&tate College of iSfgricuUure lat Cornell ^ntbei!E(ttp 3tb«ea, A. 9- mbtnt^ Cornell University Library S 534.03S Reports of a course of lectures delivere 3 1924 000 309 207 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000309207 It; Copyrighted, 18S1, by Farm and Fireside Co. IVumber 11* SEPTEMBER 1, 1881. PricG 25 Ceiits. ■ ■■ THE SECRETS ?ROGRESsivE Agriculture^ Bi:iNa Ebpoets-of a Couese of Lecttjkes Deliveeed by the Faculty OF THE Ohio State Univeesity, Columbtts, Ohio, to THE FAEMEES op OHIO, JANUARY, 1881. PUBLISHED BY FARM AND. FIRESIDE COMPANY, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. !.^f-*-4-! -3, as Second-Clasa Mail Matter. 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The subscribers of FARM AND FlKESIDB receive firfet notice, of new books to be pub- lished in Farm akd Fireside Library, and obtain them a reduced rates. REPORTS OF A COURSE OF LECTURES DELIVERED BY THE FACULTY OF THE Ohio State University, COLUMBUS, OHIO, FARMERS OF OHIO. JANUARY, 1881. EEPOETED AND PUBLISHED BY THE FARM AND FIRESIDE PUBLISHING COMPANY,/ SrBiKaFi£i.D, Ohio. 1881. INDEX. PAGB Geology and its Kelations to Agnculture,— First Lecture. President Edward Orton 3 Geology and its Relations to Agriculture.— Second Lecture. President Edward Orton 12 Progress of Agriculture in Ohio. N. S. Townshend 19 Ohio Soils and Climate. N. S. Townshend 27 Farm Products of Ohio. N. S. Townshend 35 Farming as an Occupation. N. S. Townshend 38 Farm Labor. N. S. Townshend 43 Experiments— What they have Proved. N. S. Townshend 52 The Farmer's Helps and Hindrances. N. S. Townshend 58 Education on the Farm. N. S. Townshend 61 Btock Feeding. N. S. Townshend 68- Veterinary Science— Its History and Value. N. S. Townshend 70 Diijase. N. S. Townsliend 78 Principles of Treatment. N. S. Townshend 76. Hor.ses and Their Diseases. N. S. Townshend 80 Cattle and Their Diseases. N. S. Townshend 85 Some Diseases of Sheep. N. S. Townshend 90 Some Diseases of Swine. N. S. Townshend 94 Stock Breeding. N. S. Townshend 97 Poultry and Their Diseases. N. S. Townshend 100 Legislation in Begard to Contagious Diseases. K. S. Townshend 103 United States Signal Stations First Lecture. Prof.B. W. MoFarland 106 United States Signal Stations.— Second Lecture. Prof. E. W. McFarland 110 Animal Mechanism. Prof. Alhert H. Tutlle... 114. The Nervous System. Prof. Albert H. Tuttle 122 Food and Work. Prof. Albert H. Tuttle 129 Structure of Insects. Prof. Albert H. Tuttle _ 136 The Microscope. Prof. Albert H. Tuttle 143 Mechanic's Tools. Prof. S. W. Robinson ". 149 The Shop on the Farm. Prof. S. W. Eobinson 154 Xhe Soil in its Relations to Plants. Prof. Sidney A. Norton 157 Air in Relation to Plants. Prof. Sidney A. Norton 163 Water in Relation to Plants. Prof. Sidney A. Norton IGS Sunshine in Belation to Plants. Prof. Sidney A. Norton 171 Experiments in Wheat Culture. C. E. Thome 175 Supply and Demand, etc. W. L Chamberlain _ 186 (2) THE Secrets of Progressive agriculture. GEOLOGY AND ITS RELATIONS TO AGRICULTURE. BY PRESIDENT BDWASD CETON. Gentlemen: — Dr. Townshend has waived hia privilege of opening this lecture course, of which he is the center, if not the circumference, and has made it my pleasant duty to welcome the farmers of Ohio to this third course of lectures instituted for their henefit. And in behalf of the faculty and trustees of this institution, I bid you a very cordial welcome to these halls, lecture-rooms, and laboratories. They are placed here — we do not forget it — to serve the interests of the industrial classes of Ohio. We know tkat the greatest industrial interest of Ohio is agriculture. I do not suppose that you will get from these lecture- rooms in ten days all that they are fitted to give. You could not get all this in ten weeks or ten months, for they are equipped to answer a great many questions pertaining to agriculture. They are fitted to give a large and liberal ti'aining for all the, pursuits of life. But we assure you we shall spai'e no pains to do all we can to benefit you. We aie at your service. We are going to try to answer some questions for you, and we are going to tiy to start a good many more than we answer. We ai-e going to tiy to give yon a few facts, and are going to try to Bet you on the track of a good many more. It wOl not be our aim to startle you or amuse you, but if we can enable you to lay some foundations on which you can hereafter buUd we shall be satisfied. In what we may say to you there will be frequent repetitions, I suspect, of a few of the fundamental principles of the great sciences on which we are working. Now, gentlemen, in this undertaking we are obliged to depart from our general methods of instruction; we must put into a short course of instruction what it would cost much time to impart in the usual way. We are obliged to prepare statements and illustrations which cost some labor on our part. And on your part, those of you who have. been here before, will bear me out that it is no holiday work to keep yourselves wakeful and receptive for four hours in the day. But I promise you that we will do our part to the best of our ability, and we ask that you shall lay hold of your side of the work in earnest, and let us hope that by the combined efibrts of the teachers and taught, the professors and the classes, great profit will come to you from this course of lectures. I have just hinted that there would be considerable repetition in what you [3] 4 THB SECSBIS 07 FBO&BESSIVE AQBICDLTUBX. would hear. The paths of the different professors may cross each other in some phices. Now, it is my good fortune to come first, and I can cover as much of the field as I choose. I can wander off into the domain of chemistry or hotany, or I can keep to geology; but I always fear when I come before you that you will see what I realize — that in what I have to say there is very little of practical agriculture. The subject which I ask you to consider, and which I want to treat in my own way, and to illustrate by my own facts, is an important one. I designate it as the problem of American agriculture. I shall treat it in two lectures, and with your permission I shall read what I have prepared, because I can go over the ground so much more rapidly. Though many of you have long been out of school, you remember what a problem is. It is, in the language of the books, a question proposed for solution; a question which has not yet received a definite and satisfactory answer. Are there any such questions, any problems, in our agriculture? Their name is legfon. They are found in every one of its depart- ments. They have all grades of interest and importance. Some of these prob- lems concern the processes and modes of operation in treating the soil, plowing, the depth at which we should plow, the modes of seeding, and many others. There are other problems on which the very existence of agriculture as a pur- suit in this country depends. To the last class belongs the important question which we are now to consider ; namely. How shall the fertility of our soils be perma- nently maintainedt You see that the inquiry is one of fundamental importance. If the productive capacity of the soil cannot be maintained, if the soil is doomed to undergo a steady — even though a slow — diminution, the time will come when agriculture will cease to be a profitable and attractive calling within our boundaries. And so I say that the problem is altogether a vital one : " Sow shall the fertiUty of our soils be maintaAnedt" To discuss the question intelligently, let us briefly consider the constitution of the soil, and the conditions of its fertility. "What is the soil? You that live on it and by it have an answer ready, "i ou at least know very well what you mean by the term. My answer is in these words: Soil is finely divided rock, mingled with varying proportions of organic, vegetable or animal matter, and so made capable of giving support and foothold to the plants which man cultivates. Perhaps that is a little longer definition than you require. Its composition and its texture vary with the kind of rock from which it is derived, and with the particular agency by which it has been pro- duced. Two kinds of forces have been used in its production ; chemical forces, and mechanical forces. Two kinds of forces have helped to make the solid rock into the finely divided materials upon which plants depend for foothold and support. Let us look at these forces. The chemical force employed in turning rock into soil is that exerted by the various elements of the atmosphere. All soil, all that we understand by soil, comes from the rock. There is no instantaneous creation of it. It is making now, as it has been ever since the world was, where dry land existed. And what is the force exerted ? Chemical force has turned solid rock, in part, into this soil. Of terrestrial things, this air that we breathe seems ti be the kindest and most genial. But it is charged with destructive en- GEOLOGY AND IIS BELATIONS 10 AGBICULTUSB. 6 ergy after all. One fifth of its weight is free oxygen, and that is the element that has the widest range and affinity of all that make up the globe. It has also the greatest intensity of action. It unites with more things and unites with more energy than anything else. Oxygen forms one half of the solid crust of the globe, at least. But many or most mineral compounds in the crust of the globe are not saMirated with it. They have not got as much as they can hold. When exposed to the action of the air, they take up a higher proportion of this element, and a change of the composition cannot be wrought in a mineral in this way without resulting in changes of texture. These mineral atoms that are associated together are like a pile of bricks — you cannot take one brick out of the pile without teaiing down the whole pile ; so when we make a new compound we weaken the old compound, and a shanged composition cannot be wrought without an equivalent change in the texture. The process of oxidation is taking up the larger quantity of oxygen and the result is a process of disintegration, or breaking up — or breaking down, as you please to call it — a decayiog. We are all perfectly familiar with exhibitions of this work in the changes of coloj-, in the softening of the surface of bowldeis and ledges of rock. I have here a few samples of rock of which I will speak [referring to speci- mens on the table before him]. I have here a piece broken a few years ago from a larger rock. The coctrast in the color is very marked now, and it has somewhat of a porous condition. The material in the center does not yet seem to be like the material on the outside. It has only had time for the change to go so far, but if left in the weather the change would go on and on until the whole of it would be changed. You are aware of the difference in color be- tween the inside and outside of a rock, and between tie texture of the inside and outside. Some of these samples illustrate that very readily. Here is a hard, flinty piece of stone, as hard as a nether millstone, a dark, hard rock, but you are unable to judge by the color of a rock on the outside what you may find within. We have here a piece of sandstone [exhibiting a specimen] the color of which is brown. It is from the Connecticut Valley, and is a great building stone. You see how it_ is changed on the outside by the action of the oxygen and water. Heie for instance, is a hard, blue stone, a limestone, a shaly limestone [show- ing a specimen]. It can readily be observed that there has been a change going on in it, and the change is told in this way. If I could break open some one of the symmetrical bowlders which come from the black shales, I should find within a very black limestone charged with iron, and perhaps a little sulphur, and in the center crystals of lime would be found. On the outside you find this iron rusting away, showing how the weathering is going on. These illustrations are perfectly familiar, and illustrate oxidation so far as change of color and change of teiture are concerned. We are all familiar with this change wrought by oxidation, Wi.ich is essentially disintegration, or decay. I pass to another agency. Besides the free oxygen of the air there are two other chemical agents in the atmosphere, of great range and great power, car- bonic acid and water. Carbonic acid is a gas, and the liquii water, which, ; 6 THE SKCEETS OE PEOGEKSSIVE AGEICTTLTTJHB. like the air, seems to be so very genial, is the nearest approach to a nniyersal solTeut that the world contains. Water will dissolve more things than anything else. We talk about acid being strong. Water will dissolve more than acids, especially when the water is charged with the gases that are distributed through the atmosphere. Carbonic acid, for instance, availing itself of water as a medium of approach, wUl assail successfully the hardest rock. I have brought in two samples of granite to show you. We have in many of the bowlders, as in the one at the corner of the college building, specimens of granite. And all the varieties of granite rook are easily and rapidly disinte- grated in the way I have pointed out. Water held in solution is the proper solv- ent of limestone. You have all seen where limestone slabs have been exposed for a long time to the weather, and will bear witness that the lines left in memory of friends gone before are fast fading out. You have witnessed on slabs in the country chjirch yards how the stones are dissolving, how the letters have grown dim, so that on some it is difficult to make out the story that is told, and in the course of time they wiU. surely disappear. Limestone is soluble in rain water and will slowly pass away. These three agents, then, singly or in combination — oxygen, carbonic acid and water — are steadily ^at work toward a common end. What is that end? The reducing of the surface of the rocky crust of the earth into finely powdered fragments that make what we call soiL These three things are working, then, always, while we sleep and while we wake. From one century to another this work is constantly breaking these rocks into what we call soil ; that is, into a finely divided state. Now, there are to be added to those chemical forces which are employed in turning the rock to dust, certain mechanical agencies that work conspicuously toward the same result in many portions of the globe, and the most forcible mechanical agency is ice. The illustrations come in vei7 welh This morning is the coldest morning of the winter so far, by my thermometer. When the rocks are exposed and the water gets in the crevices it will freeze, and there will be considerable expansion, as you all know. You have probably had reason to find out something of that fact this winter. Some of your crockery-ware has likely had water left in it, which has been frozen and so expanded as to destroy the crockery-ware. In a large portion of the globe water has found its entrance into the fissures and crevices of the rook, as I have suggested, and whUe there it has been transformed into ice and split the rocks in many oases. Many times the change in the temperature is very sudden — we sometimes have a change of forty or fifty degrees within twenty-four hours — ^here in Ohio. We may have a rain-storm, for instance, one day, the thermometer being far above zero, and on the next away below zero. Now, in such a case, if rain should penetrate the crevices of the rocks, it would be caught there and be frozen into ice wedges, and those wedges will split asunder the strongest rock. The work goes on until in time the earth is covered by these accumulated broken fragments. I think many of you have had some experience in something of this sort. You have drawn out stones from the quarries, and blocks of stone that you had designed to use — which may have been left exposed to the winter — ^you have found in tlie spring greatly damaged by the freezing of the quarry water in the rocks. You know when you quit work in the fall it will not do to leave stone exposed to the fefiOLOGT AkD ITS KELAfaONS t6 AGKiCTTLTUEB. T water, but yoti mnst allow the witer to escape, so as to prevent the freezing and crumbling of the rock. The chemical agencies I have mentioned are always at hand to avail themselves of all the chances they can get to operate in new fields with their appropriate work. There is another agency somewhat of this character, but more important oftentimes in its work. The snow and ice frequently flow down in great volumes from mountain heights in avalanches, working with great force. An ice river, or glacier proper, is more slow in its action and like a true river, but it moves steadUy and irresistibly aU the time. The glacier by its course creates great inequalities in the surface over which it flows, and as it moves forward it rasps and scours the rock to atoms, as it presses down with the weight of many tons, and we find the sand or clay to which it has reduced the rock ac- cumulating beneath as the result of this mechanical force. Now, you may say, gentlemen, this is all true enough, but you do not see what connection it has with the subject under consideration, the fertility of our soils. I say to you that we have here the great paradox of modern geology; namely, that in a compara- tively recent period of the earth's history, the northera hemisphere endured an invasion of Arctic ice. A great sheet of ice moving slowly down through un- counted centuries, extended as far south as the parallel of Coluiiibus; at least as far south in many portions of the country. AU the vast deposits of clay and sand and gravel that cover the northern part of the continent — the deposits that cover northern Ohio — are the materials which were ground into powder by the advancing glacier. Whatever blue clay we find, or hard-pan, or bowlders, are glacial deposits; wherever you find this blue clay you have unmistakable proof that it was formed by the presence of glaciers, I must content myself with barely hinting at the glacial system ; I know it is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to many. But most of those who study into this are driven from every other hypothesis, and are compelled to believe in the evidences which support this theory. The finely divided materials — the sand and the clay that give us our soils — are not necessarily derived from chemical decomposition of the rocks that underlie them; the soil of this farm does not come from the rocks that underlie it. "We know that the rocks that underlie it are shale, fifty or sixty feet below — they are of the black shale which we find along the Olen- tangy. In places it is comparatively shallow. Our soils are not particularly connected with the rock that underlies them ; there is in fact, in manyinstances, no correspondence between the soil and the rocks that underlie it We have in the college campus the black slate that underlies it which, if the soil was from it, would make it adapted to the growth of such timber as the chestnut, chestnut- oak and other species, instead of the walnut, hickory, etc. But we have a strik- ing proof that these materials have been transported in the bowlders of granite which cover the ground in many places. These lost rocks we can trace to the very place from which they drifted in Canada. So much, gentlemen, for the origin of soUs ; I have only hinted at the sub- ject. It would take a long course of lectures to tell it all. They consist of finely divided rock; they are not properly the immediate creation of an Almighty fiat They are not the result of a special creation; but the soils that we have have grown where we find them, fey the operation of laws which we can recog- 8 THE SECEETS OF PEOGEESSIVE AGEICULTTTBE. nize and trace. There never comes a time when the soil may be said to be finished ; it is always making. It may be as good as we deserve, and a good deal better ; but the soil continues this process, and the same forces are reducing rocks to pebbles and sand and clay, and are always contining their work ; and the rock and sand and clay are carried forward each year so that the processes are at all times available for plant nutrition. We come in the second place to the composition of the soil. Oxygen. Chbmicai, Foeces. •( Carbonclc Acid. Water. SOILS. I. Obigin. { Ice Wedges. Mechanical. ' Glaciers. C Granite. II. Composition.^ (.Limestone. T^s diagram will be of some use in showing you the origin of the soils. The soil is formed by the agents I have referred to; oxygen, carbonic acid, and water, and the mechanical forces, ice wedges and glaciers. Now, of what materials do soils consist? We have a key to their composition. If they are derived from the rock they must agree in composition with the rock in a general way. This answer is correct, but it needs some extension and qualification. If you find some substance that makes a large constituent of ordinary rocks, but at the same time which the air does not corrode, and the water dissolve, you may be sure such an element makes a constituent element in the soil. For if the worn rock breaks down into the place where such substance falls, there it must lie. There is no chance for it to get away — the water does not carry it away — but if it were soluble in water, it would necessarily be withdrawn in the process of disintegration. Carbonate of lime is soluble in rain-water ; but the soil made from this rock probably will not consist of carbonate of lime, but of carbonate of lime and sand and clay; the clay and sand are not soluble in water; the water takes the limestone out and what it cannot dissolve is left, so thatthe sand and clay are left in the soil. It is soil then, formed by the solution and removal of limestone, leav- ing all the impurities of the limestone. Can we apply these tests to insoluble rocks? Let us examine the composition of the various rocks that make up the surface ; for our purpose all roclss can be resolved into three classes. I am going to leave out one class. All rocks can be divided into granite and its derivatives, and into limestone and lava ; we will strike out lava, so I will say that all soils are derived from granite and limestone; all soils that we know of in Ohio are derived directly or indirectly from one or the other of these divisions. Or, as is the case with drift-soil, from the blending of each ; let us consider these. First the granite : deep down nnder clay beds, and under sandstone, under shale, slate and limestone, is the great foundation granite. It is now universally believed that the earth has cooled from a molten state; and it is probable that the first crust formed upon it was granite, or something like granite, but it is doubtful if we have come upon any of the primeval crust. All of the granites we are com- pelled to pronounce as the oldest rocks. « GBOLOay AND ITS BELATIONS TO AGEIOULTITEK. 9 Of what does granite consist? Of three ingredients : quartz — ^I have here a small piece of quartz [exhibiting a specimen] — a rock with which you are quite familiar. In some the crystals become quite brilliant and are Icnowu as diamonds, and are hard enough to cut glass. Feldspar is one of the characteristic forms of rock; I have n. specimen of it here [exhibiting a specimen]. Sometimes the color is white and sometimes of a darker hue; we have here these two gray varieties. I have here an imperfect crystal of mica — isinglass, as we call it. Granite consists of these three miner- als, quartz, feldspar and mica; quartz constitutes one half of all granites; it is the most widely diS'used and most abundant of all the minerals in the earth's crust; one half of the globe is made of quartz; it is the great foundation of the con- tinents ; it is found in sandstone of all kinds ; we cannot go amiss of it ; it en- ters into the composition of all limestone ; there is no rock without quartz, and some consist almost entirely of it. It would be an interesting thing for you to make yourself familiar with the quality of that one substance; when you know it, you know one half of the globe; that is making pretty rapid progress. The form in which agriculture is interested in quartz is sand; sand is pulverized quartz. The chemical qualities of quartz are very interesting, but its chief in- terest to us in its adaptation to the soil is its resisting quality; it could be well defined by negatives ; it is not soluble in water. I have spoken of water as a universal solvent, but it will not touch quartz. You know we make glass out of quartz sand ; out of it we make bottles in which we keep all liquids ; it is not fusible ; you cannot melt it by the highest heat so that it will run or pour. It Joes not corrode with the atmosphere, so that the quartz ciystal is not touched by the tooth of time ; it is stable, substantial, proof against all forms of change. These are its chemical properties and its adaptation to the soil, so that we are justified in explaining the proportion in which it everywhere abounds. Soil may contain as much as ninety per cent, of sand; that is the outside limit. A few soils are found with less than twenty per cent, of sand; average soils I pre- sume would show more than fifty per cent. It has nothing to give to plants directly, because it is not soluble; because of its porosity, everything enters into it; air and water readily pervade it. The second kind of rock I notice is feldspar. Feldspar is a iouble compound of this same quartz with oxygen and three very abundant bases; namely, alumina — ^as we call it in chemistiy — and potash, or soda. The first part of these twin compounds is named silica ; and when compounded with potash, it makes silicate of potash. The silicate of potash is readily dissolved by rain-water. The silicate of alumina, which is abundant, resists change, while the silicate of potash, for the most part, dissolves away ; the silicate of alumina has no way of escaping, and so it remains to join with sand in forming soils. Mark well this new element of the soils; we had sand in the soil before, from the moment of the breaking down of the rock; now we get a new element — silicate of alumina — and when we get it, it is commonly in the form of clay. As it is in- soluble it can only furnish a foothold, or at best, nourish plants in a poor way. The particles of clay are very minute, and furnish greater density and compact- ness to the soU; again, clay increases to a great degree the power of the soil ,to take up water; it has equal power to absorb all liquids and gases which con- 10 THE SECRBTS OF PEOGEESSIVB AGBICTTLTUEB. stitnte the proper food for plants. The proportion of clay in soils ranges from between ten to fifty per cent. ; it is a very stiff soil that mns as high as fifty per cent ; it is a poor soil where it is less than ten per cent. The proportion of clay renders the soU light or heavy, warm, diy, cold, wet, or thin. All these connect themselves in a large measure with the varying proportion of this same substance. But our concern is now with the chemical constitution, and we cannot take up these other points. The third and last mineral element, or constituent of granite, is mica. What does mica/Consist of? It has silica — ^that is quartz — and it has silicate of alumina, the same as feldspar; sometimes there is potash. ^There is lime in it always, in varying proportions : silica, iron, potash, lime, magnesia; that is just what mica is. Like feldspar, itis promptly attacked and dissolved by water, leaving behind the constituents I have named. Wherever, then, granite rocks are^exposed to the action of the air, ftiey are undergoing a change through the various agencies already enumerated, producing the difierent elements of the soil. Well, you say, this is not very pertinent to our case, as there is no granite rock in Ohio, except those lost rocks that are found over the surface in the state. The areas of granite on the surface of the earth are few and far between ; from what has been said on this matter, you might infer that the composition of the soil at large is scarcely touched by them ; but do not be too hasty in your conclusion. I have already stated that granite is the original crust of the earth, at least it is the deepest down — as the first rock — and the agencies I have spoken of are found to assail the first principal rocks appearing above the ocean. Geology teaches that the world is very old, and that through the ages since the earth was first created, wherever any of this granite crust has been ex- posed, there disintegration has been going on. And what has become of the re- sults of this weathering and waste? They have been washed from the surface of the granite rocks sometimes as fast as formed; thus leaving the surface of the rocks bare, while that removed has been gathered by rivers and rivulets and transported to the sea. What became of them when they got to sea? Why, the coarser sand would sink soonest, and the lighter particles of clay would be carried farther before finding a resting place on the sea-bottom, and some would be carried many miles before they would find a lodgment, and thus they would make a series of belts. We find a sand belt here, and another a little farther out, while we find belts of finest clay still farther out. It is obvious that the ocean currents would lend a helping hand in distributing far and wide these ingredients. Particles of the same gravity would be carried along the same general lines of transportation; and when the waste of the weathered granite would give rise to a new lajer, a crust more substantial would then be formed. [President Orton here pointed out on a geological map the geological format- tion of the state, showing the cropping out of the Berea sandstone through the counties of Cuyahoga, Medina, Delaware, Franklin and other counties east- ward ; the conglomerate rock about Lancaster and the south-eastern portion of the state, and the shale and limestone in other portions of the state. In speak- ing of lime formations, he remarked :] I want to call your attention to these lime formations, and particularly to their GEOLOGY AND ITS EELATIONS TO AGEICULTUEE. 11 origin. Lime occurs in mica and in many minerals ; it finds its way to the sea by such processes as I have named; but it is -withdrawn from the sea and fixed by other processes, and becomes part of the structure of animals. Combined with phosphoric acid it forms the bones of the higher animals ; iombined with carbonic acid the solid structure of the lower animals. It is dissolved out of the granite, as I have said, and then united with carbonic acid; it is drawn from the water through the agency of inuu^merable living creatures. It is through the agency of these living forms that the lime is withdrawn from the water and fixed in those great formations which make so large a part of the sea-bottom and dry land. Lime is always present from this process, and wherever you find lime it has been produced by the waste of these living bodies ; sometimes there is nothing of their form left. It is seldom found in a pure state; but is always present, and sometimes forms a great part of the rock; Now, how are soUs formed out of limestone? The work is done, as already stated, in connection with the action of weathering, and the action of carbonic acid. Eain-water freely dissolves limestone ; and when limestone is dissolved by rain-water the water is made hard. What is hard water ? It is water that passes through limestone and dissolves it ; whenever you get water down in a bed of lime- stone rock, it is hard water; and the hard water is proof that the limestone rook exists there. [President Orton in the illustration of this fact, gave an account of an in- stance where the water in a cistern was found to be hard, and it could not be conceived why rain-water should be hard water; but upon examination it was found that limestone gravel was used for a fixed filter in the cistern, which ac- counted for the hardness of the water. He closed the lecture with a brief and rapid review of some of the principal points which he had presented.] 13 THE SEOBETS OF PBOGEESSIVE AGRICULTUBB. GEOLOGY AND ITS RELATIONS TO AGRICULTURE. BY PKESIDENT EDWABD OBTON. Gentlemen: — A week ago to-day I occupied an hour of your time in a brief dis- cussion of tlie agents and the forces that are always at work upon the rock crust of the earth where it is exposed, in breaking it down into that finely divided material upon which the higher growths of vegetation depends. The result of that change, when it has been fully accomplished, we call soil. I class- ified the two kinds of rocks which furnish the material for the soil as granite and limestone. And I showed you how, from the weathering of the granite, certain great groups of soil have been derived; that sand and clay resulted from the decomposition of the granite ; that they may be blended, or may be sepa- rated; that we may thus have the thinnest of all soils, or a rich soil, or a soil with varied capabilities and value. We will have also potash and soda coming in necessarily from the decomposition of granite. There will be some other elements also, in smaller proportions. From the limestone we might expect an entirely different series, but the limestone has its impurities, and we found that the impurities of the limestone are the same sand and clay. We have found both in the formation of limestone soils, and it is caused by the solution and re- moval of the lime, leaving the sand and clay which we found to form the bulk of the limestone soil. We find in the limestone soil a greater or less proportion of lime left, the potajsh and soda, of course, that belong with the sand and clay, being also to some extent included. These were a few facts, as far as relates to the origin of our ordinary soils, which I stated. When I gave the facts I thought perhaps you would be prompt to suggest that we do not have any granite rocks cropping out in Ohio, and that therefore this talk was not very proper for us. I met that fact by pointing out to you that fcuuil itone, slates and conglomerate and the various rocks that we have over the state, aside from the limestone rocks, are in one shape and another derivatives fi'om those granite rocks. So much then in the way of a review. Now, in saying what I have to say further on this subject, it is quite likely that I shall traverse the fields that my associates have gone over. But I made in my opening lecture an apology for these repetitions that you might hear, and I do not think it can do you any harm to Aear these facts stated from different ctandpoints. I will ask your attention to a cfontinuation of the discussion of the question I proposed at the last lecture: "Mow shall the fertility of tlie soU be permcmenUy maimtamedt" I have spoken of the composition of the rocks and have showed you that they GEOLOGY AND ITS RELATIONS TO AGEICtJLTUEE. 13 largely consist of sand and clay, with potash, soda, lime, magnesia atid iron. I have not attempted to state the results of a close and careful analysis. I have given the composition in a laige vray and it is only necessary to add that there are several other elements that would appear in the analysis, if the whole consti- tution were given. We should in that case have to add manganese, chlorine, sul- phur and phosphorus. The manganese, however, exists only in a small propor- tion, and is unimportant so far as vegetation is concerned. The chlorine is of very considerable importance to vegetables. The phosphorus and sulphur come in but to a small extent, but are of the greatest value, and there are other elements that would appear. All these are the products of rock decay. Wher- ever atmospheric agencies assail a ledge of native rocks we find these things present in it, and though they may appear in small proportions, there will be more or less of them left in the products of this decay. The aggregate amount will be very small, seldom reaching one per cent, of the whole mass. But it must not be thought that because these substances are found in small propor- tions that they are of small importance. To the two last, especially, phosphoric acid and sulphur, an important place is assigned in the vegetable economy. Their presence in the soil is absolutely indispensable to the growth of the highest plants. By the proportion and state in which they occur they largely determine the fertility or barrenness of the soil. But the true construction of the soil upon which agriculture depends has not yet been reached. One more step remains to be taken. I have spoken of the weathering and pulverizing of the rock in forming the soil, as you will remember by reverting to the definition with which I set out; namely, that soil is finely divided rock, of course mingled with various other matters which make it capa^ ble of supporting the vegetables upon which man depends. Going back to the definitions given, I would say that it is only by courtesy that we can apply the term soil to the bare products of mineral decay; an essen- tial element must be added. A greater or less proportion of organic matter must be added — matter derived from decomposed animal or vegetable products. Now, how large a proportion do we find of vegetable matter in the soil? This varies by a wide extent. Productive soils wiU seldom have less than five per cent. The amount may rise to twenty or thirty per cent, without destroying the character of the soil as a productive soil. How came the vegetable matter in the soil? Have you thought of that? Have you examined the granite bowl- ders that lie in the fields?- You wUl find some of them half covered with patches of light green or gray lichens, and though we speak of these rocks as imperish- able, because they perish so slowly, yet this is a vegetable growth upon them which indicates slow decomposition; These patches of green or gray lichen are a vegetable growth. As to the origin of the vegetable matei-ials in this case there is no question. They are principally derived from the air. The air contains carbonic acid, and this is the daily bread of the whole vegetable world. The growing plant has the wonderful power of abstracting this carbonic acid from the atmosphere, or decomposing it into its original elements. But in this decom- position it returns the oxygen to the air for its purification. Now this plant growth on the rocks does what? .The products of its decay are blended with the weathering rock, which, enriched by such decay, is made capable of supporting u 14 THE SECRETS OF PKOGEESSIYE AGEICULTTTEE. higher grade of vegetation. Now, gentlemen, I cannot over-state the value or importance of this elemente- I know it has been presented to you repeatedly in these discussions. The presence of organic matter works a great change in the forming soil. In many parts of Ohio almost all that a good farmer requires is that enough of this organic matter is incorporated with the soil. It makes the soil lighter and warmer, and promotes in many ways the chemical changes which are in progress. It is only recently coming to be established that this organic matter, or humus, is the key which unlocks these stores of mineral wealth that the soil contains. It is by the various acids derived from the decay of vegetable matter that the potash, soda, silica and phosphorus are made available for the plants growing in the soil. At length, then, we have reached the object of our search, a fertile soil. Its general composition we know. Its indespensable elements we know, and their general proportions. These will vary until they exhausttheart of numeration. No two square rods of soil, in fact, will agree in all respects. This will be the case where the soil is of a high degree of fertility. It is so in regard to all the analyses of Ohio soil. If, for example, we take the great Black Swamp region of the state, which is so rich in vegetable decay, we find one analysis that gives_ these results; namely, seventy per cent, of sand; thirteen per cent, of clay; ten per cent, of organic matter; two per cent, of iron; two per cent, of lime and magnesia; one and a half per cent, of potash and soda; three fourths of one per cent, of phosphoric acid; three fourths of one per cent, of sulphur and chlorine. A fertile soil is an unlimited source of wealth. It possesses a perennial bounty. The father may draw from its constituents through his life! And he may then bequeath it, not only unimpaired, but with greatly increased capabilities of service, to his son, if properly treated. Centuries do not waste it; misfortunes do not destroy it. Nothing short of a geological revolution can destroy the power it possesses of affording abundant food for man and beast. ' Let us briefly consider the relation in which it stands to the growing plant. We have seen the lichen on the rock — that little green patch on the bowlder which must obtain the bulk of its ingredients from the air. The coal plants received from the atmosphere all their growth in this way. But in the course of years another thing takes place. It is brought about by organic elements, and it is highly probable that the vegetable products needed by man demand more than the atmosphere can furnish. Experiments have been made upon this point. Wheat plants have been grown where the sun light has been kept from them; but though the early products were beautiful, the growth whs not a normal growth, and especially by chemical analysis of the normal growth it has been discovered that plants cannot live on air alone, but that they require a certain amount of mineral matter. We learn that they cannot grow by simply having u foothold in the soil, but that their growth depends upon the proportion of the mineral substances which the soil contains. All the products of vegetation may be conveniently separated into two great groups. First, that which disappears in gases during the process of burning, and which seldom is less than ninety-five per cent, of the whole weight, and, GEOLOGY AND ITS SELATIONS TO AGKICTJLTURB. 15 second, that which is left in the ash. I would call your particular attention to this point, that all the products of vegetables can be divided into two great series: Those which pass away into the air as invisible gases, and those left behind as ash. But the indestructible part left behind after the fire has done its work is of great importance. Now, it has been ascertained that the parts which pass off in the atmosphere are the same as the constituents of the atmosphere. The plants may obtain these supplies directly from the air which penetrates and prevades the plant. The larger part is obtained in this way, but the plant is also able to make use of the stores accumulated in past ages from vegetable decomposition in the soil. If these stores are abundant in the soil the growth of the plant will be rapid, but if deficient but little progress can be made. Where it is necessary that a plant shall sweep rapidly through its growth a much greater supply must be at hand than simply that of the atmosphere. There remains in the ash of plants the one to five per cent, which seems so insignificant that it might be lost sight of in the account. Bat, gentlemen, the discovery of the chemical constitution of the ashes 81 plants has profoundly affected agriculture, and has rendered a science of agriculture, for the first time, possible. It is difficult to overstate the importance of maintaining the elements of the ash in the soil. This is, whether it is recognized or not, the central point in all success in agriculture. It underlies the question which I brought before you. The solution of the problem of American agriculture, or agriculture at large, lies in the satisfactory treatment of this five per cent, of the growing crop. Within the last forty years there has been conclusive proof that crops abstvact in varying proportions from the soil silica, iron, potash, sulphur, lime, phosphorus, magnesia and chlorine. I repeat, th6n, that in this lies the very root of success- ful agriculture. If we abstract from the soil these various substances the supply is diminished, and if the process goes far enough exhaustion will follow. The first two or three compounds; namely, silica and iron, are so abundant in our soils that there is no possibility of their exhaustion, and they may accordingly be dismissed from consideration. The lime and magnesia also occur in many soils in such quantities that they are not likely to be reduced below the proper quantities. The potash, soda, phosphorus, sulphur and chlorine, make up the main elements in the quality of the soil. Their presence makes it fertile. In a hundred pounds of wheat two pounds are ash; of this two pounds one half is phosphoric acid, and thirty per cent., or nearly thirty per cent., is potash. In one hundred pounds of potatoes there is one pouud of ash. In one hundrejJ pounds of milk the ash makes three fourths of a pound, and of this more thaik;one fourth is phosphoric acid and one third potash and soda. But let us next consider the influence of vegetable growth upon the soil. It divides itself into two parts. In the first place let us ask what is produced by the soil in a state of nature. In a state of nature the soil is making a positive gain in one respect and suffering loss in none. Where it is covered with forest trees the roots extend deep and wide and absorb mineral food which is given to them in solution. The mineral matters are taken up by the roots and conveyed 16 THE SECEETS OF PKOGEESSIVE AGBICULTUEB. to the stem and leaf and formed into their growth. The leaves are rich in mineral elements. After a period of time they die and drop to the earth with their products borrowed not only from the air, but from the ground as well. At last the tree reaches its limits and it dies and gives back to the soil great quantities of the varied gaseous compounds which it has gathered. And in this manner the growth of the vegetable enriches the soil, and enlarges its volume, so that there is a progressive accumulation upon the surface of the fixed elements which the whole substance of the soil contains. The roots of the tree as the center have been doing their work through the ground, and the branches above the surface have been absorbing the matters gathered up above the surface, and when the tree dies they are left upon the surface and there is an enrichment from all these matters. In a state of nature, then, 1 say agriculturally, vegetation enriches the soil by the addition of these necessary portions. We come next to speak of the growth and removal of crops in which agri- culture js concerned. Out of the many plants with which the surface of the earth is covered, man sets his regards upon a few score. From them he obtains his food, shelter and cloffling. These plants are rich in the elements of mineral food. That is what makes us select them for our use. For the most part they are obliged to complete their growth in a, limited time. Now, no matter how much of any mineral food a plant may have, no matter how large an amount an acre is made to produce, if aU that is derived from the soil, or its proper equiva- lent, is returned to the soil, there is no deterioration or loss. The growth of plants in the soil does not trench in the least degree on the permanent resources of the soil. In fact, we have seen that there is a process of improvement in growth and decay. But agriculture does not rest contented simply with growth, but we remove what we grow from the soil upon which it is grown. Agriculture is interested in the growth of plants only because they can be removed. How can they be grown and removed so as not to impair the fertility of the soil? This is one of the most important questions we can ask. It is a practical question that far outweighs the questions of railroad monopolies or tarifis. The oldest nations in the world are those that in their practice have answered that question correctly; they have found in their practice the true solution of this problem. You are now in the line of answering this question for yourselves. You have seen what the soil consists of; what compounds it contains. You have learned the constitution of plants and from what source they get their nourish- ment. A bushel of wheat with what straw produces it weighs one hundred and thirty-six pounds, and one hundred and thirty pounds come from the air directly or indirectly, but the other six pounds are fixed or mineral matters whioh are derived from the soil. These two elements are seen to be very un- equal in amounts. They are also unequal in value. But in agriculture the last is first and the first last. When we carry one hundred and thirty pounds of volatile material away from the ground, we know that that volatile material is sure soon to find its way to the atmosphere by combustion or decay, and will return in currents of air to the very fields from which it was taken. But what of the six pounds of mineral substances? Is there some means in nature by which they may Jje restored? There is none. It was carried away by human agency, and by human agency it must be restored, if restored at all. Perhaps GEOLOGY AND ITS KELATIONS TO AGEICTOTtTBE. 17 you will say these substances will be formed in the soil as needed. No. The theory of the change of one element into any other is a baseless fabric which was swept away a century ago. Perhaps you may say there is a superabund- ance so great that there would always be a sufficient amount, and that there may be a disregard of this matter. No. The amount is very small. We have come then face to face to the question with which we set out: " How can the fertility of our soil be maintained?" I have aimed to set before you the real nature of the problem and to show you something of its range and scope and if you have followed me you will be able to see at a glance that the question needs to be investigated. This fertility can be maintained by a rotation of crops, do some of you say? Eotatiou of crops is indespensable in skillful agri- culture, but rotation of crops in the wisest manner you can arrange will not preserve the fertility of any soil. In fact, under such a system, the soil will be left poorer. You may be pasturing cattle upon a field, and when they have eaten off all the grass they can get so that they will not gain any more upon it, you may then take them off and put in other stock, as for instance, sheep, and they will gain for a while. But will the pasture gain in amount by such a course of treatment? The field is all the barer in the end. The plowing in of green crops, especially clover, is one of the most e£Scient aids man has discovered. Clover is so happily adapted for restoring fertility that it is not likely to be discarded or superseded. But clover cannot save the soil from exhaustion. You can raise wheat as long as you can raise clover, it is true, but what if the clover refuses to grow? This is the experience they have come to in the older regions of the world. It is certain that clover can make no additional mineral food in the soil. Its long tap-roots reach far out in the soil and bring its ingredients nearer the surface. The same may be said'bf deep plowing and methods for pulverizing the soil. All of these are essential iu their way — essential to good farming. But not any one, not all of them, can retain the fertility in the soil. But they wiU tend to further reduce it by bringing more and more of its fertilizing properties out of it. You will not expect me, of course, to make a full answer to my own question. Theoretically it is easy enough, but of what use is it to point out the way if we cannot walk in it. There are many difficulties connected with it, and many of these are enhanced in American agriculture. I will point out a few facts that must be recognized iu any true solution of the question, between the animal and the plant. You will not miss the obvious and important deduction that the excrements from animals fed from a par- ticular- crop are the best adapted to promote the growth of that crop. With a few thoughts as to the direction in which we are to look for an answer to the question we are considering, I will conclude. First, to maintain the fer- tility of our soil we must learn to increase the quantity and improve the quality of the fertilizers now in use; namely, stable and barn-yard manure. The appli- cation of the excrements of domestic animals as fertilizers h'&s come down to us from a very early period. In fact it is as old as civilization. They serve us many valuable purposes in the soil and wiU continue to hold their place in aU" time to come. When we learn to set a higher value upon them than probably we do now, we wUl industriously devise ways and means to increase and protect 18 THE SECRETS OF PEOGEESSIVB AGKICULTtTEK. them. On this practical question it is not proper for me to try to teaoh yon, but iiiis is a matter worthy of your serious consideration. So, to maintain the fertility of the soil, we must learn speedily to use the fertilizer within our reach and save that which we now neglect to save. Another point in connection with agriculture, which is not involved in theory as to its value, and which is doubtless destined to aid greatly in answering the question we are discussing, is that of saving and using the products of the human race. Man strips the soil of everything it bears. Its forests he hews down' for shelter and fuel. The cattle on a thousand hills, "the wine that maketh glad the breast of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart," are all made to subserve his pleasure or needs. And the idea that man can repay the soil for all its generous harvest with the poor pittance of the waste afForded by a few beasts of burden seems ludicrous. He is paying tithes o. mint and anise, but neglecting the weightier matters of the law. How to reach the desired results in a way compatible with our civilization, is the question of questions in connection with agriculture to- day. The essential wealth of our soil is drawn away from it, under our present management, and conveyed to the sinks and sewers of our towns, there to poison the ground and defile the springs and rivers and to scatter pestilence and death. But how to eifect the exchange civilized man has not yet fully learned. Again, the widening range of the problems of agriculture demands a larger education on the part of those who till the soil. I know no better answer to the quest' on I have raised, "How can the fertility of our soil be permanently main- tained?" than this: By giving to the farmer an intelligent appreciation of the laws and principles involved in vegetable and animal nutrition. No better edu- cation can be furnished for doing the work that falls to him, in the great circle which nature lays down, than to have a clearer appreciation of the facts involved in these things. How absurd the jealousy which is sometimes expressed in reference to science in agriculture. Why, for every good process in agriculture there is a reason, is there not? The practical man finds the process but stops there. Science ac- cepts the process and traces it back to its cause, and makes the knowledge useful and general, and extends and unfolds that process. " What do you mix your paints with?" asked a young painter of an old master, before whose work he stood entranced. "I mix them with brains," was the laconic reply. Our soil must be mixed with brains. [Applause.] These are the great fertilizers. U there is not room there for enlarged, methodized and systematic knowledge — that is, for science, on the farm, there is no room there for the aspiring and in- genuous youth that are being educated in our country to-day. [Applause.] Do not prove it, if you believe it, that the halls of science are of no use to this most ancient and valuable of human pursuits. Do not prove that education, which asserts its value in every other calling in life, is not valuable on the farm. [Applause.] -Ill; in ■>:>iA~l ii-... Yi,l.'.!,.TiI ili;il' 'ii'i'l! .i->.;ii M-j, ; • .I'.t'.' 'OKI '.'IIL niJJ^l Ml. u! 'jni II i J PSOOSBaS OV AOBICT7LTT7SE DT OHIO. 19 PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE IN OHIO. BY N. 8. TOWNSHKND. Gentlemen:— I shall not have time to give a, detailed history of agriculture in Ohio. What I expect is to state some of the steps \>j which agriculture has reached its present condition. The first thing which I will notice as the foundation of Ohio agriculture is the passage by Congress of the ordinance of 1787, establishing the North-western Territory. It contained the provision, "That neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, shall exist in this territory." That provision secured the country, out of which the State of Ohio has been carved, to Freedom and Justice, and it is to that that we must attribute our thrift, our industry and our progressive character. Immediately after the passage of the ordinance of 1787, the settlement of the country was commenced by Eufus Putnam at Marietta, and in the regions imme- diately east, and the Massachusetts Colony made its home here. About the same time we had a colony from Connecticut, and also one from Bhode Island, and perhaps from' other New England States. There was also the settlement in the north-eastern part of the state on the Connecticut Western Reserve. Then we had upon the water-shed through the highest grounds of the state a large settlement from Pennsylvania. In certain counties which lie near the Ohio River we had a great many Virginians coming in on the lands Virginia had received for payment of soldiers' services In the war against Great Britain. These brought in various classes of settlers to the country, and gradually the people in the territory in- creased, so that in 1802 there were enough to establish a state government. The country was then covered with magnificent forests, and a great deal of hard work had to be done before the first crop could be raised. The land had to be cleared, log cabins built, and roads made. The work of the first generation may be passed over in a word. It consisted almost entirely in clearing off the forests. The next step which has an important bearing on our agriculture was the means taken to open navigation, so that the surplus products of the state might find a market. They did find a market by boats down the Ohio River and so on to New Orleans. Before 1820 — as early, indeed, as 1811 — boats were found going down the Muskingum and the Ohio to find a market for the products/ of the country in New Orleans. On Lake Erie there was a steamboat as early as 1818, named "The Walk in the Water; " but the great event was the building of the New York and Erie Canal, which opened communication from New York to Buffalo by water, and made an outlet for Ohio produce at low rates. That wag conndered so great a success and had such an influence upon the people of Ohio 20 THE SECEETS OJ PEOGEESSIVE AGEICtTLTtTEB. that in 1825 a bill passed our State Legislature for the construction of the canals that run throug): the state. In 1832 the larger canals — the Ohio Canal and the Erie Canal vera finished. Soon after the finishing of these canals railroads began to h/thought of, and the first one was commenced in this state in 1834. This WOB* of opening navigation by river southward, and on the lake through to Ne/T^oi''^ ^7 means of steamboats, and across the state by means of canals, and*" "'^ s'^P ^y s*8P until now we have a multitude of railways affording p^ns of transportation for all the surplus products of Ohio to reach the eastern yttarkets, has had a great effect upon our agriculture. I presume there are some gentlemen here to-day Who remember when a man would work in the harvest all day for a bushel of wheat, and after he got the wheat he could not sell it for more than fifty cents, as there was then no market. But now farm products find a ready way to the seaboard. Another step which should perhaps be next named was the introduction of improved stock. Fifty years ago, I remember, we had a multitude of cattle in this state, but they were not of distinct breeds — we called them native stock. Some of them appeared to have a little more of the Devon blood, and that kind on the Western Eeserve was more abundant than any other variety, but they were not a pure breed. Cattle were brought here from New England, from Penn- sylvania, from Virginia, and indeed all the colonies had made their contribution of stock, and we had a multitude of nondescript animals, of cattle, sheep and swine. As early as 1834 the Ohio Importing Company brought in good Short- Horns, and from that date we have had Durham cattle iif various parts of the state; good Devon cattle were brought in, perhaps, at an earlier date. The im- provement of stock may be said to have ccmraenced very soon after 1830; indeed, the introduction of " better class of sheep commenced still earlier, be- cause between 1820 and 1830 we had large numbers of Merino sheep, especially in the more central and middle portions of the state. The sheep of Col. Hum- phrey and some from the Wells & Dickinson flock were in the state before 1820. Soon after 1830 there were importations of long-wool sheep, both of Cotswold and of Leicesters, and also of Southdowns. The swine we had in the state at an early day were rather rough ; they did not fatten very easUy. They had plenty of nose and plenty of ears and good legs for running — and in fact they had to' run to get out of the way of the bears. Finally, we had an introduction of Chinese hogs, that made a decided improvement, and also several English breeds were brought in, and we have now in the state perhaps as good hogs as can be found in any place in America, and possibly as good as are to be found in any part of the world. The Warren County hog, for instance, is known almost everywhere, either by that name or some other. Our horses were also much improved by the importation of Clydesdales and of the Norman and Percheron breeds. Thoroughbreds brought from Kentucky have also greatly improved our roadsters. So that our cattle, horses, sheep and swine have been greatly improved within a comparatively short period. Another important step after the introduction of improved stock was the in- troduction of improved machinery. It is only about fifty years since all the wheat in Ohio was cut with sickles. Then came in the cradle for cutting grain, and last of all came the reaper. In 1852 the State Board of Agriculture held its FEOGEESS OV AGEICTTLTTJEK IN OHIO. 21 first great trial at Hamilton, Ohio, where two or three of what were then the reapers and mowers were brought in competition. I had the honor to be one of the awarding oominittee before whom the trial was made. Cutting grain by machinery at that time, was thought to be an experiment, and a great many peo- ple doubted its practicability. People thought they were going to be too expens- ive, and that it would require a great deal of mechanical knowledge to know how to work them, and then it was feared they might not continue to work well. On that particular occasion they did work well, as theydid on subsequent trials, which had a very great influence in favor of their general introduction, and now we depend almost exclusively on their work in gathering our grain. I might go back a little — say before 1830. In the northern part of the state where I lived we had no cast-iron plows. Our plows were made with wooden moldboards, and steel shares and points which the blacksmith made and put on. Then dame the cast-iron plow of Jethro Woods. It was a great improvement on the plows in use, as it was so much lighter, and it soon came into general use. About the same time cultivators came into use, taking the place of the hoe. It is but afew years comparatively since our wheat was sown broadcast by hand, but by and by we began to have drills, and now the drill has nearly superseded broadcast sowing. I presume some of the young men here have hardly learned to sow wheat, and very few of them, I suppose, have learned to sow with both hands; but many of us who are older were so taught to sow our grain. A few years ago the flail was used for threshing, and at the rate of five or six bushels a day it took all winter to get out a few hundred bushels. Now our threshers do the same work in a few hours. Then, as to the cleaning of wheat, we used to take a day when the wind was blowing and would throw it up and let the wind carry away the chaff', and the wheat would fall upon the winnowing sheet nicely cleaned; but about 1830 fanning mills were introduced. They came into use in that part of the state where I lived before threshing machines, and I be- came used to the fanning mill and never did much at throwing the wheat up into the wind to clean it. Some had a plan of cleaning it by means of a large fan which was turned with a crank so as to raise the wind when there wasn't wind enough blowing. Now, as you all know, our threshers also contain a separator, and clean the wheat at the time it is threshed. In addition to aU this, even the youngest of us, perhaps, remembers the introduction of the horse fork and rake. Formerly our meadows and grain fields were raked by hand. Now we hardly see the hand rake ; the horse does the whole of it almost, and also the largest share of the patching, by means of horse forks. I might also speak of water drawing. The ordinary pump had got into use before my timcj but wind mills for the use of pumping water were not seen in the state, I think, until after 1860; at least they were not common. At first they were brought into service by the tailroads, but soon they were put to use upon many farms. • . ; Machinery.has also got into the house since that time. We should not omit that. We remember very well the introduction of the sewing machine, and we know how rapidly that makes a seam which took our mothers a great many hours to do, and weary hours they were, running into the night, to accomplish what is DOW done in a comparatively few minutes. There is none of the machinery M THB SECBBTS OF PBOGEESSIVH AGRICTLTUEB. which has been named that has been more beneficial in its inflaence or more worthy of mention, perhaps, than the sewing machine. We have also other machines of value in the household. There are the washing machines ; they are not always a success, I believe, but the inventive genius of man has not stopped with them yet; but the wringer is a success. There was scarcely a machine on a farm in this state, say fifty years ago. Everything had to be done by tools in the hand. Now we have machinery which is moved by horse power, or in some instances by water, and in a great many in- stances by steam. The introduction of farm machinery has contributed greatly to the agricultural progress of the state. Since farming in this state commenced, a great many new forms of industry have been introduced. For instance, it is not much more than thirty years since people that loved cheese made it all by hand, until eveiy farm-house in the state, almost, made what would supply the wants of the family, and sometimes 'a little more, that found its way to market; but about 18S0, in the north-eastern por- tions of the state — where a great deal of cheese had previously been made, but always by private dairies — the dairymen combined and established factories. Since 1850 immense numbers of cheese factories have been established, until now cheese-making is almost the only industrial pursuit of the north-eastern comer of the state. To be sure, other crops are raised there, and they have some other means of making money, but this is the great industrial pursuit, and the bulk of the cheese made is made in the factories, and is the work of co-operation and not the work of individual farmers. We had made two or three attempts to produce our own sugar before the war, and now quite recently this subject is again attracting attention, but perhaps it is too early to speak of it as a success. We have made good syrup, but whether we can make a good article of sugar is a question about which there may be some doubt. There was a time when in this state we were taking a great deal of interest In the raising of flax and making linseed oU. The oil made a good article for sale as well as the flax, but just about that time a change in the tariff" of the country broke up — or rather broke down — ^the raising of flax, and now we have not as many acres of flax grown in the state as we had a great many years ago, so that particular industry may be regarded as having fallen more or less into the back- ground. I presume there are gray-haired men here who may remember the time when in summer they wore no garments but what were woven at home or somewhere in the neighborhood; a pair of tow pants and a tow shirt; that was the garb of the young farmer, and if not made at home they were made in the vicinity. The growth of flax for domestic manufacture was common from the settlement of the state, and had been equally common in New England. Another improvemeut that I must not omit is the introduction of improved varieties of fruit into the state. Israel Putnam brought into this country some good apples as early as 1786, and there has been an introduction of very many good fruits from that day to this, from New England, from Pennsylvania, and some from over the water; indeed, a great many pears have been introduced from France. PEOGEESS OF A(3EICULTTIEE IN OHIO. iiS Nieliolas Longwortli did a great deal for the encouragement of grape oultore. He tested a lai'ge number of varieties and corresponded with gentlemen aH over this and other states to learn what were the best grapes grown in their nighborhood;-he inquired what grapes grew in the woods and what grapes they regarded as better than others, and if better, for what reason; he went to con- siderable expense and gathered information from a wide extent of eountry, and soon became the possessor of the best varieties ; he, I believe, introduced the Catawba, which is probably the best grape, all things considered, ever grown in Ohio. Grape-growing did not prove to be as great a success as he hoped for in the vicinity of Cincinnati; but on the islands of Iiake Erie it has proven a great success, and more money is made per acre there in growing grapes and shipping them in all directions than perhaps could be made in any other way ; and they claim that their wine — of which they make a great deal — is of superior quality. Now we have all over the state good fruit — ^good apples, pears, peaches, grapes, etc. There is scarcely anywhere in this great country where as good fruit can be found, and in such perfection, as in this state. One of the most important changes, perhaps, or additions to our agriculture, was the commencement of ditching and draining. That marked an era in the progress of the state. Underdraining is perhaps a little earlier on a large scale than ditching, but we will speak of ditching first. I have no doubt that on a large number of the farms more or less ditches have been made, but ditches in this state became a great feature since the Maumee Valley was opened up — a scope of country in the north-western part of the state where there was a great amount of rich land which had not sufficient drainage. The rivers were shallow, and too nearly on a level with the lake, and much of the land was frequently covered with water. It was very rich, but it was not until quite a recent pfcriod that ditching was properly commenced. In 1850 or thereabouts, ditch laws were enacted enabling counties to construct ditches that should reach beyond the townships. There had been laws authorizing townships to lay out ditches, but in some cases they were insufficient, but now ditches were made of a considerable length and depth, so as to appear almost like canals ; many ditches hare been dug under this law, so that that country has been changed from what it was ; it used to be called the Black Swamp, which of course did not extend over the whole Maumee eountry, but it was there, and when men started from New York to Michigan, I remember the question they would almost always ask if you con- versed with them was, "How soon would they come to the Black Swamp?" What it was they did not exactly know, but they had an idea that it was some- thing terrible. But now to people in that country it does not seem such a hor- rible place. Since the country has been ditched and brought into cultivation, this has become one of the richest portions of the state. Next comes a work associated withlditchingj I'lrefir toinndierdTaining. A portion of this state was always dry eddugh.fromthfeibeginniiigy th^lsamdy Of gravelly ridges, and occasionally portiondi of th«daiy)landB;islfaaijJo!rtibnS'ofitHe bottoms with their alluvial soU were dryenougli fc' grasses 'dr corn'ievfen froii the earliest settlement of the state, but portiions'Of itiiwer^ counting the rain and melted snow. In Cleveland about thirty-six, and in some cases not more than thirty. On the lake west of Cleveland they always have less rain, comparatively. You would natur- ally think the atmosphere near the lake would be moister and cooler and OHSO SOILS AND CLIMATE. SI that would cause more precipitation of rain. It is perhaps equally true that we hare more frequent raraa, but 1Si.e volume is less than in Cincinnati and the southern parts ol iHae state. In some paTts of the state a large portion of the rain fall comes in the •winter months in the form of snow. This is interesting to the farmer becanse he Isnows that snow foi-ms a good protection for his wheat. There are certain portions of the country where the crop is greatly exposed to the winds and the plants much affected for want of this winter covering. If you can have five or six inches of snow to lie a good part of the winter you know the crop is comparatively safe. There is one other thing with regard to climate that we need to mention ; that is, the climate of Ohio is reasonably salubrious and healthy, probably more so than most of the western states. And the reason, very likely, is this, that a large portion of this state had originally, even before we commenced work in it, a good natural drainage; as I said, it has no mountains. The country here is not tipped upon edge by any means, but there are good water falls in most directions, and much of the country, when first settled, was dry enough to live in. There is a good portion of the north-western part of the state, and the richest part of it perhaps (the Maumee Valley), where there was a fiat and rich portion of country that had to be drained, and drainage, through the digging of large ditches, has done very much to improve the general healthfulness of the state, especially in that quarter. There are places in the state, in some of the large river valleys, which are stiU affected more or less with malarial diseases, but these are comparatively limited in extent, and, on the whole, the state may be regarded as healthy as any state to live in within the same degrees of latitude. There are certain portions of the state where such a thing as malaria is unheard of and practically unknown ; un- known now even where it formerly did prevail. In the northern part of the state the Cuyahoga Eiver was the only region where originally they ever had very hard stories to tell about the terrible kind of ague they had there; but there has been a very great change in that respect. Now, the next question that I want to examine is, considering we have such a soil, such a climate as I have described, what may they be considered as fitted for or especially adapted for? Both your observation and theory would teU us that with such a soil, with such a climate, we should be able to raise almost all sorts of farm crops, and such is the fact. Now, corn is really a tropical plant, but fortunately it does not require a great many months to grow, and we can plaiat in May, and then with our tropical summer the corn will get fully ripe before our severe winter begins. And in spite of our severe winter we have, perhaps, as good corn as any in the world. Another of our important crops is the wheat crop. We should be favorably situated to gi-ow wheat, since the winter wheat belt extends about three de- grees south of the middle part of the state, and to about the forty-fifth degree of latitude. When you get to about the forty-fifth degree, only three degrees north of our state, you pass beyond the winter wheat and into the spring wheat belt. We are, therefore, right in the center of the wheat belt. In respect to climate in its influence upon wheat, it seems as if our summers were a little too warm for wheat. They bring the plant to maturity rather early. If our summers were a 32 THE SECRETS OF PROGRESSIVE AGKICULTURB. little more moist and a little cooler, and the crop were allowed to continne grow- ing until about the middle of July, it would perhaps be a little better in the way of quantity, but fortunately the wheat adapts itself to climate and ripens before the time of extreme hot weather comes on. So far as the summer is concerned, it does not prevent the maturing of a good kernel. But winter, perhaps, is a little the hardest season on our wheat, because, as I said a little while ago, we are not quite sure of a covering of snow as a winter protection. Where the snow remains on, as you all know, we find that it preserves the wheat crop. I will mention a singular fact I have noticed in regard to the weather and to sheltered position. How much it may prove I cannot say. Ten years since, be- fore I came to this college, I got thirty-five bushels to the acre on some sixteen acres, while my neighbors who had as good land and cultivated it as well as I did, did not have as good a crop by considerable; My crop, I think, was due tc the fact of its being sheltered from the winds. That sixteen acres was in twc eight-acre pieces, and there was an osage orange hedge on three sidei, of each piece, and woods on the fourth side, so that they were well protected. The result of that protection was that the snow lay upon these fields all the winter. The wind was not able to get it o& Elsewhere the snow was blown off by severe winds, but this hedge seemed to be a perfect protection to mine. I attribute the good yield of these fields to the fact I have mentioned. Whether it was due to that fact or not can not certainly be known, but when we get to talking about our future fences we may talk something in regard to that point. We all know the old adage that " one swallow does not make a summer," and one trial of that kind is not sufficient to test the matter. Now, the principal crop in this state that we have after corn is wheat ; some would put wheat before corn. After these the next is the grass crop, which per- haps, some would place before either of the others. Is our climate adapted to grass? I suppose the answer frequently given is that it is measurably well adapted to it. We have considerable difference in soil through the state, and a little difference in climate. At the south-eastern corner of the state, where we have the great coal measures, the land is more hUly than in other portions, and for that reason is not so well adapted to its growth. Perhaps some of you would say that such land is not so well adapted to other crops. Nevertheless, a large part of that portion of the state is devoted to wool growing, and sheep are kept there almost exclusively. This is partly due to the fact that there is less tillable or plow land there than in other portions of the state, tillage being very difficult among hills. The north-eastern part of the state is devoted to grass and dairying, as you know. A large portion of the lands there are clay lands, and as you know clay in some parts is good for grass. Inasmuch as clay soil is a hard soil to work, the men living in that part of the state have been disinclined to plow it and so have kept most of their land in grass. So this grass region is de- voted mostly to making butter and cheese. Now, here, through the center of the state, our husbandry is mixed. Grass grows here pretty well; but in the months of July and August we sometimes have not sufficient rain, so that the grass gets somewhat brown and its growth is not sustained. In the south-western part of the state, in the limestone region, the land is considered too valuable for graz- tag, and a great deal of it is com. However, you aU know that that would prove OHIO SOlI-S AND OLIMATB. 33 & very good foundation for a first-rate grass region, because, geologically, that is the same kind of soil as the blue grass region in Kentucky, the Silui-ian. That extends across the Ohio river and down into Kentucky, and jn all that section good blue grass can be raised. But the people in the Miami Valley region have ma^e their country one of corn instead of grass. The state as a whole, then, all things considered, is well adapted to grass. The soills clayey enough, the win- ters are not severe enough to injure the grass, and the summers are not hot nor dry enough to entirely destroy the growth. Sometimes, of course, it is consid- erably injured by the extreme heat, but there is generally a nearly equal distri- bution of rain. On the Western Beserve they manage to adapt this to their con- dition of things by taking care to have some forage plants — no matter whether it is millet or corn-fodder, or something else — to keep up the flow of milk in an especially dry season. But we have other varieties with which, if the common grass does not bear the heat as well as we would like, it can be supplanted. Clover, which grows everywhere in the state, bears the heat of summer very well, and we can almost always get good crops of it when other grass may not be as good. By growing larger forage crops and good crops of clover we can get along very well even in dry summers. In that particular we have the advantage of the states south of us. In all the states south you do not find as fine pastures as we have in Ohio, except, perhaps, in Kentucky, where there is a large amount of soil that is lying on the Silurian rocks. Kow, we have a fine state for fruit. New Jersey, which is on the seaboard, and has the protection of the Atlantic ocean, raises certain things better than we can, peaches, for instance, much better. Peaches are almost a certain crop on the immediate shore of Lake Erie, but a few miles back they are not so certain. Still, in other portions of the state, we get good peaches some years. In the hilly portion of our state our fruits are not injured by the early frosts in the spring as much as in some other localities, and they frequently raise good crops of them there. Down on the Ohio Blver peaches can be grown with success. Of apples, we expect, of course, a crop every other year. Grapes grow better, as you know,, on the islands of the lake. That is, certain varieties grow better there. If you want to grow wine grapes this is not the best state, and I don't know that it would be best for us to produce a great deal of wine, for fear we would drink more than we should. The mean temperature ia about 65°, and t)iat is a little too low for the full development of the wine grape, and they do not get well developed. They are not quite so hardy as other fruits. But we raise good grapes of ;the more hardy varieties, as you all know, in most localities. There are some varieties such as can be grown almost anjrwhere, and we have no weather that would prevent them giving a good crop almost anywhere in the state. So usually we may have a reasonable supply of fruit in this state, and that ia a very good thing. Such a supply of fruit has very much to do with the health of the people. Now, there are not many more crops that I will try to mention. There are barley and rye. They are not considered, in the main, to be profitable crops, at least people sow oats in preference in the southern part of the state, and I have been told repeatedly in regard to oats that it was not a profitable crop. I 34 THB SECRETS OF PKOGEESSIVE AGElCtJLTtJEB. have been living in the northern part of the state and I have found both oats and barley profitable crops. One year I remember my barley averaged forty-six bushels to the acre, and it brought me $1.25 per bushel. That was on some land that I had just underdrained at an expense of $22.50 per acre. The difference between what the nnderdraining cost me and what I received left me $25.00 per acre. That paid me very well, and I thought it a profitable crop. It would well repay the interest on borrowed money to do the draining. Some gentleman has inquired how he could drain ; if he could do that well he would have a means of paying his interest. I believe that if we would take the same pains with barley as we do with wheat we could make it a profitable crop. We depend, of course, on diiferent influences of the weather. It would be more profitable ito raise barley than oatsj As to oats, we can sow it where we could not sow anything else, and ih conse- quence of the rather hard usage of this grain it does not usually produce ae well. But if sown with the same degree of care as wheat, on tolerably good land, I have gotten more than seventy bushels of oats to the acre, tiiat weighed thirty-nine and a half pounds to the bushel. That would be seven and a half pounds more than the legal- weight for oats. When yon get that much to the acre you have got a very profitable crop. But we grow them rather as a secondary cropi Oats, bar- ley and rye may be made profitable, but need a climate a little farther north. There are crops, which we term root crops — potatoes, turnips and beets. Pota- toes we find more influenced by the market than almost anything else. I re- member that on' the Western Reserve we used to consider the potato best adapted to that particular country, and when we get still farther north it is believed to be still better. Minnesota is a little better state for potatoes" than this. We go, as you know, only to the 42° of latitude. The probability is that the limit south- ward of profitable potato growing does not go mnch below the southern border of this state, but it extends very considerably farther to the north. Turnips will never be raised here, perhaps, as they are in some of the old countries. In Great Britain, where there is a large amount of straw to dispose of, it is used with turnips in making manure. It is so arranged that everything that can be used in the manufacture of manure is used, and animals are fed on turnips and straw, and in that way they dispose of a large amount of turnips and the straw is turned into the best kind of manure. Thus they find the turnip a means of recuperation. Whenever we have cloverand use that in plowing under, we perhaps do not need to raise turnips as they do there, and perhaps would not be able to raise them so profitably as they do in some other parts. We can raise beets here with profit. On this farm we have been raising them profitably for several purposes. We raise them particularly for feeding milch cows. It has been demonstrated here that they are profitable for that, and I presume they have been found so in all parts oi our state. Now, gentlemen, this matter of soil and climate has very much to do, you see, with all our farming. This matter of climate I think more especially we need to study more than we have done. It is a great factor in our work. We depend so much more on the climate than the soil that it does not do to overlook it as we find we are now doing. I hope, also, there will be in a few years some means FARM PBODUCTS OF OHIO. 86 qf giving to farmers all over the state the benefit of the signal service stations, and the observations made by the government, giving to the, farmer the same benefit that is now given to the seamen on all our coasts. If we could get such an s^dvantage it would be worth a great deal to us. We know this has saved thousands and even millions of dollars worth of property, while millions of dol- lars have been lost in agriculture by the suddenness with which ^nter [has caught us. More especially so in the south than in this state, but in this state it is quite a matter of consequence. We have here a variable climate, as you know, and one of the lessons we should learn is to be always ready. I don't know anything that we can do better than to be ready for the cold. We (lon't know precisely when the winter is coming, and the proper way is to be ready for it a month ahead, and have proper places comfortably arranged for our stock and have our crops well housed. FARM PRODUCTS OF OHIO. BY N. S. TOWJSSHEND. Our subject this morning is "Farm Products of Ohio." I have here the "Statistics of Ohio," a volume published annually by the Secretary of State. With other things it contains much interesting matter relating to agriculture. This is the report for 1879 ; that for 1880 is not yet published, though some of the facts are in our possession. Sometimes I may refer to one and sometimes to the other. I have several questions to ask and I propose to answer them by taking facts wherever I can find them. My first question is this. "How did this Buckeye Farm pay last year?" We can imagine the State of Ohio to be all in one farm of 25,000,000 of acres, for that is what we have within the limits of the state. Of our total area we have about 6,000,000 acres qf wood-laud, about 9,000,000 acres under tillage, we have 6,000,000 acres in pasture and 2,000,000 acres of meadow. This leaves 3,000,000 acres, or thereabout, unaccounted for. We may suppose it is occupied by roads, cities, lake aivd waste. This is the way the farm was distributed. How, then, did it pay? Th^ first crop report of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture gives in a comprehensive form the footings of the various crops. These footings show that for 1879 there were $182,000,000.00 worth of agricultural products re- ported for Ohio. I notice, however, in looking over this report, that several important items have been omitted. It seems that not a cent had been made from bprses although nearly 800,000 horses and mules are reported as owned i» 36 THE SECKBTS OF PKOGEESSIVE AGRICULTURB. ' the state, and they are appraised by assessors at oyer $36,000,000.00. Aa a matter of fact we know very well that aside from the uses to which we put our horses and mules, and the help they are in our labor, we sell a good many of both in the East and South and get good prices for them. If our horses have paid twenty-five per cent, on their value we have here an item of over $9,000,000.00 omitted. Then we have the gardens of the state omitted except in regard to berries, which have been reported. I need not say how valuable is a good garden to a farmers family, or indeed to any family, nor the large share of good food which the garden supplies. Chickens and eggs are not reported. One needs to inquire about the consumption of these articles in some great city like New York to understand the importance of their omission. Flax is another item l^t out of the report; estimating for these other omitted items I think we are jiiptified in adding $18,000,000.00 to the $182,000,000.00, which will bring it to ^00,000,000.00. If then we deduct 5,000,000 of acres of wood-land, on the 20,000,000 accounted for, including cities and waste, we have produced $200,000,000.00, or an average of $10.00 an acre, upon our entire farm. De- ducting all the waste land, the poor crops and the crops not reported, this shows very good farming. I cannot tell how this result compares with the production of other states, but I am persuaded that we have no reaaon to fear comparison. The next question I hope to answer, is : What crop grown in Ohio brings the most money? There is no difficalty in answering this question. In 1880 the wheat crop amounted to more than 62,000,000 of bushels, and at a dollar a bushel, which is below the actual price, this crop reaches a high price. The next in value is corn; 116,000,000 of bushels at forty cents a bushel falls some $6,000,000 short of the value of the wheat. Another question it is scarcely necessary to ask, What is the principal crop of the state as regards amount of produce and general utility? To this we must answer corn ; for in the number of bushels raised this cereal exceeds the aggre- gate of all the other grains. The corn crop is less affected by climatic extremes than most others, and being so largely consamed at home, the price is less affected by the foreign market than most others. The com crop is put to so many uses, appearing in market as pork, lard, beef, milk, and wool, that it is difficult to estimate its real value. I will next ask. What crop grown in Ohio brings the most money to the acre? The corn crop averaging thirty-seven bushels, and selling at forty cents, brought $l4.80peracre. The wheat crop for the year 1880, averaged eighteen bushels and sold generally for more that a dollar a bushel, or three or four dollars an acre more than corn. The crop that gives the highest returns to the acre, according to the report of the Secretary of State, is wine, which comes to $111.00 an acre. This product, however, is almost limited to the islands and immediate shore of Lake Erie, and is not adapted to general cultivation, the total amount for the state being only about $2,000,000. Good table grapes will probably grow well and be profitable in any part of Ohio, but the best varieties of wine grapes appear to have a limited range. Tobacco is another crop which reached a high figure ; or about $75.00 per acre; the total value of the tobacco crop of the state being nearly the same as the wine crop, or $2,000,000,00. The sweet' potato crop is re- FARM PRODUCTS OF OHIO. 37 ported to give a gross return of $70.00 an acre ; but bo limited is the culture of this esculent in Ohio that the total crop of the state is put down at only $150,000. We certainly have sandy soils in Ohio that are admirably adapted to this plant, and probably many would not feel disposed to Limit their culture to sandy soils, for on well drained clay land, kept mellow by good cultivation, the crop is even larger than upon sand. The cultivation of the common potato is almost uni- versal, although the quality differs greatly in different parts of the state. The value of the crop is put at only $31.00 per acre, which is doubtless due to causes which have operated only for a few years past. First, the potato fungus Fer- onosporea mfestdna attacks the leaves, then the stems, and afterward the tuber, causing them to rot with great rapidity. Unfortunately, some of the most popular varieties were most affected by this scourge. Then, before we had learned to master the potato fungus, the plant was attacked by what we know as the Colorado potato beetle. These two enemies have greatly reduced the amount and profits of potato culture in Ohio. ' They have also compelled us to abandon some varieties and adopt others, without much regard to our own taste in the matter. Possibly we may obtain better control of the fungus and of the insect than we appear to have at present, or our favorite vegetable ia in danger of being driven out of general cultivation, Anoliier crop which brings a higher price than wheat and corn per acre is sorghum. The Secretary of State report puts the value of this crop at $38.00 an acre. The growth of sorghum may still he regarded as an experiment. As a means of producing syrup it is a success; as the future source of our sugar, the most sanguine will be apt to accept the Scotch verdict of "not proven." In regard to all the products, wheat, corn, wine, tobacco, sweet potatoes, sorghum, and the common potato, it is only the gross income from these crops which appears in the report, and no account is made of the expense of cultivatiofi. The crop which covers the widest area is grass; and I think we sometimes un- derestimate its real value. There are said to be 6,000,000 acres of pasture, and not far from 2,000,000 acres of meadow, or near 8,000,000 acres in all. To asertain the value of the grass crop, put down our cheese at $2,000,000.00; butter at $10,000,000.00; wool at $7,000,000.00; beef and mutton at $7,000,000.00; pork about halt its value, because our pigs are raised to a good size on grass and clover, and only fattened on corn, so that if the pork crop . sells for $10,000,000.00, we should count half of it to the credit of the grass crop. Pasture of horses, and sales of milk, and milk used, would certainly amount to $5,000,000.00 more. Our hay crop for 1879 is reported worth $20,000,000.00, and this added to the previous items will bring up the products of our grass lands to some $56,000,000.00. This is only seven dollars per acre but you will bear in mind that the grass crop involves less expense that most other crops, and hence we should expect its gross proceeds to be smaller. One or two other questions remain to be considered. One of these I think I wUl leave for your consideration during the morning hour; it is this: After all expenses are deducted, what crop in Ohio pays the best? This question is perhaps the most interesting of all, and I am persuaded that unitedly you can deal with it much better than I can. You are from all parts of the state, from the localities where all the crops I have named are produced at greatest' ad- 38 THE SKCKBTS OF PROGRESSIVE AGRIOCLT0KB. vantage. If you will make this a suliject for consideration some morning I shall hope to learn a great deal by listening to your discussions. There is one other question which I propose to consider briefly. Which of the crops named is most exhaustive to the soil? To this I reply, that crop, whatever it be, that requires the most potash and the most phosphoric acid to make a year's growth. Three substances seem to be needed for the food of plants; potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen. If you have in your soil enough of these three substances, or can Supply them, your soil will be in good con- dition. I shall not have time now to refer to this matter fuUy, but in what I may have to say at another time on " Farm Experiments" I shall refer to this subject again. It is easy to see why wheat is in Ohio a more exhaustive crop than corn; if we raise in a year 50,000,000 bushels of wheat, not more than 15,000,000, or at most 20,000,000 of bushels, wUl be retained in the state, and 30,000,000 or 35,000,000 of bushels will be sent away, with all the phosphoric acid and potash it contains. Of the 115,000,000 bushels of corn, the greater part wiU be fed at home, and only its products in the form of pork, and beef, and whisky, will be exported. Tobacco is a most exhaustive crop, because, while it requires an unusual amount of potash, it returns nothing to the soil. I have only time now to say that the book, "How Crops Grow," contains analyses of almost aU crops,'1)oth of grain and straw, so that it is easy to calculate what every crop takes from the soil. FARMING AS AN OCCUPATION. BY N. S. TOWNSHEND. This subject may be considered from two points of view: First — Its relations to the general welfare. Second — Its effect on the well-being of the farmer and his family. 1. lu rdaiions to the general welfare. The world must be fed, and it is the farmer's business to produce food to supply this universal want. The golden grain, which is converted into bread, the staff of life ; the esculent roots ; the milk, butter and cheese ; the eggs and flesh of fowls ; the beef, mutton and pork ; the rice, sugar and fruit, are the products , of the farmer's labor. He is the al- moner of God's bounty to a hungry world. By the cultivation of various plants and the care of various animals he pro- duces the raw materials — the flax and cotton, silk, wool and hides — which are manufactured into clothing. Here again the farmer supplies a want almost nniversal. This occupation which helps to supply food and clothing for all the people is the source from which a majority of our population derive their entire FABMINO AS AN OCCUPATION. 39 support. The United States oenstis of 1870 (the reports of the census of 1880 are not yet published) puts the population of the country at 34,000,000; o* these, 51 per cent, were engaged in agriculture, 19 per cent, in manufactures and mining, 20 per cent, were occupied in the various professions, and 10 per cent, in trade. This country is so extensive — ^it is so greatly diversified in soil and dimate — that it supplies all the necessaries of life. Some of the conveniences and com- forts' which we have come to regard as almost necessary are purchased abroad, and paid for by the agricultural products of our own country. Our total exports for the year 1879 amounted to $739,971,739, or in round numbers to nearly $740,- 000,000 ; of this amount nearly 82 per cent, were the products of agriculture. Although the agricultural population of the country is credited with owning only 38 per ceni of its tptal wealth, yet this interest has always, either directly or indirectly, borne a large share of the public burdens. I remember to have seen when a boy a large and handsome painting ; to the right of the picture was a soldier in uniform, and on a scroll from his mouth were the words, " I fight for all I " The next figure represented a clergyman in ecclesiastical costume, and from his mouth went the words, " I pray for all I " Next was a king with crown and scepter, and from his mouth went the words, " I govern all I " The fourth and last figure represented a robust old farmer pulling out his purse and saying, "And I pay for alll " If this is not the exact truth at the present time it doubt- less makes a close approximation. But the general utility of agriculture will be admitted. I need not take your time to speak of its importance to the country financially, nor of its still greater service in supplying the whole people with their daily bread. 2. What is the effect of this ocowpaMon on the weH-beiimg cff the fcmmfir and his family f To this I reply, in the first place, that farming as an occupation favors in the farmer and his family a good physical development. The farmer has good food ; the vegetables, the fruits, the eggs, the milk, the butter, cheese and bread and other articles that come upon his table always may be of the best. They are not injured by carriage, nor used out of season. Besides good food, the farmer and his family have room and plenty of fresh air; the crowding and im- purities of the city they escape. But few are aware of the importance of having a sufficiency of fresh air, but this is always the farmer's privilege, though of course he does not always escape the malarial influences that affect both city and country alike. Another advantage a farmer has- is varied It^bor and plenty of it. I don't count labor a curse but rather a blessing, both for its objective re- sults and still more for its effect upon the laborer. When slavery existed in the states to the south of us, and the laboring man was a slave, labor was considered an evidence of degradation; but, thank God, that damnable crime exerts its blighting effect upon us no more, and before long we shall see not labor but in- dolence looked upon with contempt. Labor in some of the useful arts brings into exercise the muscles of only a part of the body; they are therefore devel- oped out of symmetry and proportion. But the farmer's labor is so varied that every part of his body may be brought properly into exercise, and consequently it is rare that we find in other occupations the stalwart and manly forms that are common among farmers. To this I perhaps should mention an exception; the 40 THE SECRKTS OF PROGRKSSlVE AeRtCtLTDRB. farmer is so much alone, while at work and going to and from it, that sometimel from Inattention he falls into ungainly attitudes and' gait. This we at the Uni- versity endearor to remedy by our military drill and training, by which we aim to secure an erect and manly bearing in our students ; and we succeed, as I am sure you all can testify. My next position possibly some who are not farmers may be inclined to dis- pute. I maintain that the farmer's occupation is favorable to mental growth and activity. Farming, when general,'as it usually is, embraces a wide range of ob- jects, with all of which the farmer ought to be thoroughly acquainted. Soili and the means for their improvement by drainage, irrigation, tillage and manures; the vegetable world, with its variety and values; the animal world, with its different forms and uses, and different conditions of health and disease. Climate is an important factor in farming operations and requires special ob- servation and study. The modem use of machinery on the farm has made i( necessary for the farmer to acquire mechanical skill and a knowledge of mechan- ical principles. And in addition to this, inasmuch as a large portion of his prod- ucts are designed for sale at home or abroad, he must make himself familial with the laws of supply and demand, and the great social rules that characterize our modern civilization. In some localities where soil and climate are specially adapted to a single product, the farmer's attention and mental vision are nar- rowed down in proportion; but in general agriculture a good farmer is, of necessity, a man of more than ordinai-y intelligence. His occupation daily brings him in contact with nature, and at every point of contact he is stimulated to ob- servation and investigation. He is therefore in circumstances very favorable to mental growth and to the acquisition of valuable knowledge. The fawner's occupation is also favorable to the development of a manly char- acter. It has been a question whether in some forms of trade success were possible without a degree of deception. Whatever may be true of any of the forms of trade, it is certainly true that the farmer needs no deception in order to succeed. His products show for themselves, and the quality of the article, and not the ability of the tradesman, determines the price. The farmer is not de' pendent for his daily bread upon the follies and vices of his neighbors, and fortunately he is butlittle dependent on popular favor, and better than most men can afford to be true to his convictions of truth and duty. I well remember when I put out my shingle, as the saying is, and offered my services to the public in the practice of medicine, a good friend who was interested in my success said to me : " This town, as you know, is a Whig town, and you are an Abolitionist and a Liberal Party man ; I don't believe you can get into business here ; you had better drop out of your anti-slavery party and fall in with the majority." That friend was an observing man; he saw how difficult it would be for a young doc- tor to be true to his own convictions of duty. Had I been a farmer no one would have ventured to suggest to me that I must conform to the ojplnions of the mul- titude in order to raise a good crop of wheat, or corn, or potatoes. The farmer, for his success, relies upon God and upon his own strong arm, and therefore he can always afford to be true to himself. If a farmer does not possess an hon- orable and manly character he cannot offer as an excuse the corrupting influence of his occupation. FARMING AS .AN OCCUPATION. 41 It may also be said of the farmer's occupation that it is a reasonably safe and reliable form of industry; money judiciously invested in farming lands, although it does not pay a large interest, is everywhere regarded as a safe investment; the ups and downs of other forms of business rarely affect the farmer seriously. His land cannot be destroyed by fire, and whatever may happen the products of his farm will be needed and find a market. It is true that the uncertainties of' the climate in this part of the conntry may greatly vary the farmer's profits, but if he is a prudent man and does not put "too m^ny eggs in one basket," no vicissitudes of the weather can bring ruin; for if he loses on one crop he may gain on another, and if the season should cause the partial failure of a crop the price usually rises in proportion. The farmer rarely fails, and if satisfied with moderate gains he avoids the risks of gambling speculations, and is safe while others are overwhelmed. The Germans have a fable, which mai^y years ago I translated as follows: "Once on a time the palms of India were parched by a long-continued drouth. Two neighboring swains went out and together viewed the distress and desolation around. Their flocks and herds were parched with thirst; their trees were all withered; their crops all dried up, and themselves and families — unless telief should speedily come — were like to die. They lifted up their eyes to heaven and prayed for rain. Presently they saw coming toward them that Great Spirit through whom blessings, and sometimes chastisements, are meted out to the sons of men. He promised to answer their prayer so soon as each of them could determine for himself how much he desired, at the same time reminding them that a superabundance of what may be good in itself is sometimes more hurtful than even absolute want. After considering a moment the first huml)Iy asked for a little brook, which in the summer should never be dry and in the winter never overflow. Immediately, and just within his borders, there bubbled up a fountain which gradually irrigated his parched fields, satis- fied his dying flocks and herds, Aid soon diffused life and beauty over all he had. The second looked up with contempt, scorning what he considered the meannem of his companion's desires. 'Give me,' he said, 'the mighty Ganges, with^U its fish and all its ships.' The Good Spirit looked sad ; a roaring noise was hs^ard which soon became more and more distinct and terrific ; the Ganges had b/oken through its banks. On came the mighty torrent to the place where the msguid- ed man was standing; it tore up all his trees; swept away all his cattle/ he him- self was drowned, and as the end of all became the food of crocodiles."/ Farmers, you "see the application; how safe and happy are we wi^ moderate desires easily realized, while how often do those who make haste to be rich fall into a snare. But while agriculture is favorable to health and strength of /body; while it. gives ample opportunity for mental activity and growth, and is'specially favora- ble to the development of a manly character; and though ijjs employments are agreeable and reasonably remunerative, we find that, as an occupation, it is not universally attractive. It does not promise the distinction and honors which anibition craves ; it does not promise the gayety and excitement of fashionable life;^ it does not promise luxurious ease or freedom from caie; it does not afford opportunities for amassing sudden wealth. For thoe/who regai-d such things as the only prizes in life worth striving for, agriculture is n'ot'the proper pursuit. 'As a-stepping-stone to public life and official dlstinetion, tie legal profession 42 THE SBCRETS OF PKOGRESSIVE AGRICULTURE. tias greatiy the advantage over agriculture ; the members of that profession must have a general as well as prolessional education; their constant attrition with the world and with one another rubs off their crotchets, makes them bright and sharp, and relieves them of (hat excess of modesty and self-distrust that often afflicts the farmer. The lawyer's professional life is not concerned with the beauty, and order, and wonderful economy of nature, but rather with the frail- ties and passions of men as they appear in daily life, or in the usages of the past. This may be a disadvantage, but if it be true that every young American expects *« be president we need not be surprised that so many seek +he legal profession, wnich gives them such manifest advantage for the race. To those who have a craving for society the city will probably have greater attraction tuan the country. A great city is in itself a magnificent spectacle, with its noble sti'uctures and infinitude of wares spread out to attract the atten- tion of the beholder. No wonder that to young persons from the country the city seems to be the concentration of all life and pleasure ; while to one who has lived long in the cityi much of its daily routine, perhaps, appears petty and trivial. Such an one longs for the broad, sweet fields, where, if he be in love with nature, he may "hold communion with her visible Wrms." The desire to leave the farm for the city, which we regret on the part of so many of our young men, is not surprising when we reflect that many of our good farmers' wives have taken so little pains to beautify and enliven their country homes with works of art and literature; with music and the cheerfulness of pleasant society. To some a Ufe of ease appears an elysium ; rest from toil, and no care to wor- ry, would seem to many the sum of all good. This is not surprising, for the hand never works willingly alone, but when the head and heart are enlisted then even hard work is pleasant. " Begone, dull care I " is a favorite song with many. For such as dislike work and care farming is not an appropriate occupation. Fortunately, however, for farming, it is possible to so enlist the mind and heart in the work that both labor and care may become enjoyable and full of interest. Of late years railroading, mining and speculation have enabled some of our countrymen to amass immense fortunes. The effect has been to make many of the less fortunate discontented in all occupations where only moderate gains are possible. So they rush into ventures that are more than risky, and where thou- sands lose their all for one that is satisfied. For this restless class, evidently, farming is not the occupation ; they see no sense, as the farmer does, in Agur's prayer : " Give me neith* poverty nor riches." Shakespere says, " All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players." Some have compared life to a struggle in which only the fittest survive. Others appear to regai'd life as a grand scramble where men upon all fours are scraping together all they can get their hands upon. It is much pleasanter to view life as a school, where our aim is to make the most and best of ever^ faculty with which we have been entrusted. I regard farming as one of the favored depart- ments of this great school of life ; it is an occupation that favors the growth o{ the best style of men and women in the threefold aspect of body, mind^nd character. It is said that "An honest man is the noblest work of God." If wa cannot raise honest men on the farm we cannot raise them Anywhere. FABM LASOB. 43 IfArm labor. BY N. S. TOWNSHKND. Oar suLject this morning, gentlemen, is fai'm labor. Y^e might consider it in either of two aspects, or in both of them. We might consider it as an economical question, or as a market commodity. Like all other things iu the market, it is subject to the general law of ' supply emd demand. We might look at it in an- other aspect; namely, the social aspect, in which both the employer and employed are interested. In the first place, let me say that labor is a necessity. When the earth was first formed it may be that the wants of the few persons then liv- ing were supplied spontaneously. But when men multiplied upon the earth spontaneous products were not sufficient to supply the demand for food. In order, therefore, to increase the amount of food to meet their wants labor had to be performed, and the plants which cpntribute to our food had to Be cultivated. The experience, of men in every age of the world has taugl^t that in order to get a large anjount of produce labor is necessary, and more and more necessary as the population increases. , Now, labor, I am prepared to say, is a blessing, and never was intended for a curse. It is not at all surprising that our old friends, the Hebrews, who escaped from bondage, looked upon it as a curse. But labor, being a blessing, was ordained by I>iyine Providence from the beginning, and was made a necessity for the supplying of our natural wants. We feel it necessaiy for our wants, but it is also profitable for man in other ways and for other reasons. Labor is useful for the body. There is no way to grow up strong and vigorous independent of labpr. There are certain changes going on in the tissues of the body at eveiy moment. At one moment there is a disintegration of whatis worn out, which must be thrown away, and new material made to supply its place. Waste and supply are going on oqntinually in the living body, and if we would be healthy this waste and supply must go on without interruption ; but there is no way to pro- cure this change but by regular, and, where it is possible, vigorous exercise. So, wliile I say that labor is necessary to strength, I say, in the second place, that it is necessary to health, and we should appreciate the necessity which imposes it upon us. Labor is also conducive to mental development ; the old adage is right which says, "Necessity is the mother of invention." I doubt whether without it there would be anything like the health, strength and inteUigen,ce we have. I take it, then, that labor is the very means to secure our best growth — ^physical and men- tal. As I said a moment ago, I am not one of those who tegard hibor as a curse. ^4 IfiE SECRETS OF PBOGEESSlVB AGRtCttLTtfttS. I regard it ss necessary and beneficial, and, therefore, above all things, hon- orable. Now, we have a great variety of labor, of course. A man may work by using his own muscles — ^we have a great deal of that kind of labor on the farm — ^hu- man labor. A farmer works, and his family, and frequently he has the assist- ance of other men. We have human labor practiced by the fai'mer, and prob- ably also hired or bought Then a great deal of our labor is performed by animal forces. A good many domestic animals have been trained to work for man — the ox, the horse, the camel, the dromedaiy, the elephant, and I will not forget the dog. These have all been domesticated, and trained to render sei-vice to man. Almost every country in the world, from the hottest to the coldest, has some domestic animal that has been laid under contribution and brought to man's assistance. A great deal of work is accomplished by man being able to subject td his use the powers of nature. We use the wind^ not simply to propel our boats, but we use them to turn our mills, and we are using thbm a greal dealVinore in this country than we did thirty years ago. In some oases the winds are madle to work regularly. In Germany the winds are taxed; there is no such a thing there as free ■mud, but if a man sets up a wind-mill he is subject to tax for the use of the wind. But the winds have been used in various other ways to perform man's labor. Water also performs labor for man, not only as a means of carry- ing goods from one country to another by means of vessels floatihg thereon, but it is also used to propel machinery. Then we use it in another way : when wa- ter passes into steam it increases the volume seventeen thousand fold, and in that expansion there is a great development of power. Man has contrived ma- chinery by which he gets advantage of "this expansive power, and "he moves the piston-head by that means, and so steam becomes the pirincipal agent for very many pui-poses, and is man's servant in a variety of ways. ' There are, also, other expansive materials, such as gun-powder and dynamite, which are used to rend rocks and various things that man wants to get out of the way, and his own strength being insufficient for this purpose, he does it with these explosive substances, removing such objects as he desires, so that in this way they do labor for him. Then the greatest of our forces for perfdrmance of labor is the sun, whbse work is more important than alL Every grain we raise, every blade of grass that grows, and in fact everything with which we associate our labor in hope to get our food, is nothing but a contrivance to give the sun a fair opportunity so that by the sttnlight it may be converted into food. There are mineral matters in the earth and others in the atmosphere that are especially needed by plants, and others are especially found in aniihal' life. Th6se all give something for food, and the great worker above all which con- verts them into food is the sun. Now, this amount of work is being done by us and for us every day in our lives. In fact, if you can say that anythirig is the order of nature, you must say it is the work of the sun. I will not, however, spend time in speaking of these varieties of work j they are all obvioiis fact?. I wiU take up some of the practical questions through the hdur, and one of the first you will ask was suggested this morning when it was asked, "How can the farmer avail himself of these forces? How should he manage his estates? Should ^AteM tAfioft. 46 he have a small farm on wliicli he and his family— with these natural forces — can do all the work he needs ? Or, should he try to spread himself oyer broader Bores, and purchase or hire labor ?" Tliat is a matter about which our practice in different portions of the country very widely diifers. 1 thinly that custom is right on this matter of the division of farms, and for this reason : taking the hulk of farmers as we find them, one man, by the previous good fortune of his ances- tors, it may be, has capital. Another one has no capital; that is, no money he can put into a farm); still they both have their muscles. Here is one who has ac- quired money, and there another who may acquire money from his labor, pro- vided he can get the opportunity. There is, then, this difference : one has the cap- ital which allows him to buy labor, and the other has no capital except as he ob- tains it by selling his labor. I know of no other way than to allow in all cases people who wish to be en- gaged in this occupation to own a lai-ge or small farm, or no farm at all, just as may suit their circumstances. I hardly see how we can avoid that. There are other men Who lack management; they have muscular force and can do work on *a farm, but after all would not make farming profitable. Then there are others who have got management who could not only nin a farm of a hundred acres, but of a thousand acres, and make it profitable. I know of no way by which this can so well be arranged as to allow the man who has better management to bring more of the surface of the earth under his control, while the man who has simply muscular force, and lacks management, may be allowed to labor for the man who can unite better management with a larger amount of land. Now this is the fact. It is not proposing a new usage, but it is simply an argument iu favor of letting things be as they are. I know of no better way than to leave these matters as we find them. I know there are communists and others in the world who think society should begin anew, and that we should wipe out all our institutions and divide! up the earth's surface and make a new start. If there was a new start it seems to me it wonld be of no advantage for us, because, as a matter of fact, we find that there is so much difference among men that the only way to secure an equal and good production from the whole surface of the country is to leave these matters as they are. If a man who has money purchases land, he is a benefactor by putting a large amount of money into agricultural uses. The small farmer is at some disadvantage if he ho}ies to manage his affairs with economy; the farm may be so small that he cannot use the best machinery. Machinery is, of course, more or less expensive, and so involves an outlay of capital, and the farm may be so small that the machines necessary to do its wori^ economically cannot easily be afforded. Such a farmer is not able to compete with those where machinery is used on larger farms. Then, there is another feature in connection with this. We find much of the profit of the farm comes from keeping improved stock. A man on a small farm can exercise as good care in breeding, and in some respects perhaps secure as good results as those on lal'ger farms, but if he is confined to a small farm he may not, perhaps, find himself able to expend the money necessary to secure , good iuiimals. , Now, all these are reasons, it seems to me, against this matter of division, or ii TSB SECfifltS O* PKOG&HSSIVE A<lCtrtttTSB. extreme subdivision, which is sometimes advocated. Of course, if we do not di- vide up our farms, some of them will be quite large and there will be the neces- sity of hiring the assistance of others — ^the purchasing the labor of other men. Then comes in the question, How shall we obtain labor? Shall we give a daily or monthly compensation for work, or shaU we divide the profits? There is some- thing said in regard to this latter mode sometimes. I think something may be said in favor of either of these methods, hut I think the way we have fallen into, by accident, perhaps, is the better; that is, the hir- ing by the month. If we pay a man a percentage of the crop he would not be any more equitably rewarded than he is at present. An^ though it might be an ad vantage in some instances, in others it would be a decided disadvantage. Take any per cent, you please; say that the man who cultivates the Crop shall have half or one third, and the balance he sha,U delivei- in the bdshel. Now, whether he shall make a profit or have a loss by this division depends, of course, on the kind of a crop he gets, the amount of land he farms, and other things. If the man who owns the farm has spent a large sum for draining the land, he don't want to give the same share of the crop as he would undei oth*i- circumstances. If the drains were laid as they should be they might be the means of increasing the crop fifty or one hundred per cent., and it would seem very evident that the laborer ha£ no right to a share of the extra profit which should fall to the proprietor who has incurred this expense. But suppose that a faimer has neglected ordinary improvements^ neglebted to put up good fences and to make other necessary improvements, and Hie same shai-e is proposed as in the other case because it is the custom ; yet does the man who works that land get what he should if he has only the same share ? The man in that case that raises the crop puts in a much larger proportion, and unless we can have the rates varied in accordance with the amount of capital that is in- volved, or the amount of labor that is put on the land, there would be no justice in such division. There might, perhaps, be a union of both processes — an ar- rangement that the laborer should have a certain percentage of the gain, or share a certain percentage of the loss at the end of the year, but there would be some difficulties in adjusting that. So, perhaps, the best arrangement we can make is that the farmer hire his men by the day, or by the month or year. Prices of labor vary considerably. In some of the New England States there has been so much emigration westward that a farm hand obtainS very much higher wages than here. Then in the Middle States, where there is not so much scarcity of labor, wages for farm labor have fallen within a few years, but there has been a corresponding decline in the cost of living. In the extreme southern states the price of labor has been still lower. As you know, the census taker inquires in almost every house what is paid f«r work, mechanical labor, farm labor, etc., and all these are presented to us in' our re- ports from the census bureau. We have not yet received these reports for 1880 ; however, we have them for 1870. That census puts the wages for monthly labor in New England at something over thirty dollars — that is, without board ; it puts farm labor without board through this state and through Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania at twenty-five dollars per month, while it puts labor dn the south- ern states, including Virginia, at about twelve dollars, and in the western stately FARM LABOK. 47 on the Pacific — California and Oregon — at about forty d'oUars a month. Of course, the reasons for this are very plain, it is a matter of supply and demand. Where the supply is most abundant the price paid is less ; where the supply is very insufficient then more has to be paid for it, so it regulates itself just as all other articles we have at our disposal regulate themselves. The difference, how- ever, in what is paid for labor by no means corresponds with the difference in quality of the labor. A bushel of wheat is substantially the same thing, provided it has been well taken care of, but a month's labor is a very different thing according to the man that does the work. We have a great many men who labor with their hands, and besides these we have some who work with their hands and with their brains, and they are worth twice as much ; then we have some, who in addition to their hands and brains work with their heart, as we say, and they are worth a good deal more still ; but unfortunately we do not make a difference in paying these men, and we do not get, perhaps, enough work from others we hire for the pay they get. We have never yet come to estimate the real difference in work. If a man employs half a dozen or a dozen men for a week, he will find out be- fore that time has expire^ that one man is worth twice as much as another. If yon hire a man by the year the wages might be regulated, perhaps, so as to pay the better laborers more. If you hire a man by the job there may not be so much, difference. But in doing general farm work very much depends upon the point I have mentioned. You take a young man on the farm and probably give him twenty or twenty-five dollars. Suppose you are going to underdrain your ground at an expense of twenty or thirty dollars an acre, by putting in your drains every two or three rods apart; if that work is well done it pays very well, and if it is not well done it does not pay at all. The difference between one who does it well and one who does it poorly, amounts to the whole cost of the Work to yon. We have not been accustomed, on the farm, to pay enough for skilled labor, and we have been accustomed to pay too much for very poor labor. We ought, as it seems to me, to make a much wider distinction than we have done in this respect. A double advantage would come from it if the farmer would make this distinction and pay more for skilled labor. It would afford a stimu- lant to the hired man to become better skilled in his work and to do his best for his employer, if it was understood that a good worker could get more pay be- cause of his superior skill. But if the twenty or thirty dollars a month, what- ever it may be, is paid indiscriminately to every man who is employed, it does away with this inducement to become a good worker, and works an injury. Another matter that I will mention, is the neglect among Ohio farmers to have cleftr and definite contracts with their hired men. Perhaps this is not so much felt as it once was, but if I am right, written contracts are not often made. You agree to pay^a man so much by the day, or so much by the week or month, and make merely a verbal contract. A great many such things are left to the customs of the country or to the parties. A good idea, it seems to me, would be in making contracts with our neighbors and with our hired men, to make these contracts so distinctly understood that there would be no danger of a misunder- standing occurring in regard to the contract, as, for instance, how many hours make a day. Custom, o*-eourse, regulates it, but custom is very different in dil- 48 TUE SECRETS OF PBOGRESSIVE AGEICULTUKE. ferent portions of the country. Again, whose are the evenings? Custom regu- lates that very much, but it regulates it very differently in different parts of the country. Whose are the Sundays? That is something custom regulates again, and regulates very differently in different parts of the country. And how about extras, extra hours on the one hand and extra privileges on the other hand? It seems to me these should be better understood. As I look back over my acquaintance with farmers and my farm life, I recol- lect that I have known a great many cases where there would be a difference be- tween farmers and their hired men in regard to the work to be done by the lat- ter and what privileges they were to have, etc., and dissatisfaction would grow out of this, and sometimes law suits. A dissatisfaction of that kind sometimes puts a cloud in the way, and you will hear a man who has been disappointed in his hired man, and had a misundersttau ding, perhaps, say, "Well, I will have no more work than I. can do myself; I will not hire any more." And on the other side, perhaps, a hired man would say, " If I cannot get a better man to work for than the one I worked for last, I am not going to work for any one." Now, in many such cases a clear understanding would have avoided all diffi- culty, and to have had this understanding would probably not have taken more than ten minutes before the work began. In the mechanic's shop we are not nearly as liable to have difficulties of that kind, but there should be an under- standing, for instance, as to whom the evenings belong on the farm just as defi- nitely as in the machine shop, and we should know about extras. The farmer, of course, is sometimes compelled to call for extra assistance at different hours, sometimes in the evening it may be, or perhaps very early in the morning. The matter can be very easily adjusted. Say, for instance, that extra employment shall be called as so much money to be compensated for by certain privileges. Perhaps I am mistaken in supposing there is much harm growing out of this neglect, but where I lived these things have been the source of considerable dif- ficulty. By privileges, I mes^n many things. In some farm houses I know, and in almost all I hope, when the day's work is done the lamp is placed on the din- ing-room table, or some other convenient place, and papers and journals taken by the family are supplied for the different members of the family and the hired help, and there may be something considered in view of these privileges and op- portunities for improvement. A good many years ago, when I was a medical student, I went over to the other side of the Atlantic, and noticed a custom they have over there, in England es- pecially. The practice is this : Young farmers frequently desired to leave home, feeling that they had at home but a limited opportunity of learning in regard to many things, and believing that if they could go to some other part of the country they might have opportunities they did not possess at hotne. You would probably hear a young man say, " I live here where we only raise one or two of the chief staples, but if I could go away a few miles or a hundred miles from here I should find a different style of farming, and I might, by exchanging,- get a better idea of farming." They, perhaps, have plenty to do at home, but they de- sire this change for their improvement in this direction. While I was traveling about in England my business was chiefly in connection with hospitals, but I ■\rent to a good many, cattle fairs, aiid sheep fairs, and-«bserved. these things. I FARM LABOB. 49 remember on one of these occasions a couple of farmers, one of them Mr Thoi'pe, I believe, had a conversation something like this : "My sou Tom has taken a notion that he would like to work for you a year if you can furnish a place. He is not very particular about the price, but your style of farming is very different from mine and he would like to go and get the benefit of any ad vantage he might reap from observing your method of farming. If he is not sat- isfactory to you, and if he puts you to any trouble, then pay him so much less, and if he comes up to what a good hand would do for you pay him the same. He is a good, strong fellow, and can do as much as an average hand. And now if you would like to have him come, I will send him any time you choose. He wants to come and live with you; he knows you, he knows your farm, and thinks he could do well with you." " Well," said Mr. Thorpe, "my son John is going away after a little time," naming the time, " as he thinks he would like to go and learn something that is not practiced in our farming, and if your son comes I will put him right in John's place and he may do what John is doing, and at the end of the year I will make such payment as we may agree upon, or I will agree upon it before- hand." The gentleman saidj "Now my boy is at school and is a good .account- ant and a very good penman, and he would like to keep your books — not your bank account, but a record of what you are doing on the farm, and would like to make arrangements- with you when you go to a cattle sale, or to market, to go with you sometimes, and, if you choose, I will send a horse with him which he can ride on such occasions. If you want to go to buy or sell cattle he can have the use of the horse in this way." I was very much interested in this talk, because in the absence of agricultural schools, which were not established in those days, it seemed to be a good oppor- tunity.for a young man to extend his acquaintance and learn more about farm- ing than could be learned on any one man's farm. In going only a few miles in England there is sometimes a considerable change in the mode of farming. The geology of that country is so peculiar that the staple commodities raised in one section are very different from those raised in another section ; so that the modes of fanning are very different even where the farms are but a few miles apart. The practice referred to thus led to a very pleasant relation oftentimes between the employer and the employed. And this brings me to that feature of this question: Our farmers and their hired men sus- tain a relation to each other. We are members of society and alike interested in it. This question of labor is not purely an economic question, it is not mere- ly a question of supply and demand, but I think we need to look at it in its so- cial aspects, for a farmer in Ohio cannot afford to have his hired man in the po- sition that workingmen in the south were kept in a few years ago. He wants his hired man to be immeasurably above a slave, he wants him to be above a, mere workman as they are regarded in aristocratic Europe. The hired, man here is a voter, he helps to make our laws, and is interested in the well being of this little Republic ; and the great Eepublio of the United States in which we take so much interest, depends just as much upon the character of our hired man as upon that of ojurselves. We cannot afford to leave our hired men in ignorance. We can- not afford, by any labors we impose upon them, to take them away from the 50 THE SEOKETS OF PROGRESSIVE AGBICOLTUEE, * means of acquiring knowledge, political as well as other knowledge, and I feel that this is a matter that we need to give our attention to, because the growth, improvement and intelligence of these men in this country of ours is as much a necessity to us as it Is to them, and we should keep this point always in view, We certainly want to think more of the persons employed by us than we have done. There is another reason why a farmer should think a good deal of those he employs ; that is, he should think of their interest and improvement. If we hire s man, or hire ourselves to another man, the case is the same. The employer and the employe work together day after day ; the employer has to work by the side of the hired man in most cases perhaps, and they are thus associated together a great deal, and a mutual influence is of course exerted; if the employer is the better educated and better man of the two, a part of that ipfluence passes ovei to the hired man. But if the man who is employed is inferior in manners and character, it is impossible to associate with him and have your children associ- ate with him without their receiving a measure of injury. Character is balanced very much, it is averaged up, when people are brought into very intimate assoct ation. Put two very dissimilar men together, and let them work and eat togeth- er for ten years, and you can hardly tell one from the other; that is, one will have lost and the other will have gained in point of character. We cannot denj the influence that one person thus exerts upon another when brought into inti- mate relation. That is one reason why the farmers of Ohio should take an in- terest in their hired men. On many farms I am aware that the hired man's in- terest is thought of and the best means for his improvement afforded, but let us see if We cannot make this the usage or custom generally in Ohio, so that it shall become the rule that farmers are interested in their hired men. I fear, perhaps, it is not the rule at present, but probably the exception. We do not know in Ohio where our hired men will be ten or twenty years from now. We may have men hired to drive horses on the tow-path, and after awhile those men may ap- pear in the Senate or they may be made presidents; we don't know what the counti-y has yet in store ; we don't know where Ohio men may be called, and we are interested, every man of us, in seeing that every citizen shall have his fairest and best opportunity to develop himself. If this spirit became common amongst us — became a sort of usage — it would give wonderful stimulus to the young men to work, and men would consider it no disadvantage to hire to others. If a young man has the qualities of a gentleman he should be received as such ; he should sit down not only at the same table at meals, perhaps, but when the meal is over the papers that are taken by the family should be brought out and spread upon it, and that very thoughtfulness will lead him to see that his interests are identified with those of the family. And it would seem to me he would be of very much more use to his employer than if he should be kept off at arms length) as seems at times to be the case. Another thing in connection with the farm house, a universal need of our civ- ilization, seems to be the hired girl. We do not know how we could get along without that useful piece of furniture in every house. She is of just as much use in the farm house as in the city. While she is not a voter, and we do not know that she will ever participate directly in that matter, yet she will be inter- fARM LABOR. 51 eated in our country and she ought to have a chance. But there is another rea- son why she ought to have a chance: she has charge, in a great measure, of our children ; if she has a good character, and good manners, our children get the benefit of it; if her character or her manners are defective our children receive the mischief of it. In view of the influence which the hired girl exerts in our houses, inevitably and necessarily, it seems to me she ought to be of very con- siderable interest to us. Whether we shall so regard it or riot, she is one of the family by her influence upon the family, and I should be glad to see in Ohio the place of every hired girl so far improved that they should find in every house the means for their advancement. Now, in the portion of the state where 1 lived a great while, farmers families were generally large, and their girls would occasionally go to a neighbor's house and give assistance as required, and were equals with thg femilies they went into. They went into the family as daughters, and if they went into a fapiily where there were daughters they went as one of the pisters. Xi the family possessed the means of improvement and of tinjoyment, the assistant who came from a neighbojs's house was just as good a? the rest, and shared with them. I should be glad if something like that, which seems to me to be the right way, should become the usage now in this country. I think we should have a change in this country in this way; in a very few years it would put us on the platform of equality. There should be nobody looked down upon on. the score of work. It has never been so to any great extent in Ohio, and it should not be so; a man who has a month'fi work to sell is just as good as the man who has a bushel of wheat to sell, and I cannot see why there should be any difference. The girl who is-going to work by the week is going to sell her labor; that is her capital, and she is justa^ respectable in going to mar- ket with that as ^ person would be who would take a fine horse to sell. I can- not see any reason why she should not be treated as well. I may be mistaken in some of these things but I cannot see where there is .a great difficulty. We have to take things as they are. We see some people employed because they have not capital enough to employ themselves. Yet notwithstanding this, if we give the best possible position to those aiding us by the^ir labor, if they see we are inter- ested in their, behalf, we shall get more work done by them, and shall get it done a great deal better, and then, with the increase in quantity and quality of labor, we, with others, shall share the profit 62 *HE SECRETS dF tROGRESSlVB AGRlOUtTtJHfi. EXPERIMENTS— WHAT THEY HAVE PROVED. BY N. S. TOWMSII'RND. This afternoon, gentlemen, my subject is " Experiments— what they have proved." The expei-ience of men in any occupation or calling becomes a kind of capital, and that capital, if it can be put to a good account, put to- use; may be very valuable. I regard agi-icultural experience to be valuable, and capable of bringing a return to the pocket in the same way that capital in the form of money brings in a return. Of cotrse, agriculture is an old business; men have been working at it thousands of years, and a good deal of experience has been accumulated. But comparatively recently, within a hundred years or so, it was found that there were a great many questions presenting themselves to farmers that experience did not answer. These have grown largely out of the fact that the science of chemistry has started a great mainy questions that mere experi- ence does not answer. About the year 1813 Sir Humphrey DaVy published an agricultural chemistry. That is the first book that I know anything about where chemical facts are applied systematically to agricultural uses. He undertook to explain the relations of chemistry and agriculture, and made a very valuable work. At the request of the Board of Agridulture, which seems to have ex- isted in England at that time, he gave lectures year after year, and in the year 1813 he gave them to the public in the volume known as Daly's Agriculturiil Chemistry. De Saussnre, a Frenchman, published a work in 1823, which was the next work of this kind of which I have any knowledge. Not that there were not some sfflaller works, but none of "any magnitude. In 1835, Bousingault commenced making investigations in his laboratory, and he soon be- gan making investigations on the farm in connection with those in the labora- tory, which were partly agricnltural and partly chemical, and the public has his works which are considered to be of very great value. In 1840 Liebig pub- lished his great work on agricultural chemistry. It was found that he was a very great chemist, and he was called over from Germany to give lectures in England, where he gave a course of lectures which are embodied in his chemistry. He then returned to Germany, and for very many years was con- sidered the highest authority in agricultural chemistry. After he had published his work in 1840, he gave a great many other works of very great in- terest. Now, I suppose that an Englishman might best say that agricultural chemistry started with Davy. A Frenchman would say that it started with DeSaussure. A German would be very enthusiastic, and take a great deal of pride in saying that it started with Liebig. Aboutl8S7 John Bennett Lawes saw fiXPP.RtMtiNtS— -WHAT tHkV tiAVfe J?EOVfifi. 53 that chemistry was throwing so much light upou agriculture, and exciting so much attention in presenting new theories, that he determined to make a verifi- cation of these things, and commenced a series of experiments, working patient- ly alone for a series of years, until in 1843 he associated with himself a chemist, Dr. Gilbert, and from that date they have constantly occupied themselves with making experiments on almost all subjects connected with agriculture. Mr. Lawes not only engaged the services of Dr. Gilbert but of several other persons of great ability, and his results have not only been of great advantage to En- glish farmers, but have been either directly or indirectly beneficial to those of other countries. In regard to Mr. Lawes, I want to say that he not only pat a considerable amount of money into this matter, but he was able to make all his results public, so that what he has done is published year after year in Germany, and by the Boyal Agricultural Society of England. Whateyer he puljlishes comes to us in this country in the shape of two volumes annually, containing a large amount of most interesting matter. Mr. Lawes, since about the period I have mentioned, does something more than that; he furnishes papers to various learned societies, as they are called in England, and allows them to distribute them. For instance, I have here a document that is received by the college from the Boyal Society in England. It contains two or three lengthy papers, one of which is the summing up of more than twenty years experiments in the cul- tivation of wheat, and it is sent gratuitously to those institutions where it is supposed it might be put to good account. The reports of the same experi- ments of Mr. Lawes are alloweose the young farmer takes the weekly New York Tribune — a paper that contains more good agricultural reading for the money, and besides, contains more that one wants to know, and less of what one don't want to know, than any paper with which I am acquainted — suppose, then, a young man takes the Tribune, or any other paper if you please ; he sits down in the evening to read his paper; perhaps in the first line, certainly in the first paragraph, he-will strike a word with which he is not altogether familiar j he turns to his diction- ary, looks up the word, and ever after it is added to his vocabulary. Or, perhaps he finds the name of some place not familiar; this he looks for in his atlas, and,' lajTTCATION ON THE FAEM. 66 if fonnd, and the surroundings noted, the Tribune reader is begining to know more and more of the world he lives in. Suppose he pursues this matter faith- fully for a whole year, what will he not have learned? It is not enough for mental growth that a young man observe and read, he must have practice in thinking, writing and speaking, if he would make a ready and useful man, such as the times require. One opportunity for practice and mental exercise may be found in almost any Sunday-school, and if a school is not ready to his hand let him start one. The Sunday-school, as begun by Robert Eaikes, was mainly designed to supply the lack of common school in- struction. We do not now need Sunday-schools for this use, but, nevertheless, we do need them for higher training. Sunday-schools may become universities for the million. They often are not sectarian. In general they are liberal enough to permit the study of almost any useful subject. Even among the poorest something may be gained. If one unites with a school as a pupil, there is in every subject of study something that gives room for investigation, argument and expression. If one can join a class as a teacher, the amount of thought be- stowed upon the investigation and elucidation of subjects need be limited only by his time and means of reference. Whether as pupil or teacher, every member of a Sunday-school may use the school so as to secure training in think- ing, writing and talking. The exercises of a Sunday-school may be so diversi- fied as to furnish attractions for nearly every person in a community. I hare lived near one such school, where old men and old women, young men and young women and little children, were all interested and profitably engaged. If young farmers should desire special instruction in the various branches of Natural Science that have intimate relations to agriculture, such as geology, mineralogy, chemistry, botany, physiology, entomology and meteorology, in many communities some one may be found capable of giving such instructions ; if not, take the easiest of these studies first, and let all be teachers and learners in turn. Such classes may be found of great benefit, more especially when the services of competent teachers can be secured. The graduates of the State Uni- versity may often be of service to communities in this way. Associations such as the Grange are well adapted for educational uses. If the educational features of that organization were better developed, the instruction might be even more profitable than it is. In short, when the need of education is felt, and the capabilities in this direction of the family, the farm, the district school, thei Sunday-school, private classes and the farmers' own organization, the Grange, have been fully used, who will say that a thoroughly good education may not be obtained by every one, although he may be compelled to remain on the farm. Only let there be a determination to make everything educational, and to hold on, year after year, until the object is fully attained. In conclusion, then, I repeat, that every young farmer needs a good education ; that every such farmer can obtain a good and useful education on the farm ; that while many things may be learned with greater ease and much more speed in an agricultural icollege, a good education may nevertheless be obtained in any good home, provided there is pluck enough, and health and life are spared. No man on a farm is, I think, justified in saying, " I am excusable for my ignorance because I have had no opportunity." TEB SECBSIS 07 PBOaSESSIVB AGBICUUCUBa. STOCK FEEDING. BY N. S. TOWNSHEND. Gentlemen : — My subject this morning is Stock Feeding. I will try to ex- plain some of the principles upon which a rational system of feeding is based. Why does the animal require food? First of aU, for the maintenance of heat; aU our domestic animals maintain an internal temperature of near 100° Fahren- heit, and whether in winter or summer, so long as health is perfect there is but little variation. Even in disease the variation is seldom more than five or six ' degrees above or below the natural standard. Whec the cold is so extreme that the thermometer registers below zero, how is animal heat maintained? An animal loses heat in several ways; its food and drink are usually taken cold, and it is estimated that about five per cent, of the total heat of the body is expended in warming the food and drink up to the ordinary temperature of the body. Another five per cent, is expended in cold weather in warming the air taken into the lungs. Again, water is constantly passing from the body in the state of vapor, both from the lungs and by insensi- ble perspiration. When water is converted into vapor an immense amount of heat is absorbed, and the loss in this way is estimated at thirty per cent, of the whole. Then heat is constantly passing from the body when the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere is lower than that of the animal ; at times the loss from this source may amount to sixty per cent, of the total heat. To repeat, the loss from radiation may be sixty per cent. ; from evaporation thirty per cent. ; from warming food and drink five per cent., and five per cent, in warming the breath. In the case of the human subject.there is not the same exposure in cold weather, the body being carefully protected by clothing of non-condacting material. We lose but little heat in respiration, for we make an efibrt to keep the temperature of our dwellings at nearly seventy degrees; so we are accus- tomed in cold weather to take our food and drinks warm, and we so adjust our clothing to the surrounding temperature that the loss by perspiration is . greatly diminished. In these ways, therefore, man protects himself. But how do ani- mals without this protection maintain their heat? The answer is> by means of food. A large proportion of the food of man and animals contains carbon, and when carbon unites with the oxygen of the air in the process of combustion heat is given off; so heat is given off when the union of carbon and oxygen takes place slowly in the body by means of respiration. A definite amount of heat is pro- duced by the union of a certain quantity of carbon and oxygen, whether the STOCK FEEDING. 6? combinatioii be rapid or slow. The burning of an ounce of carbon gives off lieat enough to raise 1,878 pounds of water one degree, and the union of the same amounts of carbon and oxygen will give off the same amount of heat in the animal body. Hydrogen, another element in food, also unites with oxygen and gives off heat as carbon does. In some kinds of food the proportion of carbon and hydrogen, compared with other elements, is large, and hence they are called carbo-hydrates. Those substances which contain starch, sugar and gum belong to this class; also, those that contain oil or fat, and for the production of heat it is found that one pound of fat is equal to two and a half pounds of starch. It is estimated that in cold weather four fifths of the food used by animals goes for the maintenance of a uniform temperature. Much more food is given to animals that we desire to fatten than is necessary to maintain their natural temperature, because it is found that when an excess of carbo-hydrates are fed the surplus is not consumed, but laid up in the body in the form of fat. In cold weather if an animal does not receive food enough and of the proper kind for producing heat, he draws upon the fat already de- posited, and if the deficient supply is long continued he rapidly becomes poor. If a large surplus of heat-producing food is given; an animal quickly accumulates fat, as we have often seen in the fattening of hogs. Another purpose accomplished by food is the maintenance of vital force. Our hearts are doing the work of force-pumpc all day and aU night, without inter- mission ; our ribs are elevated and depressed regularly, so as to admit air into the lungs and expel it again several times c minute. In the stomach and intes- tines there is constant movement and expenditure of muscular as weir as chem- ical force. The energy required to maintain all the activities of the body is supplied by food, and for animals comparatively at rest this requires one fifth of what is taken, the other four fifths, as alriady stated, being converted into heat. For the production of force another class of foods known as albuminoids is best adapted. The white of egg is a good example of an albuminoid ; lean meat is largely composed of nearly the same material and belongs to this class ; some portion of all our cereals has a similar composition and produces the same effect when used as food. The carbo-hydrates we may call heat-givers; the al- buminoids we may call force-producers. When labor is demanded of an animal there will of course be a larger expen- diture of force, and there must be a proportionably larger supply of albuminoid food to meet the demand. One fifth of our food in the form of albuminoids may be sufficient to keep the heart and other vital organs at work; but if the full muscular force of the body is to be brought into exercise the quantity of albuminoid food should at least be doubled ; that is, if the total food consists of six parts, four of these parts being carbo-hydrates will maintain heat, one part being albuminoid wiU support vital action within the body, and another part also albuminoid will supply the strength for labor. Food is required to furnish the material for the growth of young animals, which In some is very rapid and requires proportionately liberal feed. The ratio of albuminoid to carbo-hydrates of one of the former to four of the latter is good enough for growing animals. Another substance — ^phosphati of 'liije — constitutes a large proportion of the bones of animals, and this in especially 68 THE SECEETS OF PROGEESSIVE AGEICULTURE. needed by young animals for building up the skeleton ; but inasmilch as all the grains and grasses contain this among their mineral constituents, it is rarely necessary to provide it specially. Food is also required to furnish the material for certain products we wish to obtain from certain animals, such as milk, wool, etc. Milk is water in which certain solids are held in solution — fat, casein, sugar, and a smaller proportion of earthy salts. If a good cow should give forty-eight pounds of milk a day, twelve per cent., or almost four pounds of the whole, would be solids to be obtained from food supplied over and above what she needed to maintain her own heat and vital activity. The quality as well as the quantity of the milk product may also be afiected by the kind of food ; a good supply of roots, such as sugar-beets, will increase the quantity of milkj while corn meal and other carbo-hydrates will add to the quantity of butter, and wheat, bran, oats and other foods rich in albumi- noids will add to the quantity of cheese. Wool is a highly animalized prodnct, con- taining also a large proportion of sulphur and phosphates. If sheep are kept principally for mutton, a good supply of carbo-hydrates and a fair proportion of albuminoids is essential. The same may be said where the wool is a principal source of profit, for wool of the best quality and quantity is obtained when sheep are kept steadily in a thriving and healthy state so that the production of wool fiber is regular and uniform. You will not forget that certain mineral substances are important to animal life; phosphates and carbonate of lime, salts of potash and iron, and sulphur, are indispensable, but these are usually supplied in due proportion through the plants used for food, being a part of their mineral constituents; common salt (sodium chloride) is not usually found in the herbage or waters of the country iu sufficient quantity for the health of flocks, and therefore it must be supplied separately or artificially. I need not stop to say how soda or chlorine are of use beyond a statement of the fact that soda is necessary to the formation of bile, and chlorine enters into the composition of the acid by which the changes wrought in the stomach are effected. Salt should therefore be supplied in suffi- cient quantity-^not at distant or irregular intervals, but like water it should always be accessible to stock so that they may take it at pleasure. If supplied only at long intervals animals are disposed to take too niuch ; sheep especially, if they have been long deprived of this article, will take enough when the op- portunity is offered to produce dysentery and death. If a large piece of rock salt be carefully weighed and put into the manger of a horse he will be found to lick it away at the rate of from one to two ounces a day. A cow, if she find rock salt constantly in her feed-box, will take an ounce a day or more, £md sheep, where they have the opportunity, will take from one to two drachms. Bock salt is now readily obtainable in some localities, and it doubtless may be obtained anywhere as soon as our merchants learn that there is a demand, Some farmers salt their hay as it is put into the mow or stack, and for the winter months this is a convenient mode of salting stock, in addition to the help it is iu curing. At the rate of 62 1-5 pounds of salt to teji tons of hay it will give an ounce of jsalt for twenty pounds of hay, which with other food may pass for an average day's ration for young and old. In apportioning food to different animals according to the purpose for wMcll STOCK FEEDING. 69 they are kept, it is necessary that the farmer should know with suhstantial ac- curacy the composition of different foods. This he may learn without difficurty, for many careful analyses have been made and recorded. In the little volume, "How Crops Grow," by Prof. Samuel W. Johnson — ^piblished by the Orange Judd Co., 245 Broadway, New York, and which will be sent you by mail lor $2.00 — we have a great many pages of such analyses toward the end of the vol- ume. Another book containing similar analyses is Armsby's " Manual of Cattle Feeding," published by John Wiley & Sons and sold at retail for $2.50. I could read some of these analyses to you, but every farmer needs such books as these for reference, and if he values such information he wiU be certain to obtain them. I believe I have referred to most of the distinct purposes the farmer has in view in providing and selecting appropriate food for stock. There is, however, one object the farmer may have in supplying or purchasing food which I have yet to mention, and that is to increase the quantity and improve the quality of manure. On grain farms where wheat is a principal crop, there is a large amount of straw to be disposed of; some burn this at once and so put it out of the way ; some leave large and unsightly piles to rot down in the course of two or three years ; some make use of the straw for the bedding of animals and as an absorbent to retain animal manures that would otherwise be wasted. It is possible, however, to use a good deal of straw and other rough material as food for stock by providing something better to mix with it, and by steaming and cut- ting to bring it into more digestible form. Put a bumber of steers into a yard for the winter, spread over a layer of straw daily, and give half a bushel or a bushel of turnips; the steers will thrive, the straw will be partially eaten, and all will be well mixed and rotted and a great pile of manure will be made. Or in the absence of turnips or other roots, oil ineal or cotton seed meal or various forms of mill feed will take the place of the turnips and secure the same result, and prove that it is better economy to ma e manure than to buy it, or if it rnu3 be bought it is more economical to buy it as food. THE SBCEETS OF PEOQBBSSIVB AGKICTTLTUKB. VETERINARY SCIENCE-ITS HISTORY AND VALUE. BY N. 8. TOWNSHEND. The term veterinarius was applied by the Romans to a person skilled in treat- ing the diseases of beasts of burden, and the use of the word is now extended so that it includes all the domestic animals. By veterinary science, we mean a systematic knowledge of animal diseases, and of the best means of their preven- tion and cure. In the United States there are in round numbers 10,000,000 of horses, 30,000,- OOO of cattle, 36,000,000 sheep, and 30,000,000 hogs; altogether estimated lo be worth $1,600,000,000. The state of Ohio has near 1,000,000 horses, 1,500,000 of cattle, over 4,000,000 of sheep, and 2,000,000 of hogs; worth in the aggregate, $100,000,000. The annual loss of stock from disease has been ascertained to l a three per cent, df the total value, or near two per cent, of horses, one and a quarter per cent, of cattle, one and three quarters per cent, of sheep, and twenty- four per cent, of the value of the swine. These figures for Ohio were obtained by assessors, and if not absolutely correct, it is safe to say that the losses are not overestimated. Until a comparatively ancient date we had but few competent veterinarians in the state, and by far the larger portion of animals that die from disease receive no veterinary attention. Veterinary medicine dates from the remote past. Chiron, who lived B. 0. 1200, and was the reputed teacher of Achilles, of Jason and of Hercules, has the honor of being considered the father of veterinary medicine. Xenophon (B. o. 400) wrote a treatise on matters pertaining to horsemanship which is extant. Hippocrates, the father of human medicine (B. c. 400), wrote two books on the diseases pf horses. Vegetius (a. d. 300) wrote an able treatise on veterinary medicine Tfhich embodied whatever was known in his time. Then, for some twelve centuries, no progress was made in Europe, untU in the early part of the sixteenth century, Francis the First, of France, ordered the works of Vegetius translated from the Latin into French, and these works were soon after translated into other European languages. In the seventeenth century the works of Sollysel and other valuable veterinary works appeared. In 1761 a veterinary school was es- tablished at the city of Lyons, in France, which is still in successful operation. In 1766 a veterinary school was established at Alfort, near Paris. In 1792 a' veterinary school was started at St. Fancros, near London, and since that date similar institutions have grown up in nearly every country in Europe, and in ^his continent efforts have beep made to establish veterinary schools in Boston, VETEETNABY SCIENCE — ITS HISTOBY .AND VAI.TTB. 71 New York, and Philadelphia. The American Veterinary College, at 141 West Fifty-fourth Street, New York, is the only school of the kind worthy of mention in the United States. This college has convenient rooms, a fine museum, an able corps of teachers, and a large clinic, and is every way deserving of patronage. Our neighbors in Canada have two good veterinary schools, one at Toronto and another at Montreal. So it is quite possible, as you see, for a young American to obtain a good veterinary education without crossing the Atlantic ocean. Considering the extent and importance of the stock interests in this country, it is amazing that veterinary science is not better appreciated among us. The time, however, is rapidly approaching when the owners of valuable animals will no longer intrust their medical and surgical treatment to uneducated practition- ers, or to casual help from agricultural papers, for whatever the valne of news- paper correspondence as a means of diffusing knowledge, it is a poor dependence in a case of serious illness. An adequate veterinary education should begin vrith a good elementary and general training, such as every professional man must have to insure success in life. The course of professional studies must include a thorough familiarity with comparative anatomy and physiology and general zoology ; a knowledge of general and special pathology and therapeutics; a thorough knowledge of chemistry and pharmacy; of botany and materia medica; skill in the use of the microscope; besides sufficient opportunity for practical or clinical in< struction. If a young citizen of Ohio wishes to adopt veterinary medicine and surgery as a profession, I think he can scarcely do better than to attend the State Uni- versity until he attains the degree of Bachelor of Science, and then complete bis veterinary studies by a couple of years in the veterinary college of New York. For young farmers who desire to understand the sanitary management of stock, the course of instruction given here in the agriculturaLdepartment is supposed to be well adapted. Our students are expected to carry three studies. One of these in agriculture embraces : First term, description and adaptation of different breeds of horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, and principles of breeding and feeding. Second term, general principles of medicine, including the study of disease, its causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and general treatment. The third term is spent in the study of the particular forms of disease that prevail in Ohio and everywhere. So'far as possible all remedial as well as preventive measures are explained to the class, and some of the commonest operations are practiced in their presence. In view of a possible surplus in the profession of human medicine and want of well educated veterinarians which is likely to be felt, I have supposed that advanced students of human medicine, or young practitioners not yet fully em- ployed, would find it for their interest to give attention to veterinary science. The general principles of medicine apply alike to man and animals ; what needs to be particularly learned of animal disease and treatment can be mastered by a young physician in one tenth of the time that would be required of one who had not begun his medical studies. In most of our states we have more medical colleges than are required by the interests of the medical profession or the good of the public. If one in each large and populous state were converted into a i2 THE SKCEETS OF PBOGEBSSIVE AGBICtTLTTJBB. veterinary school, no harm, and perhaps much good, would result. The fact, however, seems to be that neither in this country nor in any part of Europe, can a veterinary college be long sustained without goyemment or other extraneous help. In view of the fact that there is such intimate relationship between the health of the people and that of animals that aid in their labors and supply a large portion of their fooJ, it would seem that intelligent persons, even if not owners of stock, would take interest in the subject and favor government help for veterinary schools. I presume many years will not be allowed to pass before our Ohio State Board of Agriculture will keep an accomplished veterinarian in their employ. Not a season passes that outbreaks of disease do not occur in one or other portion of the state, and sweep off the stock which is often the farmers dependence. The veterinai'ian of the Board, under control of its president or secretary, could visit such localities, confer with resident veterinarians where such are known, and suggest means of relief that would many times exceed in value all the ex- penditure. And it is much better in a great state like this that all the people in the state should be taxed a fraction of a cent more, than that families of In- dustrious citizens should be brought to the verge of ruin. A salary of $2,000, or $2,500 a year, and $500 for contingent expenses, would probably be the means of annually saving a much greater amount. There has already been some talk of uniting the veterinarians of Ohio into a state organization. A profession without union, without esprit dm corps, without couference or visible means of improvement or progress or self-protection, is likely to be, undervalued. Numerous questions were asked and answered during this lecture but are here omitted, because they were referred to in subsequent lectures. [ ^S~ Since this lecture was given we learn that a weekly clinic has been estab- lished at the University. Every Friday afternoon, from two to four o'clock, diseased animals are brought by their owners in the vicinity, and the class has an opportunity of making examinations and seeing the treatment. Specimens illus- trative of animal diseases are brought at the same time and commented upon be- fore the class.] PI6EASH. IS DISEASE BY N. S. TOWNSH A complete study of disease would make it necessary for us to inquire into its nature, its causes, its symptoms, its classification and . treatment. At another time I propose to consider the causes of disease in connection with measures for preTcntion. I will also take another time to talk about principles of treat- ment, before I come to treat of particular diseases. To-day I will ask your at- tention to some remarks about the nature of disease, its means of manifestation, or symptoms, and the way in which diseases are classified or named. The study of the nature or constitution of disease is called pathology; what may be regarded as the elements of any or all diseases is called general pa- thology. Some of the diseases of horses, cattle, sheep and swine, of which I ex- pect to :;,peak another day, will all belong to the domain of special pathology. To-day I shall limit myself to work belonging to general pathology. Disease is generally defined to be some derangement of structure or of func- tion — the machine gets out of order and don't work well. To present the idea in plainer language : A man whose buggy wants oiling, hitches to it neverthe- less, and makes a rapid drive ; soon the friction of an unlubricated wheel makes it hot ; the iron of the axle, and also of the box, expands, and the result is the wheel becomes tight. So far we have no change or derangement of structure. It is the proper function of the wheel to turn around ; this it will no longer do, so we have derangement or arrest of function. The owner of the buggy has prob- ably been in the same predicament before ; so on observing that the wheel don't turnaround he says to himself : "I have a hot box; I must get a wrench, turn off the nut, and take off the wheel; then I must get some cold water to pour on the axle and into the hub, to cool and shrink the hot iron ; af- ter that I must oU my axle well, and the wheel will go again. This man under- stands the material and mechanism of his wheel, and he has had previous ex- perience or observation of the the difficulty, so he knows exactly what to do. In the same way a physician tries to understand disease. A function is poorly per- formed, the wheel don't turn ; he knows what kind of structure is involved, and how it is put together; and from previous observation or experience he names the disease, " hot hot." Now he devises appropriate treatment ; the cold water to cool the iron, and the oil to prevent further friction. This is very much as a disease is recognized and properly treated; and shows the necessity of a thor- ough knowledge of the mechanism of parts at fault before a common sense treatment can be suggested. The notion hai prevailed that a disease instead of re- 74 THE SECBETS OS' PBOGfiESSIVB AGKICULTTTBE. sembling machines out of sorts, is a kind of entity that jumps upon a person like a cat or a tiger, and that has to be driven off or kUled. But this notion is now discarded. Some of the derangements that affect the whole system are over-excitement, fever, depression, exhaustion and blood-poisoning. Some of the derangements of particular organs are over-excitement, irritation, inflammation, over-growth, deficient growth, and degeneration. The mosfimportant, probably, of these conditions or processes, is that to which the term inflammation is applied. I would, therefore, speak of this more fully, and upon other points briefly. Inflammation consists of three processes or stages : First we have irritation, by which is meant an excited or disturbed state of the nerves of a part ; this has been brought about by the disturbing influence of the cause, whatever that may be. When irritation is set up in a part or organ there is soon an unnatural determination of blood to the part. The arteries in the im- mediate vicinity are affected by the excitement, and force along the blood with greater energy; then if the veins do not carry away this extreme flow as fast as it comes, the smallest vessels are overloaded and distended ; then we have the second stage, or congestion, as it is called. If the rush of-blood still continues, and the large arteries and heart share the excitement, a part of the constituents of the blood wUl pass through the walls of the vessels, and we have the third stage, or exudation; or, putting the three stages together, we'have inflamma- tion. Inflammation is usually recognized by four signs : redness, heat, swelling and pain. The influx of warm blood causes the heat and redness, the exuda- tion and distention of vessels cause the swdliug, and the pressure causes the pain, where the parts are visible. The symptoms of inflammation of an internal organ are shown by pain and tenderness, and by an increase of pulse and tem- perature. The way in which inflammations come to an end must also be under- stood. An inflammation may begin, then stop, and finally subside ; this back- ing out process we call the termination by resolution ; that is, the trouble has been resolved or finished. This ending is always desired, and toward this treat- ment is directed. If an inflammation is set up in the membranes that line the insides of the cavities of the body which we call serous membranes, Kke the pleura and peritoneum, often it will not terminate by resolution, but wUl go on until the exudation fully takes place ; a large quantity of serum escapes the vessels, enough sometimes to fill the cavity which the serous membrane surrounds. Now the inflammation is terminated, the pain ceases, the increased pulse and temperature fall to a natural standard, but you have a quantity of water — ^a dropsy — to deal with ; this we call the termination of inflammation by effusion. In some tissues of the body, particularly in the cellular tissues, an inflammation does not relieve itself by pouring out serum — it goes a step further ; and after throbbing in the part, and chiUs or rigors over the whole body, suppuration is established and pus or matter is' formed; after this the heat and pain subside and we say the inflammation has subsided in suppuration; but now you have a felon, or a boU, or [an aboess to open, which discharges for a time, then fills up by granulation and cicatrization. Occasionally an inflammation does not come to an end in any of these ways, but continues worse and worse nntU it disorganizes or destroys the part; then we say the inflammation has ter- DISEASE. 75 minated in gangrene, or mortification, wliich is the ■worst termination possible. Sometimes the inflammation does not terminate at all — it moderates perhaps, so that we may have neither effusion, suppuration, or gangrene, but it continues with more or less severity. This becomes what we call a chronic or slow inflam- mation, in distinction from a rapid inflammation, which we call acute. There are changes beside those wrought by inflammation. , Cachexy is a term used to express a bad eondttion, when the system scarcely has energy enough to produce healthy tissues, but forms an imperfect and only partly organized structure instead, which is called tubercle, and which accompanies the well known disease called consumption. , Tubercular disease in our domestic animals has for us a peculiar and painful interest, for there seems no reason to doubt that tuberculosis in animals is communicable — under certain circumstances — to man. There is another diseased condition to which the term degeneracy is given ; here tissues are formed which are not simply deficient in vitality, like tubercles, but they have acquired a mischievous energy, and grow at a rapid rate. Such growths are termed malignant ; they always tend to mischief, and are known as the various forms of cancer, which difler according to the tissue they attack. Diseases are put by physicians and veterinarians into five classes : First, what are known as phlegmasia or inflammations; to this group belongs inflammations of lungs, liver, heart, brain, bowels, kidneys, etc. With each of these inflam- mations there is an accompanying quick pulse and higher temperature, daUed sympathetic feven The second class is cited symoses, which includes most contagious diseases supposed to be produced by specific ferment, or some form of contagion ; most of the skin diseases belong to this class-^small-pox, kine-poi, scarlatina, measles ; also epizootic catarrh, diphtheria, yellow fever, etc. A third group or class, neuroses, embraces all nei-vous diseases, such as tetanus, paralysis, neuralgia, apoplexy, epilepsy, etc. A fourth class, c^Uei cachexy, includes consumption, scurvy, gout, tumors, etc. A fifth class, called ataxia, or diseases unclaasifiable, takes the balance, whicli are not much alike among themselves, but agree in being unlike the preceeding classes. In this class we have hemorrhages, worms, asthma, colic, jaundice, etc. The signs or symptoms of disease require to be studied with care, because upon the accuracy with which these are observed and interpreted will depend the correctness of the diagnosis and the probable success of the tre£^tment. I shall not have time to give in detail the significance of particular syriptoms ; I must, however, say that they should be treated methodically, or with order. You find an animal or a person sick ; you note first attitude, position, gait, etc ; ' what belongs to locomotion ; the breathing, cough, sputa, and what be- longs to respiration ; then the appetite, digestion and evacuation ; the heart's action and pulse may then be examined. By this systematic method, and by making the examination in every case complete, an important ailment is not liable to be overlooked or misunderstood. In conclusion let me say that we can get but an imperfect idea of the effect of disease by lectures or reading. It is by f]os<-mortem examinaiions, made on all occasions, at all times and under all circumstances, that one comes to identify and understand disease. 76 THE SECSETS OF PKOGKESSIVE AGBICWLTUHE. PRINCIPLES OF TREATMENT. BY N. S. TOWNSHEND. It is not the sole business o£the physician and yeterinarian to cure disease ; they render a stijl more important service by the instruction they give and the efforts they make for the maintenance of the public health. We sometimes see these functions separated by the appointment of health officers for cities and veterin- ary commissions for states or the country at large, while other physicians, sur- geons and veterinarians are left to treat individual cases of disease. Preventive treatment is of two kinds. The first is purely hygiemic — ^which means health preserving, and consists mainly in right living, in avoiding every species of excess, and all unnecessary exposure. It involves a thorough knowledge of the causes of disease, iu order that intelligent measures may be adopted to shut them. It begins and ends with intelligence and care. A second kiad of preventive treatment is called prophylactic, which implies the use of defensiver measures in addition to care-taking, such as the practice of vaccinatiou as a defense against small-pox, or the use of quinine in order to escape the ague when one is compelled to visit a malarious region. When it becomes necessary to attempt the cure of disease, there are, perhaps, 9 dozen different modes of procedure, some one of which wiU be found applica- ble in almost every case. These different plans or modes of securing the end in view will be briefly described, one after another: 1. In certain cases of disease the appropriate treatment consists in remov- ing the cause ; perhaps the term antcecial will designate this method. When I was so small as to ride on horseback behind my father, we came one day to a sort of shanty in which was a man suffering great pain and fright. By mistake he had drank a quantity of a solution of corrosive sublimate instead of Leer, which he had intended to take. My father was not a physician, but he had some common sense notions about the treatment of disease. He sprang from the horse, seized a dish of fish oil, which appeared to be the only thing at hand that would answer the purpose, and compelled the man to drink it. It was no soon- er down than it came up again, and with it came all the poision, and the man was at once relieved both of pain and fright. He had got rid of the cause of the trouble and that was all he needed. This may serve as a specimen of cases where the cause of the mischief is still operating, and where its removal is ex- actly what needs to be done. 2. There are cases where you cannot remove the causes of mischief, but you may possibly counteract the effect. Such treatment may be called cmtidotcU, PKINCIPLES OK TEKATMBNT. 77 wnicn means something giveii to countei^act. When I was practicing medicine, a neighboring physician one evening rushed into my house. He had recently had agne, for which he had been taking quinine. This evening he had swallowed a powder and walked a short distance to church, it being Sunday. As soon as he sat down he felt an uncontrollable desire to sleep ; this seemed to him unusual, and he then remembered that he had a quantity of morphine in the pocket from which he had intended a short time before to take quinine. On examination, he found the quinine still there and the morphine was gone. He had taken enough morphitte to kill two or three men unless its effect could in some way be over- come. He sprang from' his seat and was in my house iu a few moments. As soon as he had toM me his story I prepared some Sulphate of zinc, which he swallowed, and in a moment or two threw up the contents of his stomach. But the morphine had already affected him so that he could ecaroely stand up. I had my wife prepare some strong coffee, which he drank, then 1 put my arm through 'his and walked him rapidly about our public square, going into the house again from time to time for more coffee. Aft«r several cups of coffee, and several miles of brisk walking, the effect of so much of the morphine as had not been thrown from the stomach was finally counteracted. This was like the treatment in the former case, but, as you see, it was also something more. As I was passing a house I saw a little child stoop down and take from a lye leach a cup of strong lye and drink it. I sprang from my buggy, ran through the dining-room, took the vinegar from the table and soon poured some of it down the throat of ihe poor chUd. It was enough to neutralize the lye, a.nd an emetic of warm water soon emptied the stomach of the salt formed by the union of the vinegar with the potash. When poisons or other hurtful substances have been taken into the stomach, you must either get rid of them at once or destroj the effect. 3. Another kind of treatment is called expectant. This is appropriate in what are called self-limiting diseases, such as measles and some other eruptions which run a definite course and then su1}side. These cases cannot be materially shortened by any course of treatment, but the physician watches to see that nothing occurs to interfere with their safe progress and termination. He does not neglect such cases, and he does not needlessly interfere with them. He knows what to expect from day to day, and so long as they progress favorably he lets them alone. It is important that people should divest themselves of the no- tion that whenever a person or an animal is sick some medicine is immedi- ately necessary. There are hundreds of cases of real sickness where all that ia needed is quiet and watchful care. Unfortunately these cases cannot be recog- nized without some experience of the nature and cause of disease. 4. There is an old adage to the effect that "What can't be cured must be enduied." This is not always true, for many disorders are absolutely inn curable, or the means of cure may not be at once available. Yet it may be pos-. sible to assuage pain, lessen the inconvenience of the ailment and bring at least temporary ease and comfort. Treatment with this end in view is called paUior live, because it it is designed to palliate or mitigate what cannot at once be cured. Treatment which does not look directly to a cure, must not, therefore, be thought unimportant. It may not be convenient at all times to have a hollow tooth filled 78 THE SBCBBTS OF FBOGBBBSIVB AeSIOULTUBB. or extracted, which would make a radical cure, but a drop ol cresote or oil of cloves on cotton pressed into the hollow may be sufficient to bring relief fp;: the time and enable one to proceed with work. . A sprain or bruise is frequentlv re- lieved by the application of hot water ; an opiate sometimes allays pain and se- cures sleep, which saves a man or animal from being worn out by useless suffer- ing. There are many cases of injury or severe disease that cannot at once be removed, that may, however, be made endurable by proper paUiative treat- ment. 6. Another form of treatment is termed su^ortmg. Thi% is appropriate where the system is subjected to a serious drain, as from an abscess, or where the means and material for repair are not equal to the waste caused by the disease. In such eases, nourishing and easily digested food, combined, perhaps, with tonio or strengthening medicines, may sustain a patient until the period of danger is past. In many oases of disease we may imagipe there is more or less of strug- gle between the forces which buUd up and those which tear down and destroy. Here the help afforded by a si^ciency of easily assimilated food may be of great importance — ^It may, in fact, determine whether the battle with disease shall b^ lost or won. On many farms a sick animal gets a dose or two of some powerful medicine and then is almost left to its fate; the remedy is expected to .kill ur cure. The right way is for every farmer, or farmer's wife, to be prepared wiili drenching horns, or bottles of convenient size, from which food, in fluid form, such as warm mUk, gruel, porridge, or flax seed tea, may be given as often as re- quired. Food so given, combined sometimes with medicine, has saved the lives of numberless sheep and lambs, calves and colts, and of older animals when un- able from weakness or lameness to help themselves. 6. Treatment should at times be what is called amMpathic; that is, directly opposed to the characteristic feature of the disease. For example, a joint like the hock may have been injured and become inflamed, and the temperature has risen considerably above that of the surrounding parts. Here a stream of cold water from a hose, or cold bathing will relieve the heat and pain and lower the inflammation. The bag of a heifer after calving may become swollen, tender and hot; the local application of cold water in such a case is dictated by common sense, and frequent experience has demonstrated its propriety. The application of cold water, or cooling lotions, however h»lpfal, may not always prove suffi- cient. Your horse with the inflamed hock must have rest, and perhaps cooling cathartics, or other remedies to relieve the fever which the inflamation has occa- sioned. So in the case of the heifer, the feverishness of the system may need to be moderated by cooling diet or medicine. In some fevers of the human sub- jects, such, for example, as the typhus fever contracted on board emigrant ships, the extreme heat of the body is promptly relieved by wrapping the patient for a time in a cold, wet sheet, and after the extreme heat is gone the patient is further relieved by a profuse perspiration. Please observe that I do nOt say that all treatment should be directly opposed to the characteristic manifestation or symptoms of a disease. What I wish to be understood to say is that in certain cases such antipathic treatment is ine oest tnat can be used. The cases that re- quire such treatment may often be determined by good common sense, but ample experience will in most cases be a better guide. FBINCIPLES OF TBBATMKNT. ?9 7. Treatment shonld, sometimes, ba allopathic. I do not use the term in a party sense as appUed to any class of practitioners, but according to its orig- inal significance. I mean that we may sometimes treat a disease successfully by inducing or substituting another and more manageable disease in the place of that which originally existed. An eating ulcer, or a fungus growth is easily dis- posed of by touching it thoroughly with nitric acid, which converts the sore into a simple burn. A venereal chancre is converted into a simple sore by burning out with nitrate of silver. After cooling down an inflamed joint with cold water and removing all feverishness of the system by cooling medicine or diet, you may remove the remaining soreness and inflammation from the interior of the joints by active counter irritation by means of a blister on the outside. Here you set up an inflammation on the surface which you can easily manage, because you expect by this means to draw off the excitement from the parts which are deeper seated. 8. Sometimes treatment may be homeopathic. I do not use this term in any party sense, but what I mean is that treatment should in some cases har- monize with and tend to develop the cause of the disease, because in certain cases vre have learned that this is the readiest way to bring about a cure. For example, one becomes afflicted with a boil, or several of them ; they may be treat- ed antipathically by cold applications and cooling physic, or they may be treated allopathicaUy by nitrate of silver or blisters; either of these plans will sometimes cut them short and bring the trouble promptly to an end. But if throbbing has already commenced they are better treated by hot poultices, which will hasten suppuration, bring the abscess to a head so that the core can be opened and after- ward get well. Which of these methods is to be performed in a given case de- pends on the parts involved; if it be serous membraua, like the pleura, or the synovial lining of a large joint, the antipathic and allopathic modes of treatment are preferable. If the inflammation is in cellular tissue, where inflammation is not likely to end in dropsy or a stiff limb, then the diseased process may be facil- itated as the shortest way to a cure. On the same principle you may relieve nausea by an emetic if there is something in the stomach which ought to come up. So a cathartic is sometimes beneficial in a diarrhoea or dysentery by removing ofiending matters which were causing an irritation and which the un- aided powers were unable to remove. That remedies can sometimes be benefici- ally administered according to this principle or method there is no reason to doubt,' but that all sorts of disease can safely or properly be treated on this plan I see no reason for believing. 9. Some remedies, in the state of our knowledge, must be administered empirieaUy, by which I mean that whenever it happens that we know by experi- ence Uiat a certain course of treatment is uniformly Buccessful we are justified in continuing such treatment, although we may not be entirely able to under- stand its action. The term empirical is often applied contemptuously to those who praoti'oe medicine without adequate knowledge of its established principles, but when applied to those who practice only on satisfactory experience no blame is merited. The farmer may often find his experiences a safe guide, but when one gets beyond the limits of experience it is then that a knowledge of well es- tablished principles is invaluable. 80 THE SECEKTS OF PKOGRBSSIVE AGKICtTLTUBB. 10. Many cases require a kind of treatment that is called swrgioal, which means manual or mechanical. The treatment of fractures, dislocations, the dressing of wounds, assistance in difficult parturition, the arrest of hemorrhage, and other operations commonly made upon stock all come under this general head. They all have this in common, so that the assistance given is mechanical. For some of them considerable anatomical knowledge and manual dexterity is requisite ; but the dressing of wounds, and others equally simple, every farmer should be prepared to undertake. These rules above stated are to the physician, or surgeon, or veterinarian what the rules of arithmetic are to the business man or artesian in the solution of a mathematical problem. ■ Give to your business man a question for solution, and almost instinctively he determines whether he must employ addition, sub- traction, multiplLcation or division, or the more complete methods of fractions, proportion, interest, square or cube root, or mensuration. It may be without a moment's delay he uses the rule that is appropriate to the question to be solved. So a veterinarian will use the same rules or principles of treatment which I have endeavored to make plain. Every physician or veterinarian does not recall these rules to mind in every case, but he is familiar with them all, and he uses instinctively that which appears applicable to his case. Possibly some would employ other methods, but these I think you will all understand, for many of them are as old, almost, as the rules of arithmetic. HORSES AND THEIR DISEASES. BY N. S. TOWNSHEND. Of animals domesticated and pressed into the service of man, it may be diffi- cult to determine which has the greatest value; but I think we can readily agree that the horse is the most helpful. The horse shares the labors of the farmer, often performing by far the harder part, and the more agricultural ma- chinery is perfected the more important his place becomes. Ofif the farm the horse is equally serviceable; for the movement of wares in cities, and the transfer of the people, the horse is our main dependence. Some years fiince, at the time of the epizootic, we realized as never before the importance 6f the Junae to tmr busy modern civilization. The family horse so helps to increase our home com* fortB and enjoyments as to make himself quite indispensable. Besides^h (and other uses of the horse, he affords to the farmer who raises and trains him for service an important item of farm profits. Ohio is reported to have 800,000 horses and mules worth $50.00 each or in the aggregate $40,000,000.00. It may be difficult to state the amount of profit on the HOBSES AKD THEIB dIsBASES 81 capital invested in horses. It will perhaps be still more difficult to state the loss to owners of horses from hard driving and overwork, which probably reduces the average Ufe of the horse to one half of his natural longevity. The average loss to horse owners from what are commonly recognized as diseases is stated in the report of the Secretary of State to be $800,000.00, or two per cent, of the total value. This is probably much below tne actual loss, but taken as it stands it is worthy of consideration, and of careful efforts for its diminution. We must better understand the diseases to which horses are liable, and be able if possible to secure for them better medical treatmeat. Two or three gentlemen have requested me to name some reliable works which treat of the diseases of horses. As I think I have said in a previous lec- ture, the best veterinary work I know of for the American farmer is Law's Veterinary Adviser. A much larger and more expensive work, which may be more servicable to veterinarians, is Williams' Principles and Practice of Veteri- nary Medicine and Surgery, in two large volumes. A good book on The Horse in the Stable and Field, His Varieties, Management in Health and Disease, with his Anatomy and Physology, is by J. H. Walsh, who calls himself " Stone- henge." This work treats exclusively of the horse, and is very complete, while the Veterinary Adviser embraces the diseases of other domestic animals. I pro- pose now to speak of some of the diseases to which horses are liable. Horse distemper, or strangles, is generally understood to be a contagious disease to which young horses are liable, and which commonly attacks them but once. It comes on with a fever, with inflammation between the lower jaws and about the throat, which, after a few days, terminates in the formation of pus. This pus may be discharged from the mouth or nostrils, but the abscesses that form on one or both sides are usually either opened externally with the lancet or they break spontaneously; The fever which attends strangles is apt to be of a low or typhoid character, and hence the horse suffering from this affection does not bear depleting or antiphlogistic treatment. Under favorable circumstances the horse requires no treatment beyond protection from the weather and a supply of food like bran mashes, which can be taken with little mastication. This disease being naturally self-limiting, what is called expectant treatment is all that is required. This, however, implies that if the swelling gets so hard as to interfere with mastication or with breathing, the swelling may need Steaming or poulticing to hasten suppuration. If the swelling is so large as to endanger suffocation, and suppuration has not yet progressed so far as to admit of relief by the external opening of the abscess, tracheotomy, or the open- ing of the wind pipe, becomes necessary. In favorable cases the principal trouble will be over in ten or twelve days ; but oCcaiionaUy a case J)rogresses slowly; then it may be necessary not only to steam or poultice the swiellings, wherever they are, bat also to' give nutritious food, such as oil meal and bran atasbea, and to give carbonate or sulphate of iron, according to the state of the bowels, or some other tonic, for a number of weeks,-nntil health and strength are completely restored. The farmer should understand that colts that have re- cently recovered from distemper are especially liable to throat and lung affections and require to be wcU protected and oared for. Inflammation of the lungs is a common and serious affection to which horses are 82 THE SECKETS'OP PBOGBESBIVE AGKICTTLTUEB. subject, especially such as are hard driven or exposed in winter weather. A day or two after exposure a horse will have a shivering fit or chill, which may or may not be obserred by the owner. Then follows a dry and hot skin, and increased frequency of the pulse. There may be a dry cough, but there is ceitain to be difficult and labored breathing. The horse frequently shows what is the matter by his mode of standing ; the fore feet are set wide apart and the weight of the body rests nearly upon the hind feet. If the fever runs high there is thirst, coativeness and scanty urine. The danger wiU be in proportion to the frequency of the pulse and difficulty of breathing. In fatal oases death is caused by the congestion or clogging up of the blood vessels of the lungs, or it may be caused a few days later by suppuration, or the formation of pus, which chokes up the air passages. The treatment differs according to the stage of the disease. If the difficulty of breathing is noticed soon after the exposure, and while the pulse is slow and weak and the skin is cold, then blanket the horse and give half a pint of whisky and half an ounce of laudanum in a pint of water from a bottle. If the horse will eat give him in addition a warm bran mash. If the horse has passed this stage before his ailment is noticed, and fever, with a quick pulse, has come on, then your treatment must be antiphlogistic. If the horse be young and strong and in good condition, and the difficulty of breathing is extreme, you may save time and suffering by taking away two or three quarts of blood from the jugular vein. In the majority of cases this is of no advantage, especially if the animal be old or lean, and the pulse and fever may be reduced sufficiently by an arterial sedative, such as twenty drops of the tincture of aconite ; after this, nitrate of potash (saltpeter) half an ounce, with half a drachm of tartar emetic two or three times daily, according to the severity of the attack. After the fever has abated and the breathing is less labored, it is sometimes desirable to give two ounces of sweet spirits of nitre daily, as a diuretic, and if debility has become apparent, to the nitre may be added one fourth of a pint of whisky. Pleurisy is another serious disease of the respiratory organs; resembling, somewhat, inflammation of the lungs. In this affection it is not the substance of the lungs that suffers, but their outer covering and the inner lining of the cheat cavities. This membrame, which covers the lungs and lines the inside of the cavities, is termed serous membrane, from the readiness with which it permits the discharge of serum when inflamed. The inflammation of serous membrane and subsequent pouring out of serum, is the origin of most of the dropsies. Pleurisy, then, ma^ cause death by the pain and difficult breathing which is present, or the active stage of the disease may pass off by the filling of one or both cavities with water, which may at once cause suffocation or simply crowd upon the longs and embarrass respiration, according to the severity of the case. You may not always be able to discriminate readily between pleurisy and inflam- mation of the lungs. In pleufisy the pulse is usually harder and more inoom* pressible ; there is Aiore pain indicated in taking an inspijration;, which appears to be checked, whUe expiration is more prolonged. Instead of standing stiU with the fore legs apart, as in inflammation of the lungs, the horse with pleurisy will manifest his pam by pawing with his feet, looking around at his sides, and lying down and rismg again. After the dropsical effusion takes place the pulse loses its hardness, though it may be increased in frequency; through the filling of H0B6ES AND THEIB DISEASES. 83 the ohest with water the breathing becomes more and more labored, until the death of the animal ends his suffering. Or, in some cases where the quantity of water poured into the ohest is not so great, it may gradually be absorbed and a good recovery be made. In some of these cases of repo very a subsequent ex- amination after death from other causes wiU show the remnant of the pleurisy ia numerous points of attachment between the lungs and the sides. The treatment of pleurisy is nearly similar to that of inflammation of the lungs. In the first stage or chill, warm clothing and stimulants ; then when reaction or fever begins to come on, cooling or antiphlogistic treatment is required. Glau- ber's-salts and saltpeter combined for cathartic and diuretic effect may answer a good purpose. In very vigorous animals, one bleeding, followed by tincture' of aconite may be required. After the fever has subsided and some effusion has probably occurred, the fluid has to be removed by diuretics, such as sweet spirits of nitre with iodide of potash. Finally, tonics and a liberal diet may be needed to restore the strength and prepare the animal for a return to service. Pericarditis is in some degree similar to pleurisy, with the difference that the part inflamed, is now the pericardium, or fibro serous membrane that forms the heart-case. The cause may be exposure to cold, influenza, or still more likely, rheumatism. The symptoms are somewhat like those of pleurisy, with the difler- ence jihat the animal shows more excitement. The nostrils are fully dUated, the pulse is full and hard, and the impulse of the heprt is felt to be unusually strong. If the inflammation is not promptly arrested there occurs efiusion of fluid within the heart sac, and that you aU recognize as a dangerous condition. The treats ment is nearly the same as for pleurisy; shorten and mitigate the chill by means of warmth and stimulants, for in proportion as this is done the extent of the fol- lowing reaction is diminished. Next give active purgatives, to be followed by colchicum, acetate of potash and such diuretics as are serviceable in rheumatism. Lockjaw is one of the diseases affecting the voluntary muscles, to which th© general term tetanus is applied. The form of tetanus which we call lockjaw is a cramping of the muscles that move the jaws with other parts of the face and head and neck. At fir^t there may be only stiffness; then the haws in the inner angles of the eyes are projected outward upon the eye-balls, the head is carried stifiy, the limbs become stifl' and immovable. Spasms may occur in any part of the hody, and are easily excited by anything which occasions fright. When the muscles concerned in respiration are affected the case usually terminates fatally. The causes of lockjaw are usually injuries; punctured wounds being especially liable to end in this aflection. Castration and docking have often brought on this disease. Occasionally it appears to be caused by exposure to wet and cold. The treatment must begin by securing perfect quiet for the patient ; then it is desirable to place the animal in slings, so applied that they may serve as a sup- port or not at wiU. Cathartics, such as aloes, with or without croton oil, will often secure a mitigation of the spasm. Occasionally some of those remedies termed antispasmodics are required, such as tincture of assafoetida in doses of one half ounce, or of prussic acid in doses of twenty drops, or of chloral hydrate iji doses of from one fourth to one half ounce. Colic is the term applied to severe pain within the abdomen, whether occasioned by the improper digestion [.of food and evolution of large quantities of gas, 84 THE SKCBETS OF PBOGKESSITE AeBiptn^TintX, constituting the variety known as flatulent colic, or whether it depends upon some source of irritation within the bowels, such as worms, poisons, or ice cold water drank when heated. In both these forms there is the manifestation of sufiering by lying down and getting up again, pawing with the fore feet, or kicking of the belly with the hind feet, and a frequent looking aronnd at the flanks, as if to see what is the matter. The treatment depends upon the form and upon the intensity. In severe cases of flatulent colic the pain is often in- tense, and if not relieved promptly it may terminate in rupture of the stomach, which is usually indicated by vomiting and is speedily followed by death. In severe cases of this kind the best treatment consists in drawing off the gas with a small trocar and canula. The puncture is made into the colon, which is easily reached from the right side, in the upper part of the flank, between the last rib and the hip-bone, where the distention appears greatest and the walls of the ab- domen appear thinnest. After- the gas has been removed it will be necessary to move the bowels by an injection or a stimulating cathartic like aloes. In cases where there is less distention and where the pain appears severe and spasmodic, it is customary to precede other treatment by an anodyne, such as laudanum in aa ounce dose, and an ounce of pulverized ginger in infusion. As soon as pos- •ible the bowels should be opened by an injection, back raking, or a dose of one haif an ounce of barbadoes aloes. When colic is clearly the result of indigestion, it is best to avoid it by giving digestible food and in the most digestible forms. Care should also be taken not to feed grain immediately after work to horses liable to coUc ; hay wUl somewhat appease the hunger, and after a time the grain should be given. Water should not be given immediately after grain ; neither should the horse be put to work directly after feeding. Inflammation of the bowels, or enteritis, is often Ihe result of a badly treated colic, or not infrequently this disease may have been mistaken for oolic. It is sometimes occasioned by hair balls, by calcareous concretion, or by irritant poisons. The seat of the disease may be the small intestines, but oftener, I think, the csecum or colon are affected. In enteritis the pulse is quick, hard and wiry; as the disease progresses it becomes imperceptible. The abdomen is not tympanitic or swollen as in some kinds of colic; the pain is constantrather than spasmodic, and it is not manifested so much by throwing himself about as by persistently standing stock-still with his head in a corner. Sweating is a com- mon symptom: sometimes it is hot, but more frequently, and as the danger in- creases, cold. Then if the horse trembles all over and the mouth and breath grow cold, gangrene has set in, and the horse is near his end. The treatment of inflammation of the bowels is often unsatis Factory. Powerful cathartics generally do harm and even milder laxatives are not always beneficial; injections of warm water may De used frequently to keep the bowels open. Hot fomentations by means of blankets dipped in hot water seem to give great relief and are often of permanent benefit. It appears to be necessary to keep the bowels quiet, and hence opium in some form is, with many veterinarians, a main dependence. In treating inflammation of the bowels of the human subject, some physicians would employ calomel with opium, but with the horse the action seems less certain, and at times it is more violent, so that it is not much used. I have briefly referred to a few of the commoner diseases to which the horse • OATTLB AND THEIB DISEASES. 85 Is liable. My purpose has not been to lay down inflexible rules of treatment, but mainly to give you some insight into the nature of diseases, and to illustrate certain general principles of treatment. CATTLE AND THEIR DISEASES. BY N. 8. TOWNS The cattle of Ohio were appraised in 1880 at nearly $26,000,000, the numbei reported by appraisers being near 1,750,000, or about $14.00 per head. This shows the value upon which tax is paid, but it fails to give an idea of the im- portance of the cattle interest to the people of the state. The total amount ol butter, and cheese, and beef, and milk sold, may express the money income from this kind of stock ; but we have no means of showing the real benefits which the family cow brings to every household. As a source of palatable and nutritious human food the contributions of the dairy are not surpassed from any other quarter. The farmers of Ohio are therefore in no danger of underestimat- ing the comparative value of the cattle Interest. Fortunately for our farmers, the capital invested in cattle brings tolerably regular and satisfactory returns, and for a number of years the annual loss from disease has reached only aboul two per cent. That we may, if possible, reduce that loss I propose to considei a few cattle diseases and their remedies. Bloating or hoven is'perhaps the comi;nonest, although perhaps not the most serious of our cattle ailments. Cattle hoven or bloated, become uneasy, lying down and rising up again alternately; the most marked feature of the disease is extreme tympanitic swelling on the left side, in the space between the hip and the last rib. This swelling is occasioned by the distention of the rumen, or first of the four stomachs which belong to the cud-chewing animals or rummants. T s distention is due to the fermentation instead of the digestion of the green food upon which the animal has fed. That digestion has not been accomplished is due in part to the large quantities such animals will swallow when they find fresh and succulent grass or clover; it is also due to the low temperature of this herbage when covered by the morning dew or hoar frost. Before digestion can begin the whole mass received into the rumen must be raised to animal heat, which is oftentimes a greater task than the stomach is able to perform. Conse- quently chemical instead of vital action begins, and the food ferments instead of being digested. One consequence of this fermentation is the evolution of car- S6 THE SECEETS OF PEOQEESSIVB AGEICULTtTEBrf bonic acid gas, and the further decomposition of the mass adds quantities of sul- phuretted hydrogen. This gas distends the rumen or paunch to its utmost ca- pacity and farces the diaphragm forward so as to diminish the space for the lungs, and prevent resuiration, and then of course the animal dies of suffocation. Various measures liave been employed to get rid of the gas, some of which are more or less successful: one is to dissolve chloride of lime in water and pour down a quantity; the chlorine seizes upon any free hydrogen it finds, and forms hydro chloric acid, and the lime rapidly absorbs the carbonic acid. Another means resorted to by stockmen is to have at command an instrument called a jjrobang, which is a flexible tube of an inch or more in diameter and long enough to put down the throat into the stomach. One end of the tube is of pewter, egg-shaped and perforated with a great many holes, so thaf as soon as the tube passes into the stomach the gas escapes and the animal is relieved. A third method of relief is by the use of a trocar and canula, such as I now show you; this instrument is sharp pointed, and passes readily into the rumen from a point on the left side, and midway between the hip and last rib, where the prominence and drum-like sound are the greatest. The instrument being in- serted, the trocar is removed, and the canula is an open tube through which the gas escapes. Possibly some one might fear that the puncture made through the walls of the abdomen and into the rumen would produce some inflammation or other unpleasant effects; experience, however, has shown that the danger is practically nothing with a proper instrument, and indeed, but very little when clumsily made with a butcher-knite. Every stock man should keep such an in- Gtument; the cost is only a dollar, or less by the half dozen. Choking is another common mishap to which cattle are liable; potatoes, beets, pumpkins, and still more frequently apples are the offending articles. When a cow is choked, the mouth is opened and the tongue projected; the animal some- times bloats, but breathes with more or less difiiculty. The conclusive proof of the nature of the difiiculty is however obtained when you find, as usually you can, the prominence which the apple or foreign body occasions. Some seek to relieve the animal by gently i ressing, or trying to press the offending object downward toward the stomach. There is sometimes risk in doing tliis, for you ^ nay carry the object down a little without getting it into the stomach, which is no improvement, and perhaps prevents o.her means of relief. Jn my experience with this trouble the object causing the obstruction has most frequently been an apple ; for its removal all that is needed is a short piece of scantling or any piece of wood with a squure end to hold en'lwise against the object and push it prominently to the opposite side of tlie neck, then with a mallet strike a smart bloi7 over the projecting point and the apple or potato will be broken to pieces and give no further trouble. I have used this method a great many times, and have found it perfectly easy, an-d liaye seen no unpleasant consequences. If, ho'.vcver, as sometimes happens, your cow or steer is choked with a nubbin of corn, then the old black whip of the Pennsylvania farmer comes into play; the stock is greased and put down the throat gently pushing the corn into the Btomach. The probuug whfch I referred to a few moments since is a little bet- ter than the whip; it is equally flexible and equally stiff, and while one end is egg-shaped as I said, and pierced with holes to allow the passage of the gas into CATTLE AND THEIH DISEASES. 87 the tube, the other end is a pewter cup which gets better hold of the object and retains it better than the end of the whip. It may be that neither ol these methods wUl succeed ; in difficult cases it is not advisable to use much force for fear of lupturing the asophagus, which I have seen done by a clumsy and violent operation ; it is mucn better to open the asophagus directly upon the ob- ject which can be thus removed, and the wound in the asophagus being sewed up by a few interrupted stitches, the outside skin may be brought together and retained in place ~by a stitch or two. Parturient apoplexy, or falling after calving, as it is sometimes called, is not only a yery serious but a very provoking disease, for it is most likely to take a very good if not the very best cow on a farm. Indeed it rarely attacks poor or even average milkers; it never attacks heifers at their first calving, but is most likely to seize upon a cow that is a great milker, with her third or fourth calf, and still more likely if the cow is in good condition. In these cases there is usually some fever and arrest of the milk secretion, and the next thing noticed is symptoms of congestion of the brain. If the cow is still able to stand she hangs her head, the eyes are bloodshot, she continually paddles, or makes a movement with her hind feet which may be thus designated, the bowels become tympanitic, the breathing is stertorous or blowing, and the pulse is fast and small or perhaps imperceptible. Should a cow after once recovering from partu- . rient apoplexy have another attack upon a subsequent calving there will be, so far as I have observed, no hopes of her recovery. The treatment of this very troublesome disease is both preventive and curative, and as in other cases n ounce of preventive is worth more than a pound of cure. If you toow the time when the cow will calve within a few days, you can anticipate that event by laxa- tive food, such as scalded bran or a short" allowance of linseed meal ; you can also administer a mild cathartic, such as a half pound of Glauber's-salts. If you find you are a little ahead of time, continue the laxative diet and repeat your Baits in a day or two, and relieve the udder by milking once or twice a day, and if you have guarded against constipation you have almost certainly prevented an attack. "When these precautions have been neglected and an attack occurs, sometimes — and especially if the cow is very fat — it wiU be necessary to take away two to four quarts of blood to relieve the congestion of the brain ; then the operation of a brisk cathartic may bring relief — thirty or forty drops of crotou oil, and a pound or two of Glauber's-salts wiK scarcely be more than enough. After the cow is down and her hind limbs partly paralyzed, even if im- proving it may be a difficult matter to make her attempt to get up ; In such cases some persons resort to fright by throwing a dog upon the cow, which often in- duces a violent and successful efiort to get upon the feet. The sudden blaze of a handful of straw behind the animal is said to have a similar effect. Inflammation of the udder, somtimes palled garget, is also a troublesome af- lection ; this disease more frequently, attacks heifers with a first calf, but is not uncommon among old cows. The immediate cause appears to be the large in- flux of blood to the gland, which exceeds the means of escape until tiie secre- tion of milk is fully established. As soon as noticed the udder should be fre- quently bathed with cold water if the heat is great, or with warm water if the swelling and hardness are greater in proportion than the heat. The aocumu- 88 -THE SECBETS OF PSOGEESSIVE AGKICTJLTUEE. lated Beeretion must be gently and thoroughly drawn, and a cooling diet sup- plied. In obstinate cases small cathartic doses of Glauber's-salts may be re- quired to aid the local applications. In no case should greasy ointjnents or any stimulating substances be applied; by the misuse of such articles suppuration or even gangrene may be produced. Indgestion is often a troublesome and sometimes proves a fatal disease among calves. Not nnfrequently the first symptoms noticed are a peculiar diarrhoea •which is called white-scour or skit; this appears to be occasioned by indiges- tion of milk in the fourth stomach, for when an animal thus affected dies, which they frequently do, the fourth stomach or abdomen is usually full and sometimes impacted with a curdy or cheesy mass ; this produces irritation of the intestines below, and hence the diarrho3a. The cause of this trouble is not always tho bume, or possibly what to us seem different conditions operate in a similar way; sometimes calves are fed more of milk and less of other food than is desirable, and the quantity of milk is greater than the stomach can digest; sometimes the milk is fed from the pail too cold, or too sour to be readily digested ; sometimes the kind of lood upon which cows are fed appears to have a bad influence upon the calves. Whatever the cause, the essential difficulty appears to be the in- ability of the stomach to digest its food, which may then cause obstruction at that point and irritation and excessive discharges below. Among the remedies used are a little salt stirred into the pail at any meal, and to this add a little car- bonate of soda. Others advise making the food of the calf partly of milk and partly of flax seed gruel, or oil meal may be used instead of flax seed. When obstinate constipation occurs in connection with this disorder, linseed oil is a popular laxative. In the treatment of diarrhoea of calves, astringents or opiates are seldom useful ; a change of diets' is usually the best course, and when this is not effectual some stimulant, such as ginger, or black pepper, is better than an astringent. Foot and mouth disease, or epizootic eczema, is a contagious disease that is said to prevail in some parts of the country, or even in some parts of this state. This is a contagious disorder which is organized by vesicles or small blisters within and around the mouth of cattle; the skin between the digits or claws is also similarly affected. In milch oows vesicles appear on the udder and teats, and sometimes the disease affects the inside of the teats and milk duets; after the vesicles run together and are ruptured a, dark brown scab remains. The trouble about the feet is very painful and annoyingto cattle; at first tbe blisters appear on one or two feet which the animal continually lifts up and shakes, finally all the feet may be affected and then standing becomes too painful. The feet swell all around the coronet and a serous fluid exudes from the affected parts, which dries and forms a yellow layer upon the feet. Occasionally the dis- ease takes on a more virulent foroi ; not only the mouth, but the eyes, the nos- trils, the air passages and all the mucus linings of the body are affected. Many young animals die, and even the older and stronger ones suffer for months; dairy cows become dry for a time, and beef cattle or siich as were in- tended for beef cease to fatten. Besides this epizootic eczema, there is known to stockmen a mild, simple form of the disease which may remain on a farm for H. season or more, and run entirely through a herd. If this is coincident CATTLE AND THKIB DISEASES. 89 with fouls of the feet there may be much alarm and real difficulty in distin- guishing the mUder and local form from the more spreading and contagions form. The treatment, for foot and mouth disease should be directed as much to Arrest Ae spread of the disease as to relieve the animal affected. The separation of the herd into at least three divisions, sick, well and suspected, is a first es- sential step. Methods for disinfection should be employed; the milk from af- fected cows should not be fed to calves, as it will readily communicate the dis- ease, and the younger the animal the more it appears to suffer. The same pre- caution must be observed of withholding the milk of affected cows from children, to whom it communicates a serious disorder of the bowels. ShoHild this dis- ease prevail among the cattle of our state, besides measures to prevent the spread, it will be necessary to secure good treatment for the sick; drawing off the milk tenderly from the cow, dressing the sores with a weak or stronger solution of sulphate of copper, and the use of iron as a tonic where animals are debilitated, is the line of treatment found most successful. Tuberculosis or consumption is a disease of cattle wHioh appears to be attract- ing attention of late. Not only is consumption incurable, and therefore de- structive to the animal affected, but the disagreeable fact has been ascertained beyond a doubt that the disease from a cow may be communicated to persons that use her milk as food. The subject has another importance to stockmen — the disease is undoubtedly hereditary among families of cattle as among men hence it is for the interest of purchasers to be able to recognize the disease when it exists. It should be understood that tuberculosis, or consumption,' is a "naaifestation of that cachectic condition called scrofula; tuburculosis is scrofula as manifested in the lungs. The tubercles may be deposited first on the substance of the lungs in small points about the size and appearance of millet seeds, hence this is called miliary tubercle; then these small bodies coalesce and cross themselves together in nodules or tubercles and become more cheesy or possibly chalky in consistence, and gray or yellowish in appearance. These masses may continue to coalesce until in the lungs of an ox they are as large as the fist, or even the foot of a man ; sometimes they soften and become partially fluid and are coughed up, leaving a cavity. The wind pipe and larger bronchial tubes are often found ulcerated in cases of tubercles ; these ulcers within the wind pipe may appear like excavations, or filled up by exuberant granulations such. as people call proud flesh; they maybe prominent and look almost like raspberries. The lymphatic glands about the roots of the lungs are liable to contain tubercular deposits ; but the pleura almost always shows a peculiar participation in the disease by scrofulous growth upon its surface, which, w ./ha small point of attachment, flatten out between the lungs and ribs; they grow in- differently from the costal or pulmonary pleura or from the diaphragm ; they may be as small as grapes, or larger and more like mushrooms ; whenever found they may be regarded as scrofulous, and associated with tuberculosis. It would be an advantage could we detect a tendency to tuberculosis, or recognize it in its incipient stages ; narrow chested animals, that is narrow for the breed, are most likely to be affected. When tuberculosis has commenced the ojstrum of the heifer or cow becomes irregular, they often take the bull but rarely come with caU. 90 THE SECRETS OF FBOGBESSIVE AGEICULTUEK. They have a slight cough which becomes more severe as the disease' pro- gresses ; they are subject to diarrhcea, and this grows worse and worse until the auimal dies of the scouring as is generally supposed, and this is probably the reason why in such cases the lungs are not carefully examined. The too close housing of valuable cattle, compelling them to breathe air over and over again, is a fruitful cause of tuberculosis ; and where once developed, breeding in and in is sure to perpetuate the malady. For a handy book on the diseases of cattle and other domestic animals I know of nothing better than " The Farmer's Veterinary Adviser ; " but for a study of cattle diseases and for the purpose of obtaining a tolerably complete idea of .the principles of medicine, I know of no work as good as that on "Diseases of the Oz,"^by J. H. Steele. This is not only the best but the latest book on the sub- ject; unfortunately it is not yet printed in this country. It is published by Longman. Green & Co., of London, and costs, imported, $6.00. SOME DISEASES OF SHEEP. BY N. S. TOWNSHEND. Gentlemen : — This afternoon I propose to speak of some of the diseases of sheep. In the first place, I wish to say that so far as my experience goes, healthy sheep are very profitable animals. To keep sheep continually in good health re- quires, in the first place, a favorable locality, and in the second place good man- agement. We have so many breeds of sheep, and they difier so widely, that some variety may be found adapted to any place and to almost any circum- stances, provided only that the ground must be dry and sound, for no sheep will thrive and be healthy upon wet lands or upon lands subject to occasional over- flow. The essentials for successful sheep keeping may be briefly stated to be dry land, good water, shelter from storms, ready access to salt, and daily inspec- tion. Every stockman knows that in regard to disease, " Prevention is better than cure." It is especially desirable that this be always kept in mind by the owner of sheep. Among the diseases it may be difficult to avoid, and sometimes necessary to treat, will be those of the digestive organs. Of these diarrhoea and dysentery are most common and most troublesome. Both of these are occasioned in the main by improper food, though sometimes they occur on good pastures after long rains. A recognition of the cause suggests the appropriate remedy, which is always a change of food or pasture. In some pastures weeds cause the dis- torbanoe after too much rain; a daily feed of diy food is the thing needed. sous DISEASES 07 SHEEP. 91 This'may be a little hay, bran, oats and com meal; or better gffll, barley meal, where that is kept. If the disease continues or is severe, removal from the pas- tore and confinement to dry food entirely may be required. If indigestion is a principal cause, a free use of salt, by placing it where the sheep can have ready access to it at all times, is beneficial. In dysentery where there is feyer, evidence of pain, and mucous and bloody discharges, it is beneficial at the outset to give mild cathartic doses of from one half ounce to an ounce of Glauber's-salts, It is sometimes necessary to administer twenty or thirty drops of laudanum to an adult sheep by way of injection. Lambs often scour after weaning; this is usual- ly relieved by change of food, thongh in severe cases prepared chalk and lauda- num mixed with gruel may be required. Sheep are liable to peritonitis, or inflammation of the membrane lining the abdominal cavity; this terminates in a dropsical effusion known as red water, and when this stage is reached treatment is not often successful. If the disease is recognized in an earlier stage by con- stipation, fever and distention of the abdomen, it may sometimes be relieved by doses of linseed oil mixed with spirits of turpentine. The rot of sheep, occa- sioned by the liver fluke, a parasite found in the liver, gall dust and gall bladder, is rarely met with in this country, though in north-western Europe it is a malady more dreaded among flocks than all others. Good drainage and plenty of salt are a protection except in unusually wet seasons. The respiratory organs of sheep are often the seat of disease. Grub in the head is one of the most annoying, and unfortunately it is very common. The sheep bot-fly ((Estrus ovis) lays its eggs upon the lips and nostrils of the sheep in the early summer; when the eggs hatch the larvasmake their way to the front- al and other sinuses, and there grow and continue their irritation till they find their way out the succeeding spring. To prevent the annoyance of the bot-fly it is worth while to rub the nose and muzzle of the sheep with tar two or three times in the summer. To kill the grubs and enable the sheep tosoeezethem out, some shepherds fill the bowl of a.pipe with tobacco, and after lighting place the bowl in their own mouth and blow the smoke up the nostrils of the sheep. I have often done this, but I cannot say that the result was in all cases a success. In cold wea: her and wet seasons sheep are very liable to be affected with catarrh ; this sometimes afiects only the nasal passages; sometimes it appears to be seated in the throat and windpipe, and sometimes it afiects all the smaller air passages in the lungs, when we should call it bronchitis. The characteristic features of catarrh and bronchitis are cough and discharge from the nostrils. The real dif- ficulty is inflammation in some degree of the mucous lining of the air passages, and in general it can only be relieved by a free discharge, or as the farmer would say, by a loosening up. To produce this discharge some expectorant is needed and those most easily given are saltpeter and tartar emetic mixed with their salt. The saltpeter allays the feverishness if given in doses of a teaspoonful so mixed with the salt that one sheep will not get more than another. Tartar emetic is given in much smaller dsses, not exceeding two or three grains at a time to each sheep, but it may be given two or three times a day. Pleurisy is one of the most serious and perhaps one of the commonest diseases with which sheep are affected. By this term we designate an inflammation of the serous membrane that lines the inside of the chest and covers both of the Inngs. This inflamma- 92 THE SECEETS OF FBOaBESSIVK AGMCtTLTITRE, tion is usually occasioned by exposure to wet and cold; sometimes it is brought on by sheep-wasbing, but it is. much more likely to follbw shearing, particularly when sheep are not protected and the succeeding nights are cold. The disease is recognized by hurried and labored breathing, by quick pulse, painful cough and grinding of the teeth, with loss of appetite. The treatment is directed to subdue the inflammation before effusion or dropsy of the chest occurs; cooling physic, such as an ounce of Glauber's-salts, may be given twice in a day, and to the salts may be added a drachm of saltpeter. In fleshy mutton-sheep a bleeding is beneficial if practiced early enough. The evidence that pleurisy has existed is furnished by the adhesion of the lungs to the side or by the presence of water in the chest. In Ohio many sheep have been lost from the efieots of a parasite disease which farmers usually know as "Paper Skin," and veterinarians call Husk or Hoose. The real source of the mischief is a long, white thread-worm which fills up the bronchial tubes, producing bronchial irritation and cough, and ending in diar- rhoea and general wasting. This disease has been known for many years in Ger- many and England, where it has destroyed millions of young sheep. In this state the relations of the lung-worm (strongylus bronchialis) to paper-skin were, so far as I know, first observed in this room, and an account of which was pub- lished in the Ohio Agricultural Beports for 1873. The complete natural history of the lung-worm is not satisfactorily known; it appears to attack especially young sheep that have been pastured on lands recently ovei flowed, or upon which sheep affected with this disease have recently been kept. The remedies so far found beneficial are, first, a generous dish of oil meal or something equal- ly nutritious, to increase the vigor of the sheep; then the daily administration of a smaU quantity of spirits of turpentine, either in linseed oil or whisky; the tui'pentine will pass off by respiration, and enable the sheep to throw off the parasites. The best remedy for lung-worm, so far as I know, is drainage rather than doctoring. Skin diseases are very troublesome to sheep. What is known as scab is un- fortunately too common to require description; it depends, as all are doubtless aware, upon a parasite (an acarus) which burrows under the skin, causing intol- erable itching, which compels the sheep to rub and tear off the wool. The scab is not difiicult to cure, but to eradicate the disease from a large flock of sheep involves considerable work. The usual course is to dip the affected sheep in a warm and strong solution of tobacco, to which sulphur is sometimes added. The operation must be repeated after a week or two, to destroy the young mites that have hatched out after the first dipping. Ticks are an annoyance, but do not cause so much trouble; they are kept in check by dipping all the lambs a few days after shearing in a liquid similar to that used for scab. Lice are sometimes troublesome to sheep, but they may be disposed of in the same manner as ticks ; since they are usually confined to one or two localities, it may be found more convenient to rub the infected parts with mercurial*ointment diluted with lard. The maggot-fly is another pest that proves troublesome to sheep by depositing its eggs on moist parts about the tail. The eggs soon hatch into maggots, which cause great irritation and ugly sores. Crude petroleum is one of the cheapest and best remedies for this pest. BOMB DISEASES OF SHBEF. 93 The feet of sheep, and of the fine wools more especially, are liable to he af- fected with a contagious and specific inflammation, which makes the sheep lame and sometimes worries out its life. There has been a question whether foot-rot is contagious; probably there is an affection of the feet of sheep in some coun- tries which is not contagious, but that Spanish sheep and their descendants in this country are troubled by a contagious foot-root is in my opinion beyond a doubt. The treatment may be stated in brief to consist of careful trimming, fre- quent inspection and the judicious use of sulphate of copper. The eyes of sheep appear to be subject to inflammation at some seasons; as it occurs more frequently when sheep are upon stubbles, the cause is probably me- chanical injury. The remedy which often answers the purpose is a cooling ca- thartic of Glauber's-salts and washing of the eye two or three times a day with warm water and finally the use of an ^stringent wash, such as sulphate of zinc, or sugar of lead. Lambing ewes sometimes require assistance, which should be given in a gen- tle and skiUfnl manner. Fleshy ewes of some of the long wool varieties occa- sionally suffer from parturient apoplexy, a disease more frequently met with among cows. The ewes most liable to be affected are such as have had lambs before, are good nurses, and that have twins; the disease usually comes on a day or two after lambing. Like cows affected with the same disorder, they lie down and are unable to rise, from a partial or complete paralysis of the posterior extremities. So far as I have observed, a brisk cathartic of four to eight dro^ of Croton oil, in addition to a dose of salts and good nursing, is most apt to bring relief. Inflammation of the udder, either at lambing time or after wean- ing, is also one of the diseases to which ewes are liable. Gentle emptying of the bag, a cooling dose of salts, and frequent bathing in water, either warm or cold, according to the temperature of the part, will usually hasten recovery. It should be understood that sheep are not only timid but somewhat delicate animals; they require protection from their natural enemies, wolves and dogs; they also require protection from climatic extremes. They are exposed to many diseases, to guard against which constant and intelligent care are required. 94, THB SSOBBTS OF FBOOBESSIYB AGBIOUXTUBB, SOME DISEASES OF SWINE. BY N. 6. TOWNSHEND. GentlEMBN : — In speaking of the diseases of swine,'I will begin with what we call hog cholera, and possibly a want of time uia7 prevent any reference to other diseases. Hog cholera is hj far the most serious disease with which the Ohio farmer has to contend. In the volume of Ohio statistics for 1878, the first year in which such losses are reported, I find the loss of swine set down at $1,334,655, or twenty-three per cent, of the assessed value of all the hogs in the state. The orjmmissioner of agriculture reports the total losses of animals in the United States for 1877 to be $16,653,428, and adds that about two thirds of this is pre- sumed to have been caused by contagious diseases of swine. In Ohio all parts of the state do not sufier alike from this disease ; in some counties it is not known; the principal losses, as might be expected, are confined to those counties where corn growing and pork fattening are largely followed. A disease so formidable you would naturally suppose would have attracted a great deal of legislative attention. Only to some extent is this true. Our own state government a year or two since appointed a commission to investigate the disease. The United States commissioner of agriculture adopted measures for a more extended examination, and here I have a report from the several members of that commission. Physicians, veterinarians and intelligent farmers in differ- ent parts of the country have made observations and published the conclusions reached. These investigations, however, are not yet completed, and much re- mains to be known before our stock^ raisers will obtain entire mastery of the disease. Hog cholera, swine plague, hog fever, enteric fever, pig typhoid, or by what- ever name the disease is known, appears to be a specific and contagious disease, or an idiopathic fever, which makes its attack and runs its course, locating sometimes upon one set of organs, and sometimes upon others, according to the age of the subject, the state of the weather, and other circumstances. From the time of exposure there is a period of incubation before the disease becomes manifest. The duration of this period varies from three days to two weeks, be- ing shorter in hot weather — the length of the period is probably modified by other causes. The attack is usually ushered in by a stage of congestion, shown by rigors, crowding close to companions, burrowing in the litter, etc. After this stage, which may last but a few hours, or a whole day, there is reaction and fe- Ter, indicated by increased heat, thirst, redness of skin, and constipation. After this reaction there is soon seen a tendency to local inflammation, sometime* of BOMB DISEASES OF ffWINB 95 the throat, in which ease the affection somewhat resemhlea diphtheria; some- times of the air passages, when we see cough, difficult breathing and heaving of the flanks; sometimes of parts within the abdomen, inflammation of the bow- els and peritonitis. The death of the afiected animal may occur promptly dur- ing the stupor of congestion, or it may be delayed a few days nntil the disease of the throat, or lungs, or bowels causes changes which are incompatible with life; or the disease may continue, the inflammatory action going through its stages until the animal recovers or dies of exhaustion. Postrmartem appearances are, therefore, widely different in this disease, though the disease is easily enough recognized under any of these forms. As before stated, sometimes the throat is the only part affected; frequently the lungs are congested with blood, or com- pletely clogged with exuded serum ; the pleural cavities and pericordium are equally the seats of effusion. - In the abdomen we see peritonitis with serum, or coagulable lymph, or the intestines themselves may be the chief seat of disease. Within the intestinal canal we find inflamed spots, or crusts, or after the crusts have fallen off, ulcerations. These ulcerations are apt to be most abundant in the caecum and colon, but are not absent from the small intestines. The fre- quency of these evidences of disease of the bowels have led many investigators to regard the disorder as analagous to typhoid or enteric fever of the human sub- ject, and hence they choose to designate it as hog typhoid, enteric fever, etc. Post-mortems in this disease often show considerable enlargement of the spleen, or milt, as farmers call it. Such enlargement at once suggests the possible rela- tion of hog cholera with malignant anthrax or splenic appoplexy — as it is called in one of its manifestations. We have heard much speculation about the cause of this disease, also in re- gard to the means by which it is transmitted. Some have supposed that it de- pended on improper feeding, or the substitution of dry corn in place of the roots which form the natural sustenance of swine. Some have attributed it to crowd poisoning, or the herding of many animals together, as we find the practice upon some farms and in connection with distilleries. Whether the disease will break out anywhere if the conditions are favorable, or whether it always depends on a contagious or infectious agency, has been much discussed. To settle some of these difficult points was the object of the commissioner of agriculture in ap- pointing his commission. Dr. Detmers, Professor Law and six or seven other physicians or veterinarians have made the subject one of earnest inquiry and careful investigation. Their report, which is published by Congress, may, per- haps, be regarded as conclusive on several points previously undetermined. It appears to have been proved that the disease does not originate anew, no matter how unhealthy the conditions, and that a direct and specific contagion is in all cases the cause of the disease. It also seems to be proved that this specific con- tagion is a microphyte or low organism which lives upon, multiplies and finally destroys the animal whose circulating fluid it infests, either by depriving them of nourishment, or more frequently by clogging up the vessels and tissues; that this organism or its germs may be conveyed by contact, through the atmosphere, or by means of streams, and gain access to other animals by the respiratory ap- paratus, by the digestive organs, or through wounds or sores ; that the conta- gion may be communicated by inoculation from diseased to healthy animals and 96 IHB SECRETS Of FBOGfiESSITE AGBICtrLTtTSfi. from these again to others successively; that it may also be communicated to other animals — sheep, rabbits, rats, etc., etc., — back again from these to other swine ; that these disease germs may be kept alive for a long period and culti- vated in suitable animal fluids, or retain their vitality for weeks, or even months, in a dried state in litter or rubbish, or upon the walls of buildings. As a. means of preventing the spread of this disease it is recommended that animals that have died of it be effectuaily disposed of by deep burial, burning, or prompt boiling — if they contain anything 'worth preserving — so that no con- tamination shall possibly pass from the dead to the living. If animals are affect- ed or suspected, they, should be Isolated and kept from all viimals presumably healthy. Buildings or piggeries where diseased animals have been kept should be cleansed thoroughly and disinfected by burning sulphur, or by chloride of lime, or carbolic acid, before being occupied again. Treatment for diseased animals would not be advisable if that would involve the possibility of sick animals communicating the disease to others not affected. Where the separation can be complete, it may be safe and perhaps profitable to attempt the recoveiy of the sick, especially a^ many full grown animals will re- cover spontaneously. Hoga affected with swine fever must be protected from the cold and rain; if in the congestive stages they may be fed with milk or swill as warm as they can drink it, and all through the attack food in fluid form is better than solid. At first there is constipation, which may be relieved by hyposulphite of soda — which is both disinfectant as well as laxative ; it dissolves readily in water, and if added to all their drink at the rate of a quarter of an ounce to a hundred weight of the animal it will be drank without objection two or three times a day. Sulphur, if necessary, may be used as a disinfectant and laxative by adding it to the food at the rate of a drachm for each one hundred pounds of the animal twice a day, and continued while the constipation lasts. Carbolic acid — the sat- urated solution — may be added to alTfood and drink at the rate of ten drops to one hundred pounds of the animal. After the bowels have become thoroughly relaxed, as they will if the animal survives long enough, either from the laxative administered or later from the progress of the disease, warm milk is the bestrdiet, or linseed gruel may be added to the milk or substituted in its place. After the violence of the disease has passed, good, nourishing food, in a fluid or moist state, appears to aid the recovery. It appears to be understood that after hogs have had this disease and thor- oughly recovered, they are more or less protected from subsequent attacks. This has suggested the resort to inoculation with a modified and less active virus as a means of protection, as we resort to vaccination for protection against small- pox. So far as I know this has not been successfully accomplished. Many at- tempts will doubtless ere long be made in this direction, with what success we cannot foretell. So far as we know at present, the Immediate and complete sep- aration of all sick or suspected animals from a herd, and probably their prompt destruction and careful burial, is the best way to arrest the spread of the disease. STOCK BBBEDINQ. 97 STOCK BREEDING. BY N. S. TOWNSHEND. Wild animals seem to have two aims in lite. First, self-preservation, which impels them to seek food, and some means of protection from their natural ene- mies. Second, the preservation of their species, which impels them to seek their mates in due season, and to protect and nourish their young. After do- mestication man modifies the forms of animals to adapt them better to his pur- poses. This frequently imposes on him the necessity of protection and support. The history of animal domestication is lost; it was a glorious achievment, but was efi'ected in pre-historic times. Almost all we know upon this subject is that the bones of most of the animals in use among us are found in Europe with the bones and about the dwellings of the men of the bronze age. Who were those K en and what their date are questions in ethnology and archaeology that we will not now attempt to discuss. The wild horse has been found in Central Asia, and from that point he proba- bly went or was taken to Egypt, to India, to China, and afterward to Europe. The horse has been modified by man so as in some breeds to develop greater strength and in others greater speed, and in all cases greater docility. The serv- ice the horse has rendered to man, both in war and in peace, in his labors and in his pleasures, cannot be estimated. A few years since, during the prevalence of the epizootic, so called, we learned a fearful lesson of our dependence on the horse. The wild cow, also a native of Asia, has been greatly modified so as to produce a better quality of flesh, and so as to increase the secretion of milk to the extent of making it a most important article of human food. Especially are the solid parts of the milk, made into cheese and butter, favorite articles of food in all civilized countries. The docile and patient ox has also been taught to labor; in some countries he is to-day almost the only beast of burden. In the newer portions of this country he is the companion and chief helper of the hardy pioneer. The sheep has undergone great modification by its association with man and the readiness with which it can be made to contribute to human comfort. In the wild state, as for example the big horn, or ovis montana, of the Rooky Mountains, the sheep is able, to hold his own among wild beasts and in an inhospitable cli- mate ; but there his wool is short and his legs and horns are long and strong. Two or three objects appear to have directed the modification of this animal in domestication. First, his golden fleece has more than justified the heroism of a BECHET8 OF PROSBSSSIVB AaBIOVXTTSB. Jason and the poetry of later dmei. Then the fleah of the iheep, and eapeelallj of those rarieties which have been onltivated with this view, is more digestible and equally nutritious with the best of onr flesh foods. In some countries sheep are kept for their milk and the mannfactnre of cheese, but this does not seem profitable where any form of the cow can be kept. Where the cow cannot profitably be kept the goat would seem to be the next beat substitute. Swine have been changed from a wild, coarse, and ferocous animal to a sort of Uving factory for the production of pork, ham, bacon, and lard. The principal changes that have been affected in most of the domestic animals since their first domestication appear to have been made in comparatively modem times, commencing only about a century and a half ago. Bakewell, the Collins brothers, Tompkins, John Coleman, and Jonas Webb, each took one or more varieties of stock and developed precisely the qualities they desired with wonderful success. Bakewell began with Leicester sheep, but carried on his im- provments with long horned cattle and with heavy horses. The Collins brothers were successful breeders of short horns, and although the breed was a good one when they began, by great skill and perseverance they left it still better. Tompkins improved Hereford cattle, and John Coleman and Jonas Webb almost created a new animal out of Southdown sheep. We are interested in learning how these beneficial changes in stock were effected. Three distinct methods appear to have been employed : first, careful selection; second, judicious crossing; third, improvement of conditions. Selection within the breed or variety sought to be improved, means continually breeding from the best ; it means equally the rigid exclusion of all inferior ani- mals from the flock or herd. When some one inquired of Lord Bivers how it was that he secured such a beautiful and uniform pack of hounds, his reply was : " I breed a great many and I hang a great many." The breeder must have in his mind a distinct ideal, and this ideal must not be a fancy sketch, but must have close relation to form and pui'pose. Crossing is often a more rapid method than selection of effecting important changes. It seems, however, to require great skill and judgment, for in the absence of these it is possible to combine the bad qualities of two breeds instead of the good ones. Changed conditions, or the providing suitable food and shelter adapted to the development of a valuable quality, are equally important. What is termed heredity is the basis of improvement in breeding. All observation has shown that the law of transmission is that " Like produces like." Hence, we may expect the qualities of parents to reappear in their offspring, more especially, of course, if the desired quality is marked in both parents. The more established a peculiar excellence is in a family, the greater certainty there is of its transmission. It is nevertheless true that acquired as well as natural characteristics are often transmitted from parents to progeny. Not only is this true of mental traits, the result of education, as peculiar docility in shep- herd dogs and setters and in some horses, but there appears to be a tendency to transmit acquired physical traits, both excellences and defects. At times this may be taken advantage of with benefit; more frequently it should be curbed lest it result in propagating a disease or a deformity. A fact very noticeable is the strong tendency there is to reproduce the likeness of ancestors generations STOCK BEEECma. / 99 back. To this tendency the term atavism is applied, and it is upon this'tendency that the yalne of a good pedegree depends. For breeding purposes it is not enough that the immediate parents were good ; it is almost equally important that the grand-parents and great grand-parents should have been equally good. Becognizing this the mistake of those who purchase only high grades for breed- ing purposes is sufficiently apparent. Consanguineous, or as it is often called, " in and in breeding," has both ad- vantages and disadvantages. liVhere peculiar excellence has been obtained in a herd or a flock, there is a strong reason for close breeding; not only that the offspring may perpetuate the good quality of the herd, but because the excellence of homogeneousness, or similarity, is apt to be secured. There is, however, the danger in breeding too closely of enfeebling the constitution ; especially is this liable to impair fecundity. Some breeders adopt the rule of breeding twice from their own flock or herd to once from outside. It is, I believe, safer to breed from outside every time if there is a prospect that equal excellence will be secured. The relation of form to purpose seems to have been the guiding star of all the great improvers of the last century. Bakewell described an animal with the aptitude to fatten as one small of bone and limb ; in body short, broad and deep, with plenty of cellular matter under the skin. For a milker, long and broad hips, showing a tendency of the pelvis to predominate ; a small head and neck, and a square, good-sized udder. For strength and speed there are also special types. The upright limbs and shoulder of the powerful draft horse are not more noticable than the oblique shoulders and small bones of the racer. It was said of a distinguished turfman that he had attained to such skill in stating the speed of horses that he could not only name the winner in a racing field, but fix the order and place for the whole field. To judge of the excellence of cattle is quite an accomplishment. The ideal form for each particular purpose must be carried in the mind ; but the hand gives a surer test than the eye; however fine the form, a poor handler will not fatten kindly nor thrive on a given amount of food, as one with a soft mellow skin, which indicates a large amount of cellular tissue for the future deposition of fat Some may not quite see why a mellow skin is proof of aptitude to fatten ; but when it is understood that certain qualities are always correlated, the proposition may perhaps be believed. 100 THE SECRETS OS PKOGRESSIVB AGKIOITLTUBK. POULTRY AND THEIR DISEASES. BY N. S. TOWNSHEND. Gentlemen : — I am not as famUiar with poultry and their diseases as with our larger domesticated animals and their ailments, yet as I am satisfied that poul- try should have their place upon all our farms I am not willing that they should be omitted. If any of you should visit the city of New York you will probably be surprised, as I have been, at the value of the poultiy of various kinds, and of eggs sold weekly in that market. That some kinds of poultry ran be kept with great profit upon most of our farms there can be no doubt, but it is especial- ly upon small farms and in the vicinity of our large cities that poultry raising is most remunerative. Many experiments have shown that a giveu amount of food fed to cattle, sheep, swine or poultry, will bring the largest return when fed to poultry. I will refer briefly to some of the kinds we are likely to see upon an Ohio farm. , First, we may name the turkey. This is peculiarly an American bird, and one of the contrfljutions which this continent has made to the world's food supply. Three varieties are common among us, the black — which mostresembles the wild bird; the bronze or Cambridge turkey, and the white or speckled. Of these the black is supposed to be the most hardy, the bronze the largest, and the white or speckled the most domestic in its habits. Where I have lived in the northern part of the state wild turkeys were once very common, and, of course, were fine game for the hunter. I got an impression that sometimes my black turkeys were shot on the supposition that they were wild, so for many years I kept the white. These white, or speckled birds, we liked very well. They roam about less than black ones, are not quite so large nor quite so hardy, but a good flock of them will eat a great many grasshoppers and other insects in the course of a year, and in this way more than pay for the grain it may be necessary to supply when they cannot forage for themselves. I do not remember that they often needed medicating. To keep the young poultry from running to their injury in the wet, cold grass, we took care in wet weather to supply them with food, and this generally kept them at home. Geese were once of more importance than at present; when the goose fur- nished the only good quill for a pen, and when we knew of nothing to make a comfortable bed but feathers, the goose was well nigh indispensable. Even now geese are profitable where an abundance of water affords them a favorable lo- cation. The goose is rarely or never sick. She lives to a good old age, and in the main gets her own living ; feeding mainly upon grass she needs but little at- POULTEY AND THEIB DISBASES. 101 tention besides a comfortable house at night, a good pasture aild a good pond or river. A goose, in the estimation of some, is as good a roast as a turkey and is quite as easy to raise. Ducks are more numerous in Ohio than geese ; they too need water, but are more tolerant of its absence. We have a great many varieties of duclis. Some are large, others are small ; the large white Aylesbury were my especial favor- ites. Duelcs are good layers, they raise large broods, afford a most delicate disli for the table and are, withal, great destroyers of insects. Fortunately, they are not given to scratching like hens, and may, therefore, be safely tolerated in the garden, where no bug or grub seems to come amiss to them. Where there is a good pond or stream ducks may be kept with little care and large profit. Pintades, or Guinea Fowl, are kept on some farms; they are great layers, and their flesh has, to some extent, the tlavor of game. The only drawback tliat is urged against them is their noise, which, perhaps, is a decided objection to nerv- ous people, but their busy ways, harmlessness, and productiveness secure for them friends in many a farmer's household. Of hens we have almost innumerable varieties, and at fairs we see as much choice and taste exercised, and hear as decided preference expressed as in regard to auy kind of stock. I am not able to say what variety is most desirable, for I have to confess to an early prejudice in favor of Games. More than fifty years since, when my father came into this state he brought with him some black breasted reds with white legs— what chicken fanciers call the Earl Derby games. They proved so hardy and so courageous, and so able to take care of themselves, that I have never changed, though I do not doubt that other varieties might have been found more profitable. This variety forages all over the farm where insects are to be caught. I used to be pleased, when a, boy, with the way they would follow me at plow, and pick up any unlucky grub or worm that ap- peared. It pleased me, also, to see the plucky way the hens would defend their broods from hawks and other enemies, and the cock of the walk would hold himself in readiness to do effective battle against any enemy, big or little, that would disturb his family. My partiality for this variety probably, had the ef- fect of preventing my becoming familiar with many chicken diseases, for the games are rarely sick and successfully struggle with difficulties under which other vari- eties would succumb. Chicken cholera is a disease among hens of which all have heard a great deal, but of which I .have seen but little, except as I have sometimes had the oppor- tunity to Taalke post-mortems of its unfortunate victims. The most interesting in- vestigations 'on this subject have recently been made by a Frenchman — M. Pasteur. He has abundantly demonstrated what others had suspected, and some, perhaps, had discovered, that this destructive distemper of chickens has for its cause a microphyte, or living organism in the blood, which allies this with Buch contagious diseases as hog cholera, Texas fever and malignant anthrax. He has taken the blood from a diseased chicken, inoculated with it other healthy chickens, and in them produced the same disease. He has done more; he has taken some chicken broth, and after boiling long enough to insure that it con> tained no living germ, he has added a part of a drop of blood of a diseased chick- en. This he has set aside untU the microbe or microphyte has had time to 102 THE SECBBTS OV PEOGRESSIVE AGBIOULTUBK. grow and multiply, and become diffased through the liquid, then he has taken a drop of this liquid and inoculated healthy chickens, giving them the disease, or he has communicated the poison to fresh chicken soup. So long as these culti- vations, as they a^e called, were made without the free access of oiygen, they retained their virulence and kUled heaJthy chickens as quickly as the fresh blood from one diseased. But when successive cultivations were made with free access to the oxygen of the air, it was found that the virus became less and less virulent. It would still give the disease, but in a milder form, so much mil'ler, indeed, as not to endanger life ; and stiU it was found that this mild form was a protection against a second attack. The importance of these experiments you can see ; if it is found, and such seems to be the fact, that several of these con- tagious diseases occur but once, or in other words, that one attack exhausts the susceptibility to future attack, then if by any means that first attack can be de- prived of its malignity we have a way of escaping the danger of a disease which we do not know how to cure. The method pursued by M. Pasteur would not be difficult to follow if by adopting.it we can arrest the chicken cholera : but better still this method of inoculating with a vims which had lost a part of its maligni- ty by cultivation in atmospheric air promises to be equally eifeetive against hog cholera, Texas fever and other forms of anthrax. This, perhaps, is not yet fully demonstrated, but the probabilities are strongly in its favor. I trust that the Commissioner of Agriculture at Washington will continue his investigations and experiments until this matter is definitely settled. In the mean time, if we are compelled to encounter chicken cholera, and know of nothing better, we may resort to the astringent treatment which sometimes proves successful. This is to add the extract of Jamaica ginger to the drinking water, imaking it as strong as the fowls will drink ; or to mix pulverized ginger with their food — which should be soft and warm — or black pepper may be mixed with the food instead of the ginger, and it will have substantially the same ef- fect. Whole corn should not be fed unless it has been burned and converted into charcoal; in this form it appears to be instinctively desired by fowls suffer- ing from this disease, and it has been supposed to do them a great deal of good. Another of the diseases to which chickens are subject is called gapes. This affects also, turkeys, quails, partridges, prairie chickens and many other birds. It is characterized by stretching the neck and gaping for breath, as though the wind pipe were affected, which is indeed the fact. Gapes is caused by the pres- ence of a little red thread worm, from half to nearly an inch in length, some of which have the peculiarity of appearing to be forked. It is known to zoologists as sderostoma syngarmts, and is allied to the parasites which cause the paper skin or' lung worm of sheep, and the hoose or husk of young cattle. Some at- tempt to relieve chickens affected in this way by rubbing a little spirits of tur- pentine upon the throat, which it is said kills or disables the worm so that the chicken is enabled to sneeze them out. Others catch the chicken, bring the bill into line with the neck, throw open the mouth and pass a small feather down Mie wind pipe ; after giving it a turn it is quickly withdrawn, and will often be found to have several of the worms adhering. This way may be to the chicken a disagreeable operation, but its results are certainly less so than the continued presence of the worm. A still simpler plan is sometimes found equally effectual : LEGISLATION IN KEGABD TO CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 103 if at any point the wind pipe appears to be disturbed by a knot of the worms, give it a smart squeeze between the thumb and finger, then let the chicken go, it will sneeze, and out will be thrown the injured worms. The study of some of the diseases we have been considering shows in a strik- ing manner the importance of a thorough knowledge of natural history to all those who wish to prevent, or successfully treat, the diseases of our domestic an- imals. LEGISLATION IN REGARD TO CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. BY N. S. TOWKSHKND. Gentlemen: — I propose to talk to you this afternoon upon the necessity of legislation to prevent the spread of contagious diseases among animals. Some of you are doubtless ready to inquire what legislation can do to correct the spread of disease. To this I reply, that our state and national governments may adopt three measures, all of great importance: First — Legislation may prevent the ti'ausfer of diseased animals by railroads, by steamboats upon our lakes and rivers, or from being driven over any county or township road. Second — Legis- lation may provide for the prompt examination of diseased animals, for com- pensation to the owners, and the destruction of all animals affected by danger- ous diseases. Third — Legislation may provide for proper inspection at ports of entry and all other points through which such diseases are likely to be intro- duced. No farmer, however intelligent and careful, can protect his animals from dis- ease if other persons at their pleasure may move stock liable to communicate disease along the public highways. State legislation is competent to restrain the shipment and transfer of sick animals within state limits, but to restrain traffic between the states congressional legislation must be invoked. In Ohio we al- ready have some statutory provisions looking to this object, but they are but imperfectly understood by the public, and are generally believed to be inadequate. I propose now to refer briefly to some of the contagious diseases with which animals are liable to be affected. Beginning with thobe that may be communi- cated from animals to mankind, we have glanders and farey in horses ; canine madness or rabies in dogs; malignant anthrax in almost aU animals; tubercu- losis, cholera, small-pox, apthous fever, typhoid feyer and diptheria. Besides these there are several parasitic diseases common to animals, such as trichinosis. 104 THE SECRETS OF PKOGRESSIVE AGRICTJLTUKE. tape-worms, and a variety of skin diseases which depend on vegetable or animal parasites. Kext there is a long list of maladies that may be communicated from one animal to another, such as hog cholera, Texas fever, rinderpest, pleuro- pneumonia, sheep-pox, horse-pox, besides a multitude of others not yet intro- duced into this country. I have not been able to obtain an accurate statement of the pecuniary losses sustained in this country from such diseases. From a report to the Massachu- setts legislature I see that the loss from pleuro-pneumonia alone in that state is estimated at $200,000, of which $70,000 was borne by the state treasury, the balance by individuals. Several other states on the Atlantic seaboard have suf- fered equally or even worse. In Great Britain and her colonies three of the diseases named — rinderpest, pleuro-pneiiraonia and apthous fever — are said to have resulted in a loss of not less thana hundred million of pounds sterling. When these diseases were first introduced into the British islands the govern- ment adopted no adequate measures to arrest their spread. Finally the evil became so serious that stringent measures had to be employed. Now the measures devised by Great Britain are found to operate seriously upon cattle raisers here in Ohio and otlier states west. No cattle from countries where pleuro-pneumonia exists are permitted to enter British ports alive, and the im- mediate slaughter of our American cattle on landing is a great loss to shippers, [f our government at Washington would adopt energetic measures to put an end to these contagious diseases, and be able to give a guarantee of the good health Df stock at all our seaports, the exportation of fat cattle might be indefinitely increased. It therefore appears that we suffer in two ways; from the liability Df these diseases to spread to the destruction of millions of dollars' worth of stock, and in destroying the best marl^et for what we have to spare. Some of the states are adopting efficient measures on the subject. I will read from the Veterinary Keview a copy of the law which has recently passed the legislature of New York to prevent the spread of infectious and contagious dis- eases in that state : Section 1. Whenever any infectious or contagious disease afiecting domestic animals shall be brought into or shall break out in this state, it shall be the duty of the governor to take measures to suppress the same promptly and prevent the same from spreading. Sec. 2. For such purpose the governor shall have power To issue his proclamation stating that infectious or contagious disease exists in any county or counties of the state, and warning all persons to seclude all an- imals in their possession that are affected with such disease, or have been ex- posed to the infection or contagion thereof, and ordering all persons to take such precautions against the spreading of such disease as the nature thereof in bia judgment renders necessaiy or e:!roedient. To order that any premises or farms where such disease exists or has existed, be put in quarantine, so that no domestic animal be removed from or brought to to the place so quarantined, and to prescribe such regulations as he may judge necessai'y or expedient to prevent infection or contagion being communicated in any way from the place ?o quarantined. To call upon all sheriffs or deputy sheriffs to carry out and enforce the provis- ions of such proclamation, orders and regulations, and it shall be the duty of all sheriffs and deputy sheriffs to obey and observe all orders and instructions which they may receive from this Governor in the premises. To employ such and so many medical and veterinary practitioners, and such LEGISLATION IN KBGARD TO CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 105 other persons as ha may from time to time deem necessary to assist him in per- forming hie duty as set forth in the first section of this act, and to fix their com- pensation. To prescribe regulations for the destruction of animals aifected with infectious or contagious diseases, and for the proper disposition of their hides and car- casses, and of all objects which might convey infection or contagion, provided that no animal shall be destroyed unless first examined by medical or veterinary practitioners in the employ of the governor aforesaid. To prescribe regulations for the disinfection of all buildings, railway cars, and of all objects from or by which infection or contagion may take place or be con- veyed. To alter and modify from time to time, as he may deem expedient, the terms of all such proclamations, orders and regulations, and to cancel or withdraw the same at any time. Any person transgressing the terms of any proclamation, order, or regulation issued or prescribed by the governor under authority of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. All expenses incurred by the governor in carrying out the provisions of this act, and in performing the duty hereby devolved upon him, shall be audited by the comptroller as extraordinaiy expenses of the executive department and shall be paid out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. Here we have an example of legislation such as we need in Ohio. "We also need some concert of action so that proper attention shall be given to the sub- ject in all the grazing states. Let me now read to you a series of resolutions presented to a meeting of stock raisers held in Chicago on the 17th of last No- vember, by a committee consisting of Mr. Sanders, T. C. Jones, Emory Cobb and Mr. Ford, and which were unanimously adopted: Whekeas, The contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle exists in some states of the union bordering on the Atlantic seaboard; and, Whekeas, It is evident that so long as unrestricted trafiic is permitted be- tween these infected states and those not infected, the live stock interests in all sections of our country are menaced by terrible danger ; and, Whereas, This state of affairs has resulted in the adoption of regulations by the British government which seriously interfere with our export trade in live cattle with that country, thereby entailing great danger to all cattle raisers and feeders in the United States; and. Whereas, In view of the decision of our state and federal courts that states acting as such are powerless to protect themselves from infection from an ad- joining state, and for the same reason an infected state is powerless to stamp out the contagion so long as it exists on its borders in an adjoining state ; therefore, Besolved, That it is the imperative duty of Congress to enact such laws as shall effectually prevent a spread of disease into states not already infected, and which shall result in its entire extermination at the earliest practical date. Resolved, That as an important preliminary step we heartily second the recom- mendation of Judge Jones, of Ohio, to the President of the United States for the appointment of one or more veterinary inspectors who shall definitely ascertain and designate the infected regions. Besolved, That we recognize the bill introduced into the House of Representa- tives last session by General Keif er, of Ohio, .as embodying the essential features necessary to the intelligent and efficient supervision of contagious and infec- tious diseases of live stock generally on the part of the federal government, and that we heartily recommend its passage with an additional provision which shall clothe the commission with the authority to prescribe rules and regulations un- der which the live stock of any infected state, territory or district may be trans- ported or taken therefrom, and under which live stock may be transported through such region, or in their discretion to prohibit absolutely the transporta- tion of live stock from or through such infected parts, when. In their opinion, the same may be essential to their general safety. 106 THE SECRETS OF PROGRESSIVE AGRICULTURE. Baolved, That we recommend that resolotions be prepared' and circnlated in all parts of the country and forwarded to Congress, calling attention to this sub- ject and urging favorable consideration of the measures proposed in the forego- ing resolutions. In the form of a petition to the House of Bepresentatives these resolutions have been widely circulated and very generally signed. What I have read will place the subject before you better than anything I could have said. I trust you will give to it the attention its importance demands, and not delay action until the danger is realized. About three years since a gentleman requested me to see some sick cattle in an adjoining township. On reaching the place we found eight or ten steers in a yard — aJl that were left of upward of sixty. Three that had died a few hours before were awaiting my examination, which showed, beyond a doubt, that Texas fever was the cause of the heavy lose. Some strange cattle had been pas- tured for a city butcher ; after they were removed the farmer's own steers were turned into the same field; they took Texas fever and nearly aU died^ — their owner not knowing that his cattle had been exposed to a contagious and dread- fully destructive disease. This and somewhat similar cases have compelled me to believe that the indifference and security farmers feel in regard to contagious diseases is generally the result of ignorance npon the subject UNITED STATES SIGNAL STATIONS. BT PROF. R. W. MC PAKLiLND. Gentlemen: — What I am to say to you now you will know better when I get through. I was requested by Dr. Townshend to speak to you on the Signal Service of the United States. That is my text to-day, and for next Tuesday " Weather Reports for Farmers." It is a question of history, and some of you may want to know the time at which the history of the Signal Service of the United States commences, and wherein it may be made of service to you in your business. These are the two topics on which I am to speak to you in the two lectures I am to make in the course. To help in this matter, I have written out on the board a list of the places where signal service stations are established in the United States and other countries. Most of the information I have to give to you on the points before us to-day, I have obtained from the tables in the last report of the signal service of the depart- ment of war of the United States. It is a difficult thing to make the work of the sig- tJNITBD StATES SIGNAL STATIONS. 107 nal service as extensively useful to you as it may te made to those in other business. But I shall speak to-day not so much about the uses of it, as about the history of the work and how the work is carried on, where and by whom carried on. As my text is written out befere you I shall pass over it rapidly. The origin of this work, and the first eflForts to establish signal stations, are large- ly due to the late Albert J. Myer, who was called " Old Probabilities," partly through his success in indicating beforehand what the weather would be at cer- tain points. But Congress did not take up the matter until Februaiy 9th, 1870. The next act of Congress in reference to this matter was June 3d, 1873, in which they ordered this signal service to be applied to giving general signals of danger — what are called " danger signals, " on the sea and lake coast. Albert J. Myer concluded that this service ought to go beyond that and be made more general, and be applied to other interests throughout the United States, so that reports of thejweather could be sent from point to point by telegraph, by which means people would know hours beforehand what kind of weather was approaching ; not what kind of weather there would be next week, or three or four days ahead. But this plan now, this whole signal service is to get at the weather reports from the various stations. It is nothing more nor less than for some one to find out and telegraph in advance what the condition of the weath- er ia; and in my judgment that is about all we will ever get; so far as indica- tions now are, that is about the end of it ; it is not weU. to predict too much, or to foretell too minutely what is coming to pass; men may find out sometime the law of the weather, but it is not yet done. There are some general facts known, but not absolutely anything of any importance that may be called the science of the weather; that is the thing they are now trying to find out in this and in other countries. In 1873 by the action and personal solicitation an,d efforts of Gen. Myer, other countries began to look into the weather too, because so many storms orignate in this country and sometimes cross the Atlantic. In September, 1873, eighteen different governments had a congress on this subject at Vienna in Austria. They agreed to make their observations and telegraph to each other so that men all over the civilized world might know ; and' that there might be facts gathered to. gether from which laws might be dednced. July 1, 1875, Gen. Myer published his first daily bulletin and weather map. In 1878 the first international map was published; they are now printed three times a day at Washington City; this and some other countries report everyday. In all parts of our country there are men having time to devote to the subject who are comparing these reports, and they will probably find the law of the weather if there is any law to be found. There are two hundred and forty-six stations on the western continent from which they report, every day to Washington; and one hundred and twenty-one on the other continent are reported back; that is, from these stations they may report back to one another; about two hundred international reports are sent by telegraph daily. Here is an alphabetical list of the names of the countries which are using the signal service. Of course you see that navigation and other branches of business are more directly benefited than you are. First we have Algeria; it is in northern Africa, south of Spain; they have 108 THE SECRETS OF PKOGEESSIVB AGRICULTUEB. twenty stations, but they only make monthly reports, and have done so since 1877. Next is the Argentine Republic, in South America, south of this place about five thousand miles. They ai-e making observations, and I think have twenty-sLx stations. In Austria they have two hundred and seventy-five stations ; twenty-six of them report daily by telegraph. In addition to those I have mentioned they have about one hundred others which give daily bulletins. Australia — which is a country about as far off as you can find on this globe, twelve or thirteen thousand miles — has more stations than we have; it has three hundred and forty-five, and sixty-aeven of these issue daily bulletins. Belgium has thirty-five stations and issues daily bulletins; and has one storm station. Every country which is bordered by lake or sea has now public storm signal stations. Passing to Canada, we find there one hundred and sixty stations. Twenty- eight of these, it is claimed by this volume, have daily reports. In Cape Colony they began in 1861 in a sort of private way, and they now have between thirty and forty stations, and are doing the same thing throughout South Africa. Thii-teen of these stations have been at work in a small way since 18C7. In China — evendown in China — they had twenty stations occupied year before last. I don't know how much work they have there yet. In one country of South America — Costa Eica — they have one. In Denmark they have eighty-two stations. Even in Iceland they have five stations, and in Greenland five stations. Now, it puzzles me to know what they want with weather signals up there in Green- land, but I will leave that for you to discuss among yourselves. In Egypt they have three. Finland has twenty stations; what for, I don't know. But there are twenty stations on the border of the arctic circle. France has a great many; I hardly know how many, but they report from one hundred every day. In Germany they have about two hundred. Forty well equipped; and of these twenty-seven give daily bulletins, and put up storm signals on their coasts. India has three hundred and fifty stations put up under direction of the Britr ish government; fifty of them telegraphic stations. Italy has eighty. In so small a country it would seem the storms could almost keep up with the telegraphic information. We have very few stations on our westfern coast, because it would be of no use to have expensive telegraphic stations along the Pacific coast, since the storms have but a very short distance to travel in that region and there would be little profit in telegraphing reports concerning them. Japan has about twenty stations. Mexico thirty. The Netherlands thirty-seven. New Zealand about twenty; I don't know what particular use that country can make of them. Norway has ten well equipped stations; seven telegraphic. Portugal ten. Eussia has thirty stations. Spain thirty. Sweden thirty ; every sea coast has its signal service, giving stoi-m signals. Turkey has thirty stations. TNITED STATES SIGNAL STATIONS. 109 The United States has two hundred and ninety-nine, and there are several hundred others that do not report. These t\ro hundred and ninety-nine report daily at Washington. Mr. Ellis. I think railroads require their men to report every hour. Prof. McFarland. There is money in it; the railroad company sees what will pay. These telegraph stations have men to telegraph weather reports all over the country. Now the new lines of telegraph were first for the benefit of the pock- ets of the men who own the railroads, but they operate incidentally to the ben- efit of all those who travel. I have thus put before you something of the history of the signal service, and now to sum up a little, let me say that all the civilized nations of the earth are now giving reports of the state of the weather, the indications of the barometer, thermometer, and the direction and force of the wind, and the amount of cloudi- ness in the sky over the face of the earth from day to day, every day, and at the same identical hour. If it is twelve o'clock in Washington City, it is about five o'clock at London ; and if Washington time is the standard, then if it is five o'clock in the afternoon in London, at San Francisco it would be about nine o'clock in the morning. This is tlie general rule agreed upon, that the reports shall be for the same hour of absolute time; and in that way they can make something out of it if anything is possible. The first work in the United States in regard to signal service was accom- plished by money furnished by private persons. In 1874 the Smithsonian Insti- tution began to take observations, and employed about four hundred men to do like work and to report monthly. Maps have been furnished three times a day in Washington City, and signals are now sent to eighty coast stations; or have been up to 1879. The signal service have in all about three thousand miles of telegraph line, and use all the telegraph lines they need besides. They emply about four hun- dred and seventy-five men all the time, and about one hundred and fifty more part of the time. The international weather maps are based upon the reports from seven hundred stations. So at Washington -the international weather map shows the condition of the weather all over the world, at' least once a day. •So much I have said about the United States signal service. I thought it best to give you a general sketch of the work that you may see what is in process of being done; the object is as you can see, to benefit all mankind — agriculturists as well as others. My next lecture will have reference to the way in which it may be made, to benefit agriculturists. The following question in writing was handed in by Mr. S. H. Ellis: "Will not the records of the signal service as now conducted, after a long series of recorded observations, result in some definite conclusions being arrived at that will be of permanent practical value?" Prof. McFarland. — I suppose they will. Whether we shall have signs of the weather so as to predict the state of the weather six months ahead, I doubt; but that is not the question. I think the observations will be of service; I propose to show in lay next lecture what the observations have already done for the 110 THE SBCBETS Q¥ TBOGKESSIVB AOBICnLTUBK shipping interests in this country, and for all who are interested in ghipping, and that takes in you and me. > Mr. ElUa. — Professor, are you of the opinion that our storms are the results of certain fixed laws, whether we ever reach a knowledge of those laws or not? Prof. McFarland. — Yes, sir, of fixed laws, but fixed beyond our reach at present. ..i J/emiej-. — Are not these reports so definite now, and are not the probabilities so well settled, that farmers even who are within easy access of these signal service stations can by them tell what kind of weather is coming? JProf. McFarland. — That is a part of my speech for next Tuesday. [Laughter.] UNITED STATES SIGNAL STATIONS— SECOND LECTURE. BY PEOF. E. W. MC FAKLAND. In my first lectUre I spoke to you upon the signal service of the United States, I did not confine myself to our own country's work, but gave also a slight sketch of the signal service of the world. In all the stations of the same country, the observations are made at the same moment of time, and in all the international stations the same rule is adopted. If it is possible to determine the laws which govern climates and the weather, this method of simultaneous observations will probably lead to such knowledge. On this second topic, WEATHKK KEPOKTS FOB FARMER^ I propose to exhibit as fully as the limited time will allow the benefits not only to that class of the community, but also to others. The business interests of the country are so closely connected that when one interest is benefited, all tlje rest to a greater or less extent share in the good. From this last volume of reports of the signal service I will read some of the results of the observations, and tha method of making and recording them, to the end that you may know not only the facts, but also the manner by which they are ascertained. Weather reports for Ohio are often headed : " State of the weather in the north-west." Changes in the weather in Ohio follow each other in a more or less systematic manner. I have here, also, some articles written by Prof. Loomis, of Yale College. For several years he has been working ■imiTKD STATES SIGNAL STATIONS. Ill up the signal service reporta. He has traced out all the important storms in the United States; has classified them, and shown tneir origin as far as possible, whether in or out of the country; their course and their end, so far as known. He shows the origin, course, and end of the storms which rise in the Gulf of Mexico and travel toward the north-west.. Ho shows also the same points for storms which originate in the Eoolcy Mountains and blow toward the south- east. The first class of storms does not affect Ohio. Their influence seldom reaches beyond the southern border of Tennessee. But those from the upper valley of the ifississippi or from the Eoolsiy Mountains travel toward the south- east and veer more eastward as they progress. Mr. S. H. Ellis inquired whether our eastern rains do not come from the gulf. The answer was that our eastern rains do not generally come from that source, although most of the rains of Ohio do. The storms, however, now refered to, do not. They have a much more direct and shorter course from the north-west. It is proved by direct observation that our cold weather comes to us from the northern part of the Mississippi Valley. Many years ago Mr. Langstroth, whose name is well known from the bee-hive which he invented, gave special attention to the point now under consideration. This he was led to do because his stock of bees was sometimes in danger of destruction by sudden and severely cold weather. Whenever he saw by the Cincinnati morning papers — he lives in Oxford, Butler County, Ohio — that the mercury at Breckinridge, Minnesota, was much below zero he began to house his bees. His apiary sometimes contained as many as one hundred and twenty stands, and it was a work of no small mag- nitude to remove them all out of harms way. This was at the very beginning of the reports, and before the community at large paid much attention to them. Low temperature at Breckenridge was almost invariably followed by low temperature at Oxford within forty-eight hours. These observations extended over several years. In all that time Mr. L. suffered no loss, while many persona in the vicinity lost some or all of their stands. By these reports in the daily papers we get timely notice of approaching ehanges — storms or cold. The state of the barometer and thermometer is given every day at St. Paul, Keokuk, St. Louis, Fort Gibson, Memphis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Chicago, and other places ; and it is seldom necessary to notice other points, or even all of these, if we look for weather indications for Ohio. I turn now to some benefits which inure to different classes of the community. I will not take time to refer minutely to. the rainfall in the different sections of the state ; these reports have long been published by the Smithsonian Institute and are easily accessible. Presently I will read from the last volume of the signal service report remarks and statements from many different cities in this countiy, giving the estimate which different professions or lines of business put upon the value of the service. The storms to which I have referred ai'e usually indicated by the barometer. There is nearly always low barometer in connection with snow and high winds. By observing the point of the compass from which the wind blows, one can generally tell his own direction from the storm-center. Suppose, for example, as on this map, the barometer at one point marks 30 inches ; at another 29,90; 112 THE SECKBTS OF PEOGRBSSIVB AGKICULTURB. at another 29.80 ; and at still another in the midst of the rest 28.80. The storm- center is at the low harometer: the high figures shaw the border of the storm. It is not difficult to estimate pretty accurately the magnitude of that storm. Like observations the next day will show the position of the storm for that day, and thus you can readily see how far the storm has traveled, its rate of advance, and approximately, how long it will require to reach any given point in the line of its march. From such examinations it is found that storms move at very dif- ferent velocities — sometimes as much as thirty miles an hour. With a weather bulletin bej^ore you it is an easy matter to forecast the weather for the near future. The examination of the map requires but a minute or two. In case such maps could be put into your hands every morning, you could the better decide what work to undertake. The following table gives the number of farmers' bulletins issued during the year ending June, 1879, at the places named : Albany 112,842. Memphis 7,733. Bangor 55,744. Nashville ; 35,110. Boston 219,382. New York 225,672. Buffalo 103,387; Philadelphia 261,710. Burlington 58,444. Pittsburg 106,183. Chicago 300,804. Bochester '. 1,792. Ciincinnati 185,457. St. Louis 131,167. Des Moines 3,109. Washington 134,847. Detroit 118,780, From these points reports were forwarded to many other places. Giupinnati sent reports to twenty postoffices in the vicinity; Detroit to thirty-four; St. Louis to three hundred a,nd sixty-five ; Washington to seventy-two ; and similar remarks apply to other cities. The work is done quickly. Eeports forecasting the weather are telegraphed from Washington at one o'clock in the morning, to all the distributing offices, where they are immediately printed and sent out to other points, as given above. Eeports which are received first at Washington, at eleven o'clock P. M., are therefore made known at hundreds of places through- out the country at a very early hour the next morning. Observations touching the winds show what ones are usually followed by rain and what are not so followed. As a point in this discussion, I will state that the mercury in the barometer was very high this morning; 30M inches; and it shows that we are now on the border of a storm. [Heavy rain fell on the night following.] Prof. MoFarland then read from the published records, reports from Boston, Bufialo, Burlington, Vermont; Toledo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Galveston, Leaven- worth, Memphis, and other points, showing the estimation in which the reports are held by men of various occupations, trades, and professions, and their own views as to the money value of like reports. Mr. Ellis. — How about the barometer marking so high to-day ? Is it an indi- cation of rain? ~^' JProf. McFarland. — We expect rain when there is low barometer, rather than when it is high ; but a very high barometer is usually followed by a very low one, and a change of weather may be confidently looked for. TTNITBD STATES SIGNAL STATIONS. 113 A Member. — Is the barometer of much account if you have not the reports with it? Prof. McFarlancL. — If you have the reports, the barometer is much more valu- able. If you have the barometer only you will not know the direction of the storm-center, nor its course, nor its rate of movement. But with the reports, you will have aU these particulars, and wUl be able to say whether it will reach you in twenty-four or forty-eight ho urs, or not at all. You may be on the east border of it, or the south border, or the north, or the storm may pass by you at a long distance. Mr. Ellis. — One man in my neighborhood has been using a barometer a number of years, and I know a friend of his who says that whenever there is a high barometer this man cuts his hay, and that he always gets his hay wet. Prof. McFarlavd. — Don't you see, Mr. Ellis, how this story exactly agrees with what I have said? There is high barometer just before low barometer; by the time the man gets his hay down, the low barometer follows, and the rain comes. A Member. — Should he cut it then when it is raining? Prof. MeFarland. — I leave that to yon. I prefer to cut mine when it is dry and to put it up in the same condition. Mr. Ellis. — The rains we get in summer come from the gulf, do they not, or mostly from the gulf? Prof. MeFarland. — Yes, sir; but they do not come with the kind of storms of which I have been speaking. The rains come with the currents which have de- scended from the upper regions of the atmosphere, coming down from the south- west. The storms come with the return currents from the north. A Member. — How do you account for the storms during our very low ther- mometer this winter in the South? . Prof. MeFarland. — If the storms came from the gulf they would not be cold. They are cold, and come from the north-west. They make a little detour toward the south. A Member. — Currents all go in one direction, don't, they? In circles larger or smaller? Prof. MeFarland. — Yes, sir; Storms revolve in the same direction — those from the north-west in one direction; those from the east in the opposite direction. This is a law of nature in storm movements. If the storm is coming from the west, and at this point the wind should be from the south, you may know that you are on the eastern border of the storm. [Prof. Mc Farland here refered to the weather map published in the Cincinnati Commercial, explaining from the copy in hand, giving the figures for barometer and thermometer, and the direction and force of the wind at different points in the United States.] Mr. Ellis. — Professor, you don't want to leave the impression on this class, I suppose, that we can not depend on the almanac to inform us with regard to the weather ? Prof. MeFarland. — If they have an impression that they can so depend, I am sorry for it ; especially if I have misled you. I teach young men how to compute for almanacs — there are several in the room now who can give all the signs usually found in the almanac, can give them far in advance. Indeed, the signs IM THU BECREI8 OF PBOOKESSIYB AOBICtnLTUBB. might all be set down wrong, and no 6S8 would be f being an internal one. The covering is a modification of the skin. It seems to be composed of horny plates on the outside, somewhat similar to the scales on the crocodile, or the bony parts of the shell turtle, and these are modified portions of the skin enclosing the organs of the body. With very slight exceptions, the skeleton parts of insects are in this shape. We always find insects bearing three pairs of legs; this is characteristic of the order in the three pairs of legs. You can define an insect by that alone ; and when you find a creature having three pairs of legs, you wijl find it agreeing in most respects in those other characteristics which I have described. You will find, in all probability, a simple bead; the head is a. very peculiar part. I have here an illustration of the wood roach [referring to a chart], abounding about barks of trees and about logs. In this insect the principal jaws, called mandibles, are followed by a. second pair, the maxillce, which are extended down and divided into two portions, at the edge of which is a flap. Then back of them comes a lower lip, the ligula; this lower lip difiers from the upper one radically. The lower lip is really in the form of two pairs of pincers. These three pairs of legs, then, the two pairs of jaws, and the Bl, .^i in some modifi- tiatiou, are found in the head of various classes of insects. In the butterfly, for instance, the form is simply modified by the proboscis, which is a long tube to assist in sucking the honey from flowers; the same form is found in some other insects. There is also some variety m the tongues of insects, which are mod- ified in a number of ways. The different parts are thus modified, but they are all on the same essential plan, and for i a simple group. There will be a difierence at different ages. The grasshop er in the lower stages will not have the same development as a full grown grasshopper in these organs, but after awhile it will take on first one form and then another that is characteristic of the class. The legs are always made upon the common plan. There is always a long joint near the body, and then another that is shorter than the first, and a third that is made longer or shorter, thicker or thinner, and may be flat or round; they take on a great variety. In the grasshopper the last pair of legs are very long, to assist it in jumping. The wings are modified, also, as much as the legs, and may be even a basis for classification. You know in the grasshopper we have one pair of wings running out in narrow folds, somewhat resembling the tusks of an ear of corn in their structure. Folded up back of them is another pair which seem -smaller and covered up by the others. These wings are characteristics of the grasshopper. In the dragon fly, however, they are of a very different form, »s they are used to keep the flying rapid motion, which is not the case with the graeshopper. But- terflys'have diiferent wings, and two pairs are striped and covered with very fine scales, apparently like meal, which, on being removed and examined tlu^ugh the BtETJCl' EE OF INSECTS. l39 mitroscope, are seen to be made up of fine, thin, small scales, like fine hairs ,of various sorts of patterns, and very beautiful. Beetles have another kind or sort of wing, and so with evei-y variety of insects. , The muscular system is very interesting; it is all within the body. Some of the muscles are very powerful, as those for the movement of the jaws and those passing from one .ring to another in the movement of the various joints, and from one joint of the leg to another. These muscles are arranged in groups. The nervous system is a very curious arrangement. There is a mass of nerveB in the head, and this large mass may be called the brain. It comes nearer being the brain than anything else we have in animals that have no back bone. There are nerves extending from this mass to the eyes, and the nerves of taste extend- ing to the mouth. There are also nerves of involuntary activity over which the insect has no control. If you cut off the head of an insect it will still live for some time. This is also the case with the centipede; if you cut off its bead it will run in a straight line and its legs keep scratching about if it meets an ob- struction. There seems to be a particular set of nerves for each of the wings. The sensory apparatus is more uniform. The eyes are the large rounded masses with whioli you are familiar, each having a great many little facets, each one of which is an eye. But just how these facets are combined is something we have not fully determined; whether each one makes a distinct image, or each one forms a part of an image, and all of them combine to make up the com- plete image, we do not know. The insect does not have to turn around to see an object to the right or left. Then there are little feelers which are also organs of communication. They are in some insects also the organs of hearing. In mosquitoes, in which these feelers are of a beautiful color, they are the organs of hearing, and they will catch up the vibrations of sound and respond to them. Special sets of these feelers have their different locations: those for hearing are sometimes in one place and sometimes in another; in the case of the mosquito they are located in the region of the thorax. So far as we know, some insects have no organs of smell. On the other hand, we know insects that perceive odors very well. We know this is the case because they may be deceived ; as for instance, it is not uncommon for the carrion fly to deposit its eggs in the plant called the carrion plant, which has an odor somewhat like the odor of carrion. The fly per- ceives the odor as we do and deposits there its eggs, being induced to leave them there, evidently, by the odor. In very much the same way the males will be attracted by the females. We know, for instance, that when the female fly is in confinement, it will be found by the male, and we know of no way by which this is done except by the sense of smell. The digestive apparatus is on quite a common plan in all insects, though this plan may be varied very much by the mode of life of the insect. In the grass- hopper we have the mouth furnished with a small entrance to the stomach in the shape of a short gullet, which opens into a large stomach, and at the back end of the stomach are sacks that open into large ducts from the stomach. What the functions of these organs are we do not know. Whether they pour in- to the food some secretion like the pancreatic juice we cannot tell. Then comes an organ somewhat like the alimentary canal, which is the iritestine proper, 140 THE SECRETS OP PEOGEESSIVE AGEICtrLTUEB. and then comes a short and crooked or folded portion -which is the rectum. The products of digestion are not taken up hj blood vessels as they are in cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, or other animals with a back bone, but the abdomen seems to be hollow, and the products of digestion pass out into this body cavity, where they are joined by a fluid corresponding to the blood, in, which float minute particles which may be seen by the use of the microscope, and which are the blood corpuscles. This fluid seems to move freely about aU the organs instead of being carried by arteries and veins. In some groups of the inferior animals, especially the smaller crustacse, there is the same organism as is found in insects. In the smaller forms there seems to be no heart nor digestive apparatus. Here digestion seems to be carried on in a peculiar way, the food mixed with digestive fluid flowing from one part directly to another, and there does not seem to be any- thing like a regular heart; but in insects we have something similar to the heart, which seems to be a long tube running along the oack. It can be readily ob- served in those little aquatic insects, the larvse of the mosquito, or "wrigglers," which are so common in rain water barrels. It is a pointed tube, at each ol the segments of which are valves which open inwardly, while the anterior end opens forward into a tube corresponding to the aorta, and as the result, whenever the heart expands the blood will rush into the interstices, and then the valves will close and the blood can get only in one way, and that is forward. As the result the blood moves forward toward the brain, then turns back again around the outside of the body, thence inwardly to the heart again. The circle is quite regular, though there are no blood vessels as in animals. The blood has to be purified and it seems to be done in this way, and bv this action the waste pro- ducts are carried ofi; In vertebral animals these products are removed through four great channels — through the skin by prespiration ; througli the liver, tliat is through the bowels; through the kidneys and the respiratory organs. Now, the skin in insects is hard, as I have told you, very impervious to fluids, and is not adapted to doing this work by prespiration as in veterbrate animals. The digestive tubes which I have described seem to perform some of the ofiEiees of the liver, but we do not know that they assist in disposing of waste products to any appreciable extent. The insect has a very complete set of respiratory organs, but they are on a totally difierent plan from those of vertebrate animals. In vertebrate animals the blood is gathered from all points of the body and carried to the lungs, and there pnrified and carried back, going all over the body. The insect has a great number of breathing pores, none of them in the head, hence the reason why persons have failed when they tried to kill butter- flies which they wanted to perserve by holding their heads under water; and though they held the head under water fifteen or twenty minutes it did not kill them. Their breathing pores are along the thorax and abdomen, and are connect- ed with a very complex system of tubes, the main trunk of which runs along each side of the body. In some insects an air sac is connected with these tubes, and the air sacs when blown up make the insect much lighter in proportion to its size. These tubes go through every part of the body to the head, the thorax and wings. We can see them in the wings of the dragon fly and of the bee. "With a very or- dinary microscope you can see these airtubesandlearn to recognize them bytheir peculiar structure. They seem to be like little spiral threads and their openings STRtfCTTTEB OV INSECTS. 141 are so constructed tliat they will collapse if any thing should strite.them that should not be admitted. These openings are very interesting in these insects. They are guarded byJittle Talves that are so arranged as to keep out all foreign particles of dust and other foreign matters that float in the air, and which, if admitted, ihight cause injury. The reproduction of insects follows a very universal law in the main, though it has some remarkable exceptions. The reproductive organs are all placed in the abdominal part of the body. The eggs are laid from the opening at the end. The male organs are constructed in a veiy similar way to the female, but in many insects there is the same reproduction brought about without the con- gress between the sexes, as we have in the case of bees. If the queen bee lays her eggs without having had access to the male, from these eggs are hatched out" drones. ' Copulation occurs but once in the case of the bee, and in that case the eggs not fertilized produce drones and not workers. We also have in plant lice, little insects which you find here and there upon the bark of trees, rose- bushes, etc., a very peenliar mode ot reproduction, which is different from true reproduction, being a sort of budding. Eggs are laid in the fall, and in the spring produce female lice; these females produce, by a sort of buddins, suc- cessive broods of young lice during the summer, which continue to multiply in the same way until autumn, when a brood of true plant lice is produced, which lay eggs to be hatched in the spring as before. These parts of the body are modified in reference to copulation and the deposition of eggs, but the modifi- cations are not very complex. The eggs laid are almost always invested with a shell which is sometimes, indeed in most cases, impervious to moisture, and will resist a considerable degree of heat and cold, which follow rain in the fall or spring. This is the case with a great many species. The modes of development in insects are something very pepuliar and sliow also a very considerable variety; but they are perhaps reducible to two or three. In the case of the grasshopper, for instance, which is one of the best illustrations in regard to the increase in size, this increase is marked by a series of moultings. Of course, where we have a species of animals, as those in question, with a scaly outside, this outside scale, as they grow, must become in time too small, and the animal moults or sheds its skin. This moulting, in some insects, takes place fifteen or twenty times. In the grasshopper there is no marked difference between the moultings. You will see in the springtime a little grasshopper not more than One fourth of an inch in length — exceedingly small — and you will see here and there a few grown grasshoppers from last year; but most of them will be those hatched from eggs laid during the last summer. But you will find that this small grasshopper has no wings ; the head and eyes and other parts are very much like the adult grasshopper, but they lack development; the abdomen is much shorter ; otherwise, he is very much like the full-grown grasshopper. Now a little later is seen a lot of these fellows, and while some seem not to have grofrn any, there will be plenty a size larger, perhaps three eighths of an inch In length. A little later you will see a crop about half an inch in length, and may be somewhat larger, and if you catch one you will find two pairs of wings iust starting out, and rings plainly developing; further on you will find the winws developed to some considerable length; then a little later you will see these 142 THE SECEKTS OP tEOGEBSSIVE AGEICULTtJRB. fellows beginning to hop or flv. They will by this time be greenish colored ; and thus the moultings go on, and at each moulting you will see them a little longer than they were at the last moulting, and it goes on until they become the large grasshopper with a color resembling- the toad, their outward part becoming hard and distinct. In the butterfly the process is somewhat diifei-ent. There 'will be three or four changes from the worm state until by and by the oatei-pillar disappears, and some where in the fence corner, or some out of the way place, there will be a cocoon containing something entirely difierent, possessing neither legsnorwings. But by and by this cocoon opens and out comes the butterfly. Now, between the history of that butterfly and of the grasshopper there is this difference. The grasshopper passes through a great many moultings. The butterfly must be considered as having moulted also, but after a half a dozen or more moultings it comes out in theform of a chrysalis, or cocoon, and then there is another moult- ing, and out of that finally the butterfly appears. So with the beetle known as the potato beetl j ; it passes through these moultings on pretty much the same plan ; there is a small grub which increases in size until it is finally as large, or larger, than the full-grown beetle. This goes down into the ground, and after a while it comes out the fuil-grown potato bug. The habits of the seventeen year locust are somewhat on the same plan. They live for a long time in the ground, where they will frequently be turned over by the plow, and the skins or shells in which they were enveloped are frequently turned up. They are frequently found where they shed them, around roots of trees and bushes, and after their last moulting you will see them flying about or hear them singing in the trees. Now, in the case of insects the larval conditipn is a condition of help- lessness. The larvae of the bee are fed by the bee workers until they come out matured bees. So with the fly ; the early condition of the fly is a comparatively helpless one. For instance, we see the maggots on maggot-blown meat. They are in this same helpless condition until they become the full-grown fly. Flies all seem to be full size, almost, and people ask, Where are the little flies ? Little flies are seen in the horse dung, and elsewhere, but the history of these is a history of moultings. By remembering this I think you will be able to understand better than in any other way the nature of the many classes of insects. I have only tried to give you a few of the general characteristics of insects in the brief time in which I have had to discuss the subject. TJIE MlCiiOSOOPa 143 THE MICROSCOPE. liT PEOF. ALBERT M. TUTTLE. I have been requested to repeat a talk I made to you a year or two ago on the microscope, and especially the microscope in connection with its • use to farmers. I am aware that some of you will hear a repetition of some things you heard in the former lecture, and whether it will be worth listening to a second time you must judge. I have consented to give you a talk on the prin- ciples involved in the construction of the microscope, to tell what the micro- scope is and how it is used ; in order that you may if you choose make use of the instrument for your own benefit and education. , Now, the microscope is simply au instrument by which w? see little things. It differs from the telescope in this: the telescope is an instrument by which we see distant things. A telescope does not or should not make a distant object ap- pear any larger than it really is ; when it does so it becomes a microscope at long range. If I take a spy-glass in this room and look at the cracks in the wall they appear lai-ger than they really are, and the spy-glass would simply be a mi- croscope of long range. The principle of construction is the same in both cases, but you know the telescope will make the moon or any planet appear near to us. We have telescopes in the world large enough to shov/ a buUding in the moon as lai'ge as our state-house, if there was anything of the kind there. Now, the micro- scope, if it is a microscope, makes a thing look larger than it really is — magnifies it — and this iswhatwe mean by a microscope. The little magnifying lens I have in my hand — ^which is made to put to the eye — is used by watchmakers to make the different parts of the watch look larger than they really are, so that they can work with greater safety and accuracy. "We have a reading glass used by some per- sons when their sight becomes affected, and used for the examination of bank notes and engraving's; it is really a microscope ; so indeed is a pair of specta- cles which are adapted to a person whose sight is defective, the spectacles mak- ing objects appear larger than they really are. Anything that magnifies may be called a microscope, if it is but one of the little pocket pieces costing fifty cents; any lens that magnifies is properly a microscope. When, however, the scientist or artist wants to make use of greater magnifying powers, they get a greater magnifying power than can be obtained from any single lens by using two; but before speaking of that let me say that the magnifying power depends upon two things: the material of which the lens is made, and the curvature of the surface. For instance, if this lens was made of ice it would have much less magnifving power than it has, or less than if it were made with water. A watch-glass, if 144 THE SECEETS OF PEOGKESSIVE AGEICTTLTtTEE. you were to fill the space with water, and look at anything through it, would be a magnifj'ing glass. If you were to fill the space with castor oil instead of water you would find it would magnify considerably; but if you were to throw out the castor oil and fill the glass with pure glycerine it would magnify still more; it would then magnify about as much as if it were a solid block of glass, and if you could afford to go on with your experiments, and make a lens from a gem, such as sapphire, or better still, a diamon(], as has been done, you would find the power much greater. Now, sixty years ago men were doing that, and were doing it in earnest. Men had been making lenses from simple glass, by which they got a magnifying power of twenty to thirty times, as we express it, but they wanted more magnifying power and were experimenting with other ma- terials; and let me say here that all those examinations into the structure of animals and plants which have been so fruitful of results, and which hare en- riched all our studies, have been of a recent date. The experiments made in reference to the physiology of animals and plants and all minute structures of organisms have been made within the lifetime of the majority of us. It has only been about twenty-five years since they have begun to report much in refer- ence to such things, and all we know in reference to the microscope has been learned within the last century. The first intelligent, systematic idea of the E ate of physiology was given to the world by a French student, who laid the foundation and who did "more in regard to the details of the science than any man of his day; we knew but little about the structure of the human body. When a person made a study of this it was when he intended to enter the med- ical profession; it was supposed then he ought to know something about it, but then sometimes we know they have gone out knowing a great deal less than they ought to have known about it. A short time ago men were getting lenses out of gems for the sake of increas- ing the magnifying powers of the microscope. Some four hundred years ago the Germans were making a kind of microscope merely for a toy for the cliildreu to play with. It was in the year 1825 that an intelligent man made a great improvement on the microscope, and this led to the manufacture of small and much cheaper microscopes made from glass, but it was afterward found that by combining the magnifying power of two or three glass lenses the power was greatly increased. Now, if I take this reading glass I have in my hand I see in the distance that window at the end of the room ; the windx)w is inverted as it appears through this; that is, the focus is between me and the lenses. If I draw it up here, this way [illustrating], I change the focus so as to bring the image nearer the mndow and enlarge it, though it is indistinct. If, however, I hold it off and put in this other glass I see the image of the window plainly inverted and magnified. I have then made a telescope out of it; that is, I first have an image made with this glass, and then I magnify that image with another glass; if I look upon a printed page I see the letters about twice as large as they are. That is the way the microscope was discovered — by taking two sets of glasses and holding one over the other. You see by doing that I magnify the power four times; I can find just what it wUl do. In the construction of microscopes we have got rid of the faults that ex- isted in reference to them only sixty years ago. The microscope of to-day, up- THE MICSOSCOPB. 145 on the removal of those faults, is one of the greatest instruments that "re have in many departments of science and in many of the professions. It has im- portant uses in the medical profession, in the different arts and in agriculture. You frequently see the advertisement in the newspapers — although such ad- vertisements are becoming less and less frequent because they have been so often exposed — offering to the public wonderfully cheap microscopes. This small thing on my table here is a better "inicrosoope than anything of the Icind thus ofl^ered, and it is far better than any king could have got for love or money forty or fifty years ago. It is not thirty years since they were beginning to make the combined microscopes, which I have here, which can be had to-day for twenty dollars. Again, you see in advertisements frequently a reference to the power of mi- croscopes; for instance, one will be advertised as magnifying ten thousand times. What does that mean? They might as well say a million times. I have seen many of the best magnifying powers; I have in my cabinet a good magnifying power of twelve hundred diameters, but you cannot see any object witfc dis- tinctness magnified to that extent. So when anybody offers you a magnifying glass, a microscope magnifying ten thousand times, tell him he is a quack and refer him to me and I will be responsible. When we saya microscope magnifies two hundred and fifty times, we mean it magnifies two hundred, and fifty diam- eters; an object is magnified in all directions, in its length, depth and breadth. So a microscope which magnifies one hundred diameters really makes an object one million times larger than it is; but such large talk as that is intended only to deceive. Good microscopes, however, are advertised for a small sum of money. _i.s I said a moment ago, an instrument like this one can be had at twenty dollars, and that is as high as you will want to go for any general use. [Professor Tuttle spent considerable time in explaining the working of the large microscope he had, showing the manner in which objects were placed for examination,, and how to throw a greater or less amount of light upon them, etc.] The great improvement in glass has mainly been made in the last twentyyears; and I am glad to say that, for the greater part of it has been done by an Ameri- can, although a German has also made important improvements. The most valuable improvements have been brought out by Mr. Spencer, of New York. By the glass as now made we can get higher working powers^ and get. ' very accurate representations of images ; we can do work which is more to be re- lied upon with such powers. Microscopes so complete and accurate as we have them now were not to be had at any price a few years ago. I speak of this be- cause these are the best instruments made by any house in the world that I know of. For the cheap instruments, we now have several houses where good cheap microscopes can be had, but the one I refer to is the best in the respects which I have mentioned. The use of the microscope is a subject which I want, in passing, to speak of for a few moments. Its use is two-fold, three-fold, perhaps, for there is a third important use. The practical use is one thing; the educational and sesthetio use is another; the scientific use is still a third, but the scientific use may perhaps be included in the practical -use, for all science consists simply of 146 THE SECRETS OP PKOGEESSIVB AGEICTJLTTTKE. observations made and the reducinga of facts and discoveries. Now, when I am asked how much practical use may be made of the microscope on the farm, I answer, a great deal; for it may be made the means of acquainting, you at first hands with things which otherwise you would be obliged to take at sec- ond hand. For the most practical use, suoh as you would want to use a microscope for, objects can be seen sufficiently plain by glasses that magnify from ten to fifteen times, and by having one of such a power as that you can examine many things and satisfy yourselves, so, as I have said, with the use of the microscope you may have things at first hand. For instance, here is a question that is quite familiar ; that is, to be able to distinguish between fabrics sold for wool which are not wool, and those sold for wool which are wool. You can after a very little while learn to handle the instrument so as to be able to settle that question in five >, minutes or in less time. I knew a man in a firm in Boston who for a long time had charge of buying their goods, and it is a long time since any manufacturer thought it worth while trying to beat Hovey & Co. in ofiering to sell them any- thing for wool that was not wool; and why? Because all the goods purchased were submitted to examination by this gentleman, Mr. Greenfield, under the microscope, and in five minutes, yes, in three minutes, he would tell the compo- sidon o£ a piece of goods, whether it was wool, cotton, or other fibers; it was plainly seen at once by him by the use of the microscope. The adulterations which are present to a great extent at the present day are things that may be de- termined very largely by the microscope ; the detection of some of them may require a good deal of skill, probably, and others may be readily discovered. But I will here say that I do not think there is as much in this oountiy as some people would make us believe in regard to this matter. There is a good deal of it, no doubt, but a good deal of it can be readily discovered by the microscope. For instance, it is not a difficult matter to tell butter that is butter from oleo- margarine; if you place oleomargarine and butter side by side you will easily detect the difference. It requires some little skill to prepare for the examina- ation, but you will soon be able to detect it. The second use of the microscope, and the most practical one of all, is that of which I have spoken, the scientific use. In connection with the miorosooj e there are researches that may be made in any direction by which we may in- crease our present stock of knowledge. There are very few here, perba,ps, that do not know something about the disease in sheep called paper skin; now, we all know what paper skin is. We all know it is a disease caused by worms in the lungs or bronchial tubes; that you can fihdout even with thenaked eye from the mucous hawked out by the sheep; but by the microscope you can find what becomes of the eggs of these worms, and how and at what stage they get back to the sheep. Another use which may be made of the microscope is in reference to trichina. Kow, this trichina is found in hams; it gets into rats and other animals more than in hogs; it is found in these animals, and cats may get it. Trichina is not very common in man, but is veiy painful and dangerous. Not long since we saw the report of a man dying from this cause in Illinois, and another in In- diana. If cats and rats are carrying it around it is liable of course to be easily THE MICKOSCOPa 147 spread. An examination of trichina is a very simple thing; it is very easy to detect it in our meat, and we maybe able to use such remedial treatment as may be successful if we iind that we have eaten meat containing it. Much can be done if it is done promptly. There is no trouble to detect the tape-worm ; it looks like a sac in one stage of its existence, and once we find it out we can tell just what stage of its existence it is in. Thread-worms always inhabit the body of some animal; they cannot live without a body as a house for themselves. So with trichina; it lives in rats and cats-and hogs, and bites its way to the muscles and trichinizes them, and it gets into the muscles of man. But there are other thread worms that we know come to maturity in a short - time; for instance, we have the hair-worm, which is a worm of parasitic char- acter, found in the grasshopper, but only part of its Uf e is spent there ; when it is in the grasshopper it is in a moulting condition ; it matures in the water ; and that may bei the condition of this paper-skin worm, and as its larval condition is outside of the sheep, it finds its way into the sheep from the water, grass or soil. Now we know nothing about this paper-skin worm more than I have re- ferred to. The only way that we can arrive at a correct knowledge in regard to it is by observing it from day to day and month to month, making it a matter of study. If I had time to work at it from morning tUl night for months and to make such examinations as I might, I would gladly do so. But this is out of the question, and any person who is not busily engaged ought to do every- thing he can in regard to such things. No one can do very much in a few moments of time now and then, and it is necessary to have repeated observ- ations in order to be sure of a correct knowledge in these things. We do not know now, but some day it will be found out, and the man who does it will con- fer a very great favor ou sheep raisers. I had occason to visit a place where paper-skin was raging in sheep and very soon found out what was the matter. I told the gentleman who called my atten- tion to it, and in whose neighborhood the trouble existed, what the history oi the worm was, and probably that was about all I could say, and J came away feeling afraid that this gentleman was very much disappointed because I did not write out a prescription for paper-skin. Now, it is difficult, if not impossible to kill the worms when they clog up the lungs, without killing the sheep; wheii the lungs are clogged up with them, as they sometimes get, the best thing you can do is to kill the sheep, and burn it or bury it very deeply in order to prevent the disease spreading as much as possible. But if we can find out and trace the worms to their development, and ascertain whether they come out of the sheep and remain in the grass, and are then taken back by the sheep, into itsbody, or wheth- er they follow some other plan, we may then know better how to treat them. There is one thing that seems pretty certain, and that is that they are taken into the mouth by the sheep in a tolerably well-developed condition, as we never find an immature thread-worm in the lungs ; if that is so, it may be that they exist in the grass or in the water, or in the crickets or grasshoppers or sometl^ing of that kind which the sheep may take in while eating. That is the direction in which our observations should be made with the microscope, and I might go on and mention many such things where the microscope may be brought into use 148 THE SECRETS OF PEOGEESSIVE A-GEICUITTJEE. with great advantage. -Doubtless you will think of many ways in which every farmer may use it with advantage in reference to diseases of animals, and in re- gard to injury to various crops from different-causes, and when understood the remedy may be easily found out. Parasites of diflFereut kinds are a very great source of trouble, and there may be important investigations in regard to them. There have been, and are being every day, investigations made with the micro- scope that are very valuable. But there is another point that I regard as very important, and that is the educational value of the microscope. It is one thing to live in this Af orld and get three square meals and eight hours sleep a day, and it is another thing to live a little more useful and enjoyable lives, and have something else to think about than the three square meals, which it is true are very essential. I do not , know anything more enjoyable in nature, or that gives a person greater rever- ence for the Author of nature than studying into the wonderful thinijs which the Creator has placed around him. He will find great interest in this, and will find great things in the least. There is a value in the microscope in nearly all the walks in life. A better means of education, or a more interesting employment than the use of the mi- croscope, is not easily found for children. You know there is a good deal said about whatkind of amujements are best, and how we shall make our homes attract- ive and our children satisfied at home. I do not know of anything that will make a home more attractive than this instrument Many children love to inves- tigate such things as they can with this, and they will get into the way of using it very quickly. I repeat again^ that I really know of nothing that affords such a store of amusement and aids so much in education as the microscope. MECHANIC'S T00L8. 149 MECHANIC'S TOOLS. BY PROF. S. W. KOBISSON. The farmer is more or less a mechanic or a machinist. When we speak of the farmer being mechanical it is difficult to say how lar you would go and not be so in some way, because you have no way of preparing the soil except in the me- chanical treatment of it, as in the use of th e plow, the hoe, the tooth cultivator, and so on. You could not prepare ground for receiving plants without being more or less mechanical ; but the sense in which I would consider the subject would be where it involves implements and machinery. In effect, it is what may be called machine farming that may be understood when I say farmers are me- chanics. Again, some things used by the fariper in his work would, perhaps, properly be called machinery, while others would be calledimplements. Strictly speaking, machinery is that where there are wheels or moving parts. It w ill be sufficient in our subject to-day to consider machinery as that which has movable parts with reference to other parts. Undoubtedly some of the things used by the farmer would be called machinery, while others would not, but may be con- sidered only as tools. We may say that farm Implements are divi^led into three classes; namely, tools, machinery and motors. The tool I would define as that which is in effect a single piece, as a hoe or shovel, such as is composed of one part. Where one part is movable and dependent on another part for its motion, it is properly called machinery; so that the reaper is a machine, although it is called an implement also. The motor may consist of an animal, or whatever is used in connection with the machine, such as the horse-power, as you generally call it, when used, for instance, in connection with the threshing machine. The steam engine, also, which is used on the farm to some extent, is another kind of motor. Another motor that should be named is the wind-mill ; . these you know are now becoming more or less common. The use of machinery on the farm is becoming very common. For instance, the farmer uses a drill for the purpose of putting his seed in the ground ; wheu he comes to harvest his grass he will use a mowing machine, and to gather his grain a reaper or harvester. It wonld be a difficult thing now for one farmer to compete with another without the use of these machines, which have become a necessity upon the farm. Thereforft we may speak of it as a fact, that the farmer must be more or less a machinist in order to be successful in his business. It is necessary for manufacturers, in order to compete with other manufacturers, to use machinery. So that the farmer should consider it necessary for him to use machinery on the IBO ISE SECSETS 01' tBOGEESSiVK AGKICTTLTtTKfi. farm if he Afould carry his business to a higher degree of success. Of course the farmer can do very much better by the use of implements than he could do without them as to the matter of supplying the markets. It is to the extent to which machinery has been used on the farm, I think, that we are so much in- debted for successful farming, in the past twenty-five years, and especially the use of complex machines. • And the time is coming when perhaps we will be obliged, for the same reason that reapers and such things are now necessary in order to compete successfully, to use the steam engine in many other ways not now used. Our country perhaps after a while will have tracks running through in every direction at some distance apart from various farm centers, and on these tracks will be farm locomotives and carriages propelled by steam, and which will be more or less used in Connection with each other in plowing, harvesting, and other work on the farm, thus doing away with the use of horse- power on the ground. The locomotive may be used on the track in connection with the windlass and chain, running from track to track to do plowing, and in that way turn over the ground very rapidly. The planting and cultivating may largely be done by the same machine being used to drive the implements back and forth in the field, and it may also be used for the purpose of running the reaping and mowing machines and other machinery on the farm. We may hardly expect to see such wonders in the next ten years, but we do not know what may be done in^^wenty years ; but it is probable the time ^will come when fai'ming may be done in that way. Flowing has already been done by steam, but it would be much facilitated by being done with tracks. But these tracks may be of immediate use for other purposes than merely for carrying on farming; for instance, the steam engine thus used is a propelling power, and in this case may be used as a source of power by which machinery may be run. in the barnl by which your farm products may be put in a more marketable condition, and by its use more may be realized, also, from a year's porduct of the farm. For in- stance, you can realize much more for corn starch than yon can from the corn which makes it, and it may be profitable then to us»the tracks, locomotives, etc., for conveying your products to market Many such business uses might be re- ferred to. It may be perhaps thought by some that this is carrying the idea to the extreme, but in view of the rapid advances that have been made in the past it may all yet be realized. In the use of farm implements we have nothing that is not liable to wear out or break, or became set aside in the course of time. The long continued motion of any machinery wiU wear out the parts if they do not become broken or injured in other ways. The mainrspring of a watch may perform its work well and be wound up ten thousand times, and may break at the next winding, though not by reason of any unusual strain, but because of the final failing of the materiaL We all understand this priAciple. This dura- tion is what could be called the life of material. But the machine may be broken and some of its parts wear away, unless the parts, like the parson's " one boss shay," all go together. A machine may be in such a condition as to all go together, in which it would necessitate a new machine. But sometimes it is the case that because MECHANIC'S TOOLS. 151 some part becomes broken or worn out, the machine is thrown away because of the cost of repairing such things. But with a little knowledge and practice in the use of tools, many of the parts broken might be repaired and put in place on the farm. It is with the farm as in many other things; the machinery necessary for repairs ia not at hand ; hence we have our work-shops where the work of repairing is done. Sometimes, however, shops expressly for making re- pairs are at hand. At the Hoosac Tunnel, when the work was g6ing on, they could not do without expensive shops for the repair of ma- ohinery used in making the excavations there. We find similar examples in raUroad shops. We cannot afibrd when one part of the machine is broken or injured to throw the machine away ; repairs then become absolutely necessary. But in case the farmer needs some slight repair of some farm machinery, it is often the case that if he takes it off to town to get the parts re- paired, he will have to pay a big price. I heard of an inWnce where a few repairs were made on some little machine, and some one suggested that the price paid was pretty high, and the other replied: " Yes, it was a good price ; it paid four or five hundred per cent. ; but the farmer had no idea what it ought to cost, so we could charge what we pleased." The party having the work done did not ^ consider how much 14me it might take. Sometimes a piece is picked up out of a pile, costing a few cents and immediately put in, making the repair, taking per- haps fiveor ten minutes, and perhaps charging a dollar for the job. You could have done the job yourself, and have avoided all the outlay, perhaps, but five cents that the_ material would cost, besides your time waiting about the town until your job is done. Many such repairs might be done at home and such extravagant charges saved. Then, repairs on the farm do not require the highest degree of skill. But many nice machines, nicely finished, require good work- men. But after the machine has been used on the farm a good while you don't generally care about the beauty of the thing, just so it will serve your purpose a reasonable time. You may put on a piece without finishing or polishing it, which sometimes makes a considerable part of the cost when you take it off to be repaired. You don't care so much for the appearance of the piece that may be put in the machine in question. The repair you may make may not look well, but will answer the purpose just as well as those jobs which are nicely made by the repairers who may be employed- to do such work, and who, perhaps, have some degree of pride in thi^ matter and want the job to look reasonably weU, even at useless expense. But when you make your repairs on the farm you can use your judgment with regard to the looks. You perhaps do not care for the looks of the repaired part, so it will do the work efficiently. The means for effecting little repairs on the farm are very simple, as you know; even a jack-knife may be made of great advantage. We could not well get along without this unique piece of a carpenter's equipment. The only question is as to where the farmer should stop in reference to the assortment of tools he should have, and this will depend , of course, upon the extent to which he may carry his repairs ; but a beginning may be made and you can go on adding such things from time to time. The following are among the articles most needed in the farmer's repair 152 THE SECKETS OF PROGRESSIVE AGRICULTtTRB. shop : First, for tlie carpenter shop, the saw, planes, hatchet, hammer, and a car- penter's two foot square, tri-square, and gauge ; augers and bits and three chiseli —a half inch, an inch, and a» inch and a half; wrenches — a monkej wrench is especially needful in connection with repairs in and upon i reaping machine; burning iron to use when fitting bolts, and last, t a, grindstone and an oil-stone. Sotne farmers have also the turning lathe, which is often needed and answers many purposes in connection with the work in iron. Second, the shop for iron work should have an iron vise, files, cold chisels and hammer ; dies and taps for making bolts, etc. ; a forge, anvil andtongs, pinch' ers and punch ; also a sledge-hammer. The latter ought to be found not only in the shop but on every farm. The sledge need not be a lai-ge or expensive one. I would not advise purchasing cold chisels, as they can easily be made by the farmer with his forge and anvil, after a few hours' practice. Your boys will be quite practical with the tools and wiU soon learn how tc miike many things. Perhaps some may object to the boys getting an idea oJ a mechanical trade, fearing that it may cause them to leave the farm. ] think that is a mistake. The boys who can gratify their tastes in this respect will not be so likely to want to leave the farm. Many a case has happened where the ' boys' taste for mechanical skill has resulted in their putting themselves out as appre'ntices, when they have soon found in coming to use tools that it was not the place for them. It would have been better in these cases if there had been a shop on the farm. I have no doubt the shop would be more serviceable in the way of keeping them on the farm than otherwise. Machinery is attractive, to be sure, and so when -you get to farming by machinery, with machines such as I re- ferred to, and shops for repairs, thefe will be no trouble in keeping them on the. farm; and they will -become machinists to an extent that will qualify them for using ihe machinery necessary for the highest order of machine fai-ming. „ Such tools as cold chisels, punches, and the like, involves working in steel, of course, and steel is very different to work from iron. I think I may give you some directions that may be serviceable for your guidance in working in this shop I have spoken of, with your forge, anvil, etc. Steel should only be heated very carefully and only to a comparatively low heat; never much above a cherry red. When heated, hammer until not too cold, or not below a black heat; or until you can merely see it red. You should, not put steel too low in the fire. If you put it too low the air will come in below and burn the steel by oxidizing it. Now, after taking all these precautions, especially about having the. steel pretty weUup to the top of the fire, you may heat itto a cherry red and then harden by immersing it in water. If it is a cold chisel you are making, dip it in an inch or so with some motion around about; when the water ceases to boil or stops sissing, it may be taken fi-om the water. It is then too hard altogether for the cold chisel. You will need to brighten it up with a piece of brick or sand- paper. Then by reheating it, not so much at the extremity as back, the steel is softened or its temper drawn as indicated by its color. The color may be changed to what we call a straw color, or reddish blue, or a dark blue, according to the hardness desired. Ihe hardness of ste^l is usually judged by ihe color. Mechanic's tools. 153 If the steel is in normal condition the harder it is the less wiU be the degree of color. The main point is in getting the desired hardness. You will have to heat it accordingly until you get the color you desire and the hardness you wish ; then you will succeed in the manufacture of the tool. The straw color ihdicates simply a slightly softened condition, and blue means very much softer. The color of a chisel should be left about a copper color, a color bearing on blue. To give you a clearer idea as to the hardness acquired by the colors shown, I might add that the hand-saw has a degree of hardness due to a low blue ; that is, it wiU bend slightly, and at the same time it is a much harder piece of steel than if not tempered. A steel trap spring should be of about the same color. An ax should have a color about the same as a cold chisel, or a coi)per color. Some- times you will find a tool defective and poor because it is not tempered properly. Such tools maybe hardened over again and may be made useful tools which before were perfectly worthless. In tempering, the best way is for you to heat the tool a little too high, harden it, run the heat down and draw the temper. In that way the steel would be a little soft near the place, perhaps, where the hardening stopped ; that is, away from the end. Sometimes, to approach a uni- formity, you heat the point at the same time the heat is running down. If the steel is entirely immersed in water you may draw the temper by heating back of the point ; then it may be extended toward the point. The cold chisel should be softer back from the end than at any place between that and the end of it, to prevent breaking. In the use of the fire, the first fire should be free from smoke, " because its presence will tend to discolor steel, and that may mislead in regard to the temper that may be obtained in this case. MiU picks are made in some- thing the same manner as cold chisels; they are drajwn thin and then hammered very hard by drawing dowu thinner. Sometimes "steel is refined in that way. After getting the tool as hard as it can be made, sometimes it is tempered in a sort of pickle ; sometimes of sulphuric acid. It is hardly necessary to use any such pickel in the making of cold chisels. Member. — After you heat the chisel to a copper color, would you insert it into the water a second time or lay it aside to cooloflF? Prof. Sobinson. — I would insert it in water to cool slightly, so as not to draw further than I intended after laying it down. It is possible to have heat enough iu the stock back of the hardened poiilt, after drawing to a degree of hardness desired, to draw it down to redness. After you cool it enough so as not to draw any further, you may lay it down; but I think it would be safer as regards this danger to cool it off entirely. There was an opinion among the people where I was brought up that the sun would draw the temper out of tools. I have frequently seen people place the scythe under the grass for fear the sun would draw the temper. The sun's heat they supposed to be enough to draw the temper. This looks ridiculous when we think of the heat to which steel must be brought before it will draw at all. 154 THE SECEEIS OF PEOGRESSIVK AGMCULTTJEB. THE SHOP ON THE FARM. BY PBOF. S. W. KOBINSON. Prof. Eobinson first called attention to the following list of tools, with the prices affixed, which he had placed on the board. In his previous lecture these were mentioned but not placed on the board. This list could be increased or perhaps somewhat diminished, at the pleasure of the farmer, but with this list of tools any woodwork he would want to do could be conveniently done : WOOD SHOP. Hatchet, 75 cents ; hammerSl , $ 1 75 Bits, }^ to 1 inch, by 8ths, $2.50 ; brace SI 3 50 Saw, «1.50; 2-foot square, $1.25 2 75 Screw driver, 25 cents; wrench, $1.00 .". 1 25 Bench screw, $1.00; bench lumber, il.OO 2 00 Jack and fore planes 1 75 Ouchitaoil stone, $1; drawing knife, 75 cents 1 75 Tri-square, 50 cents; gauge, 25. 75 Three chisels, 3^, 1, and IJ^ inches 1 60 Bip saw '. 1 50 Total S18 60 If the hand lathe was added, which would be found to be of great conven- ience on many occasions, that would cost an amount averaging from fifty dollars to one hundred and fifty dollars, and the necessary tools to be used with the lathe, besides the accompanyiug accessories, would cost perhaps two dollars and a half more. HAND LATHE AND TOOLS. Hand lathe and acccessories, from $50 to *150 00 Turning tools 1 25 Drill sockets etc 1 25 Total $152 50 By aid of the forge in the iron shop we may make drills and the like to any desired extent. He also referred to the following list of tools necessary for working in iron in the shop on the farm : lEON SHOP. One Iron vise $5 00 An oak bench (this would answer also for the wood shop] 1 60 Files — one lO-incb bastard, one 10-inch mill, one 8-inch round, one 3-side taper, one knife file 1 60 Total. $3 00 THE SHOP ON THE FARM. 155 One two-pound forge hammer , • 75 Dies and taps 5 75 Forge 20 00 One sixty pound anvil /. 8 00 Five tongs 2 50 One seven pound sledge { make cold chisels, puuclies, etc.) 1 50 Total iSS 50 Prof. Robinson also dwelt at some length upon the different kinds of iion neo- oessary; such as bar iron of different width, rod iron, hoop iron, etc. Head- vised the use of the best quality of iron, as it was not only the more durable but more easily worked. He spoke at some length on the subject of babbitting bear- ing on machinery. During the course of his remarks he said: "The metal called Babbitt metal can be had at five or six cents per pound, but the proper kind to use would probably cost twenty-five cents per pound at retail, or twenty cents at wholesale. The best quality has a sort of a yellowish color on the surface of the bars; when whittled it has a silvery look. You can readily repair boxes in farm machinery when you get a little in the way of it, after you have the material. The bearing, whatever it is, should be true and nice as possible. If you have the lathe such as I described costing one hundred and fifty dollars, you can do that part of the work very readily. [Sketches were Here given on the board showing the regular way in >fhich the bearing might be trorn.] If you use the lathe, the parts may be made to run somewhat true by moving the centers in the piece slightly, when worn outside, by means of a little jonical chisel. But if you have no lathe It may be well to file off the parts a little where you see distinct corners; and if you have a pair of calipers — a very useful tool for you to have — you can determine the size and get the diameter of the bearing in any direction, and be able to get it nearly to a perfect cylindricity. After the bearing is got in good condition, block the piece of shafting in the prop- 'er position so as to fit the gearing properly; then if there is a place where the Babbitt metal is likely to flow out you will have to stop it; for that purpose a little clay or even a little dirt will do, but pure clay is best; it should be wet and kneaded about like stiff dough. You may Babbitt half of the box at a time, but If you attempt to Babbitt the whole box at once you will need a piece of paper placed up close to the shaft between the halves of box, and secured by the box ; cut a few holes through the paper partitions. Pour the metal in the upper part and it fills the whole box at once. Sometimes I have had a good deal of ti-ouble in getting the Babbitt metal to stay in while pouring, but by these means — using some simple material like kneaded clay — it secures all; that is the turning point in success in Babbitting boxes nicely. Another pointy of success is having the metal at the perfect heat; if you heat the metal red hot you are pretty sure to spoil the work, so you will avoid bringing the Babbitt metal to an excessive degree of heat. When the Babbitt will first freely flow in the ladle while heat- ing it is probably to its best heat. Member. — In fitting boxes some claim that the bearings should not fit closely, while others claim that they should be perfectly snug. What is your opinion? Prof. Bobmaon. — ^My opinion is that thej^shbuld by so snug that there would bp only room fpr the oil. It woi44 be b?st fpy the parts tio work in contact if it 156 THE SECBETS OF PKOGEKSSIVE AGEICULTTJBE. were not that there should be space enough for lubrication. I have known oases where the parts were made so tight that there was not room for the oil, and it was found necessary to file away some so there would be a little shake in the hole whin dry, then when the oil was used in it there would be no shake. Sometimes, in case the machinery is stopped for a while, in the start- ing it moves heavily and is started with difiBculty, though it moves readily enough when kept in motion. The explanation of this is that when at rest all the oil comes around on top of the journal, while the journal by the force of gravity bears ^own upon the other parts, the metal coming in actual contact. This causes it to drag heavily when starting until the oil gets distributed and lubricates the bearing. The professor next gave sketches and directions in reference to grinding tools, such as chisels, axes, etc., remarking that the grindstone and oil-stone had each its special office; that of the first was the removal of the the surplus material in the vicinity of the cutting edg«, while the oil-stone is to set the edge. The gen- eral rule given was to grind down until there was a slight feathery edge just noticeable, after which the tool would only need a little rubbing on the oil-stone and perhaps strapping to set the edge. He next explained the manner of making glue joints,. In gluing parts of wood together, he said, you should have little or no glue between the spaces. The only glue necessary among the pieces is that which permeates the pores of wood at the joint on either side. For, if a portion of the glue be left lying in be- tween the parts it will be affected by the change of weather and atmos- phere, causing cracks to appear between the different portions. This is the cause of the pieces breaking apart in some cases, as the thick mass of glue in poor joints in shrinking has caused the destruction of itself by this shrinkage, both i-ideways, and edgeways, between the materials which are united, breaking the joints apart and rendering the work worthless. It is better to have the least amount of glue that will answer, and the parts that are glued together should be» uniform and the glue rubbed slightly, and then press the parts tightly together. If the glue is so cold that it will not run and cannot be forced to flow mostly from between the parts, a good job of work cannot be done with it. It may be judicious in some cases where it can be done to have the glued portions'held for sometime in a clamp, making a pressure on the parts for awhile, though it is not necessary. The lecture concluded by some remarks accompanied by sketches on the black- board, in reference to the matter of welding pieces of iron. In the course of his remarks upon this point, he said that it would be a very easy matter to make a good weld after you have tried it a few times, then rods, bolts, etc., could readily be repaired on the farm. That the two ends of the rod or bar to be welded should be leveled properly for uniting [illustrating this fully on the board], which would be done by hammering the pieces while, hot, and that the leveled ends should also be made enough thicker^han the other portions of the red hot bar to afford enough extra material to make up for the loss by the mechanical action in hammering the parts, and also for the corrosion in heating, which would burn away some of it, so that after the pieces were welded the point welded wpuld be uniform in thickness with thie other portions. This operation, He added, • THE SOIli IN ITS RELATIONS TO PLAKTS. 157 could be somewhat more easily performed by the addition of a little borax ; that in welding steel blacksmiths always used borax, though they did not always do so in welding iron. Sand, he remarked, was sometimes used for the same pur- pose, but borax was much better. THE SOIL IN ITS RELATIONS TO PLANTS. BY PEOF. SIDNEY A. NORTOif. Gentlemen: — I am to address you on the relations of plants to the soil they inhabit, to water, to air, and to sunshine. I shall not attempt to make four dis- tinct lectures out of these four topics, but I shall say what I have to say in con- sidering them in their natural connection, and let it run through the four days I shall meet with you. I will take the subjects up in the order in which they are given in the programme, though I would as lief commence by considering what are the essential elements contained in plants, as what are contained in the soils, and I will say that you may regard the question from either point of view. If you commence first of all by looking at a plant, you will ascertain of what it is composed, and then you may be able to draw a very fair conclusion as to what it needs ; because a plant must have that out of which it is built, otherwise it can not be built any more than a carpenter can build a house without any boards, nails, or plaster. Or, you may say that having these materials which nature has provided, some how or other the plant will make use of them and grow and prosper; because there are very few tilings which nature has done in vain. There is nothing connected with the soil that may not be considered in some way or other useful to the plant, although there are some materials found in the soil which are apparently of no use in plant structure ; yet you may be pretty sure that either directly or indirectly they are essential. To illustrate: a large portion of very many of our soils is clay^ and the prominent constituent of clay is alum- ina; but ttere' are very few plants which contain any alumina in their structure. No part of plants in their general composition contains or needs any alumina at all, yet the clay is, as you all know, of very great advantage, even if it has no other use than that of afibrding to the plant some hold in the soil by which it can keep its place ; or, if you look at the clay in another way, it performs an im- portant office in holding in the soil the moisture which the plant needs. So I sty that all the elements that may be found in the soil are of use either directly or indirectly. Of course, there is but a small proportion of the elements collect- ed together in our soils, and you ooeld hardly say that the rare elements w6uld 158 THE SKCEETS OF PKOGEESSIVB AGEICULTtTEK. enter into the consideration of the subject at oil in such a discussion as we are now giving to it. I wiU commence the consideration of this question with the soil, and then we will go back to the plant. The first question I ask is, how does this soil come to us? Of course, there must have been a time in the geological history of the world when there was no soil; when the molten mass of the first rooks was tlie only- surface of the earth — ^nbthing hard at all, nothing solid, but all in a liquid form. Then there came after that something that was hard rock, but of this solid rock first formed from the molten mass, probably not a single fragment remains on the earth at the present time. After it was first solidified veiy likely it was broken up and resolidified again and again, and so went through those stages day after day and year after year- until finally there came a time when the rocks be- came permanent. The first rocks of which we know anything are the granite rocks. These rocks in some parts of our country form very large mountains, and indeed ranges of mountains are formed' to a large extent from them, as the Adirondack range and others. We do not have any granite in Ohio except the bowlders which we find here and there through the state; these are illus- trations of this kind of rook. Almost all granite is made of two or three con- stituents. One of these is feldspar, and the light colored substance which I have here is called quartz. In very many granites we find little places like this (in- dicating), which are called mica, and this inica you are familiar with, it being the substance used in stoves. It is generally called isinglass, but it ought never to be called that. So these three elements — quartz, feldspar and mica — in some form or other make up the granite rocks. You will find them modified in very many ways, but they will ordinarily come back to some modification of these three bodies. Now, of these three elements, it is necessary to speak a few words. .Quartz is a very hard substance indeed. It comes to us very frequently in the shape of flints, and so we have the white flint, which is called chalcedony, which is a good illustration of quartz. Sometimes it comes in beautiful ciystals. Quartz is made up of what is known as silica, and silica is a compound of the element known as silicon — which looks for all the world like black carbon — and of oxygen. It is therefore a compound in itself of oxygen and silicon, but it is one of the simplest compounds. Fully one half of the crust of the earth is made up of this substance. But this quartz is not the only form in which silica is found. Sandstone is in part composed of silica. So are all our plants composed in part of it. If you burn up a plant like a wheat stalk or any plant that has a good strong stalk, you wUl have left behind an ash, and in this ash is found silica. Now, there is no difierenoe between the three specimens of silica to which I have referred, except that one is derived from one source and another from an- other source. Quartz when ground up forms a beautiful powder like this I have in the bottle here. Sometimes it seems to be so Very light that it runs almost like water, but the solid rock from which it is obtained is about two and u half times heavier than water. Then feldspar and mica contain this silica united with foreign compounds. There is no feldspar that you can get that contains merely quartz, but it contains in addition to quartz various substances, like potash, soda, or lime. So you may have feldspar which contains silica and THE SOU IN ITS RELATIONS TO PLANTS. 159 potash; silica and lime; or silica and soda; or all three of these hodies maybe in the same feldspar. These bodies which I have just named, the potash, soda and lime, have a very important influence on our soils, and the main part of the potash of the soil comes to us from the breaking up of this feldspar I am now talking about. This mica, though looking very different from feldspar, and acting differently, but having the power of splitting into leaves, is very nearly of the same composition as the feldspar, so far as the elements are concerned, which are put together, however, in a very different way; but mica contains silica, potash, soda, arid lime, and sometimes there are in addition other elements. Both feldspar and mica contain alumina as one oi their constituents in the form of silicate of alumina. These, then, are the granite rocks, and the granite rocks i arc the only rocks that are formed from the original constituents of the earth. Of course, when these rocks settled on the outside of the earth, that was only done so far as the crust was concerned, while underneath the crust was melted matter, and that melted matter to some extent is still solidifying. Sometimes this crust has been broken up and re-solidified, as in the case of basalt, which is found in columns, occupying clefts that have been rent in the rocks; or as lava and pumice stones. But all these rocks, so far as we know, must have been de- rived either directly or indirectly from this original granite. Now, we can find by chemistry every substance we have in the world, and are able to analyze these various substances. We have thus found that these basaltic rocks contain representatives ot all the minerals and all the elements anywhere found in the earth. So I say, then, that the granite and the basalt taken together contain the substances which make up the crust of the earth. There must have been a time also when there was nothing in the earth but these basalts, lavas and granites. At such a time there could have been no soil — nothing but rocks. That time must have been millions and millions of years ago. We have not now the first soil that existed on the earth, because long before we planted wheat, corn, etc., nature had her plants. The coal plants grew, and of course where they grew there must have been some soil. These soils have changed probably thousands of times, the insoluble portions reniaining behind, and the soil we have now is the product of the changes, that have been going on for many years. We can hardly find a name for the millions of millions of years it may have taken to bring about these changes. Now, the question comes to us as to what the methods were by which these soils were formed. Naturally, by the breaking up or disintegration of the rooks, and their ti-ansferrence to other places. Now, I wish to consider for a moment the agencies which do this breaking up. In the first place, when the earth was in the condition I hinted at a moment ago — that is, the condition of molten matter — all the water which is now on the surface of the globe must have been in the clouds. There was a time, then, when the oceans which we now have were clouds, and of course at such a time as that the rain storms which fell must have fallen with tremendous vehemence; the heavens must have befen very literally opened, and you can readily see why the little hills or mountains at such times would have been ■washed away to a considerable extent, even though composed of hard rook. So, when we speak of the disintegration of the rock by water, we not only mean this, but also in connection with it the alternate freezing and thawing of the water. 160 THE SECEETS OF PKOGEESSIVE AGEICTTLTTmE. But at Bnch a time as that, when the mass ot the earth had just emerged from the molten cayity, there could be nothing like freezing. When we come down to later times of the earth's condition, ihen we would come to notice such in- flenees; but in the earlier times the water could have acted hj falling in the way I have mentioned, and the water falling may have got into the crevices of the heated rocks and must then have been hot water and exerted all the force which water heated does in the way of steam, and could thus have exerted a tremendous force. Now, there must have been also in such a case as that an action on these rocks, the effects of which we may see. We have bodies easily dissolved. At that time, if there was anything like common salt or potash, or like chloride of .potassium, or saltpeter, they would have passed soon into a state of solution by the action of the water, and have been carried from one portion to another of the earth's surface without any trouble whatever. The only trouble which the water will have Avith the structure of the earth will be the substances I have mentioned which will not dissolve. There are bodies which are not soluble, and others that dissolve with great difficulty in water, as for instance, gypsum, which takes four or five hundred pints of water to dissolve one pound or so of gypsum. And you would be surprised if you would take the trouble to calculate what a very little can do, and then come to consider the immense quantities which are at work on the earth. Suppose, for instance, that a spring of water can dissolve one pound of lime for every thousand pounds of water: that would be one tenth of one per cent. But you may say that there are very few springs which would not yield in a day much more than a thousand pounds of water. If they would yield beyond two thousand pounds you would get double the amount of lime, and so on, and you can thus form an idea what the immense "juantity of water on the globe may accomplish in a very great amount of time. So I say that water has been one of the great agencies in this work. A very little, re- peated very often, and continued through a period of great length, will amount to an immense quantity in course of time. Then there are rocks which are not broken up in that way. For instance, feldspar could not be broken up by anything short of very hot water. The ordi" naiy action of water on these granfte rocks would amount to almost nothing. You see these old bowlders lying around year after year and year after year, the rain having no effect upon them scarcely at all. But rocks like these break easily when, in connection with water, a number of other agencies are at work ; and one of the principal of these agents is carbonic acid. I will show you that gypsum, which was so hard to dissolve, may be easily dissolved, and I wish to repeat that these basaltic rocks contain everything of the substances I have mentioned. Another thing contained is phosphorus, as apatite and phosphate of lime. In this shape, perhaps, most of the phosphate we have in dispersion came from these old original rocks. [Prof. Norton here illustrated the action of carbonic acid before the class by uniting with it distUled water and quick-lime. The experiment showed that as soon as the carbonic acid touched the lime water it caused it to become clouded from the formation of carbonate of lime in the water, but by continuing the addition of carbonic acid the lime was re-dissolved and the water became perfectly clear.] *HB SOIL m ITS EELATIONS TO tLANTS. 161 The experiment I have shown will illustrate the condition of things in former times. The water would not be pure water, but would contain this carbonic acid, and in such a case as this thelimestone would be dissolved and would pass from one portion of the earth to another with the least possible difficulty; and then being carried from one part to another, as soon as the carbonic acid was taken away there would be a gravitation of the lime, and in that way immense bodies of limestone were formed. Wherever you finda limestone country there will be found cavities of greater or less extent. The great caves we have 'in Kentucky and throughout the West are of this character, allot them found in thelimestone rocks, the limestone being dissolved by the water and carbonic acid; but when the latter escaped the lime was left in the form we find it. If you go into these caves ^ou will find frequently hanging from the top some crystallized matter, called stalactites, and below there will be found what are called stalagmites ; these are formed in that way by -the water from which the carbonic acid has passed en- tirely out, leaving the lime behind. Now, what nature has done in very many days we may do in a very few moments by taking a little extra heat. ' [The Professor here exhibited to the class another experiment : Upon heating the clear water containing excess of carbonic acid which had been obtained in the former experiment, the water becaiHe very turbid, the carbonate of lime coming down again. He explained that the cloudiness observed in the liquid was due to the separation of the carbonic acid, leaving behind a deposit of lime.] This is the way nature would work, and you find on the earth's surface here and there quite a large amount of lime separated out of its original combinations by this means. [Another experiment was performed by uniting solutions of potash and sul- phate of lime, showing that when the two liquids came together an interchange took place, forming an insoluble body.] The feldspar, as I have said, contains silica, and generally also alumina and potash, and sometimes lime, sometimes soda; and the thing we want to do is to somehow or other get the potash and soda and lime out of it. Noyr, if we could get a current of alkali into it, the alkali will break it up. We have here a speci- men of ordinary clay. The clay i&ay be in half a dozen forms ; it may be either the blue clay we have in someplaoes, or the red claylrom which we make brick, or the whiter clay, like this I show you, from which the nicer articles of porcelain are nanufactured. After acting on the feldspar and taking out of it the soda, potash and lime, the body you have left behind is a sort of clay known by the name of kaolin. Now, we would have from this process of disintegration of the granite rocks, quai'tz, which being broken up gives us sand, and feldspar, whieii being broken up gives us clay, and the clay and the sand make up the body of our soil. Now, in this way, simply by inorganic forces, nature breaks down rocks in one place and gets them carried to another place, while the agent by which they are thus carried from one-place to another is water. So, then, by being carried from one latitude to another, all our rocks have been formed^— that is, so far as the inorganic rocks are concerned. How formed, belongs to geology and I cannot take up that question now; but these forces have been at work in the way I have mentioned. Then, chemistry has done its part, and now comes 6 16S THB 8BCBET8 OF FBOaBBBSrVX ASBIOUL'i'UJIK, the work of living forces. They have done a great deal, especially in the forma- tion of limestone. There was the oyster; he must have something to cover him- seU with, so he formed around him a shell ; then^^ also, his brothers and sisters must have shells for their covering, and these masses formed together in the ages past have created immense bodies of limestone. And so with countless other little beings, smaller sometimes than a pin's head, yet so numerous that they are forming great amounts of rock, such as almost passes our belief. Off the eastern coast of Australia there is a reef forming now, not by oysters, but by numberless small corals, and so great is their work that we can measure the rate at which those reefs are advancing from year to year. This has been ascertained in one instance in a case like this : a number of years ago an anchor of a ship was left remaining there on the reef, where it was afterward found, the corals having built all around it, covering and enclosing it completely. By measurement and calculation we are able to ascertain the rapidity with ^rhlch these minute beings are thus forming these rocks. Now, if only an inch in a century were formed in this way, yet in the lapse of the many centuries the reef would be very deep and very thick, and you have only to multiply the small increase per year by the im- mense number of years in geological ages to see how large an amount of work is accomplished. A small factor in one scale multiplied by a great factor in an- other scale may produce immeasurable quantities, as in these coral reefs. Some of these beings are so small that they can only be seen by the aid of a micro- scope ; BO small that it takes many millions of them to make a single cubic inch ; yet in the course of time immense blocks of rook have been built up by them, 80 that these living organic beings assist nature in this great work. But this work is also carried on by plants. Suppose one of these coral reefs should break up and float away, carried by the waves to some sand island ; this admixture of the lime and the sand would make a soil, and in that soil sea plants could grow, and in this way there would be furnished the carbon of the sea plant, which would make another important constituent of soil that comes from decay- ing vegetable matter, and is called humus. Now, with a rock containing sand and lime and humus some species of low plants would grow, and if one land plant comes and grows there then it begins to exercise its influence on the rocks in breaking them up. The wheat plant, from which this ash comeS which I have shown you, must lave taken its silica directly from the soil, but nature got it first from that which ifas another soU. It is not far different from the feldspar. It is hard to believe that this silica I have in this bottle is precisely of the same nature as this we have here (exhibiting the solid specimen), yet that is the fact. Some time or other it was like this hard substance, and got dissolved and got into a wheat plant and there became a portion of the wheat stalk. So I say we have these various elements in nature in an inorganic form in which they may be taken up by ani- mals; and upon the deposits made by animals plants may grow; the plants may feed other animals, and both plants and animals decay and the inorganic mate- rials return to the earth, and thus the soil becomes far more complex. And so in the early ages soils were formed. Then soils, many of them undoubtedly, were growing slowly along from those granite rocks, then changing and growing more and more complex as I have described, until finally a soil was produced capable AIB IN BBLATION TO PLANTS. 163 of nonrishing coal plants, and after that it became an easy thing for other plants to grow in the soil left behind, and thus mixing and becoming more and more complex untU soils containing all the elements we now have in our soils were produced. Then came a time when the forces of nature worked great changes. We had an immense force produced by the ice acting on the soil ; we have in'this part of the world, on the surface, a soil known as " drift," produced from the break- ing up of a great many rocks from all portions of this part of the country, perhaps coming from Labrador and farther north, coming down to us as drift deposits. So the soil we have here we say was brought here from the far North by ice and storm, perhaps coming down with immense force through the action of glaciers and icebergs, as indicated -by the bowlders we have scattered through this country. AIR IN RELATION TO PLANTS BY PKOF. SIDNEY A. NOETON When I was speaking of water I may perhaps have led you into an error, as I did not take pains to speak of th« matter as fully as I would like to have done. I said that water was capable of dissolving out of the soil eveiything which was present that it could dissolve ; and now I say that we might classify the bodies present into three groups: one like saltpeter, which is easily dissolved; one like mica, which is difficult to dissolve ; and one like sand, which will not dis- solve. Now, it is always the case that the soil, being porous, has the faculty of re- taining at first everything necessary for the plant growth. But in these matters which you put on the top of the soil there are ingredients that are necessary, for plant growth; for instance, soda, ammonia, and sulphate of lime, which are ordinarily soluble in water. These bodies willi^e retained by the soil itself, al- though they dissolve in the water as ordinary^lt is dissolved. They will not stay on the surface, but the plow will reach them in the subsoil, and they will pass upward into the plants as they are needed. Phosphate of soda, potasli, ni- trogen, or common salt will thus stay within reach of the plants, by reason of the porous nature of the soil. [Prof. Norton here illustrated this principle by a series of experiments.] ■ In connection with the subject he said: Some soils are much better in this re- spect than others. In sandy soils these ingredients will be leached out and but little wOl be retained; in those containing an amount of clay the soil will bo porous enough to retain them without much loss. 164 THE SBCKETS OB' PBOGKESSIVB AaBICTTLTTrEtB, My subject for to-day is air in relation to plants. First of all I will say that this air that we breathe is a simple thing, composed principally of oxygen and ni- trogen, and both of these substances are gases. I hare in this jar oxygen, a gas which is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, and very slighlly heavier than air. One of the qualities which distinguishes oxygen from other gases is its wonder- ful power to sustain combustion. [Prof. Norton here performed an experiment by burning a piece of iron wire in oxygen ; he also performed other experiments illustrating the qualities of oxygen gas.] Oxygen is one of our best benefactors; every dead animal that rots is taken away at the expense of oxygen ; so it is a great preservative. It is one of nature's great scavengers; without it, it would be impossible for us to live. But if this oxygen were itself the only element we had in the air, it would then also be impossible for us to live, because the vital functions would be performed too rapidly. It composes about one fifth of the atmosphere. But there is another principle in the air which is called nitrogen ; it composes about four fifths of the air. Nitrogen has no color, no taste, will not burn, will not do anything, and its function seems to be to dilute the air so as to make it capable of being breathed by living beings, and of being used by plants. It is a ques- tion whether the nitrogen that is in the air does anything else; whether nitric acid and ammonia can be produced by combination of oxygen with this free nitrogen is a matter of doubt. It is possible that nitric acid is so produced, but that ammonia is, is yet a question. Now, another constituent of the atmosphere is water, of which we have al- ready spoken at sufficient length. Another constituent is carbonic acid; car- bonic acid is present in a very small quantity, only one part in 2,500, so that its amount is apparently almost too slight to enter into calculation, yet we shall see that it pef ormes a very important function. The atmosphere presses down on every square inch of the earth with a pres- sure of fifteen pounds. I do not care to look for the fractions; it is not quite fifteen pounds, but these figures are exact enough. Now, if it presses down at the rate of fifteen pounds per square inch,- that is very nearly equivalent to three pounds of oxygen and twelve pounds of nitrogen. If you reckon the atmosphere as being of equal density all the way up, its height would amount to about five miles. It actually extends fifty miles, or probably much more, as the upper Jayers are much less dense than the lower ones. If we could imagine the pressure to be alike on all parts of it the height would be about five miles ; so that we may say there will be about foifc miles of nitrogen and one mile of oxygen in the atmosphere. If there are three pounds of oxygen to every square inch, there will be three times one hundred and forty-four pounds to every square foot; or, we may say, in round numbers, four hundred pounds. You might ask how long this oxygen which we have on the earth would last the population ? We can figure up the amount pretty easily. If a person breathes seven tenths of a cubic foot an hour, he can tell how much he needs per day. And then for the thousand million persons on the globe, we can make the calculation as to what they will consume, and all that we need in the process of burning, and in fer- mentation, and in all these difierent operations. It has been calculated that there would be enough oxygen to last 800,000 years. Such a product as this is so WATEB m EELATION TO PIANTS. 165 immense that we can hardly imagine how there would be any lack of it! Then we may inquire how long the carbonic acid which is present would last? It is computed that it would only last about a thousand years if the supply could not be replenished. [Most of the time of this lecture was devoted to experiments.] WATER IN RELATION TO PLANTS. BY PEOF. SIDNEY A. NORTON. Gentiemen: — So far as onr lecture day before yesterday was concerned, I endeavored to tell you how soils were formed through the disintegration of the rocks, and what the agencies were by which the disintegration, o the breaking up of the original rocks into that which we might call soil, was aft'ected. I sup- pose that by such action materials have accumulated on the earth's surface which may be turned over with the plow, and such materials are called soil. But of course you will not find all arable lands to be fertile, for in order that the soil shovM be a fertile soil, we should find in it such constituents as are im- peratively necessary to plant growth. Fortunately for us in almost all our lands there is a superabundance of very many of the materials needed; and when- we speak of the fertility of the soil, we mean to say that the soil is so weU balanced that plants can grow in it, and that the superabundance of certain elements which may exist does not retard their growth. Of the elements which are requisite to make a fertile soil, some are spoken of in ordinary terms as being essential. As I told you in the last lecture, whatever we may find in plants may be considered essential to their growth ; for instance, the wheat plant, as I showed you, always c ontains in its ash when burned a qtfan- tity of silica, so that that is required in the soil as essential to the growth of the stalk. Kow, in spite of this statement which I have made, and wbich I think does not bear contradiction, wheat stalks have been grown, and grown success- fully, without silica — that is to say, we could manage to get wheat growth with- out any silica — but in nature silica is always there, and the expeiimeuts which are performed in the laboratory of the chemist are not to be regarded as conchi- sive, or at least not to be regarded as overthrowing what nature is doing. If na- ture always places silica in wheat stalks, we may say without error that silica is an absolute essential in the formation of the wheat stalk, and f o in that sense all these which I put on the blackboard are essential to the growth of the wheat plant; namely, lime, silicaT, spda, potash, sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, and 166 THE SBCEBTS OF PROGEESSIVE AGKICtJLTtJKE. we may have also a little nitrogen ; Bome nitrogen at least is necessary, or some- thing that will hold nitrogen; we have it more often in the quf 'ity of ammo nia. These are absolutely necessary for a fertile soil, and if they are not in the soil the soil is not fertile; There are also some other bodies besides those named that are hardly ever mentioned, hardly evei' thought of, perhaps, yet which are absolutely necessary and always found. For instance, no plant can grow, no plant can ever have a green leaf, unless there is iron present in the soil. Iron is absolutely necessary for the coloring in the leaf and to enable it to perform its functions; but in no book is iron put down as one of the essentials. The reason is because you can find no soU where iron is not present, not only in sufficient quantity for the present crop, but also for all the crops for many years to come. Now, it is almost impossible for us to conceive how much actual weight there is in an acre of tillable ground; if we take any of those rocks that I described to you the other day we shall find that their specific gravity is from about 2 6-10 up to 2 8-10. What we mean by specific gravity is the relative weight of the rocks as com- pared with the weight of water. Now, a cubic foot of water weighs 62 K pounds; and so when we say the specific gravity of these rocks runs from 2 6-10, or from 2)4 up to 2 8-10, we mean that these rocks are so many times heavier than water. Now, a cubic foot of one of these rocks having the specific gravity of 2K pounds would weigh 156 pounds; so if you could cover over an acre j)f ground with a solid rock to the depth of one foot, there would be as many times 156 pounds as there would be square feet in the acre. Now, if I recollect, there are about 43,560 square feet in an acre ; but for the sake of working it out easily, we will say that there are 43,000 square feet; if, then, there be that many square feet, and if we take the ground to the depth of one foot, there will be of course that many cubic feet so regarded, and the weight of that would be ^||D00 cubic feet multiplied by 156. But, now, in reference to the soil, we must remember that it is never solid ; it is broken, but lies together quite loosely, so that the weight is less, and would not, perhaps, amount to more than from 80 to 86 pounds to the cubic foot. If, then, I should reckon a cubic foot of soil to be 80 pounds, and multiply it by the num- ber of cubic feet in an acre, I shall have the weight of this acre of ground d'own to the depth of one foot, and it would be over 3,000,000 pounds. Suppose, now, inasmuch as I have thrown away some of the weight before, that I reckon the weight of the acre of soil to be 3,000,000 pounds, and then let us calculate how much there would be of these various ingredients in an acre of ground. If I should take potash for my basis, I would say that we would have nearly one per cent. ; and we would find the amount of potash to be about 25,000 pounds. The sulphuric acid would be about one sixth as much, or about 4,000 pounds to the acre of ground. For sUioa there would be a little more; but it is unneces- sary to work that out. For the lime, however, there would be about five times as much of the sulphuric acid, or about 20,000 pounds to the acre ; and then for phosphoric acid about one fourth as much as the potash; I will put it down as 6,000pounds for this ground. So in the acre of ground we will find the materials we want in the soil something like those figures I have given. These quantities are enormous, and if you had to purchase them in order to put them on the soil yon WATER IN KBIiATION TO PLANTS. 167 wonld see the value of them ; for instance, if I should "take the potash, which ia worth four or five cents per pound; suppose I reckon it worth five cents per pound, then the value of that in the soil would be five times 25,000, which would amount to $1,250. Then, the phosphoric acid is worth about twice as much as the potash — say ten cents a pound — so that there would be about $600 worth of phosphoric acid for the acre of ground. If to these you add the value of the other elements, which I wUl not take time to mention, there would be at least $3,000 worth of fertilisers in one acre of ground. You have here actually, however, only what there is in a fertUe acre of ground taken down to^the depth of one fool, something like $3,000 worth of fertilizers. But some of these, if properly taken care of in ordinary soils, would last for a Ufetime, while others would have to be replaced from day to day, and year to year; and some would be in such a condition unless they were replaced that the soU would become de- teriorated for a certain crop ; but it never becomes actually barren. A soil may become so deteriorated that it wiU no longer bear wheat, and yet be adapted to bear some other crop — a root crop perhaps ; and it is on this principle that we seek to find aparticular kind of crop which is profitable for a particular kind of soil. And the wise farmer will exercise his discrimination in all cases where he can see and be able to know the valuable amount of materials which will be found in the soil' on his farm. His success will depend upon working the soil so as to prevent it losing its fertility, and in finding out the crops for which it is adapted. Now, we have quite a number of elements that have been omitted as not being of any special value; for instance, iron is one which I mentioned just now; magnesia is frequently desirable, and always some decaying vegetable or animal matter — something in which there will be nitrogen. I say, then, these become necessary to make up a fertile soil; and an immense quantity of water will be present in the soil in its natural state, in various forms. First of all, there may be the water which you can easily see; water which comes down from the rain, and is found all over the surface. But then there win always be present in the whole soil a quantity of water which you cannot see; which will render the soil more or less moist to your hand. This water is simply distributed through the soil, and which keeps the soil moist, is called hygroscopic water. Now, porous bodies that are competent to take up water may absorb a wonderful amount; for instance} you take a quantity of dry clay^- which would be a fair sample — dry it thoroughly over the fire and pulverize it, and you then have a material which can take up an immense weight of water, and take it up so that you could hardly see the water ; so for this reason we use clay in connection with earth closets. The clay is simply dried, and any urine thrown upon it is immediately absorbed. You can have many porous bodies that will contain more or less hygroscopic water in a column. Thus the water which lies down below the soil will rise and fill the soil precisely the same way that the wick takes up the oil in the lamp; as the oil burns away from the wick more will ascend, and in the same way the water is drawn up through the soil from the lower part; water coming in that way is called capillary water,, be- cause it^cts in the same way as water does when it is drawn up in a glass tube. It ia hardly possible for me to show you by experiment many of these things, 168 tHE 8ECKETS OF PfiOGKESSIVfi AGSlCtTLTtJEfi. but I will give you an illustration of the way in which the water acts, which we call capillary water. [Prof. Norton here showed the class, by experiment, the manner in which water ascended into the earth by capillary attraction.] Now, with regard to the quantity of water that will be required for the growth of a crop, we have little adequate apprehension. I supp5se we might take a corn crop as being a good average crop for the purpose. Now, a crop of com from the time it is started until it ripens will give off water to the amount of more than five times its own weight. So, if you can imagine how many tons of com there woold be at the end of the season on a specified number of acres, and multiply that by five, you would have some notion of the weight of water which would be actually required by the corn itself. S. B. Ellis. — ^There are about twenty tons of corn to the acre in a fair corn crop. I'rof. Norton. — ^If that be the case it would then need about one hundred tons of water. Then a question comes again, how much rain falls for us to give us this supply? I think that farmers for the most part get an idea which is incorrect in regard to the amount of rain ; for instance, at Columbus the annual fall of rain and melted snow varies from about thirty-six inches to, perhaps, about forty- four inches in depth. But that is a very severe storm indeed that will give you 1^4 to 2}i inches of water; and so I think it would be well for us all to make some sort of rough estimate as to showers as they come along, to ascertain how much falls at any given time, and this can be done very easily ; all that is neces- sary is for you to put out any pan, or vessel with perpendicular sides, where it Avill not be interfered with by stock or anything of the kind, at any time. In that way the depth of rain-fall cau be ^ot at without much error, and then the weight can be easily ascertained. Sometimes, as the rain falls there is too much for the crop ; there are some crops, however, to which it seems impossible to give too much water; as for in- stance, the rice crop, which will grow with its roota immersed in water ; and so with various others. And there are those that require dry soil, and some will flourish almost in the desert, as the mullein, which will flourish without seeming to get water in any way, but of course there will be more or less water coming to it through the atmosphere. The balance between supply aiid demand is, however, kept very nearly con- stant; there is not probably quite as much water in our soils at the present day in Ohio as there was fifty years ago, or more, when the state was covered largely by forests. The native soils were much more moist then than now; the reason of that was probably not that there was so much more rain, but that the rain which fell was not so soon evaporated. AVhen the country was all covered over with forests, the amount of evaporation in a season from the surface was much slower than now. As you all know, the evaporation will be more rapid in a fresh plowed field than from unplowed ground. Thus the moisture is greatly re- duced by drainage and tillage. Now, as regards water iu the soil, it has a wonderful use. First of all, there is' hardly a plant that you cau name that is not three fourths water; it is almost be- yond the bounds of belief to notice in the tables which are given to us contain- WATBB JK REIATION TO PLANTS. 169 ing the structure of our food plants, how much of them are water ; when, for instance, we read that watermelons are 95 or 96 per cent, of water; cucum- bers are about the same ; and that 75 per cent, of the potato is water, it seems al< most beyond belief. Even materials as dry as flour and starch — though they may likely be of the very best quality — will be likely to contain 10 per cent, of water. The dryest starch — having been dried by a slow fire — will generally lose one tenth of its weight when made in the most approved manner. Take an egg, for example, you suppose yon are eating something almost as solid as a piece of meat— it is said two eggs will equal a pound of meat— but there is 80 per cent, of water there, so thai when we get out the 80 per cent, of water, there is but 20 per cent, of meat ii the egg. And so, for that matter, if our bodies were dried and nothing left o: us but the solid matter, we would make a poor show when weighed in th< balance. So I say that water plays a wonderful part in plants; it makes uj their tissues, not merely in growing, but in the grown plant; and when we talk of what we call dry foods we do not think of their containing so much water as it is shown that they have. There is in a good quality of dry hay 10 to 20 pel cent of water — averaging somewhere about 15 per cent. Thus the water we have passing through the soU is necessary for the plants, that they may live and flourish. Now, water in the soil answers another purpose; it is necessaiy to fill out the plants. The cell of « plant is so much tissue — dry and hard when takeu by itself. IJow, in order that growth may be maintained, the cell must be so per- meated by water that its contents can be changed from one part of the plant to another. Take, for example, the potato plant; after it has started to grow it con- tains a quantity of Starch which it has somehow obtained, and it will only grow when that starch is dissolved so that it may be carried along in the cell, or trans- ported from one part of the plant to another. Water is thus the means by which the necessary food of the plant may be carried from one part of the plant to another. But when the potato plant has grown, and the leaves are out and full, then the water has another very important function. We do not know exactly how the, thing is carried out, yet we know pretty certainly that the leaf of the plant gets carbonic acid from the air, and with the carbonic acid and water it forms starch. So the water in the plant is playing a part in the change of the gases of the plant into solid matter, and in the transporting of this mat- ter from part to part, and is therefore necessary for the growth of the plant and for the circulation of the sap. In that way, then, the water holds a double func- tion in the plant; first of all, in filling the tissues; and secondly, as being one of the working factors in the growth of the plant. And now the next question comes, how does this water get into the plant? It must get into-it, in the first place, through the soil, but it gets in through a very simple process. We find the root made up of a series of cells which are forcing their way farther and farther into the soil. In addition to that, we find every now and then on this growing root, cells throwing out what are called root hairs, and these cells are just as much needed as the cells of the other part ; now, if we want to get a clear conception of what is meant by a cell, we may understand it by opening an orange so as to have the pulp left in an undisturbed condition, and we will find it made up of little coue-Uke bodies, each one separated from the 170 THB BEOEETS OP PEOGEBSSIVB AGEICTILTUBB. other, and each is a cell, which is a cloEed sack containing a fluid. These celli are connected with one another in the soil, and water passes into them, and the way it gets there is a very wonderful way. There are no holes in these cells, but the water gets in without there being any holes. If you will tie a thin membrane —as a piece of bladder — over one end of a tube, and place that end in a.basin of water, you will soon see that the water is passing through the membrane Into the tube. If you put sweetened water into the basin and pour water into the tube, you will find after a few hours that both fluids will have the same sweet- ness ; that is, the sweetened water will have passed into the tube, and the pure water out of it. When water passes through a membrane like this, we call this in- ward flow endosmosis, and for its going out we use the term exosmosis. These terms, then, indicate the dii-ection, of the current. This action of endosmosis is undoubtedly one of the actions by which the water passes into the plants. If, now, we examine the whole stem, we shall find the cells passing one into an- other, making a con tin aal chain; and through them the water passes both by the process of endosmosis I have just described, and by that of capUlary attrac- traction, which I illustrated a few minutes ago. But the water not merely goes into the plant; it carries with it many things which may be dissolved in it. It must take into the plants all the elements which I have named as being neces- sary to the growth of the plant; the minerals which are going into the plant cannot go in unless dissolved; no solid could get through the walls of the cells any more than you could take a piece of solid lime and get it through the blad- der which I have on the funnel here. The lime when dissolved becomes a part of the water, and when thus dissolved it is easily conveyed to the plant. The lime in our soils is there in the form of bi-carbonate or of. sulphate of lime; if in th,e form of sulphate of lime, it takes about 700 parts of water to dissolve one part of lime. If not dissolved, I could not pass this sugar through the blad- der; the solid sugar would not go through; but dissolved, it would pass readily through with the water. So with these bodies I have named, they must be dis- solved by water before they can get .into the plant. What do these bodies do when they get into the stem? They are carried upward into the leaf ; there they meet the carbon and oxygen of the atmosphere, and are digested into the proper nutriment of the plant; then they are carried to the various parts and deposited as portions of plant tissues. Then, there is another function of the water, namely, to carry the substances which are in the soil up through the tissues of the plant, and lodge them in the leaf;' so you see we have quite a number of functions for it to perform. Our talk to-day has been in reference to what shall be the relation of water to plants. I say, then, first of all, that the water which is present in soils is either surface water — ^wlich may run oflf— or it is hygroscopic water, or it is capillary water. The use of the water for the plants — to take it in a reversed order — is first to dissolve the materials which are in the soil, in order to render them in such a condition that they may pass from the soil through the walls of the root, and having passed into the plant that they may be carried up to the leaf where digestion takes place, so that this food may be concentrated at that point by the evaporation of the water. Second, the growth of the plant is due primarily to the uniting of the water SUNSHINE IN KELATION TO PLANTS. 171 whioli is here in tie leaf with the carbonic acid which is in the air, and which passes into the wall of the cell ; so that bodies of such form as that represented by sugar or starch may be formed. Then, third, the water takes the starch, and having it in a soluble condition in the form of sugar, carries it again through the plant back to where it is wanted. For instance, in the case of com it would be carried to the grain ; in the case of a tree, such as a maple, it would be carried back to the leaf where the new bud is formed, while the rest of it would be carried into the lower parts as wanted, running between the solid part of the tree and the bark. This would be the function of the water in these matters. SUNSHINE IN RELATION TO PLANTS. BT PKOP. SIDNEY A. NOETON. At our last meeting I had to stop just as I was going to tell you about carbonic acid. This is a very important, though comparatively small constituent of the atmosphere, amounting to about one part in 2,500. These figures that I am giving you are of voliime; if we attempt to speak accurately they would be a little different, but the difierence would not affect our present calculations. Carbonic acid is a product of our breath; it is also a product of burning, and is always produced in the decomposition of logs or leaves in the forest, or by any fermentation or decay. There is enough carbonic acid present in the world to last about a thousand years, if all sources of supply were cut off; if it were all collected in a layer at the surface of the earth it would form a stratum only about ten feet in depth ; so you see there is not a great deal of it. The supply, how- ever, is kept up by other sources than those I have referred to. In the days of Pharaoh, the Egyptians were in the habit of burying with their dead a sealed bottle of air. Now, this air has been analyzed and found to be precisely like the air we now breathe, so that there has probably been no change in its constitution for three or four thousand years at least, and we may reason- ably suppose that there will be no change for as many years to come. The ques- tion then occurs, "How is it that this supply of carbonic acid is kept up?" I answer, that a large amount of this gas is discharged from the earth itself through volcanoes, as that of Vesuvius, which emits from its crater an enormous amount of gas, a very large proportion of which is carbonic acid gas. In addition to the active volcanoes there are extinct volcanoes which give forth gas from their sides and surface, and this gas is also carbonic acid gas. The £as which comes 1^2 THE SECEBIS O* tEOGEESSlVK AGBtCUtXtlKfi. from mineral springs, like that at Saratoga, is also carbonic acid gas; so I say that all over the surface of the earth there are fissures from which this gas is escaping, and a large supply comes in that way. In addition to these three elements— oxygen, nitrogen and carbonic acid — which I have named as existing in the atmosphere of the earth, there will also be found a small quantity of ammonia. Now, the ammonia that is always pres- ent in the air exists in an exceedingly small quantity — probably not more than one part to 28,000 of the atmosphere — only enough to last a year or two — and the question comes, " What slial'l we do when this is used up?" I would answer, that ammonia is evolved in the decay of all bodies containing nitrogen, and this Bource is sufficient to maintain the supply. The amount of ammonia which is not thus due to decay is very slight. I am not sure that we have any at all. It is an unsettled question whether or not th^ nitrogen of the atmosphere, when agitated by a storm, and especially an electric storm, may not be so combined with the elements of water as to form ammonia. We know that when an -elec- tric storm has taken place a portion of the oxygen of the air is changed into a more active form called ozone, a substance which you may often detect by a peculiar odor in the atmosphere after a thunder-storm. This ozone acts much more rapidly, when brought in contact with decomposing materia], than oxygen itself, and thus increases the quantity t)f ammonia in the atmosphere by its combination with the nitrogen compounds evolved in fermentation; but as yet there is no conclusive evidence that this ozone is able to combine directly with tiie free nitrogen of the atmosphere. Ammonia is being constantly formed from mauure heaps and all decaying substances, by the union' of oxygen with the nitrogen and hydrogen of such substances, and ammonia may be converted into nitrous and nitric acids by the continued action of oxygen. Now, it is found that these acids, as well as ammonia in the form of carbonate, continually exist in the atmosphere, from which they, with some carbonic acid, are washed into the soil by rain. Thus, through the process which I have described to yoti, the plant rootlets will receive water, which contains nitrogen in some form of combination, while the leaves are constantly surrounded by an atmosphere contaijiing carbonic acid. When, therefore, the substances dissolved in the soil are absorbed by the roots and carried upward into the leaves, they come in contact with carbonic, acid and oxygen, and various prodxicts are formed. Fart of these substances contain no nitrogen, but are made up of carbon united with oxj'gen and hydrogen in the proportion in which these elements exist in water; that is, two parts by volume of hydrogen are used every time one volume of oxygen is used. Thus the cellular tissues of plants, together with starch and a number of similar substances, are made up of 12 atoms of carbon in unison with 20 atoms of hydrogen and 10 of oxygen. Cane sugar contains 22 atoms of hydro- gen and 11 of oxygen to 12 of carbon ; grape sugar, 24 atoms of hydrogen and 12 of oxygen to 12 of carbon, etc. These substances belong to the ceUvlose group of plant constituents. Another group is characterized by having a considerable excess of oxygen over the proportion required to form water with the hydrogen; this group includes the vegetable adds, such as oxalic, malic, citric and tartaric acids. A third group is intermediate between the cellulose group and the BCNSHINB IN RELATION TO PLANTS. 173 yegetable acids. This group contains a larger proportion of oxygen to hydrogen than exists in water, but not so large as is found in the vegetable acids; it ia known as the pectose group, and is represented by the flesh of fruits ; of pumpkins and squashes; of the.roots of the beet, turnip, onion, etc., and in cabbage and celery. A fourth group contains a very large excess of hydrogen instead of oxy- gen; to this group belong the various fats and oils and wax. These four groups make up what are known as the non-nitrogenous or carb-hydrate ingredients of plants, while a fifth group exists which contains, in addition to carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, about 15 to 18 per cent, of nitrogen, and }^ to IK per cent, of sul- phur. This group is called the albuminoid or protein grow;}, from ils resemblance in composition to the substance called albumen, of which the white of egg is a familiar example. These nitrogenized substances occupy but a small proportion of the whole plant — not more than 1 to 4K per cent, of tlie fresh plant in tiie case of plauts used for forage, and less than that in the case of woody jilants — yet they are the most important of the plant constituents, since no growth can" occur except in the pi'esence of nitrogen. The formative fluid of the plant, out of which growth takes place, is called protopliism, and this protoplasm invariably contains nitro- gen, together with traces of phosphates and of sulphur. In this protoplasm you will also find » matter giving a green color. Even when the leaf is colored,' as we find it in red cabbage, there is still to be found a quantity of this green matter, but rendered red by other ingredients. This green mate- rial is called chlorophyll; what it does we cannot tell, but we know that it always contains a small quantity of iron, and this iron seems to perform certain t'unctions in the leaf. Now, we find water ascending to the leaf of the plant, and carrying with it in solution certain compounds of nitrogen, as well as certain mineral matters, notably iron, phosphorus, lime and sulphur. In the leaf the water meets car- bonic acid, and here a combination takes place in such a way that bodies result having the composition of water with the addition of a certain quantity of carbon. But we must not suppose that, this carbon is obtained simply by the decomposition of the carbonic acid which is absorbed by the plant from the atmosphere; on the contrary, careful investigations have shown that free oxygen, as well as carbonic acid, is being constantly absorbed from the atmos- phere by the leaf, and that this oxygen is constantly forming carbonic acid through union with the carbon within the plant; thus an excess of carbonic «cid is formed, which is given ofl" by the plant much the same as is done by animals in breathing. It has further been found that it is only in the presence of sunlight that carbon is fixed by the plant, through the agency of ehlorophyll, and that at such times the exhalation of carbonic acid is so small as to be nearly obscured by that of oxygen, while in the absence of sunlight the reverse is the case. To repeat, then, we have seen that water is constantly carrying to the leaves eertain substances necessary to the growth of the plant. In Vixe presence of sun- \igIU a portion of this water is evaporated, while the nutritious substances and the remaining water are combined with carbon which has been absorbed by the leaf in the form of carbonic acid; at the same time free oxygen is being ab- 174 THB SECRETS OF PEOGKESSIVE AGBICUITUKB. Borbed by the leaf, and of this oxygen, together with that liberated from the carbonic acid, a portion unites with carbon liberated within the plant by the disorganization of its tissues attendant upon growth, and is exhaled into the at- mosphere in the form of carbonic acid, together with the surplus of free oxygen, the oxygen largely preponderating; in the absence of surUighl no carbon is fixed within the plant, consequently all that absorbed is exhaled again into the atmos- phere, in this case the carbonic acid preponderating. I have said that some of the simpler compounds formed in the growth of plants consisted simply of a definite amount of carbon, united to hydrogen and oxygen in the proportion in which these elements combine to form water I have given the composition of one of these — grape sugar or glucose — as consisting of 12 atoms of carbon united with 24 atoms of hydrogen and 12 atoms of oxygen. Now, this glucose is present in the sap of plants, notably so in that of the sugar maple and of corn and sugar cane, and we may easily suppose that the foimation of the cell walls of plants is simply due to the abstraction of a portion of the water of this glucose, since if we subtract four atoms of hydrogen and two of oxygen from the formula for the composition of glucose, we have that for cellu- lose, starch, etc. Now, in the arts we have not yet succeeded in making this change, but we have succeeded in doing the opposite thing; that is, in the con- verting of starch and cellulose into glucose. I have not time to name the hundredth part, nor even the thousandth part, of the changes that must take place in the growth of a plant. These that I have named are simply indications of the way in which plants form their tissues. I do not know but that I have hurried over my subject so rapidly that I may have been indefinite in some points. Let us see, then, what I have tried to bring before you : I have tried to show you how soils were made by the disintegration ot rocks; then how they were distributed, to a certain extent; then I have tried to (Show what function was played by the soil in the growth of the plant. At our last meeting I showed you by experiments some of the properties of the air, what it is constituted of and how much of it is accessible to plants, or likely to be in the future ; while to-day I have tried to gather up some of these various parts, and to show what part is played by sunshine in the growth of plants. This was the work allotted for me to do, and I have done it as well as I could in the four'hours given me. You can see that to do this work well would require not only four hours but forty hours; while even a lifetime might be devoted to it without exhausting it. BXPBBIMENTS IN WHEAT CTTLTUBB. 176 EXPERIMENTS IN "WHEAT CULTURE. BY 0. B. THOBNK. Wheat, in its various relations to human welfare, has been the object of so much study, and has b*en so much talked and written about, that it would be presumptuous in me to undertake to say anything new about it; and, therefore, I propose to rearrange in more convenient form for reference a few of the facts bearing upon its culture that have been established by the investigations of the past few years. For a more convenient treatment of my subject, I shall divide it into the fol- lowing queries : 1. How shall we prepare our wheat lands? 2. How, and with what, shall we fertilize them? 3. What varieties of wheat shall we sow? 4. When shall we BOW it? 5. In what manner shall we sow it? 6. How much shall we sow to the acre? 7. What after-care shall we give the crop? 8. When shall we harvest it? 9. How shall we harvest it? 10. When shall we market it? For answers to these questions I propose giving the results of various experi- ments made either on the farm of our agricultural college, or by persons of un- doubted ability as experimenters; adding thereto only so much of my own theorizing as may serve as p, thread upon which to string the conclusions arrived at. I do not wish to be understood, however, as asserting that these experi- ments always furnish incontestible proof of the reliability of their results ; on the contrary, the more I experiment the more difficulty I see in the way of making an exact science of agriculture; while at the same time the more fully I become convinced that it is only through the encouragement of work of this character, and through the discarding of the guess-work which has formed so large a part of the basis of our agricultural practice, that any positive advance- ment can be made. Taking up the first question of our list, we find that it must be treated under two principal sub-divisions; as (o) when shall we plow? (6) how deep shall we plow? The first of these sub-divisions includes the question of summer fallowing; a question which seems to me to be thoroughly settled by the remarkable ezperi* 176 THE SECKETS OF FBO&BEESITB AGBICUITUBK. ments of John Bennet Lawes, of Bothamsted, England, the results of which their author reported as follows last year to the Rural New Yorker : "A summer fallow has been subject to experiment at Rothamsted, where, about twenty-eight years ago, two half acres of land, side by side, were placed under alternate wheat and fallow, both being plowed in the autumn; but while one half was sowed with wheat, the other was left without a crop, and again plowed two or three times during the summer. In the autumn this part was sown with wheat, and the portion that had grown a crop was fallowed; we had, therefore, half an acre in wheat and half an acre in fallow every year; and no manure whatever was applied to the land. "In the adjoining field, wheat has been grown on the same plot of land every year for the same period (28 years) and some years previously; also without manure. For a number of years the yields of the two experiments were equal; that is to say, assuming that the land in permanent fl^eat yielded fourteen bushels per acre every year, the h>lf acre of the fallow land in wheat yielded fourteen bushels, or twenty-eight bushels per, acre; the conclusion, therefore, appeared to be that, whether the land was sown with wheat every year, or every alternate year with a fallow intervening, the produce would be the same. This, however, has not been the case, for of late years a change has taken place in the re- lation of tlie produce of the wheat on the fallowed ground, as compared with the crop on the continuous wheat land, in a direction which few would have expected ; for, although the produce of the wheat grown on the same land year after year has declined to some extent, the produce upon the alternate fallow and wheat land has declined much faster; the yield of the half acre of wheat after fallow being very much less thun that of the acre growing continuous wheat. "The probable explanation of this somewhat remarkable fact is based upon scientific investigations of recent times, quite independent of agriculture, biit of great importance to it, as enabling us to explain some of its processes. , "A little more than ten years ago Muller, a German chemist, suggested that nitrification was due to the action of a ferment; Schlossing further proved that in the absence of such ferment, or by the destruction of it when present, nitrifi- cation did, not take place. In my laboratory Mr. Warrington has confirmed these results. An examination of our wheat and fallow land in 'the autumn shows that the fallowed portion contains a much larger quantity, of nitric acid than the portion which has grown the wheat. During the summer months nitri- fication takes place in both soils; but where the wheat has been sown the nitric acid has been used up for the growth of the plant, while in the fallow it accumu- lates, and a£ we have no rains in the summer months — as a general rule — suffi- cient to wash the nitric acid from the soil, the wheat sown in the autumn takes a portion of this accumulated nitric acid, while another portion is washed out of the soil, and it is to this larger loss by washing on the fallow than upon the land under the permanent wheat crop [that we must attribute the greater exhaustion and consequent final decline in produce in the fallow. Although npt yet abso- lutely proved, it. is extremely probable that more nitric acid is liberated on the land under the fallow than upon that under the permanent wheat, and it is evi- dent that of this larger quantity more would be lost to the soil by winter rain. A fallow is from this point of view a process by which the dormant elements of BXPEEIMENTS IN WHEAT CTTLTTTBE. 177 the goU are, by means of a ferment, brought into an active condition, which is accompanied, doubtless, with some loss and reduction in the fertilizing capital of the soil." From these experiments it would seem that a bare fallow is more exhausting to the soil than growing crops; a fact which is not so surprising after all if we stop and reflect upon the assiduity with which nature clothes every spot of sur- face which is at all capable of supporting vegetation, and upon the constantly increasing fertility of such lands as she is allowed to cultivate after her own fashion. In nature's system of agriculture there are no bare fallows, but if you will give her a fence corner to take care of she will keep it occupied from earliest spring to latest fall with a constant rotation of crops. The question of summer fallowing settled, next occurs that of plowing as early as possible after removing the crop which is to be followed by the wheat, or of leaving this plowing for the cooler weather of September, and then sowing upon the freshly turned earth. In answer to this question I have the foUwing strik- ing experiment made upon this farm, and published in the Fasm and Fire- side: About the first of August, 1879, a portion of a field which had grown a crop of oats was laid off into a large land, and the plow started in the middle of it. When about one third of the land was plowed I was forced to take the team away and put it at our river improvement — work which was then in progress — and the plowing was not finished until after the 20th of September; the whole was then pulverized and sown in wheat. The result was that the division between the earlier and later plowing could be located to a furrow, as far as the field could be seen, by the appearance of the growing wheat ; and when the crop was har- vested, the earlier plowing yielded ten bushels per acre more than the later, while the quality of the wheat was as much superior as the quantity. In further confirmation of the conclusions so plainly to be drawn from this experiment, I quote from Professor Sheldon, of the Eoyal Agricultural College, of Cirencester, England : " We find that wheat is more prosperous grown in a stale soil, that is, in a soil that has been plotred up and exposed to the air at least a month before sowing the seed. Sown on a freshly turned up furrow the crop is usually deficient. Professor I. P. Koberts, farm superintendent at Cornell University, wrote as follows to the Bural New Yorker, during the faU of 1879 : "Our best farmers throughout this section of country, begin to plow the oat and barley stubble as soon as the grain is cut, and find that the yield is from 20 to 50 per cent better than when the ground is plowed merely in time for sowing At present it is impossible to put the ground in good condition, because of the drought; while that plowed from four to six weeks ago had the advantage of the rains at that time, and is now in fair condition. The difierence in yield when the soil is plowed early and when it is plowed late is probably due to tbis fact : The free plant food has been nearly if not entirely exhausted, when the oats and barley are cut, and the soil needs to be aerated and pulverized and moistened in order that it may set free a new supply for the coming wheat. When the soil is plowed late it is evident that is has had no opportunity to set free the proper amount of plant food, and the yield of wheat is necessarily less than in the former case." 178 THE SECBETS OV FSOaBESSITE AOSI0UI.TTTBE. Formerly it was customary to cross-plow, or deeply cultivate this half-time fallow, just before sowing the seed ; but this practice seems to have generally been found less profitable than simply thoroughly harrowing the surface. Toward the answering of the second sub-division of our question, "How deep shall we plow?" we have made two experiments on this farm, which indicated an increased yield of from one to two bushels per acre for plowing twelve inches deep with the sub-soil or Michigan plow, over what was obtained by plowing eight inches deep with the ordinary plow. Similar experiments con- ducted over five seasons by the Pennsylvania State College, upon both its cen- tral farm, in Center County, and its eastern farm, in Chester County, give practic- ally no increase of crop for the deeper plowing. 2. Sow and with what shall we fertilize our wheaA, Icmds t The proper discus- sion of this question alone would sufiice for many hours' talk, so I can only re- fer to its more salient points, and that in a brief manner. Three methods of fer- tilization are ordinarily followed; namely, first, the turning under of clover, either the roots alone or the entire plant; second, the application of barn-yard manure, either before or after plowing; and third, the application of commercial fertilizers, bone-meal, the refuse of slaughter houses, manufactories, etc., or of certain chemical compounds known to have a favorable influence upon plant growth. The action of clover as a manurial crop has been exhaustively discussed by Dr. Voelcker, chemist to the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England, in a paper "On the Causes of ihe Benefits of Clover as a Preparatory Crop for Wheat," which Joseph Harris quotes in full in his invaluable " Talks on Manures." Of this remarkable paper time wjU only allow me to quote the closing summary: 1. " A good crop of clover removes from the soil more potash, phosphoric acid, lime and other mineral matters which enter into the composition of the ashes of our cultivated crops, than any other crop usually grown in this country. 2. "There is fully tliree times as much nitrogen in a crop of clover as in the average produce of grain and straw of wheat per acre. 3. " Notwithstanding the large amount of nitrogenous matter, and of ash conslituents of plants in the produce of an acre, clover is an excellent prepara- tory crop for wheat. _ ^ 4. " During the growth of clover a large amount of nitrogenous matter ac- cumulates in the soil. 5. "This accumulation, which is greatest in the surface-soil, is due to the de- caying leaves dropped during the growth of the clover, and to an abundance of roots, containing, when dry, from one and three fourths to two per cent of ni» trogen. 6. "The clover roots are stronger and more numerous, and more leaves fall on the ground when clover is grown for seed, than when it is mown for hay; in consequence, more nitrogen is left after clover seed than after hay, which ac- counts for wheat yielding a better crop after clover seed than after hay. 7. "The development of the roots being chefcked when the produce, in a green condition, is fed ofl' by sheep, in aU probability leaves still less nitrogen- ous matter in the soil than when the clover is allowed to to get riper aad ia EXPERIMENTS IN WHEAT CULTtrKE.. 179 mown for hay; this, no doubt, accounting for the observation made by practical men, that, notwithstanding the return of the produce by the sheep excrement, wheat is generally stronger, and yields better, after clover mown for hay, than when the clover is fed off by sheep. 8. "The nitrogenous matters in the clover remains, on their gradual decay, are finally transformed into nitrates, thus affording a continuous source of food on which cereal crops specially delight to grow. 9. " There is strong presumptive evidence that the nitrogen which exists in the air, in the shape of ammonia and nitric acid, and descends in these combi- nations, with the rain which falls on the ground, satisfies, under oi'dlnary cir- cumstances, the requirements of the clover crop. This crop causes a large ac- cumulation of nitrogenous matters which are gradually changed in the soil into nitrates. The atmosphere thus furnishes nitrogenous food to the succeeding wheat indirectly, and, so to say, gratis. 10. " Clover not only provides an abundance of nitrogenous food, but de- livers this food in a readily available form — as nitrates — more gradually and con- tinuously, and consequently, with more certainty of a good result than such food can be supplied to the laud in the shape of nitrogenous spring top-dress- ing." A single experiment in the surface application of barn-yard manure to wheat, made on this farm on the crop of 1878, gave an increased yield of 7}4 bushels per acre for an application of 10 cords per acre of rather coarse manure, costing 76 cents per cord on the ground ; the yield of the unmanured land being 2Si4 bush- els per acre, that of the adjoining land being 36 bushels per acre. A like experiment made by the University of Tennessee, and reported by Prof. J. M. McBryde, gave a yield for the unmanured land of 2.2 bushels per acre, and for that manured 6.6 bushels — the crop being almost destroyed by the rust. Experiments made on several crops on the farm of Cornell University showed an increase of from 2 to 7 bushels per acre — owing to the season — for an appli- cation of from 14 to 16 tons of farm-yard manure — this amount would be equiva- lent to about 8 or 10 cords. We are not informed whether the manure was ap- plied to the surface or plowed under. It will be seen that in our experiment, and in those made at Cornell during favorable seasons, the manure paid a cost of about 76 cents per cord during the first season. For the after effects of stable manure upon the wheat crop, we have the experiments of Mr. Lawes on the effect of farm-yard manure and cer- tain chemical fertilizers upon wheat, which, having been continued in an un- broken series for more than thirty years, are sufficiently complete to settle many questions in wheat culture. These experiments were begun during the seasons of 1843-4, and showed an increase for the application of 14 tons per acre of farm-yard manure of 6}^ bushels per acre; the crop on the unmanured land yielding 16 bushels, that of the manured yielding 20K bushels. This amount of manure — 14 tons — ^was thereafter annually applied to the same plot of ground, and the adjoining plot left without any fertilizer, both being sown continuously to wheat. The second season the increase for the manuring was 9 bushels; by the fourth season it amounted to 13 bushels, and remained at about this quanti« ty — sometimes more, sometimes less — ^until the eleventh season, when the differ- 180 THE SECRETS OF PEOGEESSIVE AGEICULTFKB. ence amounted to 20 bushels, although the continuously unraanured crop gave that year 21 bushels, 6 bushels more than for the first year of the experiment. From this time the diflerence' ranged fron 17 to 24 bushels per acre, until the twentieth season ; the d'iffercnce increasing both by the increased yield of the manured plot, and by the diminished yield of the unmanured plot. After about this time, however, there seems to have been no further increase for the manur- ins;, as shown by a statement issiied by Mr. Lawes in May last, which gives the average yield of these plots for a period of 26 years, from 1852 to 1877, and also for each half of this period. The average yield for the plot annually manured with farm-yard manure — at the rate of 14 tons per acre — was 34J^ bushels for the wiiole period, being 35K bushels for the first half, and 33 bushels for the second half. .The yielU for the continuously unmanured plot for the same time was 13 }i bushels; or 1514 for the first half and 11}^ for the second half. From this statement we find that the average yearly increase due to the annual application of 14 tons of farm-yard manure was 20?^ bushels of wheat, wliich at a dollar a busliel would give a return of nearly a dollar and a half for each ton of manure, or about two dollars and a half per cord. If further ex- perience should confirm the popular impression that our climate and soil are not 80 well adapted to the culture of wheat as those of England, these figures would have to be modified for us, as all experiments concur in showing that manures give far less increase of crop in poor se;isons than in good ones. Tile use of bone m-al as a fertilizer for wheat has of late years become very popular in eastern Ohio, but I have anly one satisfactory experiment at hand bearing upon the subject, which experiment had been carried on on the farms of the Pennsylvania St ite College for the five years previous to 1878, and are prob- nbly still in progress. For the five years mentioned, the eastern farm showed an increase per acre due to the bone meal of 4.62 bushels ; the central farm showed ior the same period an increase of only .64 bushels per acre. The rate of appli- cation is not given in the reports at my command. Wh"n we come to consider the use of chemical fertilizers, we have again the wonderful experiments of Lawes and Gilbert, of- whose reports, which I have already mentioned, I can but briefly call your attention to two or three points. The first point of these is, that of all the combinations of fertilizing substances used in these experiments — ^including the continuous application of farm-yard manure just mentioned — only one sufficed to give as large an average yield of grain during the second period of thirteen years as during the first. This com- bination consisted of a mixed mineral fertilizer, containing 200 pounds sulphate of potash, 100 pounds sulphate of soda, 100 pounds sulphate of magnesia, and 400 pounds superphosphate of lime, together with the addition of 550 pounds nitrate of soda; this amount — 1,350 pounds in all — being annually applied to an acre of land, caused a total yield of grain of 35% bushels per acre for the first period, and 37M bushels for the second period ; being an average annual increase for the 26 years of 23}i bushels over what was obtained from the continuously unmanured portion. The second striking feature of these experiments is, that during the first half of this 26-year period, this mixture of fertilizers did not produce any better re- sults, and sometimes not so good, aa some half dozen other mixtures which de- EXPEBlUfiNTS IN WHEAT COMrEffi. 181 pend for their nitrogen upon salts of ammonia; bnt during the second half of the period, the produce of the plot manured with ammonia salts fell oflf, while that manured by nitrate of soda instead, steadily Increased in yield, thus indi- eating that nitric acid is a more valuable fertilizer for wheat than ammonia. A third very interesting point of those experiments is, that when this mixture was separated, the 550 pounds of nitrate of soda being i.pplied to one plot, and the sulphates of potash, soda and magnesia, with the super-phosphate, to anoth- er, the plot receiving the nitrate alone gave an annual increase for the whole period of 11% bushels per acre over the unmanured plot, and that fertilized with the remaining ingredients gave an increase of only 2% bushels, showing that neither the nitrogen alone, nor the minerals alone, were equal to the mix- ture of all. These experiments have shown still further that the super-phosphate was ap- parently the chief fertilizing ingredient of the mixed mineral lertilizer; as when the super-phosphate was applied alone, it gave about the same increase as was obtained from its combination with the sulphates of potash, soda and magnesia, while where these were applied alone, there jras practically no increase of crop. These results indicate that the large increase of crops obtained from the com- plete fertilizer, may have been due to the combination rf super-phosphate and nitrate of soda; and that the sulphates of soda, potash and magnesia might probably haffe been omitted without loss of yield. This would have reduced the weight of the application to 950 pounds, which would cost $22 for the nitrate of soda, and $8 to $9 for the super-phosphate, or $30 in all, per acre, while the increase of crops obtained by Mr. Lawes would be worth but $23 here, showing that we must rely on something else than chemicals to maintain the fertility of our wheat lands. At the same time, the annual application of 14 tons of barn-yard manure has also failed to maintain the yield of Lawes and Gilbert's wheat field, and the question immediately occurs, what shall we do to prevent impoverish- ment of our soils? The answer will probably be found in the judicious combi- aation of the manure of the farm-yard with lime, and such elements as experi- tnent may show our soils to be most deficient in — ^particularly those which are carried away through city sewers.— -and gspecially with a crop rotation in which clover shall be, as George Geddes would style it, the "pivf)tal crop;" that is, the central crop, which shall receive our chief care and attention, and upon which all other cropping shall hinge. But the complete discussion of this question of the maintenance of fertility involves that of the whole science of agriculture, from the first turning of the Bod to the final conversion of the vegetable into animal tissue ; and therefore, with these hasty hints at some of its bearings, I drop it and take up the third question on the list. 3. What varieties of wheat sIuxU we sowf Among the points to be considered in selecting wheat for Ohio, -should be: (1) hardiness; (2) productiveness; (3) Souring quality; (4) freedom from disease; (5) earlinessj (6) stiffness of straw. You wiU not all of you approve the order in which I have placed these points. The flouring quality, especially, ought to rate higher in the list; but before the farmer will be willing to put quality above quantity, the miller must pay a price which shall yield as much per acre for one as for the other. The object to be 182 THE SECKETS OP PEOGEESSIVK AGBIOULTUKE. aimed at, I apprehend, is the production of that variety which shall combine, in the largest measure, all the points which I have named. Lack of time forbids my entering into any discussion of the comparative merits of the different va- rieties of wheat now in cultivation; besides, this is a question with regard to which trustworthy data have only begun to be accumulated. At some of our agricultural colleges systematic tests have been instituted for the purpose of in- vestigating this question, but it is eminently one which must require years for its solution. 4. In answer to our fourth query, " When thaUwe sow our wheat t" it must be said that no fised date can be adopted as to the proper time for any extended section of country, nor even for any single farm; as the time must vary according to latitude, and to the peculiarities of individual seasons. I have long believed, however, that there was an average best time for sowing, in each neighborhood, and that the neglect to improve this best opportunity was the cause of very considerable loss. For the throwing of some light upon this question, two .experiments have been made upon this farm, with the following results : For the crops of 1879 and 1880»^we sowed eiperimental strips on the 9th, 16th, 23d and 30th of September, and 7th of October. In 1879 the first two sowings were injured by the fly, and our best yield, 36K bushels per acre, came from that sown on the 23d of September; the sowing of September 30th yielding 32M bushels ; and that of October 7th, 26Ji bushels. In 1880 there was no percepti- ble injury from the fly, and the first three sowings made practically the same yield, of about 33 bushels per acre ; but the sowing of September 30th yielded but 29}i bushels, and that of October 7th, 26M bushels. The variety sown for the experiment of 1879 was Clawson, and that for the one of 1880 was Silver Chaff. October sowing evidently has not paid ns, yet I am inclined to believe that in seasons of protracted drouth — such a one as we have just passed through, for in- stance — such sowing may sometimes do better than the earlier; especially if the ground has not been prepared by early plowing and harrowing. Those who plowed early, however, and left the harrowing to be done just before sowing, found themselves in an uncomfortable predicament this year, as the excessive drouth left the plow^ land in the shape of a bed of hard-baked clods, which it was almost impossible to so pulverize as to make a mellow seed-bed. On the conti-ary, when the harrow had immediately followed the plow while the earth was yet moist, it had pulverized the surface, and filled all the interstices between the clods with fine earth, so that the drying winds could not penetrate, and the seed-bed was then kept moist, and ready for the reception of the seed. 5. Our fifth question, "In what manner shaU we sowt" I presume yon will all answer in favor of drilling, over sowing by hand ; the only point I wish to raise here is whether some of the broadcast drills lately introduced may not have some advantages over those which sow in the old fashioned, narrow channels. They will undoubtedly necessitate the mostTthorough preparation of the seed- bed, for they certainly will not work very pleasantly in hard or cloddy ground. €. The question, "Sow much seed shall we sow to the aeret" is one whose an- swer depends upon various incidental circnmstances, such as the variety of grain; the time ;of sowing; the condition of the soil at that time, and of the EXPEKIMENTS IS WHEAT CTJLTPBE. IS$ Reason afterward. TTndoabttdly some varieties of wheat will stool ont more than others ; and thus, if sown e vly, will make a larger return in proportion to the seed. Evidently we must sow more grain if we intend to " butcher " it in, ' without cleaning, upon a half prepared piece of land, where much will be left uncovered for the birds, and more wUl simply be hidden under clods to perish for want of nourishment, than if we sow carefully cleaned seed upon a thor- oughly prepared seed-bed ; while a hard after-season would be expected to leave a better stand upon a thickly seeded than upon a thinly seeded field. But lay- ing all these incidental questions aside, we will confine ourselves to this: What is the proper amount of thoronghly cleaned and good seed, for an acre of rich and well prepared land ? We began experimenting upon this question three years ago, expecting to receive the answer, " one bushel." The answer actually received, however, was as follows: In 1878, 3 pecks of seed yielded 32^ bnshels per acre. 5 <" " " " 84% " " " 6 " " " " m^ " " " •J II II II II 87V " " " 8 " •' " " S7J^ " " " g II 11 11 11 311^ 11 I. .1 This experiment was repeated in the crop of 1879, on a portion of one of our fields of bottom land, selected for its apparent uniformity in quality, and laid off into thirty rectangular plots, each containing one sixth of an acre, and sown with varying numbers of peeks to the acre. The plots were harvested and threshed separately, and the yields ran as follows : 2}j pecks of seed yielded 27 3-10 to 81 3-10 busbels per 8 " ", " " 29 1-10 " 31 2-10 " 4 " " " " 81 6-10 " 36 6-10 " BJ4 32 8-10 " 37 5-10 " 7 " " " " 33 1-10 " 40 S-10 " 9 " " " '.' 82 5-10 " 85 6-10 " These experiments were made with Clawson wheat. The University of Tennessee made a similar series of experiments on the crop of the past season, employing the Tappahannock and Champion Amber wheats. The Tappahannock made the best return from six pecks of seed ; and the Champion Amber showed a steady increase in yield up to eight pecks. Some advocates of thin seeding claim that heavy seeding must be wasteful, since it interferes with the tendency of the plant to tiller. I apprehend the question at issue to be whether this tillering tendency is a profitable one ; that is, whether two plants, which have each had the full strength of an independent seed to start them into growth, are not likely to be thriftier and stronger than if they had originated from the same seed. The tendency to tUler, which is probar bly stronger in some varieties of wheat than in others, may reasonably be sup- posed to indicate a more vigorous habit of growth. But the 'question for us to decide is whether this tendency may not be turned into a more profitable di- rection by sowing the grain so thick as to leave no room for tillering, and thus cause the energies of the plant which would have otherwise been expended in the production of straw and chaff, to be wholly concentrated upon the increase of grain ; jnst as we prune our fruit-trees and vines to prevent the formation of acre, averaging 29 6-10 bushels. " 30 5-10 " 11 34 2-10 " II II : 34 9-10 " 85 9-10 " II 84 2-10 " X84 THE SECRETS OP PBOGBESSIYE AOBICITLTUBB. nseless wood, and to encotirage that of the more yalnable fruit; just as we en- deavor to limit the formation of bone and horn in. oar domestic animals, and to increase that of flesh, fat, mili and wool; and are even content to sacrifice the reproductive powers of the animal to some extent for the attainment of these ends. Others insist that when two bushels of seed are sown, that many of the plants must perish for want of space ; that (here is not room enough on an acre of ground for the plants which would be produced by two bushels of wheat grains, if all were to grow. Now, there are 800,000 grains of medium-sized wheat in a bushel, or 1,600,000 in two bushels ; if this amount be sown on an acre of land, and each grain produce a plant, each plant will have nearly four square inches of space. But we isnow that it is virtually impossible for every grain to produce a plant. There wiU be some imperfect grains that cannot grow, in the best selected lot of seed; there will be some grains imperfectly covered, and taken by the birds, or caused to perish through failure to obtain proper root-hold; while we probably do not experience one season in a century when a few of our wheat plants are not thrown out by spring frosts. The Kural New Yorker, of December 18th, is re- sponsible for the statement that Major Halles, an English seed grower, has stated in reference to this point, that 1 bushel of seed gave 263 ears of wheat to the square yard, or 1,272,290 per acre. 2 " " 273 " 1,319,107 " S " •' 269 " " " " 1,301,960 " a statement which shows that the quantity of seed does not largely affect the number of ears formed, but which indicates as the proper quantity a seeding of about seven pecks; or 1,400,000 grains; which would allow 80,000 grains, orless than six per cent., for loss from various causes, and which correspoads with the conclusions apparently to be drawn from our field experiments. 7. " Whai after-care shall we give the eropf" It has been the general custom to regard the care of the wheat crop ended until harvest, after the seed was in the ground, except to occasionally roll in the spring. A few points, however, have been occasionally discussed which seems to me worthy of further investi- gation. The first of these is, whether the winter mulching of our fields with part of the straw of the previous year might not be found an advantage, especially on lands peculiarly exposed to the March winds, which are frequently such a pro- lific source of loss. The second is, whether the winter application of stable mar nure to the surface of the field — hauling the nlhnure directly from the stall, and spreading it from the wagon or sled wben the ground is frozen — might not be the cheapest and most profitable method of using such manure ; it would thus answer the double purpose of a fertilizer and a mulch. These are by no means new ques- tions, but they have not yet received the full investigation which their import- ance merits. The third point is that of spring cultivation of the soil, between the rows of wheat; the manifest benefit <5f such cultivation to the corn plant having led many to suppose that the wheat plant must necessarily be benefited by a like management. Upon this point we have made three experiments, over as many seasons, upon the college farm ; all of which agree in giving smaller returns from the cultivated than from the uncultivated wheat. Our experiments have fiXPEKIMKNTS IN wAeA* CtTLTTTEB. 1S6 been confirmed by the results of similar investigations made by the universities of Tennessee and Cornell; while J. B. Lawea, writing from England where this idea of inter-cultivation fijst originated, and has had its moat thorough test, says in regard to this question and to the previous one of thin seeding: "No one here cultivates wheat, nor has thin seeding made much way. At the pres- ent moment the great bulk of the wheat is drilled in rows about five inches apart; and the seed used is about five bushels per acre." We have made one experiment on spring harrowing of wheat, with results which pursuade us to continue the practice ; not so much for the benefit of the wheat, as for that of the clover seed sown at the time of the harrowing. 8. The eighth question on our list, "When shall we harvest our wheatt" has re- ceived a new light from the investigations of Dr. Toiynshend with the micro- scope, which indicate that the most valuable constituent of the wheat grain — that which gives lightness to the bread, and strength to the muscle — is not fully drawn from the straw nntil the moment of perfect ripeness; and, therefore, wheat should not be cut until that moment has arrived. 9. I have intioduced the question "How shall we harvest our wheatf" The following is an extract from a letter from Prof. I. P. Eoberts, of Cornell University. Those of you who have had my experience in employing a great steam thresher, requiring a force of from 18 to 25 to keep it in operation, at a cost of from forty to fifty dollars per day. In addition to the threshers' charges, Dnd then having the machine stand by the hour while rotten belts are being tinkered or neglected bolts tightened, will appreciate the deliverence here promised : "Having erected a new barn last summer, and wanting a small engine and boiler to cut feed for the dairy, and being thoroughly disgusted with threshers, a new departure was inaugurated. A two-horse thresher and cleaner ($160) was placed in the grain room on the third floor, and the grain stowed immediately around the sides and over it. The machine was enclosed about one foot from the sides and two feet from the top with a tight box, the sides of which were composed of movable doors, a small hole being left in the end for the straw carrier. The top of this box over the machine is pierced with a tight, square wooden tube, 10 by 12 inches, which extends, with turns, to the manure cellar, where is placed a small suction fan — cost $35. On the second floor, just beneath th6 thresher, on a frame four feet high, stands a common fanning mill, and the wheat directly from the thresher passes into it. The machine is capable of threshing a bushel in three minute^ and averages a bushel in four minutes; at the same time the suction fan and fanning mill are in operation. The hands necessary to run it are, a feeder, a grain pitcher, a straw pitcher, and an en- gineer; four in all. The suction fan removes nearly all dust, and deposits it in a box filled with water." 10. In answer to our last question, " Wh^n shall we market ourwheatf" I again draw from the pages of the Kural New Yorker. In the number of December 6, 1879, 1 find a statement of the highest and lowest prices paid for wheat in the market of Syracuse, N. Y., for each month of the ten years, from October 31,. 1869, to October 31, 1879, together with the average prices for each month of that period. The averages are as follows: For August, $1,29 6-10; September, $1.29?i ; October, $1.32 19-20; November, 188 THB SECBBTS Off PKOGEESSITB AGEICTJLTTIRE. $1,331-5; December, $1,36 9-10; January, $1.31 4-5 ; February, $1.39 3-10 ; March, $1,37 6-10; April, $1.3811-20; May, $1,492-5; June, $1.45 17-20 ; July, $1,393-10. The highest price, $1,492-5, coming with the full opening of naTigation in May; the lowest, $1.29 6-10, and $1.29M, following the rush of short-handed farmers to crowd their wheat upon the mpket immediately after harvest; a difference of 20 cents per bushel. SUPPLY AND DEMAND AND Fltjciitations in Peicks of Farm Pjboducts. BY W. I. CHAMBEELAIN, Secretary of Ohio State Boaard of Agriculture. The great law of demand and supply is the basis of the science of political economy. Demand for an article will in time call forth the supply, if the thing demanded is to be had at the price offered ; and the relation of the demand to thesupply in any locality regulates the price. If the demand increases fela- tively to the supply, the price goes up. If the reverse is true, it goes down. If the supply is unlimited, the price goes down_to zero, as, for example, of the air we breathe and the water we drink. This shows at once that value and price are not the same thing. The air of heaven is to be had without money and without price. But its value is immense, inestimable, for without it we all die. On the other hand, some commodities that have no real value, and are even worse than valueless, bring a high price because there is a great demand for them. Whisky is of this kind, as you will agree. As a drink or beverage it is worse than useless, but it brings a high price. These illustrations are given to show that high price is governed, not by the intrinsic value of the given commodity, but by the relative demand for it. Let us bear in mind these truths as we proceed with this discussion. For the problems of price and value are by no means so simple as these foun- dation principles on which they rest. A thousand puzzling complications come in to make these problems difficult. For example, if the given product or article of consumption is rapidly perishable or very difficult of transportation, the fluc- tuations in price are often extreme, as for example, when berries sell at a high price one week in New York or Chicago, and the next perhaps a glut occurs and thousands of bushels are dumped into the river or sold at prices that do not cover freight and commission. SirPPLT AND DBMAND. 187 Now, fortunately for the human race, the main articles of necessary consump- tion, Bueh as grain, meat and fuel, are not rapidly perishable, and they are of easy transportation or already well distributed naturally. Wheat, corn, flour and meal may be kept for more than a single year ; and if the supply is really or apparently too large, and the prices too low to give the farmer a margin of profit, he can hold these products for a time till the market settles or balances and re- munerative prices return. Or, if the supply of meat is too large, the[animals may be kept unbutchered for months if necessary. If there is an over-production of fuel, the trees may be left standing and the coal undug. Or, if the supply of grain or meat is short in any one state or country, it may be brought in from another till the equilibrium is established. And the world is so large, and trans- portation so easy, and the food or fuel of the world so little perishable, that there is little real need of violent fluctuations in price. Whence, then, come these doubts and this feverish anxiety, and these violent fluctuations in the prices of the great staple products of necessary consumption ? In the case of fuel, they may come from combinations of railways and of mine owners or operators, or from miners' strikes. With this part of the subject we as farmers have not much to do. But with grains, fruits and meats the case is difierent. In the production and proper distribution of these we are deeply in- terested. And the violent and extreme fluctuations in the prices of these comes mainly from -the lack of prompt, reliable and accurate knowledge of the condi- tion of crops at home and abroad. For not only is it true that if the supply is on the whole relatively short, prices must go up to a point which shall check consumption — if wheat, for example, is scarce and " short," prices will advance untU consumers use rye or corn or vegetables in part instead of wheat, and tie balance is restored — not only is this true, I say, but it is also true (and this is the point |I am emphasizing) that o supposed and generally/ believed aca/reity or shortage has the same effect at first on prices that a real one has. The rise is just as rapid and fluctuation even more violent, and the- derangement of business even more severe. For in the first case the price goes up on a basis of truth, and remains up until adequate causes depress it again and business adjusts to the actual facts. But in the other case the price goes up'on a basis of falsehood, and is sure to collapse more or less disastrously to business. Disastrously, I say, for I think you will readily assent to these two propositions; First, that violent and unnecessary fluctuation in the price of any commodity of large and general use is a damage to the real interests of business. Second, that prompt and accurate information in regard to the real supply would in large measure prevent such violent and unnecessary fluctuations. When a basket of oranges is thrown into the midst of a group of children, the stronger and more greedy ones are sure to get the larger share. So, too, when prices are suddenly and violently disturbed it is much the same, and there is not a fair division of values among the parties, namely, the producer, the distributor and the consumer, but the shrewder one usually gets an undue share, and that one is usually the "middle man"— the speculator. He often manipulates the facts within his own knowledge to keep prices down untU he has largely bought, and to put them up before he largely sells. You win agree that prompt and reliable information in the hands alike of producer, dealer and consumer would atleastgive each an equal chance; but that 188 THE SECEETS OF PBOGKESSIVB AOEICTJLTUEB. such information has heretofore been almost exclusively in the hands of the large buyers and dealers. Take a single illustration from the history of last year's wheat crop : We now know that though the crop was quite large in this country it was quite small in the Old World, and of course the export demand was immense, so that our crop might fairly have averaged $1.20 per bushel to the western producer. Our heavy buying firms knew this to a reasonable cer- tainty by the first or middle of July. They had kept a number of experienced men " out on the road" for the purpose of getting the most reliable information possible in regard to the outcome of the crops and the amount of grain in the country. They had special'means of learning by cable dispatches the situation in the Old World. Their reporters at home and abroad were required to give the exact truth, neither overstating or underestimating it. With this informa- tion in their sole posession, as accurate as it was possible to make it, these firms made up their minds what was the top figure they could afford to pay, and pro- ceeded to buy, not at that figure, but as much below as the ignorance of these facts on the part of farmers would permit. The information on which they based their judgment beloaged to them; They had paid a good price for it, and of 30urse they used it for their own ends, and never divulged it. When they pub- lished anything it was not the exact truth, but such variations or exaggerations of it as would play into their own hands. They emphasized the fact of a large crop here, but suppressed the equally important fact that the foreign demand was almost sure to be immense. Now, if the farmers had been as well informed as the large buyers, they could have held for the sure advance in prices unless forced to sell. But they were not so informed. They were isolated;, each had hut a small interest at stake and could not afford such costly information. And the only way they can get at it, I think, is for our boards of Stgrtoulture to fur-- nish it, as they are now at last beginning to do. Now, in the case in question, the farmers did not have it as I have said, and the result was natural; namely, that a large part of the winter wheat below theJatitnde of Chicago changed first hands at about ninety cents, and then the price advanced steadily but rapidly to one dollar and thirty cents or more, and the farmers did not get tlieir share of the advance. In the northern spring wheat belt the case was better for the farmers, for the wheat was not ready for market until after the advance began. But even here the profits to the farmei's were largely lost from the exhorbitant advance in soa-board freights — a point I must advert to further on. Notice another fact: These heavy dealers having gotten all the wheat they could in hand or under contract, suddenly changed their tactics and emphasized the fact of the failure in crops abroad, and even besan to intimate that our own. crop had been largely overestimated. And so prices were forced up far above their proper level, and speculation ran wild. True, this speculation finally re- sulted disastrously even to many shrewd dealers in the great Chicago combina- tion, but it was only because England refused to be duped. She managed the matter very cleverly. She refused to be frightened. She seemed to be sure there was wheat enough in the world for the world's wants, and at a fairly reason- able price. She sent to the four quarters of the globe and bought what wheat she could. She gave America and the Chicago wheat corner the cold shoulder. She refused to buy of us at any figures for future delivery, and when we were 8TJPPLY AND DEMAND. 189 forced to consign to her she bought at the prices of the actual market, and only for close present use. Bemember that wheat was at this time held at a dollar and a half or more in New York. And so th^ bubble slowly collapsed. The alarming paragraphs bought and paid for in English papers by American dealers, and quoted into our papers in order to strengthen prices, gradually lost their effect and ceased to pay for their insertion, and prices slowly settled to their proper level as regulated by the actual demand and supply. Now, this great fluctuation resulted adversely, first, to the producer, for in his ignorance he sold for less than the real facts warranted ; and second, to the con- sumers, and often caused real distress, for the market was held above its proper level for considerable time. And so, when the market finally assumed its just equilibrium, it had resulted disastrously, or at least adversely, to nearly all but a few of the shrewder ones, even of the speculators, and these ai-e the only ones who delight in a feverish and vacillating market. I have assumed all along that such information is not now in the hands of the farmers. Perhaps I ought to offer some proof. The only sources I am aware of are our statistical bureaus of state and nation and our trade journals, like Brad- street's, etc. The first are not prompt enough, and the last are not accurate and reliable enough. The state and national statistics do not reach the farmer till a year after the crops are sold ; and the second— namely, the trade journals — are expen- sive (Bradstreet's semi-weeekly is $10 per year), and are not accurate enough to be of value, often varying 33 per cent, or more from the facts in the case. Nor is it at all wonderful when we consider how the information is gained. The young man who furnishes the information to Bradstreet's from Columbus is bright and enterprising in business matters^'but neither has nor claims to have any knowledge of agricultural matters. He makes his reports on the amount of wheat in Franklin county as best he can from chance inquiries here and there of men supposed to know about such matters, without any power to judge for himself of the correctness Of the information. But he combines the information, and reports to his firm, for example, that the wheat crop of 1883 will average ten per cent, less than that of 1879. But that of 1879 had not yet been reported by the township assessors, and was guessed in the same way by comparison with that of 1878, and that in like manner with the preceding year. And so there re- sults a double compound error. It is like the Dutchman who weighed his vvheat by balancing it on a plank with a stone and then guessing at the weight of the stone. And so it is not astonishing that Bradstreet's estimation was more than 1.3,000,000 bushels wide of the facts, as ascertained by the very accurate canvass made November 2d at the polls by township correspondents of our State Board of Agriculture. The estimates on Minnesota were quite as wide of the facts, as I happen to know from a careful examination of later statistics, and from having crossed and recrossed the state over several lines of railroad. Continuous wheat cropping has already exhausted the soil in much of that fine state, as it always will everywhere, and the early estimates of the crops were far too large. Indeed, this is apt to be the case in papers of this commercial class. Not knowingly, perhaps, but really they report the crops adversely to the interests of farmers. Ini new states and territories this is perhaps inevitable. The reports come largely from railway officials or from those more or less directly interested 190 THE BKCBETS OF PEOGEESSITB AGEICTTLTUBaS. in immigration, or from those interested in buying, and hence liable from self- interest to represent the crop to be very large. When these things are consid- ered, we need not wonde^ that the crops, at least at the West, are usually overesti- mated until the threshing and buying are far advanced. At all events, I think such is uniformly the case. I was greatly impressed with this fact last summer, for I chanced to follow the wheat harvest for seven weeks in its steady march northward from Southern Illinois and Kansas to Northern Dakota and Manitoba. The uniform belief everywhere was that wheat was to be very low. This belief was manifest to me first en rovie from Chicago to Cairo. The wheat in Southern Illinois was all out and not stacked, though some of it near Cairo had been cut for two weeks, but was left in the shock in order to thresh and sell before the tumble in prices, universally expected. For it was believed that the acreage was greatly increased and the yield about as good, which last was not true,- except perhaps in three states — Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. And the belief was just as general that the foreign demand would be very light, which has not proved true. The conclusion was that the Illinois wheat crop would have to be sold at 80 cents per bashel after the first tumble in prices, and so the eagerness to sell before the fall in prices came was great. But as I traveled on through Missouri, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Dakota, I became thor- oughly convinced that in every one of those states, except perhaps Dakota, the crop had been greatly overestimated,- and so I wrote in the Ohio Farmer and Country Gentleman, and ventured the decided opinion that Illinois and Ohio wheat would be good property before the first of December at one dollar per bushel. So unreliable have these published reports of commercial papers uniformly proven, that legitimate buyers for actual delivery for milling and consumption have come to regard them as fallacious. I wrote to F. Schumacher, one of the largest millers in Ohio, whose actual consumption of grain for milling amounts per- haps to 5,000 bushels per day, and who buys at actual quotations from day to day — I wrote to him for his opinion as to which was the most reliable of those papers that report the coming crops. His reply is as follows : "The coming crops depend so largely upon daily changes of the weather, (hat my experience proves all reports to be more or less unreliable, and although I have frequently seen articles of merit, I am at a loss where it was and which particular paper to recommend. It seems to be aU guess work till after threshing and marketing, and even theu speculation steps in and controls the inarket in- dependent of supplies." The first part of this reply points out the inherent difficulties of the case. The harvest lasts six weeks or more, and the weather greatly afieots the outcome, and hence the prices. The last part points out the unreliableness of the reports themselves and the large margin left to speculation. It is, then, a matter of no little importance to the farmers of the great grain producing states, whether con* certed action on the part of our boards of agriculture shall give this solid basis of knowledge that shall even in part prevent this gambling on the world's bread and meat supply — this reckless speculation which, as Mr. Schumacher says, fre- quently steps in and controls the market independent of supplies. To a large extent I believe our boards can do the work by concerted action. Our own BTTPPLT AND DEMAND. 191 State Board has earnestly begun the work, and so have at least two other states. And froni the interest and -determination expressed at our recent inter-state con- Tention, I feel sure the other states of the great North-west will soon follow. I have great confidence in the accuracy of our first attempt to get prompt and full returns, especially on wheat. I am sure of the conscientious faithfulness of our township correspondents, some seven hundred of whom spent the entire day of November 2d at the polls, and as one of them said, " bounced " every farmer that voted and got his exact number of acres and bushels. I do not believe our total of 52,500,000 bushels wiU vary more than five per cent, of the exact bottom facts in the case, if known. And I think thatnow our machinery is in operation we can do the same kind of work next year early enough to help give an actual basis of knowledge to work upon. I believe that by July 10th we can know within ten per cent, the exact amount of wheat, and that by August 10th we can know within five per cent. The plan we propose for next year is as follows : By two or three new headings on the blanks for township assessors we can obtain in May of each year the acreage of wheat, corn and oats for the then present yea^'. Then, by furnishing threshers' blanks to our township correspondents to give to the leading threshers of their respective townships, we can by August 1st know the actual yield per acre of wheat, and this would probably be a fair average and give the basis for an exceedingly close approximation. For instance, we learn from township assessors through county auditors that there are 3,000,000 acres of wheat on the ground for the harvest of 1881. Then suppose the combined aver- age from all the threshers from our township correspondents shows that the wheat threshed thus far for three weeks is yielding eighteen bushels per acre, we should have a right to conclude that we had not far from eighteen times three million bushels of wheat in the state. (We should, however, figure by counties.) I think the best interests of farmers require that this work should be done. Prompt and accurate crop and meat reports have not been in our hands thus far, but only in the hands of very heavy speculators. Who shall do this work for the farmers ? The National Grange attempted it and failed. No voluntary associa- tion can or ought to be expected to do it. It- would require large outlay of private funds for public ends. Plainly this work for the public good should be done at the public expense, either state or national. But the national de- partment at Washington seems too unwieldy, and a single correspondent, more or less, in each count/, cannot make the report accurate enough . probably to be ' of real value. Hence it is thought that a smaller organization, composed of the state boards of agriculture representing the great grain and meat producing states, may be of real and permanent value. It is not a light nor easy task. The wheat harvest in this country and in Europe occupies two months' time. No re- ports, therefore, can be given in a single week or month of the entire situation. The situation is liable to constant change. Heat, rust, insects, stoims and other causes greatly vary the actual resultsi, even of the best prospects. But earnest, honest, thorough efibrts can supply such information as shall greatly simplify the complications and doubts, and prevent the extreme and violent fluctuations to which reference has been made. I believe the time has come for the work, and that both press and people de- mand it, I believe our boards of agriculture can do the work; I believe they 192 THE SECRETS O^ FBOGBESSrTE AGBlCTWrXISt. can do anything the times demand. They were created to promote the inter- ests of agriculture. Our own board has earnestly undertaken this new work; the needs of the farmers demand it. We must make our money from our farms. In order to do that we need not only good animals and good crops, but fairprices for our products, and this prompt, and reliable information will help us to obtain them. We believe that a full appreciation, on the part of farmers, of the im" portance of this new work will secure from our legislature the appropriations necessary to make it a complete success. We need, too, the hearty co-operation of all farmers in the work of collecting these early and accurate statistics that shall furnish the rational basis of price. * But no discussion of prices would be at all complete which should leaye out of sight the great question of transportation or distribution — of railway and other freights. One naturally asks if the great principles of supply and demand — of competition — will not regulate railway freights without the interference of ciTil law; if not, why not? The civil law, we all agree, should interfere as little as possible with contracts ; it should leave the contracting parties free, only aiding in the enforcement of contracts when made by the free parties. Why, then, should civil law have aught to do with the bargains between the railways and the people? I answer, Because in this case the contracting parties are not free; the people as a rule, or at least often, must send by one particular railway or not at all. Eailways are — ^by the very conditionB of their existence — essentially monopolies, except for competing points ; and when trunk lines pool their earnings there are no competing points. Now, law regulates and restricts monopolies. In the case of new and valuable inventions, indeed, our patentlaws give the inventor a monopoly of manufacture until he can have a fair reward for his invention ; then the patent expires and the public gets the benefit of the in- vention. Now, railways and locomotives are not the invention of the Vander- bilta and Goulds who now own them. The patents on them, if any had existed, would long since have expired. The immense benefits, therefore, resulting from the invention of railways long since came to be the property of the people. In no sense do they belong to the ftuilders or present owners of them. The capital invested belongs to them, and fair profits on the investments; but the benefits of the invention belong to the people. Hence the fallacy of those who say the people have no right to complain so long as the railways carry cheaper than teams ' and wagons can. Of course they carry cheaper; that is what they were built to do to carry at immensely lower rates. This is the gist and glory of the inven- tions on which the railways rest; and the benefits of those inventions now be- long to the people — to the world — and not to the stock or bond holders of the railways. To them belongs simply the fair interest or dividends on the money invested and pay for the skill and labor of its management This distinction can- not be too strongly drawn, nor insisted on too strenuously; for its disregard forms the basis of a most serious fallacy. I have said that railways are, from the very nature of the case, monopolies; each has what may be called its " suction range " of traffic, inside of which an- other road cannot profitably be built The width of this "suction range" for local traffic varies with the wealth, productiveness and population of the region throngh which the road is built; but inside that " suction range," whatever it SUPPLY AND DEMAND. 193 may be, capitalists cannot afford to build another road and the public cannot afford to have it built — it would out up the country too much, and render both the competing roads non-paying. Hence, in such cases, the second charter is not — or should not be — ^granted. So, then, for this given " suction range " — be it ten or forty miles wide — the road first built is essentially and necessarily a monopoly; and the law claims and has and uses the right to regulate monopolies. Law gives an omnibus line or astreet railway line the monopoly of public passenger traffic on certain streets, and regvlates the fare. Law gives a ferry company the monopoly of traffic from point to point across a river, sni fixes the price. It gives a turnpike company the monopoly of travelpn a certain road, planked or graveled or macadamised by the said company, butfiaea the toll ; and the fare, or toll, or price must be uniform, fixed and publicly declared — the same service must receive the same reward. The street car, or omnibus, or ferry, or turnpike company, does not own the street, or river or highway, exceptforthe given purpose of traffic or transit and at the given rates. Is the case any different, now, with the railways? Are they either more or less than thoroughfares? Supposeacase: The agricultural and mineral products of a given region demand an outlet to market; how can the right of way be ob- tained through unwilling or even hostile property? Only on the ground of public requirement. Only on this ground can I be compelled to sell right of way through my land to a railway company — not at my own but at an appraised valuation. Only on this ground can the goverment itself condemn or appropri- ate private property even to its own use ; can it, then, bestow upon a railway corporation powers it does not itself possess? The right of way for a railway, then, is given, sold or condemned — through private farms or city lots — only as a public thoroughfare and for the public good. The very expression " right of way " implies this; the land is not sold or given for any other purpose. It is not sold for farming purposes or manufacturing purposes. The government cannot lay its hand on a rod or foot of my land and make me give or sell it to another farmer. It cannot pull down my shop or mill that another man may build him- self a shop or mill. It can only do it that the public — all alike — may have a needed thoroughfare or some needed public good; it cannot admit one and ex- clude another from that thoroughfare — ^it was taken and made for the whole pub^c. Nor can the government give to a railway company the right it does not itself possess of excluding any portion of the public from that public thoroughfare, either by unequal fares or freights or by discriminations or rebates on freights. Like pay should have power to demand and receive like service from these pub- lic servants for every member of the great public. The government or state — exercising the right of "eminent domain" — has granted to the railway the right of ivay, but not the right of oppression or extor- tion. The railway company does not own the land between its fences except as a public thoroughfare ; it does not even own its road-bed and its depots and sta- tion-houses, except to use for the public convenience. It cannot pull up its tracks, run off its rolling stock and engines and turn its depots into factories and its waiting-rooms into saloons or retail stores. If it ceases to use its property for the purposes specified and intended its charter is revoked, and even its road- bed is condemned and reverts to the state or to the original owners. 7 194 THE SECRETS OP PKOGUESSIVE AGRlCTTLTtlEE. Such, at Jeast, seems a reasonable view of the matter. Such seem to have been the holding o£ our highest courts. Such, too, have been the uniform grounds on which railways have asked for charters and right of way — indeed the only possible ground on which they could obtain them. Now, it is implied in all this, I think, that the railways shall carry at fixed, uniform, regular and reasonable rates, and that the law has a right to regul;te those rates in a way to do injustice neither to the roads nor to the public. The I'ight was conceded at first and complied with by the roads; but gradually they began to consolidate, grow wealthy and arrogant and to claim that they owned the roads, land, bed and equipments absolutely, and as private property to be used exclusively for private emolument. Like the children of Israel tliey "waxed fat and kicked ;" they " forga.t the rock whence they were hewn." They forgot that they were creatures of the law. They forgot what they had conceded and urged in asking their charters; namely, that they were not private money mak- ing concerns, but were public carriers under wholesome restraints. Still, even yet these railways tacitly admit that they are entirely subject to the law. They admit this in several ways: for example, by quietly submitting to a restrictipn as to the maximum fare for passengers and by making those rates public and — in the miiin — uniform and regular, and by not discriminating against individuals. But, if the law regulates passenger trafiic, why not freight traffic too? They admit, too, by their anxiety in regard to legislation and by the vast snmstheyspend, directly or indirectly — as abundantly proved — to secure "friendly legislation." If they knew the law had no right to regulate their freight rates they would simply prove it in the courts instead of subsidizing or intimidating legislators, lawyers, juries and judges. If they were conscious of the righi to charge whatever they chose on freight, or " whatever the traffic will bear," they would insist upon that right. What, then, are some of the evils and acts of injustice on the part of the rail- ways which, it seems plain, either state or national laws should correct? I an- swer, all discriminations that violate the general principle that all charges should be fixed, uniform, openly known and in proportion to the actual services ren- dered. Now, the railways say that the government has no right to inquire into or interfere with their private business, but they themselves do this very thing in the case of shippers; the whole system of "charging all the traffic will bear" implies an inquisition into the private business of shippers. It costs, for exam- ple, a fixed sum to transport a ton of gold-bearing ore from one fixed point to another, and that cost depends not in the least on the value of the ore; but the railway insists on knowing what the ore assays per ton, so as to know how much it is safe to charge. "Bbe man whose ore assays $300.00 per ton must pay, per- haps, ten times as much per ton as he whose ore assays $30.00 per ton, because, forsooth, he can afford to pay more. Why not charge the rich man ten times as much as the poor for a passenger ticket on the same car? He can afibrd to pay it. Are not individual discriminations as unjust and offensive in freights as in passenger rates? Has not the law the same right to prevent them? These dis- criminations among individuals enrich one and impoverish another; one shipper with secret rebates in freights ruins his competitors and himself becomes im- mensely rich; and this oftentimes results adversely to a large community either supply" and demand. 195 of producers or consumers — it creates monopolies that work against the interests of the community. The most familiar and striking case of this kind is that of the Standard Oil Company; which, under a secret contract with the four great trunk lines of railway, has at last driven nearly all competitors to the wall, and now holds, essentially, a monopoly of the oil trade of the world. By this secret contract these railways agree to protect this company "against loss or injury from competition ; " and already a large advance in prices of coal oil has resulted, and the same thing may occur in other lines of business under the secret favor of the managers of our e;reat trunk lines. Now, it seems plain that our laws sliould in some way prevent the railways — the servants of the public — from working against the interests of the public; joining secret hands to build up mo- nopolies and break down that free competition among producers and dealers which alone can secure fair and equitable prices and a fair distribution of wealth. [The speaker here gave several apt illustations in support of the position.] Again, it would seem plain that law has a right to hind or these rail ways — ^thess common carriers — from discriminating against localities; from charging more per ton or car for 1,000 miles, foi' instance, than for 2,000 miles. [Striking actual ex- amples were here given.] For it is a natural and well established principle that nearness to market enhances the value of products and of the farm-land or other real estate that produces them. Wheat and beef and farms, on this principle, should be higher in our Ohio towns than in St Louis; but if, as is sometimes the case, sea-board freights from non-competing Ohio points are higher than from St. Louis, then, so long as these freight rates hold, these Ohio towns are placed farther from the seaboard than St. Louis. By this power of the great trunk lines to fix freights arbitrarily — and without even a semblance of justice or reason — they can make and unmake towns, build up and pull down fortunes, and even cities, and damage whole broad regions of country. [Facts and illustrations were given here also.] Another evil to be regulated by law is the sudden advance in seaboard freights — to keep pace with the advance in prices in England. By such advance in 1879 a tax of about $50,000,000 was laid upon wheat alone ; the railway kings advanced the rates and the wheat paid the tax. Would the public have endured as sudden a tax laid on the wheat by congress? Have the railways, then, more power than congress? [Here, also, were given facts and figures in support and illustration of the point made.] One evil in passenger traffic deserves notice. Suppose I reach a certain point in traveling by one line and there touch or cross a rival line, and wish or need to complete my journey by this rival line; I find the time schedules purposely so arranged as to require a delay of several hours. This nuisance should not be tolerated; the railways are the servants of the people, and trains should be run and schedules arranged for the convenience of the public. The traveling public should be left free to choose its route, it would seem; if railways fight each other they should not make the traveling public sufier for it. But what Is the remedy for these and other evils? All classes of cit'zens are interested in having the remedies quickly and justly applied. On this head I quote the judicious words of Mr. Thurber, in a recent Scribner's Monthly: " If ever communistic views make headway in this country it will be in conse. 196 THE BKCBETS OF PEOGEESSIVE AGEICULTUBB. quence of the toleration of class privileges and disregard of or i iree ' lutions ; these are the breakers ahead which every true patriot will pr;5v 'li ,t our ship of state may avoid. "The immediate remedy is, the creation of an intelligent public opinion, through which reasonable limits may be placed upon the growth and power of corporate life. " At present the corporations are masters of the situation, but with an intelli- gent public opinion, thoroughly aroused, it is only >» question of time when it will compel a fair adjustment of the relations between the people and the crea- tures the people have created." No class of citizens are more conservative and less inclined to communistic views than the farmers. In the great railway strikes, which suspended traffic and came so near resulting in extended riot and even in insurrection, the railways found no stauncher friends and supporters in their real rights than the farmers. Ko class of citizens would more promptly have taken arms to quell insurrection and protect property than the great and intelligent class of agriculturists ; but in the matter of discriminations, exorbitant rates, and secret contracts in freights, it will in time be seen that they are " Men who their duties know — ^but know their rights, And knowing, dare maintain 1 " At the conclusion of the course of lectures. President Orton addressed the class substantially as follows : Gentlemen : I am glad of an opportunity of saying a few words to yon before you leave us. We congratulate ourselves, and you too, gentlemen, on the suc- cessful accomplishment of the work for which you were gathered. We were glad when you came, and we are sorry that you must »-sw go away, but I am glad to hear that you wish to have these gatherings continued. I have been a little disappointed that we had not a larger body of farmers here, and especially that we have not had more young men. I hope to see future classes crowded out of this small room, and compelled to occupy the large room on the other side of the building. You, gentlemen, have had an opportunity to see what we are do- ing here, and you will be better prepared than heretofore to judge whether the training we can give to young men here is not adapted to make them better citi- zens and to fit them for the various duties of life. If a young man comes here with a love for farming I am sure we shall not do any thing to take that love away, but rather by giving him a knowledge of the sciences that bear upon his work we confidently hope to make that work more agreeable. FRANKLIN SQUARE LIBRARY We have made arrangements -with the publishers whereby we are enabkd to ofler the following books o£ the Franfelin fcquare Library to our readers: 13®° We will seiid' any TKW BOOKS described lelow, by mail, post-paid to any addifess, on receipt .of OME DOIvKtAR ; and for Twenty-^lve Cfnts extra, sent at the same time, Will include one year's suliscription to JFkirtn. utiil, JFitresitl/Bf tbe leading Agricultural and Home Journal of the world. 'Ihe list is as follows: ■ • Book No. 311. Life of James A. Garfield. By Edmund Xirke. A ftuthful record of the life of our late president. (. onlains a number of ill ustrai ions. Book No. 312. Social Eitqueife. A universal haud-Louli: of social etiquette and home culture for ladies and goi tlemeu. Book No. 314. Selected Poems of Mstthew Arnold. This volume contains a large number of the most popular poems of ihis eminent poet. Book No. 315. Sport and Work. on ihe^epaul Frontier: or, Twelve Years' Sporting Hrm- iniscences of an Indigo Planter. Ihe novelty of the author's daring adventures cannot fail to win attention. Book No. 317- His U^le Mother. By author of "John Halifax." A very interesting little sjoiy of a twin brother ana sister, told in the author's peculiar, brillinnt and spijiited sijli^. This volume contains seven' O'her storips of equal intertst,, suited to aJltas es. Book No. 318. My Heart's in the Highlands. A novel juslly praised lor the originality and the dramatic ioteresi of its plot. - , Book No. 319, The Fugitives. By Mrs. Oliphant. The felicity of expresFion and aptitude for siory-teilii.'g by t .j« author is rt-m arkable, and the readtr wili.find a number of those suggestive hints and unobtiusive charms which show the hand of a true'artist. Book No. 320. An Eye for an Eye, By Anthony Trollope. This well-known author wields a visorou-* pen, ana in this Ijook there are evidences of unuBual intellectual power. . Book No, 321. Orange Lily. By Mary Lrommelin. A very entertaining love story, the scene of whch is in Scotland, and it is a story of Lily, whose suit temper fitted to everybody else's .shape of mind, and when a girl, was, from her curioucly smiling, litUe, Ireckled face and reddish pate— neatly combed and tmck— dubbed Orange i-ily. Book No. 322. Cousin Simon. A Novel. By the Hon. Mrs. Robert Marsham. This hook is a remarkably interesting work, being full of pleasing incidents, and is suflSciently exciting to hojd the attention of the most exacting novel readers. Book No. 323. The Heart of Holland. By Henry Harvard, Translated by Mrs. Cashel ^Hoey. A his'. or y of Holland. It is very interesting throughout as well as instructive, and "should be read by both old and young. ' Book No. 324. The History of a Crime. By Victor Hugo. A very remarkable book, and readers will linger with, devotion over tue fascinating pages of a History of a Crimer-being the testimony of an eye witness who> with other Frenchmen, was exiled, and who becomes a historian, reciting the.events of the past, abounding in details, and living, it might'be said bleeding, with real facts. , Book No. 325. Cross Purposes. A Novel. By Cecilia Findlay. This work isa britht and fascinating novel, written m an animated and unafiected style. Thewoikis attractive for its freshness, and pleases the reader by its sweet naturalness of feeling and its quietT)athcs. Book No. 326. Light and Shade. A Novel. By Charlotte G. O'Brien. This very clever and interesting stor> , wnich begins in the autumn before the Fenian rising of 3867, gives a won- derful, adcount of life in Ireland at that time, with every phase of which the writer^ appears to be thornughly familiar. Book No. 327. Eothen ; or. Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East. By Ale;xander W. KingJake. A sketch oi a tour through Uie East, t< Id in a very comprehen'sive and graphic manner.- Hia wonderful descriptions ot travel at the Pass of the Lebanon, at Bamaseus, from Cairo to Suez, exploring the pyramids, and at tbe Dead Sea, should be read by everybody. The spirit and enthusiasm with which Mr. Kinglake writes his travtls makes it so ab^rbingly interesting that it is almost impossible to lay tbe hook down. Book No. 328, The BacSelor of the Albany. A Novel. A very interesting wirk-nnd hears many marks of unusual talent. A more thorough realistic f ketch of character has not betn given to thp public for sometime, and it mav be read with decioeti pleasure. Book No. 329. The Posy Ring. A Novel. Bv Mrs. Alfred W. Hunt. Very bright and fas- cinating, as can be judged from a short quotation; "Lucv's three months of travel was all but over. On the 15th she was to return to London and 'Aunt Esther. Her visit hrd been a very happy one— a very gay one, too, — and even yet thegaytty was not quite at an end, f simplestS^m of words and very plain speech. To smite evil, and especially the monster ^ evil of drink, has been the author's earnest endeavor. Complete in one vollime— contain- -f. ing a great number of pictures. X ' Book No. to. Noble Deeds of Men and Women. A history and description of noble deeds, A. presenting correct and beautiful models of noble life to awaken the impulse to Imitate what X we admire. By the recorded acts of the great and good we regulate our own course, and r stesr, star-guided, over life's trackless ocean. A The usuil price of these books bownd in cloth is Sl.OO to ffS.OO each. We bind them In heavy i paper, and send them by mail and prepay the postage. They comprise a wide range and A. striking diversity of ihe most brilliant and plensing productions of the most noted and X popular authors, and include books of travels, adventures, fiction and hupior, so that all T tastes will be suitei. We call it the Farm and Fireside Lieraby, and any one obtaining T these books will possess a library of the most popular books ever puhlished. We have not T room to give an exteded description of each book, but all will be delighted who obtain thpse noted books at bo ow a price. IpHE HOOKS are the latest and most complete editions, and contain many illustrations ' one alone requiring fifty pictures to complete it MONEY should be sent by Post-office Honey Order or Eegistered Letter, addressed to *T^^ FARM AND FIRESIDE COMPANY, Springfield, Ohio.