The Fort Worth gazette., May 14, 1891, Page 10, Image 10

About The Fort Worth gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-189?

Image provided by: University of North Texas; Denton, TX

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CULTU
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PARTiVSE
PrniiSTtrjVs Notict All communications intended for this department should be addressed
to Jnor J P PTirr Tort Worth Tex
1VUV NOT JUKI CIIWIS
Texas could oott the world making
frraiis then why not make them
thin the past decade the consumption of
f i oe sweet has attained to 2 magnitude
in America ihat is truly startling- Not
long- ago a i epresentati ve of the Boston
commercial Importer called on aglucose
t niiliiig firm of that city Messrs Alexan
C - I3ros Co and fathered information
w h reference to glucose which reads like
a romance I he head of the firm stated
-a twelve years ago tiie demand on their
ivjse for glucose syrups did not extend bo
und a few barrels a month but the demand
la- since so grown that no irson outride
tii llrm could form an idea of it that
wo ild at all approximate to correctness
were selling to confectioners baker
h rup manufacturers molaBses mixers pre
srv makers chemists morocco leather
f slier brewers and others in various
ihbs of tho United States and they
v i re also exporting thousands of tons of
41 goods to foreign countries and yet
house was only one among many in
- n e ira equally as large
liicosc according to Mr Alexander
mi - dn th market in two shajies liquid
r -e or sj rup and crape smrar the lat-
ing a dry substance The syrup
l rules at from cents 1o 41- cents a
J depending on quality and the grape
t Mr at from 2 to cents The syrups
ui retarded as the line3t quality of the
e and hence the higher figures Up-
- cif SIO000000 capital is now invested
i elucose manufacturers within the
l -id States and the labor employed in
ork is correspondingly immense
1 he glucose on the American market is
mainly from corn though iu Europe
iiotatoes are ied almost exclusively
- potatoes yield a far better glucose
i orn but l lie nt ter is employed in this
n fy because of the greater cspensc at-
ngthe production of potatoes
Ir Alexander went on to state that plu
e might now be regarded as a long way
i adiug sweetening substance in this
ry The best article is clear and
- It is used in its natural condition
is used as an adulteration for cane
sor sugars Very little
raue syrups are now on the market
u jlterated articlo seems to give better
uitiun bath is to price and qualit
crrai sugar goes largely for
1- though it is now put upon the
- i itt in its pure state as -granulated
i discoveries having been made by
cii a granulated appearance can bo
to it One larce establishment in
i sends out all its products as fine
n laird sugars and they seem to take
v ith consumers It f urt liermore goes
i i market as line pulverized sugars
i iiihig a fine floury appearance To
- it is well adapted as there is nothing
mId other than grind the product Of
iiic it is not near so sweet as the cauo or
sugars but a large proportion of con-
mers do not appear to notice this fact
i d take the pulverized glucose for uso
t a and coffee in preference to the real
Lr I S
Ivcn sorghum molasses is now
lv adulterated with this artificial
While sorghum molasses is little
i re than one form of glucose it cannot
1- made so cheaply as the other besides
icople have acquired a taste for the
iMiical glucose ami hence tho sorghum
in takes bet tor on the market with
J peculiar flavor imparted to it Again
e about all the cme syrups are now
h rated with glucose and hence carry
I luivse flavor this adulteration of
m hum molas es often enables the retail
i ner to run it off as a pure cane product
I vr with all this immense quantity of
i o produced and handled in America
ie appears little danger of any coming
i u the market We are a continent of
i eaters and it would apear that
r t re we eat the more we want On
- account it would be entirely sale
v most of our molasses isnow glucose
i leaslogo largely into glucose
lion provided she could do so with
i1 profits Before wo are through we
ljve shown that she could As
pnito to come in here we cop fiom
IJnral AVorld or St Louis as
s past understanding why so much
s should be wanted They say this
requires sOOOOUuO gallons of mo-
- s in a year Somebody must bo al-
- drawimr molas es from barrels mo-
s jiiti hers are always being filled
i are many mouths always open to take
i i A spoonful of molasses is
but it takes a statesman with
tirow to comprehend the sum of all the
ntuU And this is why molasses
iave to work sohard When this
iis a population of 1000iWOiK the no-
i tnaki rs will have to work nights and
iiiIjjs to supply the demand they will
I to lay piv lines to the large cities
r es one a coi ect idea of The sie of
r hing in this i ountrv to calculate tho
c if a ivservoir which would hold all the
i used by all the people in a year
ud be niolosses sta on which one
o t srfely ail in a ivgular
of war Somebody evidently gets
y with quantities of molasses Some
s children cvidentlv spread molasses
i Loth sides of thir bread It gives one a
i i idea tf the great wheat fit Ids of the
iv ry to calculate the immense surface of
t eng hich all the millions of molasses
- Animals have not yet intellect
ah to apireciale molasses and so mo
asses is human food it becomes part of hu
i a- bodies and part of human lives and
ucse become saccharine angels
Molasses barrels are in some degree
measures of civilization This is the
country on earth because it fills and
empties the greatest number ot molasses
oa re s
And yet the very great bull of this is not
foiasses at all but glucose a substance
c aimed by many scientists as being of
rather doubtful wholesomeness on account
of certain chemicals employed in its manu
facture But the people take it all the
tame and if they want it why let them
have it It is an affair or their own look
rut For our own part we could never rec
ommend glucose as something entirely good
to take -for the stomachs sake though
we must admit that it is probabiy as Sam
VcHor said very filiin for the price
Glucose sold as molasses is simply a
shoddy molasses be it mixed or pure If
t he people are determined to take a shoddy
roods and we are therefore forced to sell it
j them why not make it as well If wo
can And we can doing it with more
profit to ourselves than results to the
Northern manufacturer The Boston Com-
menial I Importer says Irish potatoes make
better glucose than corn A back issue of
the Chicago Prairie Farmer says one bushel
of Irish potatoes yields more glucose than
two bushels of corn Scientific investiga
tions have shown that the sweet potato is
richer in glucose yielding elements than is
the Irish potato And this at once lifts
the curtain to a plain view of how Texas
might be contributing largely to that mo
lasses sea and doing it with great profit
to herself It is a well established fact
that under good culture and intelligent
management we can easily raise 400 bush
els of sweet potatoes to the acre If one
bushel of sweet jiotatoes is worth as much
in the manufacture of glucose as two bush
els of corn you can see that our land culti
vated to sweet potatoes for the manufacture
of glucose would be yielding us an equiva
lent of eight hundred bushels of corn to th
acre Then the culture and handling of the
crop would be no more expensive than the
cultivating and handling of an acre to corn
Why there is millions iu it so to speak
This thing ouuht to be promptly looked
into by our people There is not one argu
ment that could be brought to bear against
it as offering for us one of tho biggest
things imaginable The land will produce
the potatoes no doubt of that and the
potatoes would undoubtedly yield the glu
cose The hardiest and most productive
potatoes wo now grow would be the kinds
most needed for these are richest in starch
and btarch alone is the clement converted
into glucose With proper attention the
potatoes could be so kept as would run the
factory throush a much longer season than
a sorghum a beet or a cane sugar factory is
evrr run
We do hope the people of Texas will take
this very important matter under consider
ation Nothing else is needed for there
are no tests to bo made Everything is
bound to pan out precisely as named hence
there is nothing to do other than working
up a will lo get at it The processes of con
verting the sweet potato into starch arc
exactly the same as those employed in con
verting the Irish potato into starch In
time of tho late war starch was largely
made from sweet potatoes iu both Georgia
and South Carolina so there is no guess
work about the matter The yield of starch
was large Once we have starch the glu
cose may be regarded as made for the pro
cesses to follow are few and simple
vrOlY OP 1SOTAXY IXTKXAS
Appropriately supplemental to Professor
llobert T Hills interesting remarks on
The Flora of Texas as published in The
Oazctti of last week is the following from
that same leading American scientist Like
th last weeks article it was prepared ex
pressly for us Professor Hill says
How can we create a love forthestudy of
botany in Texas Iu no state in the Union
is so little attention paid to this beautiful
and useful study In few of our schools is
1 Ii - 1 nm An ntntn mi
till 7M1JJIII llLill tltCll UU1 PIIU
versity which pays 10000 a year for pro
testors of language has not a single chair
of natural history Where natural history
is taught except in the Paris and one or
two other schools 1 have observed that
the students do not study plants but books
There is but one use for books in tho
study of botany and these should not bu
u ed at all by beginners and that is for
reference Tho great text book of botany
is Gods own fields and forests Childreu
should learn to study form and habits of
local plants leaf root and stem and their
minds should be disabused of the idea that
then is beauty only in color and perfume of
flowers
There should bo local botanical clubs in
every school precinct of our state and the
hh il flora should be collected ami studied
Get chiluren and adults interested in find
ing out how many and what kinds of plants
grow in their range of observation Keep
lifk lists of them in the school archives
and soon we will know much about the
beautiful floras ot Texas Names it should
be remembered are of least importance
nomenclature is hut a weak attempt on
mans part to classify and denominate the
beautiful and perfect nature Learn tho
plants and their differences and names can
bo reached later If you have aj plant
u hich you do not know alter tryina jour
bet 1o find out j ourself then send it to the
botanist ot the department of agriculture
Washington D C He will tell von
It the manj colored flowers which inhabit
our woods and prairies tire beautiful and
u eful what a world of and useful
knowledge remains to man in the of
the lower forms of plant life in Texas
upon which absolutelv no work has been
done except in the si udj ot the cotton root
funcus by our agricultural college The
st of these lower forms while equal in
interest and to that of the higher or
flowering plants is far more useful to man
kind for if we include bacteria in the plant
kingdom nearly all animal and plant dis
eases their occurrence preventive and
cure are based upon them Bj a lniowl
edgo of the simple laws of their existence
and propagation millions of dollars could be
saved to our agricultural interests annually
and allow mo to predict that in a few years
tho farmer who permits dead spats in his
cotton lo grow and scatter their millions of
sjiores over his neighbors fields or his
cholera stricken hogs to roam the woods
and their uncrcmated carcasses to spread
infection will be held no less criminal thau
the barn burner or fence cutter and laws
will be enacted for his punishment Just as
in Connecticut it is now imprisonment for
one to allow the black laiot a vegetable
fungus to grow on his plum trees
stw usn rem smir ix tuxas
Here we usually raise sheep for the sheep
alone looking to the wool or the carcass for
our only profits This comes of the fact
that we have all along been looking to the
wild ranee for the supjwrt of our sheep
and there is no getting around tho fact that
as a rule our wild range affords our sheep
a very fair support But Mr Galen Wilson
writes that even in the face of all this there
is still a better way of managing sheep
There is in the sheep another prominent
source of profit ucver much calculated
upon the Texan where lands arc looked
upon as rich enough for all prac
tical purposes in agriculture This matter
of rich lands may be all true enough but
there is such a thing as vastly- improving
the productive qualities of tho richest
lands naturally by what ono might
call taming them Mr Wilson
says he once called upon a rich
land farmer and was surprised to find his
crops looking much better than those of his
neighbors working lands of precisely the
same natural character Asking the farmer
for an explanation that gentleman simply
pointed to a flock of sheep quietly feeding
in an adjacent field
The farm under consideration was some
what broken into ridges and knolls like
much of tho lands in Texas There were
no really poor lands on the place though
these topping the ridres were tho thinnest
Further inquiry brought out that the
AV
farmers sheep were systematica
pastured on the lands he cultivated It was
the nature o the sheep to rest on some
oint of high ground in the field until that
particular point had grown to be more or
less littered after which their peculiarities
of cleanliness led them to move to a fresh
lresh spot Thus their work was continued
until all the thinnest lands were attended
to and from these high lands much of the
leavings of the flock were washed by raius
to the lands on lower levels The effects
on tho lands were marked although
naturally they appeared to have been all
that crops need require without any addi
tion in this waj s
This farmer whoHke many othershad in
closed more ground than he needed to culti
vate continuously kept one field under
sheep treatment devoting a year to the
process The growths on it pretty well
kept up the sheep wliile at the same time
the sheep contributed largely towards keep
ing up tho growths Each alternate year
the land was put to culture and superior
crops were the result He toid Mr Wilson
that his gain from this process was beyond
doubt yet he was unprepared to give the
exact per cent of gain But so marked was
the gain he said that if his sheep yielded
no wool at all he would still keep them on
his lands or if they produced wool alone
and no lambs he would keep them and he
was not at all sure but he would keep them
for the good they done to his crops if they
gave him nothing save just lambs enough to
keep up the Hock
It was not contended that the sheep di
rectly enriched the land taking general
elements of plant food into consideration
but they tamed it For best results lands
must have something of that kind For
wild growths any good land may be all
well enough but our crops are tame
growths and therefore some kind of tam
ing is necessary to make everything con
genial
S tVi YOIJK IJMCllUS
Eternal vigilance is the price of
peaches This made up from what a
great man once said with reference to lib
erty was an aphorism of the late Cap
Isaac Donovan of Alabama who in his time
was the most extensive and successful
peach grower in the lower South It
represents the true state of tho case
even in a section where the orchardist has
fewer peach troubles as yellows etc to
contend against than are characteristic of
the Northern peach regions
While it may be said that the Texas
peach grower has but two remediable ad
verses to circumvent these if left without
duo attention arc entirely sufficient to
rather effectually blast his prospects for
success One of these is found in the peach
tree borer the exitosa of entomol
ogistsand the other iu the plum or peach
curculio known to science as Contrachelus
nenuphar The former bores into tho body
of the tree usually about the earth line
and seriottslj damages it often kills it
while the latter bores into the fruit caus
ing it to fall prematurely or to be what we
call wormy peaches at the stage of ripe
ness The tree borer can be easily knocked
out by a correct application of the arsenical
remedy described in these columns
but to effectually get the better cf the cur
culio is a thing by no means so easy of ac
complishment
The parent of the plum curculio or worm
found in the peach or plum is a brownish
black beetle measuring onlj about one
fifth of an inch in length It is capable of
flving and hence passes from treo to tree
usually moving at night When the young
plums or peaches are the she of a cranberry
it begins stinging them as we say that
is it cuts through the outer skin and in tho
ojieningso made deposits au egg From
this egg is soon hatched a minute grub or
worm which at once cuts its way into the
fruit Finally when the grub has attained
to full size the fruit falls and tho grub
quits it and goes into the groind where it
undergoes its transformations and iu due
time comes forth a perfect beetle ready to
begin the work of a new generation in mak
ing wormy fruit This kind of thing con
tinues until the fruit remaining on the trees
has attained to the age of ripeness and wo
then have a wormy product as the result
Several remedies for this pest have been
proposed and carried into practice by tho
Northern peach growers One of these is
known xs -jarring the trees Late of an
evening or early of a morning a sheet is
spread upon the ground uuder tho tree -A
sharp blow with a mallet is given to the
trunk of the tree When the beetle up
among the branches feels tho jar it pos
sums after the manner of some larger
beetles and falls to the sheet where it can
be found and destroyed This remedy is
pretty effectual though of course it in
volves close attention and a good deal of
trouble
Another popular remedy lies in having
hogs running in the orchard to devour the
curculio infested fruit so soon as it falls
and before the insects have had time to
come out and go into the ground to trans
form and get ready for tho next generation
of worms If one can get his hogs to eat
the young and green fruit this will do a
great deal of good but for our own part we
have never yet been able to find a strain of
hogs that would much take to this charac
ter of fruit A hog must be rather hungry-
we take it to eat green peaches the size of
a nutmeg or smaller tho size when their
services arc most needed
The best and simplest thing to do that we
know of where a person has only a com
paratively small number of trees to look
after is to visit them night and morning
with a basket pick up all lallen fruit by
haud and burn it Merely crushing it will
do no good neither will removing it to some
other locality It must be burned to de
stroy the insects This is a work that the
person with only a few trees or only a
small orchard of either plums or peaches
should never neglect It does not take
much of either time or trouble and one
plum or peach left upon tho ground twenty
four hours may lead to the ruin of fifty
specimens later
Recently a good deal has been said in
favor of spraying the foliage of peach or
plum trees with Paris green or London
purple as a remedy for curculio There is
much difference of opinion expressed with
reference to the effectiveness of this
method If the parent beetle fed upon the
fruit the remedy would be all right of
course tut since it does cot but mcrely
puncturcs it and deposits an egg beneath
the reach of the poison many conclude that
the spraying could do no kind of good We
arc ourself rather inclined to that opinion
Some persons put bands of tarred paper
around the trunks of their trees to prevent
tho beetles from climbinir up from the
ground This Is all folly u the beetles fly
ggBHilWWWll4k aytal1
THE GAZETTE FT WORTH TEXAS THUKSDAY MAY 1
and hence but seldom climb the trunks of
the trees
Gathering and burning the fallen fruit is
a simple remedy entirely within the reach
of all It should be kept up as long as there
is any unripe fruit to fall
roms soil xrros humcs
The editor of tho Southern Farm says
many farmers with naturally rich lands
and who appear to work those lands well
yet fail to get a passable crop and for the
life of them they cannot tell way In most
cases it comes of a lack of decomposed veg
etable matter in the soil supposing the
lands to bo well drained Ot course soggy
and badly drained lands could not give good
results even though every other needed
condition was perfection itself
Emile Wolff states in his Practical Gar
dening that the retentive power which a
fruitful soil jiossesses for the more im
IKtrtant plant foods is partly dependent
uon the huiaus decomposed vegetable
matter also even to a larger extent upon
tho clayey admixture in the composition
thereof Humus plays a material part in
maintaining the productiveness of the soil
for a considerable length of time all the
more on account of its slow but constant
decomposition whereby the vegetation is
supplied with the necessary quantity of food
during all the seasons of its growth It
is the part of the intelligent farmer accord
ing to the composition of the soil and the
manures applied in connection with the
climatic conditions to hasten or retard the
decomposition of the organic matter by all
appropriate methods in order to obtain a
luxuriant and highly profitable crop
But the greatest advantage of humus lies
in the property which it usually possesses
of improving the physical condition of the
soil By means of a fitting percentage ot
humus that iicouliar friable mellow prop
erty is brought about that medium physi
cal condition which induces a luxuriant
growth of the crop assures the perfect
utilisation of the plant food mixed with the
soil and above all fits the land for a profit
able and intensive system of farming
Clay is made friable by the in
fluence of humus thereby alto ren
dered more porous for tho reception of
moisture air and warmth as well as for
tho expansion of the roots puddling and
the crusting of the surface aro prevented
the perculating of the superfluous water
into the subsoil and the ascent of moisture
during periods ot drouth are facilitated
the action of the weather upon the rocky
particles and decomposition of the organic
matter are intensified thus making the
plant food more availablethe absorptive pro
cess and the ingress of the suns warmth
into the deeper strata aro expedited and
activity of the soil for the benefit of the
crop in all its functions is quickened On
the other hand dry sois not held open by
humus are firmly held together and
cemented as it were by every rain to the
undoubted injury of the crop
Almost any kind of vegetable matter
well decomposed will prove of advantage
to tho soil Some kinds are of more value
than others of course Tho leguminous
plants aro supposed to give best results as
clover and field peas The common weeds
or grasses of the fields or prairies make a
highly valuable addition to soils naturally
inclined to pack
Some writers advocate what they call
fallowing tho field which means leaving it
lying idle a season or so to grow up in
weeds or grass There is nothing in this if
one has a uso for his acreage and there is
outside litter near at hand that he can haul
upon it The only gain to be counted upon
by this fallow or rest is the vegetable mat
ter that will result If tho farmer finds
more to his profits in a regular crop than it
would cost him to gather outside matter
and work it into his soil he had best gather
the matter and go on w ith his regular crop
ping The effect upon the land will be the
same in either case Resting land is
simply another term for giving it hu
mus
rtRMixa as a scinvci
That noblest Roman among our agricul
tural magazines tho Southern Cultivator
Atlanta Ga says the farming world has
been agitated for months on the impor
tance of reducing the acreage iu cotton
But the essential point has been overlooked
and that is reducing the cost of production
It makes no difference to the farmer if it
costs him S cents per pound to produce cotton
and he can only sell it for that sum or if it
costs him 0 cents per pound and can only
sell for six cents But if he can make it at
a cost of C cents per pound and sell it for
S cents per pound it is different
It is a difficult matter for the farmer to
arrive at the cost of the production of cot
ton per pound unless he starts out with the
determination of so keeping accounts of
everything as will clearly show him at the
final footing up Several years ago Hon
W L Peek undertook the keeping of such
accounts and the results showed him that
the cost of producing cotton by even
ordinary planters was not so great as has
been figured up by those persons who for
some reason or other are ever found swing
ing back on cotton culture Mr Peck
found that half a bale of cotton to tho acre
would cost the planter 0 1 5 cents perpound
or 831 to the bale He found that one bale
to three acres would cost the planter S 4 10
cents per pound or 10 to the bale
This calculation is based upon what
might bo averaged as entirely bad farming
one bale to two acres is bad enough in
all conscience wliile one bale to three acres
is simply fearful The Cultivator further
states on the authority of Mr Peek that
one acre made lo yield 774 ounds of lint
cotton as was the average of the result ob
tained in 1SS4 by seventy four cotton
planters would reduce the cost of produc
tion to 1730 per bale or less than four
cents a pound One bale to tho acre is a
thing easy enough under proper culture
and management On many occasions a
very much larger yield has been made
In 1S34 Mr D W Perdue of Pike county
Ga made 1543 pounds of lint cotton to the
acre which all things considered brought
down the cost of production to 1000 per
bale of five hundred pounds According to
this the farmer making such a crop and
selling his cotton at the unusually low price
of eight cents a pound would have a profit
of S3000 on the bale or more than 9000 on
his acres operations
So you see as wo stated in our article
last week the thing for the planter to study
is not a reducing of his production to force
prices up to figures that will pay him for
bad farming but a reducing of the cost of
production This says the Cultivator
should be tho work of farm science not
only in the production of cotton but every
other product of the farm The employ
ment of improved implements in the cul
ture the ear and handling u well as mar
keting of products the systematizing of
labor and the products of labor so as to
make the farm in all its departments self
sustaining all these will be necessary to
achieve success The study must extend
to how to plant what is the food for plants
and for soil how to prevent waste on the
farm and iu the soil how to bring up every
part of the farm work so as to secure the
greatest possible results on a sound econ
omical basis these are vital matters that
will demand the attention of the farmer
who wishes to succeed It is clear that re
ducing tho acreage in cottou will cot result
in benefit to the farmer so long as it costs
him so much to raie it
Raise cotton or any other marketable
crop that you would prefer to raise as your
surplus but do it at the least possible cost
is the advice of agricultural science Dont
say you are raising it at the least possible
cost so long as others have raised it at a
cost still lower That which has been done
once can be done again Set your plans for
the cheapest possible production and study
in a way that will enable you to work well
up to your plans the closer you work to
those plans the more money you will make
and the more yon produce in that work the
better off you will be in tho end How is
it possible for any man to make money- off
a crop that costs him in production all he
gets for it No crop for which there is a
standing and regular demand need do this
Somebody- is making money off that crop
and if you are not doing it the fault is
simply your own Study to find out what
that fnuit is and when found apply the
proper remedy
OUR CORRESPONDENTS
Th5s department is devoted to answering
such questions may be a lrd by our sub
scribers which mav be of geniTal iutormation
Inquiries cf personal character that require an
swer by cail bhould always have stamp
Plca e give full name and potoiike
address in adrtitlou to any such signature as
5 ubcriberor A D not for pabliciton
if against the will of the writer but to admit of
direct communication should such a thing be
deemed neces ury Address directed at head
of this pae
a siiaiji Tit hi suogition
Texas needs shade trees and now just as
we are about entering upon what we call
the heated term when a little shade will
be refreshing is a good time to talk about
them A few suggestions on the subject at
this time may set the people a thinking
The maples poplars box elder and other
of our prettiest shado and ornamental
trcco suffer and die from many causes in
ibis climate as hot dry weather hoi els
etc and few live to be of much benefit to
the grower Something else is needed 1
have tried them all and have decided to
change my trees Since investigation I
find that Hicks mulberrry is a success
You know what it is Leaves full heavy
and color attractive healthy and stands
the heat and is troubled by no insects
Next is the Marianna plum This is ono
of the most compact growers 1 find in
Texas In fact it is a perfet tree iu all par
ticulars Body neat and trim foliage dense
and it can be cut and shaped to suit the
taste of man
These trees are both fruit bearing This
mulberry is a safe fruit grower never
fails
The Marianna plum is said to be a failure
as a fruit bearer here but I have a model
tree that is full of as pretty plums as 1
have ever seen
But aside from their fruiting qualities as
shado trees I believe both will prove all I
claim for them
Nurserymen might help their trees by
using the Marianna for budding and graft
ing It is safe
In these suggestions I have but ono ob
ject in vie w the benefit of a sun scorched
people 1 have no interest in any nursery
or stock of trees except those 1 grow for
my own amusement and comfort
J C
Fort Worth Tex
While tho reader who honored its with
a following through these columns some
msnths ago has us to record as favoring for
shade and ornamental trees in Texas such
broad leaf evergreens as could be made to
succeed in our climate and on our lines of
latitude and isothermal we are still eng
tirely ready to admit that we much like
the hint thrown out by- our correspondent
If we must have deciduous trees and can
make fruit bearing trees fully answer our
purpose why not adoot tho fruit trees
The trees suggested by Mr Martin while
bearers of excellent fruit are probably su
perior to most otKcr deciduous tree growths
within our reach for purposes of shade and
ornament We are familiar with both of
them The mulberry named understood to
bo a descendeut from Downings celebrated
everbearing multicaulis seedling grows
readily from cuttings under correct man
agement while tho Marianna plum is an
off shoot from the common Chickasaw a
species said to have originated in Arkan
sas Wood The new variety Marianna
was discovered in an uncultivated state
near Marianna Fla henco its popular
name Both of these varieties mentioned
by Mr Martin bear a high order of fruit
in their species and the low growing and
compact habit of each well fits it for stand
ing the breezes of an open country
Of course there is nothing reliable in the
prevailing impression to the effect that the
Marianna plum fails as a fruiter in Texas
Managed as in Florida it might be a fail
ure but Texas is not Florida A few tests
intelligently made for Texas might bring it
to the surface as our very best plum If
tho Chickasaw is really a native of Arkan
sas we can see no good reason for why the
Marianna its direct descendant might not
be an entire success in Texas As a rule
most of the methods in horticulture well
suited to other regions aro not all right for
Texas and vice versa Until thorough ex
perimentation at the hands of the horticult
urist has shown what can or cannot be done
it is decidedly unsafe to pass upon any tem
perate zone fruit as a failure in Texas
OIT BEAUTIFUL WILUFLOWKRS
Your talks on tho wildflowers of Texas
are getting up quite an interest Nothing
so much rouses a people to an appreciation
of what they have as intelligent references
to their possessions There may bo some
to say that talks about floras and flowers
Ere of no permanent value but for myself I
am happy to state that I do not belong to
that particular class The refined of all the
world love flowers and it is almost a thing
of certainty that a person of refinement
thinking of changing location to a new
country would find no small detrree of at
traction in a knowledge of the fact that the
land thought of for the new home was liter
ally a land of flowers Already you have
said more about our beautiful Texas flowers
than 1 have yet seen in print anywhere else
and all together but everybody seems
pleased and all I have talked with agree
that you have not said too much aud
indeed could not say too much in that
direction The beautiful Texas flowers are
here but the people at a distance who have
never visited Texas in the season of wild
flowers do not know it Northern people
come here in winter and follow the wild
geese in their northward flight so soon as
spring begins to appear They know noth
ing of our delightful spring time and summer-time
beyond what they have heard
and much they have heard has sprung from
the imagination of persons who never spent
a spring and summer in Texas Let us tell
them something of what we stay-at-home
people have to make as happy while they
are away
Last week you wrote of a beautiful- prim
rose native to Texas and Alabama only I
inclose a flower to ask if it is what you re
ferred to I And it in two shades of color
clear white aud pale red growing- abun
dantly on the prairie about Arliugton
Native Thiax Lip v
Fort Worth Tox
Your flower is the same as mentioned
the CEnothera speciosaof botanists but the
printers got us in a little wrong relative to
its native habitat On the authority of
Wood we had intended to state that it was
peculiar to Texas and Arkansas and not
Alabama We have no idea that aspecimen
of the plant was ever seen growing wild at
any point east of the Mississippi river and
no bDtanbt mentions having ever found it
anywhere save in Texas and Arkansas
What you say concerning our humble
efforts to do justice to the wild flowers of
Texas is certainly very pleasant reading for
us although read with feelings of regret
that we have not been able to do more
The fourth deserving to be told in that di
rection has not as yet been so much as
hinted at Our display of wildflowers is
too grand to admit of any general descrip
tion that could convey to the stranger an
idea of it at all bordering upon tho reality
It is certainly passing strange that while
the world abroad has heard so much of the
advantages aud glories of Texas her phe
nomenal wealth in native flowering plants
has been almost wholly loft out of mention
With us the flowers now making our
prairies fairly to glitter are wild Cowers of
course but to the stranger with the wild
flowers of other regions in mind they
would not seem that way They havo
about them none of that coarseness and ap
parent lack or development usually peculiar
to wildflowers A large and we think tho
most beautiful bouquet of flowers wild or
tame that we have yet seen was this week
kindly shown us by Mrs M R Walton of
Tnn Gazette It was composed of rich
specimens represented in at least two dozen
species all arranged with the best oT taste
as to harmony of color Every appearance
of the composition might have been ac
cepted as pointing to the handiwork of a
trained artist doio in some millionaires
conservatory aud yet every flower in that
colieetioa had ben gathered for her by a
friend of Mrs Waltons on the wild prai
ries of Texas and in the imuiediato neigh
borhood of Fort Worth Truly nature
made Texas for a wonderful country
Tin KASKirr vronji
We have lately moved to a new home in
the city There are somo cedars on our
yard and I find hanging upon tho branches
thereof numerous little silken pouches a
specimen of which I inclose If you can
afford to do so without printing my real
name please tell me through Tun Gazette
what they are and what they mean You
will see that they havo been constructed on
tho tree where found for adhering to the
surface are many leaves of the cedar
Fort Worth Tex Mrs
We would always prefer to print tho real
names of our correspondents but in case
where parties feel that they cannot afford
to grant us this favor but will give us the
name in a private note for our own refer
ence we aro willing to attend to their let
ters tho same as if tho namo was ap
pended
Tho specimen sent is tho work of a small
insect known by various common names as
the hang worm tho bag worm and the
basket worm The scientific name of the
insect is Thyridopteryx epremei jeforrais
It is quite a troublesome insect on our
shade trees working upon almost any
species but seeming to prefer the ever
greens as cedar arborvitaj and the like
The male of this species is a small brown
ish moth which flics at night but the fe
male is wingless and never leaves the basket
alive but carries it about with herwhere
ever she goes hanging downward from the
branch to which she clings with her feet
In the fall sho fastens the top of the basket
to a twig and then retires within closing
the opening Thus tho basket hangs
through winter Her eg0s are deposited in
the interior of tho basket and early on
spring those eggs hatch out minute worms
which come forth and enter upon the con
struction of new- baskets to cover them
through the summer and on to the next
spring In this way tho routine goes on
from year to year
But two remedies for this pest have been
proposed by entomologists as yet One of
these is to pick off and burn the baskets in
winter snd the ether is to spray the trees
early in summer with some arsenical poi
son as Paris green London purple or a di
luted solution of arsenic It is now- too late
to do any good in Texas by burning the
baskets as the young worms are already
out The insects where fairly started
will seriously injure the trees if not
promptly destroyed
THAT CONGO CnOKLAII ACAIX
I see Kaffir corn bobs up again under
another name as it has done annually for
the last twenty years I would advise no
one to waste time and soil by its cultiva
tion The seed sharper will continue to
get in his work nevertheless as heretofore
Choklah makes good chicken feed but is
an especial favorite of that pest of the
farmer the chinch bug It is a greater
breeder of this destructive insect than cither
spring wheat or millet My advice from
experience is to let it severely alone
Fort Worth Tex 1 C Mahtw
We havo still another charge to prefer
against the so called choklah Some
years ago we gave it a rather extended
trial in lower Alabama where the chinch
bug is not known It grew well seeded
well and appeared to stand drouth better
than almost anything else but about the
time the grain was coming into the milk
state a strange caterpillar appeared and
literally riddled the heads This same
thing happened three years in succession
which seemed to bo enough of that kind
in ourn so we then and there let up on
the cultivation of Congo choklah then
sailing under the name of pampas rice
USES OF GTPSCjI
Please inform mo of what uses gypsum is
applied to and also give me some idea of
its value where found in large deposiu
Jas F Wahkek
Pecos City Ter
Gypsum is simply a sulphate of lime
The fine and transparent varieties are
called selenite and the fine but more mas
sive varieties aro called alabaster When
calcined the better grades of gypsum bo
come what we know as plaster of Paris a
material largely employed in the arts as
for making casts etc and also for putting
hard finish on plastered walls Gener
ally speaking the plaster of Paris so
called is imported though is is highly
probable that our rich gypsum deposits
would enable us to prepare as good plaster
of Paris in Texas as is prepared anywhere
else The most extensive use of American
gypsum yet made is as a fertilizing agent
Finely jrround it becomes -the well known
land plaster of commerce sold
riching lands Supposed to bo h g
vantagcous to crops of wheat a
small grains
There is probably not much n -
owner of a gypsum deposit m i
present owing to the fact tha u u
is not much used by Southern
yet and to ship it a long d--too
much cut off an ability to
with the Nort
We are not entiely sure of tn
and therefore the thrg is u o
vestigatiou No doubt tue ttn
ually eoiuo that shall fir 1 the pi
land plaster a big thing for To-
SCIENC
L
In an article contributed to ie t
ing aud Mining Journal or Npv
Professor Theo B Coin to I
geological survey says It i - - v
commanding iron indu tr it i
Texas must look forward to tier t -
main With all tho wondi n a a
natural resoureeand artificial Tor
has brought to liuht the givat pi j
of the South iu other district- ho d
THE OKKAT AMERICAN DI slij
How far is Fort Worth froi -line
of the great American op
times called the Staked Pla rs a
old man and in the days of in
Great American Desert a i
feature on our school atlases d
of Texas generously sent ue o
not at all define its location i
will not consider me too trob
Americus tlu O t
The G at American IV
with the things that wre or
the things that were no u
general supiositon of o
There is no Groat American P
never was The area pod u
old maps as a desert is nov
made up of tho finest agrUu
tho world It is rapidly
no distant day of the fut
appear upon the maps as
spot of the earth The ol
impression of a desert gvw -that
the region appeared -a
less but modem sciei e
tirely dispelled th r
ural delusion Nat v
great wisdom liad pln
a little beneath the s t
evaporation They are tl
forth in sparkling put ij a
abundance at tho behest t r
upon the surface the wo j 1
largely carried away by the i
so nature canned them -prevent
that umiocnssan
Great American Doser
ago is now rapidly develop
great American oasis covers
posed-to-be desert Te 1 -
friends to come out this n v
themselves and hint to u
ore of the cases in whk h o
ous There are still fine t
sons desirous of obtaining i
and permanent prosperii j
they are pouring in from a
compass
POPULAR
hesitate to report from art u i c
that Texas may confident
taki very high rank aaio n
whenever her dormant iron fie t
fully known In amount and qua y
in facility of mining red rig and ira
facturing and distributing of proa
other state can equal this v i -nary
forces ot civilization ha v i p
crly applied to utilize what ia t
vided Very extensive drjk r
finest iron ores occur all throe ti V
of Central Texas existing in r
ties over wide belts and ir c
show to analysis that thev a e or
rich in metallic iron and free f
able contamination
TEXAS TO BECOME THE GRAND
IRON STATE
To t Wines llogiiiSill rv
Slouo Great Klertriu DWcui
Sawdini IharcoKl IIou we
Drown The
I i
CO i
li 9
A prominent chemist pi
for detecting fraud - r v
Mix fifty parts of the wine w h p
of nitric acid of 1040 specific r a
pose the mixture to a heat of 1V - i
Fab If the coloring matter m t
all right as from the grape no u J
take place but on the other na i0 f ar
iicial coloring has been re ortd - s -v
will at once lo se its color
Eogus silks can be dee tel o u
acid This being an taw
vent of silk promptly a
fabric immersed in it while iea
wool or cotton unaffected if
pure it will all disappear under
but if it carries adulteration f
remain If anything remains fn 31 a u
silk after it has been a few in nut -a
acid you may depend upon i - -
was not pure
A now artificial stone - a
melted by heat and moulded 1 - i
sired shape is the late l j
science It is a compound ot - -
and silicon and unless modinea Pi
ments is of a dark slate color w
with the usual stonc cutticg co -- -
bo readily turned m i e
Tho tcstile strcngh -
CM to 1200 pounds to s -e
T
inch and a compression of f a
12000 is withstood Specific gra
20 tho melting ioint is 300 V
melted tho material can be eusiv s 3
mould the same as a metal I cae
ferroid and many claim that on a
of its cood qualities associated J
enmnaraiive chcaDncss it must SO53
largely figuring in ornamental sToa
for buildings and other purpo
wrH
Herr Gulchcr a German ee r
announces a new thermo electro batter
giving electric power equivalen to 1 3 F
cent of the heat employed and aso
provements under way that wul sTe P
cent net effect The scientists who -is
examined his discovery are pro t7u
agreed in the opinion that this nevr tuerw
electric battery when rendered more
feet in accordance with the plans of -
discoverer will excel the best dynamo J
l
point of efficiency
Every now and then some nevr
turns up that fills one with woader a
why it should not have been sooner thouj
of Among such is a new French discorery
for turnmz the sawdust of irUU