The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-10-24

done then is so full of mistakes as to be
| useless. In a large factory from III to ~
per cent less work is turned out on damp
days and in threatening weather The
superintendent in receiving orders to be
delivered at a certain time takes this
factor into calculation. Ministers all know
that their congregations are as impressible
by weather conditions as mercury. The
most eloquent sermon passes over their
heads on very hot day in which there is
not breath of morning air, while if the
sun shines brightly and there is a gentle,
warm WIND, all the powers of the soul are
calleo upon and every faculty of the mind
IS alert and open to the slightest impress
slon On such a day the storekeepers
Know that their sales will run up, as
people are gay and expensive. Wet,
windy or sloppy weather has, on the con-
trafy, such an influence on the spirits of
some people that they dislike to go out
the least exertion. DR.. Cline states
that the number of deaths caused by
diseases OF the nervous system is so per
cent greater on days with abnormally high
temperature than on days with normal
temperature. and that equable conditions
IN pressure and temperature are essential
to the successful treatment of these dis
eases.
How TO PRODUCE PERFECT LAwN.-One
OF the most beautiful things in the world
is smooth, green, velvety lawn, and a
writer in a gardeners magazine tells how
1t can be produced. 1t may be pointed out
that certain manures are more favorable
to some plants forming the heritage than to
others, and when one kind OF manure only
Is used the plants to which it is specially
adapted will grow with undue vigor and
crowd out the others. For instance, dress
lngs of wood ashes and kainit, IN conse-
quence OF the potash they contain, and
gypsum, by reason of it's power of render
ing the potash in the soil available as plant
food, have a favorable effect upon the
growth of the clovers. On the other hand,
nltrogenous manures, such as nitrate of
soda and sulphate of ammonia, promote
the growth OF grasses, and as a proper
balance OF grasses and clovers is essential
to the formation of a velvety turf, provi-
sion must be made for both classes. When
artlhclal fertilizers are used they should
therefore contain phosphates, potash and
nitrogen. Superphosphates or bone meal,
kalnlt and nitrate of soda will give these
constituents. The superphosphate and
kalnlt must be mixed in the proportion of
two to one and applied at the rate of three
pounds to the square rod. Subsequently, a
dressing Of nitrate of soda should be
applied at the rate of one pound to
the same area. The mixture may be ap-
Piled late in the autumn or in February,
but the dressing of nitrate must be kept
back until the end of March or the begin
ming of April. But the application of this
artificial food does not suffice for the per-
feet health of the turf. Stable or farmyard
manure should follow, as it not only con-
tains all the food constituents necessary,
but acts as mulch, and by increasing the
humus near the surface materially assists
An objection sometimes raised to natural
manure is that it takes a long time to be-
come asslmilated, and in the meantime
gives an unsightly appearance to a lawn.
This is remedied by drying the manure
sufficiently to permit its passage through
a sieve, and then mixing it with equal
quantities of powdery leaf mold and old
potting soil. This mixture spread over
the turf in the autumn will quickly dis
appear, and not only vastly promote the
growth OF grasses and cloverS, but prevent
the lawn being burned up during dry
weather.
JAPAN THE HAPPY HUNTING GROUND OF
THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER. cleo
trical engineers will do well to open their
eyes to the advantages now offered by
Japan as a field for electrical work. The
correspondent of an electrical journal who
las IcCclbl1 IcIuIueu lIOIu d WISH TO The
East emphasizes the need of electric rail-
ways in Japan. He is certain to begin
with that an electric railroad on the four
teen miles between Yokohama and Toxic,
passing through thickly populated dis
trict, would pay. AT present Toxic, which
has over million inhabitants has no
electric railroad, and there is not a single
streetcar line in Yokohama. The town of
Osaka, in the central part of the empire,
&c 1,,oi III II
has no electric railway, and is sixteen
miles from the coast. it is now connected
by railway with Kobe, which in 1890 had
1876, 600 inhabitants. An electric railway
between these towns should prove a re-
munerative undertaking. A line from
Osaka to kloto, great city, which was
formerly the capital of Japan, via Kobe,
would touch villages at almost every mile
of it's course, and would accommodate a
population of fully 100000 people. The
Japanese are great travellers. They make
long excursions over the country to visit
the most sacred Buddhist temples and
Shinto shrines, and the roads are often
thronged with families going from one
sacred place to another. The electric lines
would pick up many parties out on these
trips of com ined religion and pleasure.
The chances for electric lighting in Japan
are quite as good as those of electric rail-
reading.
LIGHT VERSUS LAMPs.-A short life and
a merry one is to be the guiding principle
of the new order of lamp manufacture.
At one time an incandescent lamp cost so
much that it was made to last as long as
possible, even if it had to be run at much
below its nominal candle-power Now,
lamps are cheap, and people insist on hav-
ing light. significant sign of the ten
dency of the times is that the 25-candle-
power lamp is daily being put in in place
of the original standard 16-candle-power
lamp. 1t is assumed that when Edison
adopted the 16-candle-power standard for
his lamp, he took what was probably a
very good average of the illumination
given out by 5-foot gas burners the country
over. But during the last fifteen years the
gas standard has been raised through i'm
provements in mar ufacture, and whereas
20-candle gas was once seldom seen, the
larger cities of this country now
average well up to 25-candle gas. The
public has not been slow to see
this, and now demands unit of light at
least equal to the prevailing standard gas
unit. The central stations, fortunately for
them, realize the situation, and the use of
high economy lamps is growing. 1t is