects
on each COW produced by changes of
weather, changes of feed and all that
sort of thing. Now go up among the
Northern farmers, and after having
made careful study of them return and
report to us how many you found "tak-
ing kindly to darying' on this plan. 1t
will not require many figures to print
the numbers you will have upon your
note book. We know exactly what you
will say when you get back to the So
called shiftless South-your report will
embody the idea that, much rs has been
said about our shftlessness and hesi-
tanoy to take hold of good things. the
shiftless farmers are not all down South,
by any means.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09
Transplants bet

and has heavier top. Transplants bet
ter than the Iong-leaf pine, though not
well. The surest way of getting it would
lie in planting seeds where il was to
grow Natural range as high as Ten
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09

teresting. Mars having passed rr-.,..
will move on in his eastward ...rr.-
remaining an Governing star t.-....
out the remainder of the year.
On the same night OF this .a-r.~,..,.
of Mars and Jupiter, Venus. which h,
been moving eastward, will become Ga
tiousry, after which shs viii change =,
course and begin slowly moving ~.
ward towards the sun.
Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-09

The French scientists have been eIle-
rimenting with steel wire for telegrsphC
and telephone purposes with excellent
success. The wire is coated with copper,
which coating forms the conductor. Il
is said to carry the current better than s
solid copper wire would do, ard the
greater strength of the steel renters ttai
kind of wire entirely the most desIat!s.
The French postoffice department as'
decided to adopt the new steel wire 10
the exclusion of the ordinary Iron an
copper wire heretofore in use.