The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, September 20, 1894, Image 6
FARM AND GARDEN. •MATTERS OF INTEREST TO v. AGRICULTURISTS Soma tip to Data Uinta About Cultiva tion of tlta Soil and Vlalila Thereof— Horticulture VUlealturo and glorl ealtaro. Culture of Bluehrooms. - Some time ago a correspondent of the Farmers' Review requested more Information on the growing of mush rooms, which we promised to give when opportunity presented. We will de vote this article to the culture of mushrooms in buildings, because such culture is the only kind that is advis nble during the remainder of the year. We hope that some of our readers will take interest in the subject sufllclently to begin cultivating them on a small acale. The outlay is 6mall and the vork not hard. Resides, mushrooms Are not particular as to conditions, and may bo grown in cellars, barns and other outhouses, especially old green houses. We believe that many a family might grow mushrooms with little trouble, and find in them a valuable food product, even if the family of the grower consumed the entire crop. Mushrooms are very nutritious This Is contrary to the idea of those that know nothing of them. Most people suppose, because of tlieir rapid growth, that they are unsubstantial in tex ture and can possess little of food value. On the contrary, It Is doubtful If there be any other vegetable possessing a like amount of nutri ment. The statement is made that mushrooms possess as much nutriment, PYRAMIDAL MUSHROOM BID 1ST CELLAR. pound for pound, as beef. This is doubtless n faet. as mushrooms take In nBd throw off carbonic acid gas, as do animals, while nearly all vegetables do the opposite; that Is, 'threw off oxygen and take in carbonic add gas. To those living within easy reach of cities, the culture of mushrooms pre sents a means of revenue. The de mand for mushrooms is large and prices are high. France supplies most of the mushrooms used in American hotels and restaurants, and even then canned goods have to be used. With an increase in the supply of fresh mushrooms would come an increase in the demand. It seems strange that American gardeners have so long neg lected growing this dellolous vege table. * tfa France caves and cellars are used 'extensively for the growing of mush -kiooms. Most of our farmers have ..cellars, either in houses or barns, that iar© sujted for this vegetab]g. A Jew requisites are necessity; the cellar -ahould be warm, dry and dark. Drafts 'hy means of doors and windows are to he avoided, where the draft would -oome immediately over the mush ■room beds. ‘Temperature and moisture should he uniform, from day to day, as near ly as possible. Sudden fluctuations of temperature or of moisture are not desirable. These are, however, but -Abe requisites of a good cellar, and -therefore any one that has a really • good cellar can grow mushrooms. In some parts of the east where the mar tlcet gardeners are beginning to grow imushrooms on a large scale, cellars mre beinir built for this mimosa si am VXD IX BOTTOM OF OLD CASK. If it pays to excavate and build oel lain tor this crop it eertalnly will pay to grow them when the cellar is otseady at hand. As the mushrooms •re to be grown in the winter as well ■sain the fall months, care should be token to make the cellar impervious tooold, especially if the culture is to 'baon a large scale. If only a small lied is to be made, it will be better to (experiment with the cellar just as it is, to save expense. If the cufbure is in sufficient magnitude to Warrant the outlay, make the win dows tight tor the winter, by having double sash. This is needed anyway to moot oeliars to protect the vegeta lkies stored there tor winter keep. If sa door opens into the open air, it Oheuld be supplemented by another doer, thus insuring freedom from igusta of cold air when the door is .Open. But in most cases this is unnec •Bleary, as there will be an entrance -from the house above or from some •other room. As to shape of beds, tor re is no prescribed rule. The above oat shows only one form. They can ke made tot if desired, or put in a box or on a shell ’ tome growers on a small scale uti lise old casks, sawing them in two, and jBsiag both end*. In such a case holes ah—M be bored in the bottom of each bah, and a layer of soil placed la Orel At stable manure is then pat la* sometimes mixed with s smell propor tion of loam. The greater part should, however, eonr.tst of manure. When the tab is half full of this soil and manure, pnt in the spawn, and fill up tho tub with manure and earth well pressed down. The manure or compost may be rounded up if so desired. During the fall months, at least, mushrooms may be grown in the sheds or barna If the beds are to be ex hausted during the summer and fall months even the open sheds might be used, especially when they are in pro tected localities. It will be safer to use ▲ MUSHROOM HOUSE. dosed sheds, ss then the beds will survive any sudden fall frosts. In the cow shed, the horse stable, the car riage house and tool sheds may be found warm corners where mushroom beds will thrive. If the shed is with out a window, so much the better, as darkness is desired. If there is no room on the floor a shelf may be con structed on a side or in a corner. This has the advantage of being out of the reach of rats and mice. The beds should be made and treated the same as those constructed upon the floor or ground, and are said to be as product ive. These beds will not do In winter after water will freeze in the sheds, uhless they are carefully covered each night It is best to use them only for Bummer and fall production. The methods we have mentioned above may be easily adopted by nearly all readers of the Farmer’s EeviewJ The growing of mushrooms in green housos applies to comparatively few— those that have green houses, or that desire to conduct regular mushroom houses. Hot houses are generally too warm for the mushrooms to do well in them. Green houses are better, as the temperature is more suitable for the growth. Nearly all green houses are suitable, and the beds can be placed in parts that are not used for other things, as under benches. As most plants can not grow in the dark, dark places can bo the better utilized for this purpose. In cool weather the beds may be covered with straw or old carpets to keep the temperature from getting too low. Above we show an illustration of a house made especially for growing mushrooms. It is a sort of green house, but no glass enters into its construction, being un necessary and also a detriment The building is especially designated for SHELF BED IN STABLE. growing mushrooms throughout the year without the use of artificial heat It la built with the idea of rendering it Independent of outside atmospheric conditions. An excavation is first made like a small cellar, an<J the dirt tnken from this excavation is subsequently used for banking up. The walls are built hollow, thus giving a dead air space, and the house is banked up to the eves of the roof. The roof may be thatched with reeds, slabs or anything that will keep out air and rain. A hollow space may be left in the roof to be filled with sawdust. The floor may be of burnt clay, or any material that will give a dry, hard surface. Drains may be necessary to keep the place free of water. The illustration below shows three mushroom beds in an open garden in Paris. This represents winter culture in that city, where the temperature is not generally so low that the beds can not be protected. In the cut the beds are covered with old mats, carpets, et», and held in place with stones, bricks and boards. The beds are cov ered at nights and cold days. Usually the method followed is this: The horse manure is collected for several weeks before it is to be used. All chips, stones and rubbish are taken out, and the manure is then placed in heaps two feet thick and pressed down with a fork. The bed is stamped down, watered and stamped again. It is then left for about ten daya till fer mentation has begun to set in, when the bed is all forked over, care being taken to put the manure that was on the sides in the oenter. The bed is treated as in the first making. Ten days more elapse, and the manure is then in condition to be used in the bed. The permanent beds are then made, about two feet high and wide and as long as desired. The beds are packed solid and soon begin to heat MUSHROOM BEDS IK PARIS. again, but on account of the , previous treatment are not so hot that the spawn will be killed. The spawn la placed in the manure near the base of the beds, and the whole is then cot* ered with several inches of straw or other litter. In about ten days more the white filaments are seen spreading in the beds, and at this time a layer of about one inch of rieh earth is placed over the bed. Theee beds hare some times to be watered, especially it the Mason is T«ry dry. DEFUNCT TREASURY. TARIFF AND FINANCIAL BLUN DERINQ THE CAUSE. Tlia Democratic Party Is Hopelessly In competent to Do Anything Kxcept Plunder the Masses of Work and learn ings—Hot Shot. Just before the country passed into control of the present administration, Jan. 31, 189:%, the gold reserve in the national treasury amounted to 810", 000,000. QA year later, Jan. 31, 1891, it had been reduced to 803,000,000. lly the aid of a 830,000,000 bond gold loan, and the premiums of $8,000,000 on that loan, the reserve {was again restored above its legal limit of 8100,003,000. Last month, July 33, the gold reserve had again fallen to 800,373,095. De ducting therefrom the $50,000,000 gold loan and the 88,000,000 of premi ums on the loan, we would have only 83,375,005 remaining as the balance of the treausry's gold reserve to main tain the credit of the country after less than eighteen months of a demo cratic administration that has threat ened the country with free trade. i. uus: NATIONAL GOLD RESERVE. Jan. 81, 18113.*108,000,000 July 83, 1804. *80,375,003 Deduct: Gold loan.*50,000.000 Premiums. 8,000,000 58,000,000 Balance without loan. *3,375,085 No account has been here taken of the *10,000,000 in gold secured from New York bankers last month, by a transfer of funds, in order to relieve the treasury gold fund. Without this *10,000,000 and without the loan the gold reserve would have been com 'Tariff Reform.'' TUB GOLD GOES* pletely wiped out of existence, and there would have been a deficiency of §7,024,03‘i in meeting the demands for gold that have actually been made upon the treasury with not a dollar of gold security left for the payment of treasury gold notea This is the re sult of less than eighteen months of a democratic administration and the fear of free trade. DECREASED USE OF WOOL. A Large Falling Off In Our Manufacture of Woolen Goods. The Ameiican clip of 1993, the larg est ever known, will have passed into consumption by the end of the fiscal year, June 30. For the nine months ending March 31, the imports of raw wool were nearly 100,000,000 pounds below those for the same period of the previous year, and esti mates on this basis for the whole twelve months would indicate a fall ing off of about 120,000,000 pounds, a decrease of 71% per cent for the year in the imports of raw wool. The de crease in imports of manufactures of wool estimated on the same basis to gether with the raw wool, shows a falling off in the total imports for the present year of 105,000,000 pounds of wooL It is estimated that the American people will have con sumed during the present fiscal year only 491,000,000 pounds of un washed wool, or less than one-fifth of the world's production, as against 615,000,000 pounds, or over one-fourth of the world's supply, consumed in the previous year. Notwithstanding the increase of 31,000,000 pounds, in the domestic clip of last year, a fall ing off in the consumption of 134,000, The Knock-out In November. 000 pounds has taken place in the United States While there has been an increased consumption of Ameri can grown wool, the total consump tion shows a large decrease, which has fallen entirely upon the imported article. This would not have been the case If the McKinley law had been repealed when it was first menaced.and while nearly all of the-benefits of this law hare been nullified since active steps for its repeal were set on foot, it has yet given some advantages to the American wool grower in the hours cf its repeal. , ■ . ■- V ,, ■ : A Democratic I.lar Unmasked. We are in receipt of a letter from Mr. G K. Kennedy, editor of the Be* view, Villisca, Iowa, in which he In closed the following article: There is a firm at Eagle Pass, Texas, said J. It Ware, who has lived there for years, that sells Ames' shovels. They cost them 80 per dozen. The same firm has a store just over the river in Mexico There they sell the same shovel, bought of the same firm, and what do they cost? Only 83.00 per dozen. Who gets the extra 'Tariff Keform.” ITS EFFECT 05 LABOR. 83.10 which all this vast country of ours pays on each and every dozen used? Is it the govern ment? Does the laborer who makes the shovel receive it as a present? “No,” answers the last two questions. It is the protected manufacturer. We want every reader to remember when he goes to the hardware store to buy a common shovel with which to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, that a millionaire manufacturer reaches into his pocket and takes out 35 cents more than a legitimate profit, in the name of "protection.” What is true of shovels is true of nearly all hardware. Protection, thy name is “thief.” This was clipped from a local demo cratic paper in Iowa. We referred it ■to the Ames company, which manu facture shovels, nnd asked them to furnish us with the facts. Here is their reply: North Easton, Mass., August, 1804. Dear Sib: In reply to the letter of Mr. W. P. Wakeman about our shovels of same quality being sold at Eagle Pass, Texas, at 8C per dozen and over the line in Mexico at 83.90 per dozen, it is the same old lie that was circulated in spring 1893, and we enclose you a copy of letter written to Mr. Henderson July 3, 1892. The present price of our best Ames quality crucible steel No. 2 size shovel to the largest trade is 88.10 net, and our cheapest shovel is 83.75 net per dozen. The 80 shovel mentioned must have been our fourth or fifth grade and the 83.90 our very poorest Our Ames quality of goods have never been sold at anywhere near the price mentioned —say 8*1 The very lowest price for our poorest shovel is 82.75 net per dozen, delivered in New York, and freight would have to be added to Mexico. And wn sell them at same price to large jobbers and export trade in all cases Yours truly, Oakes A. Ames, President ■ ---jfer. .r . • j They Were a Long Time Reaching It I Cheap Wages Competition. The Japan Mail, published at Yoko hama, is authority for the following, in regard to the wages of mill opera tives in Japan; also as to the value of Japanese money and the cost of coal, all of which may throw some light upon the problem of successful indus trial competition with the “Yankees of the eaBt;” The daily wage of a factory girl in Hiogo is 9 Ben, whereas in Tokio it is 13 sen, and 10,000 pounds of coal, cost ing from 23 to 23 yen in the latter city, can be had in the former for from 18 to 19 yen. One yen equals a Mexican dollar. One Mexican dollar equals 50 cents United States gold. One sen 1-100 of a yen or 14 cent gold. Nine sen for a girl per day is equiva lent to 4K cents gold per day. Wages of a girl for one year, or 300 days, $13.50 gold, or $27 silver, per year. Coal at 19 yen for five tons equals about $1.90 per ton. Good for England. The new tariff bill of the United States, which has now passed its third reading, will remove a great burden from many sections of indus try in this country. The Sheffield cutlers, whose commodities were sad tiled with duties varying from 70 to 100 per cent, and in some cases a great deal more, under the McKinley bill, will enjoy immunity from taxation to the extent of about $0 per cent, while cither branches of the hardware in dustry will benefit almost in the like proportion. Other circumstances therefore being propitious, we may have the pleasure of observing a re vival of an American trade, although nothing much in that respect, it is to be feared, will be accomplished dur ing the present year.—London Indus tries, July 6, 1894. OUB FLAG IN COBEA. TH£ FIRST TP TEACH THE COREANS MANNERS. 'Dow the Massacre of tha Crew of the American Schooner Gen. Bhermnn Was Avenged by Our Aslatle Squadron In 1871. for an opportunity to crush the American army aa soon as it had »«! tered the ravine lying' below the f0„ To defeat these tactics five howit* ers and two companies of infant were posted as a rear guard on risin* ground, while the main body morJ forward to storm the citadel. ThI Coreans attacked the howitzers h large numbers, but the excellent pra* tice made by the American gunner, under Master A. V. Wadhams scat tered them effectually and prevented any large body of them from gettin» into close quarters with our men. * Presently, at a signal previous, agreed upon, the firing from the Monccacy ceased, and amid a hail o! bullets from the enemy our meg sprang up the steep incline to attack the citadel. They swarmed over the ramparts or through the breaches.and in a twinkling were at close quarter, with the defending garrison. The Coreans fought stubbornly to the la,, without asking for quarter, and wen all of them slain. After that the re maining subsidiary forts were soot captured, and fifty flags and 481 piece, of artillery fell into the hands of the LIEUT. M’EEE. conquerors, The citadel was named Fort McKee, in honor of the gallant young officer who was the first over the parapet The defeat of 1871 probably rendered the Coreans more ready to treat peaceably with foreigners than they were before. In any case the hour for opening up the country was at hand. The process began in 1876, when s treaty was made- with Japan. A party of Japanese sailors, while landing for water on Kang-wa island, were mis taken for Americans or Frenchmen and were fired upon by a neighborin’ fort Japan saw her opportunity, ant her fleet demanded as an indemnity that certain privileges in trade w granted her. This was ihj first stet N ORDER TO trace the history of America’s relations with Corea and the general opening up of the country to the influences of western civi 1 i z a tion, it is necessary to go back to the year 1866. At that i time Corea was uio iieriuit Kinguum m U1ULC than name. The present king had ascended the throne a couple of years before, but being a mere boy the government was wholly in the hands of his regent father, who was a bitter hater both of foreign ers and of change. Some French mis sionaries, who had braved the law of the country and boldly advanced into the native cities, were horribly massa cred in 1866, and a French expedition sent to chastise the Coreans ascended the Seoul river and attacked several forts, but lost so heavily that the ex pedition sailed away without having accomplished the end aimed at, and having left the Corean soldiers with the impression that the foreigner could not fight, and that the Corean was invincible. In the same year an American ecliooner, the General Sherman, chart ered by a British trader, sailed for China on an experimental voyage of trade and discovery. The vessel en tered the Ta-tong river and never re turned. It was burned by natives, and those on board were slaughtered to the last man. On the news of this massacre being received Commander_ now Rear Admiral—R. \y. Schufeldt, visited the peninsula with the war steamer Wachusett on a mission of in quiry. No satisfaction, however, was obtained, and a similar mission, under Commander Febiger, of the Shenan doah, despatched a few months later, proved equally barren. Finally, in 1871, our Asiatic squadron, consisting of the flagship Colorado, the corvettes Alaska and Benicia, with the gunboats Monocacy and Palos, was despatched under Rear Admiral Rodgers, to Co rean waters. It was intended to secure a treaty for the protection of Americans ship INTERIOR OP PORT McKEE. wrecked on the coast of Corea, to in, quire into the Gen. Sherman affair and to obtain if possible a treaty of commerce. Peaceful negotiations, however, proved to be impossible. The natives garrisoned the forts along the river and prepared to make things hot for the foreigners should they at tempt to ascend the river toward the capital. A survey expedition, under Capt Horner Blake, consisting of the Monocacy and Palos, with four steam launches, was sent up the river. When they were close to Kang-wa island the Corean batteries, containing some eighty guns, suddenly opened fire upon them. The redoubt was in stantly wrapped in a sheet of flames, discharging in a few seconds about three hundred shots One account says that these rasped the water like i hailstorm. The veterans of the eivil war had never known such rapid Bring. Yet only one American was wounded. Fortunately the order to fire had been given a few seconds late; the American vessels were already out of the line of fire, and as the guns of the natives were fastened on logs, they could not be manipulated and were of no further use. The answering fire rrom the gunboats and launches soon cleared the fort of its defenders and a week later a punitive expedition was anded in order to teach the Coreans a necessary lesson. The force, com posed of 650 men, was led by Com mander L. A. Kimberly, the adjutant beinw Lieutenant Commander IV. ocott Schley, who was afterward to win fame as the rescuer of Lieut, ireely. The first battesy, which was at tacked unexpectedly in the rear, was .akeL without difficulty; the works were completely demolished and the :annon rolled into the river. On the ollowing day the next fort—“Fort Uonocacy,” as it was christened—was sleared by shells from the Mono racy’s guns and was then dismantled >y the landed troops An ad vance was next made upon the citadel >r principal fort, which was perched >n the crest cf a rocky hill. Tne Koreans were hovering beyond the reach of onr guns in vastly superior toward the opening of the country to foreign intercourse. The Corean Japanese treaty of i870— the first en tered into by the Coreans—was con cluded on the basis of free-trade, only a small amount of tonnage dues on shipping being payable. In a subse quent convention in 1877 Japan was granted the privilege of opening three coaling stations on the coast; in J6’9 the harbor of Gensan, and later Chemulpo, were thrown open to Japanese commerce, all other nations being excluded from the benefits granted to Japan. In the meantime. China, which has always regarded Corea as a dependency of her empire, began to grow jealous of the increas ing influence of Japan, and to counter act this hold of her inveterate enemy, encouraged, if not actually instigated, foreign powers to follow in the foot steps of Japan in concluding treaties with this “hermit kingdom,” and it ™as 7Uh her helP that Admira' ahufeldt led the way and successfully carried throngh a treaty between the United States and Corea in 188a Later on commercial treaties were also ne gotiated by Great Britain, Germany h ranee, Russia and Italy. Becoming a Nation of Musician*. Formerly all the mandolins us< In this country were imported fro Germany and Italy; now nearly s that are used here, and a great mar are used, are made in this countr in the past year and a half or t" years the mandolin has become vei popu ar here, and its popularity sliov no sign of diminishing. The denial for mandolins come from all parts < and U is *° great th; wholesale dealers in musical instn ments are not able to keep up with promptly. It is said that we mak- i this country mandolins better tba the imported, and the same is said ' American guitars. Guitars mad - i this country are now used throneh •' the land, and they are also ... to aU Spanish-American emm rie . A ®*h "wilh a head and b-!v sembling that of „„ „lVi or • - i cently captured off F„lt vVi.i e : It weighed one ai d a half^-otn-c