be cleaned, before being sacked. The object of this, of course, is to
rid them of the earth that may still be adhering to them. It makes the
hull look cleaner, and brighter also, and thus enhances the sale.
Formerly, the planter made his own cleaning machine, but recently, since
the starting of what are called "Peanut factories," the planter very
seldom runs his peanuts through any machine at all, but sells them just
as they are picked. Being thus rid of much trouble and labor, it is
doubtful whether it would now pay the planter to clean his peanuts, as
he once did. The price paid for them now, is almost as much as he would
realize, were he to take ever so much pains in cleaning them.
[Illustration: Fig. 7.--VIRGINIA PEANUT CLEANING MACHINE.]
But as the reader in other parts of the country, may desire to know
something of the mode of cleaning peanuts at home, we give a description
of the Virginia machine for this purpose. There is no patent on this
machine, and any one may make it for himself. A cylinder (figure 7), as
large as a flour barrel; is formed by nailing narrow slats of plank, to
two circular pieces of timber. The slats are put a little way apart, but
not far enough for the pods to slip through when the cylinder is turned.
A piece of timber runs lengthwise, through the centre of the cylinder,
the ends of this project about a foot, and serve as an axle on which to
turn it. A crank is attached to one end or both ends of the axle. Two
pieces of scantling are fastened together in the shape of an X, one for
each end, and these are held upright by having pieces nailed on
horizontally, from one to the other. Several slats on the cylinder are
fastened together to make a door, and this is attached to the cylinder
by hinges, and fastened with a button.
The peanuts are poured into the cylinder, two or three bushels at a
time, and it is made to revolve slowly, until all the earth and litter
has fallen out. The door is then opened, the peanuts turned out and
bagged.
In bagging the peanuts, care should be taken to have the sacks well
filled. They are estimated to hold four bushels each, and if properly
filled, good solid peanuts will over-run a little, especially in the
first part of the season, before they are thoroughly cured. As the sacks
are being sewed up, the corners must be packed with peanuts as long as
any more can be got in. For sewing up the sacks, the planter needs a
large peanut-sack needle and twine made purposely for this business.
Sacks cost the farmer, at the present, ten cents each, and generally the
peanuts are sold by gross weight and nothing paid for the sacks. In some
markets the sacks are paid for, and a pound deducted from the gross
weight, for each sack. If the planter sells to a merchant near home, he
seldom sews up the sacks, but ties them, and they are emptied and
returned to him at the store.
=Peanut "Factories."=--It does not fall within our present plan to
describe these establishments, any further than to give the reader,
outside of the peanut belts, an idea of them. Formerly, many peanuts
were sent into market without being properly assorted and cleaned, and
it was found that, by assorting and re-cleaning them, a little margin of
profit was left after paying expenses. One step led to another, and
various appliances and machines were brought into requisition, until
now, large buildings are devoted solely to the purpose of cleaning,
assorting, and storing the peanuts. Some of these establishments employ
many hands, both male and female, to clean, separate, and re-bag the
peanuts ready for the trade.
Thus it has happened, that the business of cleaning peanuts has been
taken out of the hands of the farmer, reduced to a system, and made a
new industry. In fact, a division of labor; and now the merchant buys
the peanuts of the planter just as they are picked, and the "factories,"
so-called, clean and assort them for the large buyers. Still, the
merchant will pay more for Peanuts in nice order, and perhaps it would
even now pay the farmer to properly clean and assort his crop before
selling it.
=The Best Markets.=--A few years ago, the city of Norfolk was the sole
market for the Virginia and North Carolina planter, and New York for the
wholesale dealer. Later on, Wilmington, Petersburg, Richmond, and
several of the smaller towns began to buy peanuts, until now, every
village and trading centre throughout the whole peanut belt, has become
the repository for the crop of its own immediate section. Every year,
the market has been coming nearer and nearer to the planter, until now
he finds it about as profitable to sell to the nearest country merchant,
as to ship to town, and sometimes more so. Frequently, the country
merchant becomes the agent of some large buyer, who furnishes the
capital, and he buys all the peanuts he can, at figures very near the
ruling market price. Of course, this works very much to the planter's
benefit. He sees his crop weighed, he escapes the middleman, with all
the attendant expenses, such as commissions, freight, etc., he sells for
cash, and he does not have to wait several weeks for returns.
Under this state of affairs, the home market, or home buyer, becomes the
best for the farmer. And with the constantly increasing demand, and
close competition between buyers, the cleaning factories are also coming
nearer the farmer, and already exist, or will soon exist, in each of the
counties and sections where the Peanut is much grown. Thus the planters
generally, will soon be enabled to sell directly to the cleaners, and
the latter to the wholesale buyers. So the planter will get market
prices, without the trouble of going to market. Perhaps the competition
will eventually grow sharper still, until, not only will the peanuts be
cleaned and bought at home, but will also be manufactured into oil,
flour, and the other commercial forms, in the sections where they are
grown. In everything, the tendency now is, to carry the factories to
the raw material, and not the latter to the factories. It is not to be
presumed that this crop will prove an exception.
Thus it is, that the farmer's work is being narrowed down, by the
inevitable and beneficial law of the division of labor. The planter may
now turn his attention wholly to the cultivation of the crop. How to
order it, so as to realize the largest possible yield from the smallest
possible areas, is now the problem before him. He finds given to his
hands, a great and growing staple with great, and still unknown,
possibilities, and he sees the demand becoming larger and more earnest,
until now, the buyer comes to his very door, and puts down the ready
cash for all of this crop that he has to sell.
Of course the planter must, and will bestir himself, to meet the
ever-increasing demand. To do this with profit to himself, he must study
this crop from beginning to end, he must learn the nature of the Peanut
plant fully and correctly, and discovering how to increase the yield per
acre to its maximum, unravel the secret of how to grow it at the least
cost per bushel.
=Picking Machines.=--It may be well here to allude to a question, which,
doubtless, the thoughtful reader has already asked himself, namely: Why
does not some one invent a machine for picking peanuts rapidly, instead
of having to do it by the slow and tedious process of hand-picking? In
reply we state, that numerous attempts to do so have been made, but with
very indifferent success. None of the many picking machines, that have
hitherto been offered, have given satisfaction. It seems that they
cannot be made to do the work, and most planters appear to have given up
looking for any help in this direction. Very recently, the writer has
heard of one picking machine that is said to be giving satisfaction, but
he has not seen it, or conversed with any one who has done so. That an
efficient machine of this kind is an impossibility, is not believed, but
whether anything can be made that would pay better than the old method,
is the question. The planter must await developments. Perhaps some
ingenious mechanic will take up the problem, and give the planter a
perfect and cheap picking machine. Here is a field for ingenuity. A good
machine would be a profitable invention. Who will try?
* * * * *
Having now traced the Peanut plant through the whole process of its
planting, cultivation, harvesting, and marketing, the practical part of
our task is ended. If the directions are such as will enable the
beginner in this branch of rural industry, to successfully cultivate and
manage this crop, the end will have been attained, and this little book
will not have been written in vain. It has been prepared for those
having no practical acquaintance with the cultivation of the peanut
crop, not for the old and experienced planter. And yet, without egotism,
it is believed that even the latter may find something in it that will
be of use to him. Practices vary in different sections, even among men
of the same calling, and inasmuch as methods herein detailed, will be
found to vary from those practiced in North Carolina, Tennessee,
Georgia, or the far South, so will the planter in those States who may
chance to read this treatise, be enabled to compare our methods with
his, to see wherein they differ, and perchance may find here some point
or plan a little better than his own.
It only remains now to give, in another chapter, some of the many uses
of the Peanut.
CHAPTER VI.
USES.
Some of the more important uses of the Peanut and its plant are here
given. In the course of time, as new discoveries are made, it is not
improbable that the Peanut may subserve other valuable ends. But if no
more uses than are now known, are ever found for any part of this plant,
it will continue to occupy an important position among the agricultural
productions of the country. Its importance will increase year by year,
its value being too well understood and appreciated for it ever to lose
its place among our leading crops.
=Peanut Oil.=--The use that gives the Peanut especial value as an
American crop, is the place it occupies as an oil-producing plant. The
oil of the Peanut is regarded as equal in all respects to sweet or olive
oil, and may be employed for every purpose to which that is applied.
This gives it at once a commanding position, and were no other use found
for the plant, this would give it great importance among the economic
productions of our country. Olive oil is largely consumed for culinary
uses, in medicine, and in the arts. Except in California, the olive has
never been planted upon a commercial scale in this country, and it is
very important that we possess a plant, that will obviate our dependence
upon foreign oil. Of course, it is not within our scope to describe the
manufacture of Peanut oil. The farmer is satisfied with knowing that his
crops are in demand, and need not trouble himself about the methods by
which they are converted into this or that useful commodity.
It is stated that a bushel of peanuts (twenty-two pounds in the hull)
subjected to the hydraulic press, will yield one gallon of oil. The
yield by cold pressure, is from forty to fifty per cent. of the shelled
kernels, though if heat be used, a larger quantity of oil, but of
inferior quality, is obtained. The best Peanut oil is nearly colorless,
with a faint, agreeable odor, and a bland taste, resembling that of
olive oil. It is more limpid than olive oil, and becomes thick when
exposed to a temperature a few degrees below the freezing point of
water. Peanut oil is not one of the drying oils. During the late war it
was extensively employed in the Southern machine shops, and regarded as
superior in its lubricating qualities to whale oil. For burning it is
highly esteemed. The chief consumption of the oil is in making soap. For
the production of oil for soap making, there were imported into
Marseilles, France, from the West Coast of Africa, in one year, peanuts
to the value of over five millions of dollars.
The residuum, or oil cake, may be sold for cattle feed.
=Roasted Peanuts.=--Almost every person residing in the eastern section
of our country, must necessarily know something of the value of roasted
peanuts. One cannot pass along the streets of any of our larger cities
and towns, without encountering, at every turn, the little peanut
stands, where roasted peanuts are sold by the pint. They are kept for
sale in numerous shops, they are peddled on the railroad cars, and sold
to the loungers at every depot. Roasted peanuts are more common than
roasted chestnuts once were, and almost everybody eats them. Even the
ladies are fond of them, and frequently have them at their parties.
It is safe then to say, that everybody likes them, and finds them
palatable, healthful, and fattening. From a pig to a school boy, no diet
will fatten sooner than roasted peanuts. A person can live on them alone
for an indefinite period, if eaten regularly and with moderation. The
analysis of the Peanut shows it to be rich in the albuminoids, or
flesh-forming elements. Roasted peanuts, therefore, form a very useful
article of diet, and fill a place between the luxuries and the
necessaries of common life. Wherever they have been once introduced,
they cannot well be dispensed with; and as their use in this respect is
constantly extending, this purpose alone would serve to keep the product
before the public as a salable article. Once let the Peanut find its way
to the great cities of Europe, and roasted peanuts be sold upon the
streets there, as well as here, and the demand for them will far exceed
the present limits, and the cultivation be necessarily extended over a
much wider area than now. There is every reason to believe that the
demand for the crop will continue to increase.
=Peanut Candy.=--This is another of the purposes to which the Peanut has
been applied, and serves to illustrate how varied and numerous are the
uses of this remarkable production. Flat bars of sugar candy are stuck
full of the broken kernels of the roasted nuts. It is quite good, and
forms a pleasing addition to other kinds of confectionery.
=Peanut Coffee.=--Here again the Peanut fills a useful end, especially
in times of scarcity, or high prices for coffee. Taken alone, and
without any addition whatever of the pure berry, the Peanut makes a
quite good and palatable beverage. It closely resembles chocolate in
flavor, is milder and less stimulating than pure coffee, and
considerably cheaper than Rio or Java. If mixed, half and half, with
pure coffee before parching, and roasted and ground together, the same
quantity will go as far and make about as good a beverage as the pure
article, and a better one than much of the ground and adulterated coffee
offered in the market. Indeed, if people will adulterate their coffee,
it were much to be wished that they would use nothing more harmful than
the Peanut for this purpose.
For making the beverage, the Peanut is parched and ground the same as
coffee, the mode of decoction the same, and it is taken with cream and
sugar, like the pure article.
=Peanut Chocolate.=--True chocolate is made by roasting and grinding to
a paste, by the aid of heat, a very oily seed, the Cocoa-bean. In the
preparation of chocolate a great variety of articles are used to
adulterate it and diminish its cost. Some of these, such as sugar and
starchy substances, are harmless, while others, such as mineral coloring
matters are injurious. Peanuts are largely used to adulterate chocolate,
and so far as wholesomeness is concerned, are not objectionable. In
containing a great deal of starch and oil, peanuts resemble the
cocoa-bean, though without the nitrogenous principle, _theobromine_
(which closely resembles _caffeine_), to which its nutritive qualities
are largely due. Peanut chocolate is made in some Southern families by
beating the properly roasted nuts in a mortar with sugar, and flavoring
with cinnamon or vanilla as may be desired. Peanut chocolate, on so high
an authority as the author, the late William Gilmore Simms, is vastly
superior to peanut coffee.
=Peanut Bread.=--If peanuts are first mashed or ground into a pulp, and
then worked into the dough in the process of kneading, no lard will be
required to make good biscuit, and the bread will have an agreeable
flavor, different from that imparted by lard, but of such a mild and
pleasant taste as to be entirely unlike the peanut flavor. The skin of
the kernel must first be removed, or it will impart a bitterish and
nutty taste. There is some difficulty in doing this. Scalding does not
do it very well. Strong soda water or lye, will quickly loosen it, so
that it may be readily removed by rubbing with the hands, but either
fluid would soon convert the Peanut into soap, and is, therefore,
impracticable for this purpose. Could some cheap and handy machine be
invented, that would remove the skin from the kernel without loss, no
doubt large quantities of peanuts would be used for bread-making
purposes. Whether or not it would be economical, we cannot at present
say.
=Peanut Soap.=--If a fair article of soap can be made of corn shucks, as
was done in the South during the late war, then there can be no doubt
that a better quality can be made from Peanuts. Surely a vegetable
product containing such a large per-centage of oil, would be easily
acted upon by lye. The writer has not experimented in this direction,
but we hear of some who have tried it, and who say they have made a good
and serviceable soap from the kernels of the Peanut without the addition
of other oil or grease. We have no doubt but very good soap may be made
from the Peanut, but whether the manufacture of such an article would be
profitable at present prices, is another question. Perhaps for ordinary
laundry soap it would not, but for the higher grades of toilet soap it
might be. Here is a field for experiment, and yet we mention this use,
as well as those of bread-making and coffee from the same article, as
one of the possibilities of this plant, rather than a result to be
looked for in the near future, if at all. It is well that manufacturers,
and all others, should know what is capable of being done with this
promising product. The more we can multiply the uses of any product of
our farms, the wider will be the demand for it, and this is what the
farmers desire.
=Peanuts as Feed for Stock.=--This is a use for the Peanut, about which
we can speak with confidence, and from experience. We now refer to the
peanut pod, including, of course, the kernel, and not the vine or hay.
Every kind of stock, horses, cows, sheep, hogs, and poultry, are
exceedingly fond of the Peanut, and will leave any other food to partake
of it. Cows, horses, and sheep eat the whole pod, hull and kernel
together. Hogs and poultry (except turkeys) reject the hull, eating the
kernel only. Turkeys, as a rule, swallow the pod whole, and a real live
turkey can hide away quite a quantity of the nuts in a short time, if
allowed free access to them. In fact, all animals do not seem to know
when they have enough of this food. All stock fattens readily on them.
The hog will lay on flesh faster on a diet of peanuts, than on corn,
potatoes, or any other product with which the writer is acquainted. The
poorest scrub of a hog, turned into a peanut field, after the crop is
removed, and where he can get nothing but the pods he may find by
rooting for them, will change his appearance in three days, and in a
week, will be so much improved as hardly to be recognized as the same
animal. As a pork producer we believe that the Peanut has not its
superior in any clime or country. It is a thorough fat-former. Poultry
intended for laying should be sparingly fed with it.
But we would not leave this subject without a grain of caution. While
all stock fattens rapidly on the Peanut, it must be confessed that the
fat is not always of the best quality. It is less firm and more oily
than the fat derived from Indian corn, nor will the lard from hogs
fattened upon peanuts show that pearly white and flaky appearance, which
is the marked characteristic of pure lard made from corn. For this
reason, most planters in the peanut belt, feed their peanut-fed hogs on
corn only for two or three weeks before killing them. This is done to
make the lard firm and white, and in this manner, good pork and lard are
produced at only a trifling cost. The hogs get nearly fat from the
detached peanuts left in the field, and which otherwise would be lost.
In this way the peanut-planter derives a very important benefit from
this crop, apart from its value as a source of ready money. Were there
no other use for the peanut, it would still pay well to raise it for
making pork. In this case, the planting and cultivation would be the
sole cost, as the animals would do all the harvesting. A very small
field would fatten quite a number of hogs. Poultry intended for market,
might well be fed on Peanuts, instead of corn or oats. The fowls would
fatten faster and at less cost. In fact, we believe it would be
economical to buy peanuts at ruling prices for fattening stock,
especially old stock.
=Peanut Hay.=--If dug and cured before frost touches them, and before
the leaves fall to any great extent, peanut vines make a very good
provender for all stock. Some say it is better than blade fodder for
horses and mules, but we are not prepared to advance this extravagant
claim for it. It is, however, certainly an excellent article of fodder
for cattle, sheep, mules, and horses, and if many sap peanuts are left
on the vines, stock that is not worked much, will need no other feed
during the winter months to keep them in good condition.
Most planters, accordingly, make it an object to try to save the vines
for hay, and aim to dig the crop before they are injured by frost.
After a killing frost touches them, the vines are next to worthless as a
feed. In fact, frost-bitten peanut vines are harmful, rather than
beneficial, to stock, often causing colics, and endangering the life of
a valuable horse or mule. Peanut vines, even the best of them, unharmed
by frost, should not be fed very largely to horses. There is always a
good deal of grit and dust upon them, and much of this taken into the
stomach, cannot but be more or less harmful to the animals.
And yet, despite these few drawbacks, peanut hay has proved to be a
valuable forage, and one that the peanut-planter could not well dispense
with, inasmuch as so many do not make enough of other forage to serve
them, and must, therefore, depend on the peanut crop to help them out.
Thus the planter is benefited in several ways through this crop. He gets
a valuable staple to sell, and one that always commands the ready cash,
he fattens his hogs on the pods left in the ground, and he secures a
large amount of very good hay in the vines. Thus he is doubly benefited,
and no matter how low the price of peanuts may be, the farmer does not,
and cannot, ordinarily, lose much on the cultivation of this great crop.
If he does not risk too much on commercial fertilizers, which no planter
of this crop ever should do, he runs little risk of suffering any
crushing loss thereon.
Such is a brief but connected view of the Peanut crop from the time of
planting the seed, to its sale and manufacture. The views and practice
here advanced are all from original sources. We have not drawn upon any
other writer for any part of this treatise. Indeed, save a few short
articles scattered through the agricultural press of the past ten or
fifteen years, we know of no source from whence material could be
derived. So far as we are aware, this is the pioneer work in America on
the Peanut plant. This being the case, it must, of course, be quite
defective. We might easily have made it a larger book, and perhaps some
few years hence, when the field and subject shall have enlarged, it will
be found desirable to revise and enlarge this treatise. For the present,
we must be satisfied with smaller things, and remain content with a few
practical directions rather than an elaborate work. Until that time, if
it comes at all, we lay aside the pen, and turn our hands (as it has
been our wont to do during the past few weeks) to actual labors in
connection with the Peanut plant.
APPENDIX A.
STATISTICS.
It was our design, at first, to present a somewhat full array of
statistics in relation to the Peanut. This, however, was soon found to
be impracticable. The more we studied the few data at hand, the more
were we convinced of their utter unreliability. The fact is, so far as
the writer is aware, there are no credible data of this crop existing.
No authoritative and systematic attempt to gather and compile the
statistics of the Peanut has ever been made, and until this is done we
shall never know its full extent and value. The "estimates"--mere
guesses--of certain mercantile houses and newspapers, to express the
bulk of the crop are, beyond a doubt, far wide of the mark. The
following from a Georgia paper, is of this class:
"The goober[2] plays a more important part in commerce than might be
supposed. We are all aware of its value as a social factor--of its
influence upon oratory, music, and the drama--but how few of us know
that one million nine hundred and seventy thousand bushels of this
savory nut were consumed in this country during the twelve months ending
on the thirtieth of September, 1883. These figures do not include the
local consumption--say, for instance, in the rural districts of Georgia,
where every substantial farmer has a patch of his own.
"The figures relating to the goober crop make a column in the various
prices current, but Georgia is not credited with any part of the crop.
It seems that the goobers of commerce, so far as this country is
concerned, are raised in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In
1882, Virginia raised one million two hundred and fifty thousand
bushels, Tennessee four hundred and sixty thousand, and North Carolina
one hundred and forty thousand, making a total of one million eight
hundred and fifty thousand. The aggregate value of the crop amounted to
two million dollars. It is estimated that the peanut crop of 1883 will
be at least two million bushels.
"We regret that Georgia has no place in these estimates. Goobers can be
raised in this State as readily as in Virginia, and there is no reason
why our farmers should not take advantage of the demand for them. The
little patches for home use, could easily be increased to patches
calculated to yield a comfortable supply of pocket money. As Georgians
are known as goober-grabblers, there is no reason why they should not be
known as goober-growers."
Still, these estimates serve a certain important end, and give an
approximate idea of the magnitude of the crop. It is safe to say that it
amounts to nearly three million bushels annually, and were all the
information gathered that could be, it would doubtless be greater still.
It is high time that the corps of statistical reporters to the National
Department of Agriculture, were required to give the data for this crop,
as well as for others, and some of them of less magnitude and value.
FOOTNOTE:
[2] See remarks on the term goober, in note on page 9.
APPENDIX B.
COSTS.
Perhaps the attentive reader has expressed surprise that so little has
been said about the cost of planting, cultivating, and harvesting the
peanut crop. This was because no estimate of costs that would suit one
place, would apply in another and a distant locality. There is no
uniformity in this matter, hence it was deemed best to leave each reader
to count the costs for himself, based on his knowledge of his own local
surroundings.
APPENDIX C.
THE PEANUT GARDEN OF AMERICA.
The following article from the Suffolk, Va., "Herald," gives a concise
view of the growth and development of this staple in Virginia, and
illustrates how a portion of the Southside has become, perhaps, the
leading peanut-producing section of our country:
"When James H. Platt introduced his bill in Congress imposing a duty
upon peanuts imported from Africa, a large majority of the members of
that august body hardly knew what a peanut was. A few of them had eaten
'Goobers' which had been carefully cultivated in the garden by their
grandmothers, but as to why they needed protection, or how many of them
there were to protect, but little was known even by the best informed.
The culture of this important agricultural product was then in its
infancy, and it was hardly recognized as an article of commerce.
"Only a few short years have rolled by, and what a change has been
effected. The peanut crop has assumed gigantic proportions, and the
aggregate amounts to millions of dollars, while the nut is in demand
from one end of the Union to the other at satisfactory prices.
"The section of country contiguous to and lying south of James River,
and between Norfolk and Petersburg, may be correctly termed the peanut
garden of the world.
"In this section peanut farming has been brought to the highest state of
perfection, and the average production per acre greatly increased from
what was considered a good yield a few years ago.
"The one great difficulty in handling the crop seems to be, in the fact
that no machine has yet been invented which will pick off the nuts from
the vines in a satisfactory manner. This work must be done by hand, and
as the entire crop matures at one and the same time, there is such a
demand for labor during the picking off season that the supply is
utterly inadequate to the demand. It is probable that within the next
few years some plan will be devised for the successful storage of peas
and vines until they can be conveniently picked off; and when this
desirable end is accomplished, much of the rush and confusion incident
to the gathering and marketing of the peanut crop will be avoided. This
is already done by every thrifty planter who is able to hold his crop
until such time as he sees fit to sell it. He stores his peanuts away,
and picks them off, mostly with his own force, at convenient intervals
through the winter and spring.
"While so much has been done in the way of improvements in the
production of the Peanut, those who have done the handling after
reaching market have not been idle. In former years, only the bright
shell and those well-filled, could be sold in the market. A dark color
or half-filled pods was sufficient cause for rejection, and frequently
they were on this account not even offered in market. Here, however,
machinery was more successful. Various mechanical contrivances have been
put in operation for cleaning and assorting the nuts, and to-day every
grade of peanuts--from the large, plump, well-filled shell, to the
smallest, blackest, and most insignificant half-filled pod--has a
regular standard market value, according to the weight per bushel."
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salvation on the true lines of design and work as illustrated in every
natural thing."
=A Wealth of Illustration--478 Pictures and 44 Full-Page Plates=
showing children and teachers practicing these new methods or their
work. A revelation to all interested in developing the wonderful
capabilities of young or old. The pictures instantly fascinate every
child, imbuing it with a desire to do likewise. Teachers and parents at
once become enthusiastic and delighted over the Tadd methods which this
book enables them to put into practice. Not a hackneyed thought nor a
stale picture. Fresh, new, practical, scientific, inspiring
=AMONG THOSE WHO ENDORSE THE WORK ARE=
HERBERT SPENCER, DR. W. W. KEENE, PRESIDENT HUEY--Of the Philadelphia
board of education.
SECRETARY GOTZE--Of the leading pedagogical society of Germany (by which
the book is being translated into German for publication at Berlin).
CHARLES H. THURBER--Professor of Pedagogy, University of Chicago.
TALCOTT WILLIAMS--Editor Philadelphia Press, Book News, etc.
R. H. WEBSTER--Superintendent of Schools, San Francisco.
DR. A. E. WINSHIP--Editor Journal of Education.
W. F. SLOCUM--President Colorado College.
FREDERICK WINSOR--Head master The Country School for Boys of Baltimore
City, under the auspices of Johns Hopkins University.
G. B. MORRISON--Principal Manual Training High School, Kansas City.
DR. EDWARD KIRK--Dean University of Penn.
G. E. DAWSON--(Clark University), Professor of Psychology. Bible Normal
College.
ROMAN STEINER--Baltimore.
=SPECIFICATIONS=: Size, 7-½ x 10-½ inches, almost a quarto; 456
pages, fine plate paper, beautifully bound in cloth and boards, cover
illuminated in gold; weight, 4-½ lbs. Boxed, price $3.00 net, postpaid
to any part of the world.
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=Greenhouse Construction.=
By Prof. L. R. Taft. A complete treatise on greenhouse
structures and arrangements of the various forms and styles
of plant houses for professional florists as well as
amateurs. All the best and most approved structures are so
fully and clearly described that anyone who desires to build
a greenhouse will have no difficulty in determining the kind
best suited to his purpose. The modern and most successful
methods of heating and ventilating are fully treated upon.
Special chapters are devoted to houses used for the growing
of one kind of plants exclusively. The construction of
hotbeds and frames receives appropriate attention. Over one
hundred excellent illustrations, specially engraved for this
work, make every point clear to the reader and add
considerably to the artistic appearance of the book. Cloth,
12mo. =$1.50=
=Greenhouse Management.=
By L. R. Taft. This book forms an almost indispensable
companion volume to Greenhouse Construction. In it the author
gives the results of his many years experience, together with
that of the most successful florists and gardeners, in the
management of growing plants under glass. So minute and
practical are the various systems and methods of growing and
forcing roses, violets, carnations, and all the most
important florists' plants, as well as fruits and vegetables
described, that by a careful study of this work and the
following of its teachings, failure is almost impossible.
Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Bulbs and Tuberous-Rooted Plants.=
By C. L. Allen. A complete treatise on the history,
description, methods of propagation and full directions for
the successful culture of bulbs in the garden, dwelling and
greenhouse. As generally treated, bulbs are an expensive
luxury, while when properly managed, they afford the greatest
amount of pleasure at the least cost. The author of this book
has for many years made bulb growing a specialty, and is a
recognized authority on their cultivation and management. The
illustrations which embellish this work have been drawn from
nature, and have been engraved especially for this book. The
cultural directions are plainly stated, practical and to the
point. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Irrigation Farming.=
By Lute Wilcox. A handbook for the practical application of
water in the production of crops. A complete treatise on
water supply, canal construction, reservoirs and ponds, pipes
for irrigation purposes, flumes and their structure, methods
of applying water, irrigation of field crops, the garden, the
orchard and vineyard; windmills and pumps, appliances and
contrivances. Profusely, handsomely illustrated. Cloth. 12mo.
=$1.50=
=Landscape Gardening.=
By F. A. Waugh, professor of horticulture, University of
Vermont. A treatise on the general principles governing
outdoor art; with sundry suggestions for their application in
the commoner problems of gardening. Every paragraph is short,
terse and to the point, giving perfect clearness to the
discussions at all points. In spite of the natural difficulty
of presenting abstract principles the whole matter is made
entirely plain even to the inexperienced reader. Illustrated,
12mo. Cloth. =$.50=
=Fungi and Fungicides.=
By Prof. Clarence M. Weed. A practical manual concerning the
fungous diseases of cultivated plants and the means of
preventing their ravages. The author has endeavored to give
such a concise account of the most important facts relating
to these as will enable the cultivator to combat them
intelligently. 222 pp., 90 ill., 12mo. Paper, 50 cents;
cloth. =$1.00=
=Talks on Manure.=
By Joseph Harris, M. S. A series of familiar and practical
talks between the author and the deacon, the doctor, and
other neighbors, on the whole subject of manures and
fertilizers; including a chapter especially written for it by
Sir John Bennet Lawes of Rothamsted, England. Cloth, 12mo.
=$1.50=
=Insects and Insecticides.=
By Clarence M. Weed, D. Sc., Prof. of entomology and zoology,
New Hampshire college of agriculture. A practical manual
concerning noxious insects, and methods of preventing their
injuries. 334 pages, with many illustrations. Cloth, 12mo.
=$1.50=
=Mushrooms. How to Grow Them.=
By Wm. Falconer. This is the most practical work on the
subject ever written, and the only book on growing mushrooms
published in America. The author describes how he grows
mushrooms, and how they are grown for profit by the leading
market gardeners, and for home use by the most successful
private growers. Engravings drawn from nature expressly for
this work. Cloth. =$1.00=
=Handbook of Plants and General Horticulture.=
By Peter Henderson. This new edition comprises about 50 per
cent. more genera than the former one, and embraces the
botanical name, derivation, natural order, etc., together
with a short history of the different genera, concise
instructions for their propagation and culture, and all the
leading local or common English names, together with a
comprehensive glossary of botanical and technical terms.
Plain instructions are also given for the cultivation of the
principal vegetables, fruits and flowers. Cloth, large 8vo.
=$3.00=
=Ginseng, Its Cultivation, Harvesting, Marketing and Market Value.=
By Maurice G. Kains, with a short account of its history and
botany. It discusses in a practical way how to begin with
either seed or roots, soil, climate and location,
preparation, planting and maintenance of the beds, artificial
propagation, manures, enemies, selection for market and for
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be expected. This booklet is concisely written, well and
profusely illustrated, and should be in the hands of all who
expect to grow this drug to supply the export trade, and to
add a new and profitable industry to their farms and gardens,
without interfering with the regular work. 12mo. =$.35=
=Land Draining.=
A handbook for farmers on the principles and practice of
draining, by Manly Miles, giving the results of his extended
experience in laying tile drains. The directions for the
laying out and the construction of tile drains will enable
the farmer to avoid the errors of imperfect construction, and
the disappointment that must necessarily follow. This manual
for practical farmers will also be found convenient for
references in regard to many questions that may arise in crop
growing, aside from the special subjects of drainage of which
it treats. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=Henderson's Practical Floriculture.=
By Peter Henderson. A guide to the successful propagation and
cultivation of florists' plants. The work is not one for
florists and gardeners only; but the amateur's wants are
constantly kept in mind, and we have a very complete treatise
on the cultivation of flowers under glass, or in the open
air, suited to those who grow flowers for pleasure as well as
those who make them a matter of trade. Beautifully
illustrated. New and enlarged edition. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Tobacco Leaf.=
By J. B. Killebrew and Herbert Myrick. Its Culture and Cure,
Marketing and Manufacture. A practical handbook on the most
approved methods in growing, harvesting, curing, packing, and
selling tobacco, with an account of the operations in every
department of tobacco manufacture. The contents of this book
are based on actual experiments in field, curing barn,
packing house, factory and laboratory. It is the only work of
the kind in existence, and is destined to be the standard
practical and scientific authority on the whole subject of
tobacco for many years. Upwards of 500 pages and 150 original
engravings. =$2.00=
=Play and Profit in My Garden.=
By E. P. Roe. The author takes us to his garden on the rocky
hillsides in the vicinity of West Point, and shows us how out
of it, after four years' experience, he evoked a profit of
$1,000, and this while carrying on pastoral and literary
labor. It is very rarely that so much literary taste and
skill are mated to so much agricultural experience and good
sense. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=Forest Planting.=
By H. Nicholas Jarchow, LL. D. A treatise on the care of
woodlands and the restoration of the denuded timberlands on
plains and mountains. The author has fully described those
European methods which have proved to be most useful in
maintaining the superb forests of the old world. This
experience has been adapted to the different climates and
trees of America, full instructions being given for forest
planting of our various kinds of soil and subsoil, whether on
mountain or valley. Illustrated, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Soils and Crops of the Farm.=
By George E. Morrow, M. A., and Thomas F. Hunt. The methods
of making available the plant food in the soil are described
in popular language. A short history of each of the farm
crops is accompanied by a discussion of its culture. The
useful discoveries of science are explained as applied in the
most approved methods of culture. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo.
=$1.00=
=American Fruit Culturist.=
By John J. Thomas. Containing practical directions for the
propagation and culture of all the fruits adapted to the
United States. Twentieth thoroughly revised and greatly
enlarged edition by Wm. H. S. Wood. This new edition makes
the work practically almost a new book, containing everything
pertaining to large and small fruits as well as sub-tropical
and tropical fruits. Richly illustrated by nearly 800
engravings. 758 pp., 12mo. =$2.50=
=Fertilizers.=
By Edward B. Voorhees, director of the New Jersey
Agricultural Experiment Station. It has been the aim of the
author to point out the underlying principles and to discuss
the important subjects connected with the use of fertilizer
materials. The natural fertility of the soil, the functions
of manures and fertilizers, and the need of artificial
fertilizers are exhaustively discussed. Separate chapters are
devoted to the various fertilizing elements, to the purchase,
chemical analyses, methods of using fertilizers, and the best
fertilizers for each of the most important field, garden and
orchard crops. 335 pp. =$1.00=
=Gardening for Profit.=
By Peter Henderson. The standard work on market and family
gardening. The successful experience of the author for more
than thirty years, and his willingness to tell, as he does in
this work, the secret of his success for the benefit of
others, enables him to give most valuable information. The
book is profusely illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Herbert's Hints to Horse Keepers.=
By the late Henry William Herbert (Frank Forester). This is
one of the best and most popular works on the horse prepared
in this country. A complete manual for horsemen, embracing:
How to breed a horse; how to buy a horse; how to break a
horse; how to use a horse; how to feed a horse; how to physic
a horse (allopathy or homoeopathy); how to groom a horse; how
to drive a horse: how to ride a horse, etc. Beautifully
illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Barn Plans and Outbuildings.=
Two hundred and fifty-seven illustrations. A most valuable
work, full of ideas, hints, suggestions, plans, etc., for the
construction of barns and outbuildings, by practical writers.
Chapters are devoted to the economic erection and use of
barns, grain barns, house barns, cattle barns, sheep barns,
corn houses, smoke houses, ice houses, pig pens, granaries,
etc. There are likewise chapters on bird houses, dog houses,
tool sheds, ventilators, roofs and roofing, doors and
fastenings, workshops, poultry houses, manure sheds,
barnyards, root pits, etc. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=Cranberry Culture.=
By Joseph J. White. Contents: Natural history, history of
cultivation, choice of location, preparing the ground,
planting the vines, management of meadows, flooding, enemies
and difficulties overcome, picking, keeping, profit and loss.
Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=Ornamental Gardening for Americans.=
By Elias A. Long, landscape architect. A treatise on
beautifying homes, rural districts and cemeteries. A plain
and practical work with numerous illustrations and
instructions so plain that they may be readily followed.
Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Grape Culturist.=
By A. S. Fuller. This is one of the very best of works on the
culture of the hardy grapes, with full directions for all
departments of propagation, culture, etc., with 150 excellent
engravings, illustrating planting, training, grafting, etc.
Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Turkeys and How to Grow Them.=
Edited by Herbert Myrick. A treatise on the natural history
and origin of the name of turkeys; the various breeds, the
best methods to insure success in the business of turkey
growing. With essays from practical turkey growers in
different parts of the United States and Canada. Copiously
illustrated. Cloth. 12mo. =$1.00=
=Profits in Poultry.=
Useful and ornamental breeds and their profitable management.
This excellent work contains the combined experience of a
number of practical men in all departments of poultry
raising. It is profusely illustrated and forms a unique and
important addition to our poultry literature. Cloth, 12mo.
=$1.00=
=How Crops Grow.=
By Prof. Samuel W. Johnson of Yale College. New and revised
edition. A treatise on the chemical composition, structure
and life of the plant. This book is a guide to the knowledge
of agricultural plants, their composition, their structure
and modes of development and growth; of the complex
organization of plants, and the use of the parts; the
germination of seeds, and the food of plants obtained both
from the air and the soil. The book is indispensable to all
real students of agriculture. With numerous illustrations and
tables of analysis. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Coburn's Swine Husbandry.=
By F. D. Coburn. New, revised and enlarged edition. The
breeding, rearing, and management of swine, and the
prevention and treatment of their diseases. It is the fullest
and freshest compendium relating to swine breeding yet
offered. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Stewart's Shepherd's Manual.=
By Henry Stewart. A valuable practical treatise on the sheep
for American farmers and sheep growers. It is so plain that a
farmer or a farmer's son who has never kept a sheep, may
learn from its pages how to manage a flock successfully, and
yet so complete that even the experienced shepherd may gather
many suggestions from it. The results of personal experience
of some years with the characters of the various modern
breeds of sheep, and the sheep raising capabilities of many
portions of our extensive territory and that of Canada--and
the careful study of the diseases to which our sheep are
chiefly subject, with those by which they may eventually be
afflicted through unforeseen accidents--as well as the
methods of management called for under our circumstances, are
carefully described. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=Feeds and Feeding.=
By W. A. Henry. This handbook for students and stock men
constitutes a compendium of practical and useful knowledge on
plant growth and animal nutrition, feeding stuffs, feeding
animals and every detail pertaining to this important
subject. It is thorough, accurate and reliable, and is the
most valuable contribution to live stock literature in many
years. All the latest and best information is clearly and
systematically presented, making the work indispensable to
every owner of live stock. 658 pages, 8vo. Cloth. =$2.00=
=Hunter and Trapper.=
By Halsey Thrasher, an old and experienced sportsman. The
best modes of hunting and trapping are fully explained, and
foxes, deer, bears, etc., fall into his traps readily by
following his directions. Cloth, 12mo. =$.50=
=The Ice Crop.=
By Theron L. Hiles. How to harvest, ship and use ice. A
complete, practical treatise for farmers, dairymen, ice
dealers, produce shippers, meat packers, cold storers, and
all interested in ice houses, cold storage, and the handling
or use of ice in any way. Including many recipes for iced
dishes and beverages. The book is illustrated by cuts of the
tools and machinery used in cutting and storing ice, and the
different forms of ice houses and cold storage buildings. 122
pp., ill., 16mo. Cloth. =$1.00=
=Practical Forestry.=
By Andrew S. Fuller. A treatise on the propagation, planting
and cultivation, with descriptions and the botanical and
popular names of all the indigenous trees of the United
States, and notes on a large number of the most valuable
exotic species. =$1.50=
=Irrigation for the Farm, Garden and Orchard.=
By Henry Stewart. This work is offered to those American
farmers and other cultivators of the soil who, from painful
experience, can readily appreciate the losses which result
from the scarcity of water at critical periods. Fully
illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=Market Gardening and Farm Notes.=
By Burnett Landreth. Experiences and observation for both
North and South, of interest to the amateur gardener, trucker
and farmer. A novel feature of the book is the calendar of
farm and garden operations for each month of the year; the
chapters on fertilizers, transplanting, succession and
rotation of crops, the packing, shipping and marketing of
vegetables will be especially useful to market gardeners.
Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=The Fruit Garden.=
By P. Barry. A standard work on fruit and fruit trees, the
author having had over thirty years' practical experience at
the head of one of the largest nurseries in this country.
Invaluable to all fruit growers. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo.
=$1.50=
=The Nut Culturist.=
By Andrew S. Fuller. A treatise on the propagation, planting
and cultivation of nut-bearing trees and shrubs adapted to
the climate of the United States, with the scientific and
common names of the fruits known in commerce as edible or
otherwise useful nuts. Intended to aid the farmer to increase
his income without adding to his expenses or labor. 12mo.
Cloth. =$1.50=
=American Grape Growing and Wine Making.=
By George Husmann of California. New and enlarged edition.
With contributions from well-known grape growers, giving wide
range of experience. The author of this book is a recognized
authority on the subject. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Treat's Injurious Insects of the Farm and Garden.=
By Mrs. Mary Treat. An original investigator who has added
much to our knowledge of both plants and insects, and those
who are familiar with Darwin's works are aware that he gives
her credit for important observation and discoveries. New and
enlarged edition. With an illustrated chapter on beneficial
insects. Fully illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=The Dogs of Great Britain, America and Other Countries.=
New, enlarged and revised edition. Their breeding, training
and management, in health and disease; comprising all the
essential parts of the two standard works on dogs by
"Stonehenge." It describes the best game and hunting grounds
in America. Contains over one hundred beautiful engravings,
embracing most noted dogs in both continents, making,
together with chapters by American writers, the most complete
dog book ever published. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.50=
=Harris on the Pig.=
By Joseph Harris. New edition. Revised and enlarged by the
author. The points of the various English and American breeds
are thoroughly discussed, and the great advantage of using
thoroughbred males clearly shown. The work is equally
valuable to the farmer who keeps but few pigs, and to the
breeder on an extensive scale. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo.
=$1.00=
=Pear Culture for Profit.=
By P. T. Quinn, practical horticulturist. Teaching how to
raise pears intelligently, and with the best results, how to
find out the character of the soil, the best methods of
preparing it, the best varieties to select under existing
conditions, the best modes of planting, pruning, fertilizing,
grafting, and utilizing the ground before the trees come into
bearing, and, finally, of gathering and packing for market.
Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=The Secrets of Health, or How Not to Be Sick, and How to Get Well from
Sickness.=
By S. H. Platt, A. M., M. D., late member of the Connecticut
Eclectic Medical Society, the National Eclectic Medical
Association, and honorary member of the National
Bacteriological Society of America; our medical editor and
author of "Talks With Our Doctor" and "Our Health Adviser."
Nearly 600 pages. Profusely illustrated. An index of 20
pages, so that any topic may be instantly consulted. A new
departure in medical knowledge for the people--the latest
progress, secrets and practices of all schools of healing
made available for the common people--health without
medicine, nature without humbug, common sense without folly,
science without fraud. 12mo. 576 pp., 81 illustrations.
Cloth. =$1.50=
=Gardening for Young and Old.=
By Joseph Harris. A work intended to interest farmers' boys
in farm gardening, which means a better and more profitable
form of agriculture. The teachings are given in the familiar
manner so well known in the author's "Walks and Talks on the
Farm." Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=Money in the Garden.=
By P. T. Quinn. The author gives in a plain, practical style,
instructions on three distinct although closely connected
branches of gardening--the kitchen garden, market garden and
field culture, from successful practical experience for a
term of years. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. =$1.00=
=The Pruning Book.=
By L. H. Bailey. This is the first American work exclusively
devoted to pruning. It differs from most other treatises on
this subject in that the author takes particular pains to
explain the principles of each operation in every detail.
Specific advice is given on the pruning of the various kinds
of fruits and ornamental trees, shrubs and hedges.
Considerable space is devoted to the pruning and training of
grapevines, both American and foreign. Every part of the
subject is made so clear and plain that it can be readily
understood by even the merest beginner. Cloth, 8vo, 530
pages. Illustrated. =$1.50=
+-----------------------------------------------+
| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| Typographical errors corrected in the text: |
| |
| Page 7 privitive changed to privative |
| Page 17 challanges changed to challenges |
| Page 56 residum changed to residuum |
| Page 64 poineer changed to pioneer |
| Page 70 backneyed changed to hackneyed |
+-----------------------------------------------+