The record-union., 1891-07-07
with dirt and exposed to the weather.
American Agriculturist.
WHAT Is A HORSE POWER


| lar with the methods of measuring me-
chanical power they often speculate on
where the breed of horses is that can keen
at work raising $1,000 pounds one foot
| per minute, or the equivalent, which is
more familiar to some mechanics, of rails
ing 800 pounds 100 feet per minute. Since
81, 900 pounds raised one foot per minute
is called one-horse power, it is natural
| that people should think the engineers
who established that unit of measure
ment based 1t on what horses could really
do. But the horse that can do this work
does not exist. The horsepower unit
was established by James Watt about a
| century ago, and the figures were fixed
in curious way. Watt found that the
average horse of his district could raise
2,U0O pounds one foot per minute This.
| then, was an actual horsepower. At
| that time Watt was employed in the man
ufacture of engines, and customers were
so hard to find that all kinds of artificial
inducements were necessary to induce
power users to buy steam engines As q
method of encouragement Watt offered
to sell engines reckoning $4,000 foot
pounds to horsepower. And thus he
was the means of giving false unit to one
OF the most important measurements in
the wOrld.-Rural World.
CUCUMBERs NOT NoXIoUs.
Many people are under the impression
when they eat it they do so under protest
and with apprehensions of possible dire
consequences. How this delusion can
have arisen it is difficult to say, unless it
be that cucumber is often eaten with sal
mon and other indigestible table friends.
1t is not the cucumber, however, but the
salmon that sits so heavily upon our
stomach's throne Cucumber, in fact, is
very digestible when it is eaten properly.
1t cannot, indeed, be otherwise when it is
remembered that it consists mainly of
water, and that those parts which are not
water are almost exclusively cells of a
very rapid growth. In eating cucumber
IL is well to cut into thin slices, and to
masticate them thoroughly. Even the
vinegar and the pepper that are SO often
added to it are Of service to the digestion.
II not taken IN excess. The cucumber rs
everyone knows, belongs to the melon
tribe, but III our somewhat cold country
II does not grow to any very large size.
and therefore it is firmer and looks less
qlgeStlbIe than its congener, the melon
London Hospital.
LATE LAYERS.
There are hens that begin to Law on the
advent of spring and lay well until win
ter approaches, when they cease and
begin TO moult. Other hens moult in the
| fall, but do not lay in winter. The hens
known as the early layers begin in
November, while those beginning in the
spring are known as late layers. Only
| careful record of the number of eggs
| layed and the cost of food and incidentals,
will enable the farmer to make COM
| parison of the profits from them, 1t is
not always the hen that lays in the win
ter from which the greater profit comes.
| y hen that begins after the winter is over,
and which seeks the greater portion Of
! her food by foraging may give a larger
/ than hot h.
larger number of eggs in winter. Much
depends on each particular hen, the in
| dlvldual characteristics and the breed
! largely affecting the matter of profit.
/ The point is to make the largest profit,
whether in winter or in summer.-Farm
and Fireside.
| CULTIVATING HUCKLEBERRIES.
Many people have failed in their at
tempts to cultivate huckleberries. There
is but one way to grow this fruit sue
| cesstuLy. The bushes will not grow
satisfactorily, if at all, when given clean
cultivation. The roots require shade and
! the plants should be set close together
and cut down low at first, so that the
! branches will spread out and shade the
roots. In addition to this, mulching of
| leaves, such as they are accustomed to in
the woods, should be given. They will
always grow better in partially shaded
places than in the open field.-California
Fruit-Grower.
REMOVE THE CORN TAssELs.
The Ohio experiment station has made
some interesting experiments, showing
the effect Of removing tassels from corn,
| They were made to test the theory that if
the tassels were removed from corn be-
fore they have produced pollen, pollen
| bearing being an exhaustive process, the
| strength thus saved to the plant would
| be returned TO the ovaries and larger
| amount OF grain be produced. From
| each alternate row of plot of corn the
tassels We're removed as soon as they ap-
! peared. Briefly, the result of the expert
ment was that the number Of good ears
and the weight of the understandable corn
| were both little more than 80 per cent.
| greater on the rows from which the tas-
| sells were removed than on the others.
| Here is an experiment which any farmer
can easily repeat for himself and deter
mine whether the work is profitable or
not.-Farm and Fireside.
FARM NOTES
Fastening asparagus bunches with
rubber bands has decided advantages
| over tying with string.
Some horticulturists assert that high
cultivation of the raspberry and black
berry not only increases them in size, but
makes them more able to resist the en-
croachment of the various fungoid dis
! eases.
In the cultivation of the ounce it Is a
| mistake to be afraid Of using the knife.
| 10 IS bush that needs young wood on it
to give blossoms, and a yearly pruning
insures this Cut away twigs here and
there, keeping in mind to have a good
shape to it.
g. S. Merrill of Mine La Motto. Mo-.
has just finished harvesting ten acres of
| rye which averaged ten feet in hight by
rnTp 1nf1f f,~ l.
for any machine to handle. One specf-
men OF plant contains thirty-one stalks.
the shortest one 8 feet ii inches long.
Last year total Of 3, 80, 600 cattle were
| slaughtered in the West, against 1850. 900
in the preceding year, an increase of q
| per cent. This fairly represents the rate
of growth. Of this total by far the greater
part is for consumption in this country,
| probably one-seventh of it going abroad,
| lnasmuch as the aggregate weight of
| beet, exclusive of tallow, exported last
| year was 3sS, ,2l6, sol pounds.
! There is no doubt that American cot
| ton-seed oil is largely exported to the
olive producing regions of Europe. re-
| labeled, and then sent back to us and con-
sumed here as pure olive oil. 1t is
strange that we can let our prejudice
against this product so interfere with our
own interests, as it has been amply
demonstrated that eotton-seed oil of equal
purity with the olive oil could be we'll
| used in every place where the latter is
now employed.
If hen is old, and has given a good
| record, do not condemn her too hastily.
as sometimes hen is serviceable until
! she is six or seven years old. The best
| guide is the time at which the hens begin
to moult. Ifan old hen begins to moult
| in July, she will, in all probability, lay
as well next winter as she did last. In
selling old hens, select those that are
| overfat and which have ceased to Law. but