Flat-Stemmed Bluegrass and Farm Practice Notes
A correspondent asks for the name of a sample grass. The farmer identifies flat-stemmed bluegrass Poa compressa L and notes its growth, density, and spread by underground stems. The piece discusses cultivation effects on apple trees, salt as soil topdressing, brake blocks, pruning vines, stable ventilation, and various agricultural tips including gapes prevention, feeding clover to fowl, and growing potatoes under straw.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ohio
Nebraska Station
Meehan
Cultivation Advice and Crop Notes from Agricultural Text
The article discusses farming practice and crop cultivation timing, noting no fixed work periods and stressing cultivation according to crop stage and land conditions. It warns against overuse of the cultivator and weed presence as a gauge of poor cultivation. It also covers celery quality, favoring dwarf varieties with crisp flavor and noting soil moisture impacts on flavor.
Protection of rubber forests spreads worldwide
The Congo Free State enforces a new decree requiring at least 150 vines or trees per ton of rubber and penalties up to 2000 dollars or imprisonment. Brazil and other nations tighten controls to curb wasteful tapping while promoting plantation growth and forest preservation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
India
Congo Free State
Bureau of Control of Rubber Forests
Madagascar
Fort Dauphin
Germany
France
Mauritius
Tamatave
Tropical
Africa
Amazon
British
French Guiana
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
America
New York Sun
Anecdotes and Word Edits from Historic Figures
A miscellaneous collection of brief vignettes including Frank Buckland’s naturalist anecdote about a white hare or tortoise at Selborne, Dumas the elder miscounting his money and reflecting on pay, and a quarrel over lunch versus luncheon between William Dean Howells and his wife with a dictionary check.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Frank Buckland
White
Selborne
Buckland
Dumas
Louis
William Dean Howells
When Ignorance Was Bliss Bank Panic Tale
A bank run, sparked by panic, was halted by steady leadership. An elderly customer demanded Bank of England notes, but the cashier offered the bank’s own notes, which she preferred, leaving with a bag of the familiar paper.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bank of England
Friday Superstitions and a Tiny Field Tale
Friday is seen as unlucky for various reasons including the Adam and Eve fruit tale and Christ's crucifixion. People avoid clipping nails, and manicurists report lighter business. A brief tale follows of a little dressmaker who encounters a bull and chooses to cut bias to avoid harm.
Quaint Actions and Bright Sayings of Many Cute Children
A collection of playful verse and short tales for youngsters. It opens with a nostalgic poem on learning history and childhood, followed by Charley Frost’s tale about fear of the dark, then Lobster changes his shell, a nest fortification anecdote, a math puzzle with oil cans, and practical advice for girls on neatness and kindness at home.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Practical Poultryman
Lobster
Trap-Door Spiders And Their Ingenious Nests
The article describes trap door spiders with tubular burrows six to eight inches deep lined with silk and sealed by clever doors. Some doors cork into the tube, others are paper thin and all open outward. Doors camouflage the nest on slopes, and when opened by a threat the spider braces the tunnel. Some spiders have inner doors and branch doors that lead into side tunnels.
Recent Inventions and Taste Sensations
The items describe a gas jet heating device with a circular shade and a top revolving fan. A Kansas inventor outlines a wind wheel with radial horizontal rods and folding wings. A ventilated bed bottom, a bicycle gear-case tube, an automatic bicycle pump, and an improved wrench are noted. The Taste Sensations section argues only four true tastes exist and aroma drives most flavor perception.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Kansas
Native Manila window glass from Placuna placentina used as light admitting shell
In Manila natives use a nine inch Placuna placentina shell as window glass. It is transparent and attractive, resembling isinglass with a pearly interior. Used in China for windows and lanterns, it can be ground into silver paint for watercolors. The note adds a remark on flattery in women.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Manila
Tropics
Science
China
Also Mentioned on This Page
Ama
Col. H. Platt
Gorddinog
Llanfairfechan
Wales
Royal Agricultural Society of England
Birmingham
W.D. Howells
Joseph Jefferson
Jefferson
Girard
Lanjuinais
Napoleon
Macdonagh
Dublin
Richmond Barracks
Kildare Street Club
O’gorman
Holyhead
Rock O
Gibraltar
Jones
St. Louis
Jackson
Star
San Francisco
Charley
Charley Frost
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!