The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-29
5fN fNEWJaalnll9!V alll!V VIEWI)f I)feEFAR1ER}
nor = eeAn. OF THE ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE


 , parts of digestive organs whose func- lion is to hold and convey the food du- ring the process of digestion, such as the mouth, gullet, stomach and intes- tines.
 Tn plant food digestion the soil is the digestive organ.
 In animal digestion we note that the lining walls of the digestive organs are beset with certain pits or glands which secrete the digestive fluids. These di- gestive fluids contain impalpa5le quan- tities of certain substances called fer ments or enzymes. These latter are the products of certain cells which line the secreting glands.
 Different glands secrete different enzymes, which in turn act upon dif- ferent constituents of the food; some on proteids. others on starch. others on sugar and again others on the fats. In plant food digestion the bacteria of the soil, which are simple cells, like those which line the glands. correspond to the glands, or rather to their con- stituent cells.
 These bacteria in turn secrete cec- tain enzymes which act upon he diff ferent crude clements of plant food. In fact bacteria themselves have no pow CT directly of digesting plant food, but
  enzymes Gas do the cells of gland). which act in one way or another; :n one case converting crude protein into peptones, peptones into ammonia, am- monia into nitrates, starch into sugar and sugar into organic acids.-Dela- ware Bulletin No. 65. The Bacterialogi- cal Analysis of Soils.
 Links Hybrid Sorghum for Forage Cy-I l.. Es~Ak Ako
 At the Georgia State fair, 1903, at Ma con, Dr. Hamilton, former commits sioner of agriculture of Pennsylvania now connected with the farmers insti' tute branch of the national department of agriculture, declared he had not seer in any State in the Union so great c number of valuable forage plants as were exhibited by counties competing for the grand agricultural premiums.
 That was high praise for Georgia and well deserved.
 There remains opportunity for exploi' tation in growing forage. This Is the year, of all others, in which to utilize the opportunity.
 It is true that velvet beans, that COW peas and amber cane-the first two sep arately, the last two singly or in com bination. will make excellent forage.
 It Is true that COW peas and German mlllet will make a crop that, In essen tial elements. is the perfection almos of forage.
 have tested each and all of th' foregoing successfully.
 I think that I was possibly the frs one after the great war to demonstrate the value of amber cane as forage plant. through Hon, Alexander H. Stephens and experimented with it--giving thI results obtained to the people througi
 The American varieties are of Afri can origin, discovered by Mir. Leonar' Wray, of England, growing among tn
 kaffir corn of Southeast Africa Amber cane known in Africa as Zulu kafHr, is an Imphee-not sorghum. MT. Wray was in search of a suga yielding plant. He cultivated ambe and a few other varieties in France an' made sugar from them equal to tn i best grades with which 1t was com pared in the United States.
 MT. wray arrived in the Unite States in May, 1857, having brough
 with him 1,5OO pounds of seed in tn | tuft.
 He was persuaded to this course b
 Horace Greedy, who met him in France
 By a pleasing coincidence. most Of tn seed came into the possession of GOV ernor James H. H. Hammond, of Sout Carolina, who planted them and experi
 mented with the cane extensively an successfully on his plantations.
 Through the interception of MI Greedy, Mir I. A. Hedges, obtained see
 enough to plant ten acres on the farr of Brutus J. Clay in Kentucky. There was a number of varieties, bu | the amber and the orange were final agreed upon as the best-the ambe being in the lead.
 During the war. largely through in attention, the two leaders were quit | lost in the common sorghum whicl came into almost universal use TO | making syrup.
 At the close of the war. original sec were obtained and distributed through | out the country.
 At the south, the people were ex tremely slow in taking hold of eithe | the amber or the orange cane. At tn
 west, the cane became popular at once
 and was grown in large acreage TO fattening stock. etc.
 Later. MT. Link of Tennessee discov
 cred a hybrid in his field and, havInl ! satisfactorily tested it, named 1t Link | hybrid.
 This variety is superior in many re spects to all others. It Is rank pro ducer of forage, is full of saccharin matter. and the seed next to wheat an' corn in nutritious values. A large acreage of Links hyorl' should be planted in Alabama, Georgi' and other cotton States this year. The seed, when used as food for rnaI ar beast should be ground or boiled
 This rule does not apply to poultry. The forage, cut when the plants arr about to send out their seed tufts anC carefully cured, may be fed as corn fod der. If the plant be cultivated fol seed as well as forage the cane should l he run through a feed cutter, the seet | tufts having, of course. been removed when the seed are in the dough state. When used as a food for milch cowi | cut into small pieces and mix witf each feed four pounds of wheat bran. Links hybrid seed, carefully cleaned and ground, will make 8 cake equal tC huckwheat. Ninety days from the datt of planting the seed will be in tho dough state and the crop ready to b.
 Cane cut, just at the point of seed
 ,rv will stool out till frost and yielC
 a number of cuttings. Used for soil ing purposes, the cane should not b. fed {ill the plants are waist high a | lea st and not until the starch has de
 veIoped on stalk in quantity to catcl m ones trousers in walking the rows | Begin to plant now. Links hybriC | will flourish on your poorest corr iands. provid ed you blow deep and ap nIv twenty one-horse wagon loads o | stsbIe manure and 200 pounds of kaini or seventy-fv pounds of muriate O | potash per acre.
 Make the rows 1-2 to 5 feet apart |