Lincoln County leader., August 28, 1903, Image 2

Out on the Pampas
ft) By O. A. HENTV
CHAPTER X.-(Continued.)
The cotton crop had proved u success;
the field hud in time been covered with
cotton plunts, which hud burst first into
n bright yellow blossom, and hud then
been covered with many bulls of white
fluff. The picking the cotton had been
looked upon at first as grent fuu, al
though it had proved hard work before
It wus finished. Its weight had rather ex-
ceeded Mr. Hardy's anticipation. The
process of cleaning the cotton from the
pods and seeds had proved a long and
Troublesome operation, and had taken an
immense time. Judging by the progress
thut they at first made with it, they
Teally begun to despair of ever finishing
it, but with practice they became more
adroit. Still it was found to be too great
a labor during the heat of the day, ul
though carried on within doors. It had
been a dirty work, too; the light particles
of Buff had got everywhere, and at the
end of a couple of hours' work the party
had looked like a family of bakers. In
deed, before more than a quarter of the
quantity ruised was cleaned they were
heartily sick of the job, and the remainder
was sold in the pod to an Englishman
who had brought out machinery, and was
nttemptir.g to raise cotton near Huc-uun
Ayres. Although the profits had been
considerable, it was unanimously deter
mined thut the experiment should not be
repeated, nt any rate for the present.
Mr. Hardy hud not at first carried out
his idea of planting a couple of acres
with tobacco and sugar cane, the ground
having been required for other purposes.
He hud not, however, abandoned the
idea; and ubout two months before the
niurriugo of Terence and Sarah he had
plunted some tobacco, which wus, upon
their return from Ituenos Ayres, ready
to be picked. t
The culture of tobacco requires consid
erable care. The ground is first prepar
ed with great cure, aud is well and thor
oughly manured; but this was not requir
ed in the present case, as the rich virgin
noil needed no artificial aid. It is then
dug in beds something like asparagus
beds, about two feet wide, with a deep
trench between each. The seeds are rais
ed in a seed-bed, and when nine or ten
inches high they are taken up and care
fully transplanted into the beds, two
rows being placed in each, and the plunts
being a foot upurt.
There are various methods of cultiva
tion, but this wus the one udopted by Mr.
Hardy. The plants grew rapidly, the
ground between them being occasionally
hoed, and kept free from weeds. When
they were four feet high the tops were
nipped off, and any leaves which showed
nigns of disease were removed. Euch
Klem hud from eight to ten leaves. When
the leaves begun to turu rather yellow,
Mr. Hardy unnouneed that the time for
cutting had arrived, and one morning all
hands were mustered to the work. It
consisted merely in cutting the stems at
a level with the earth, and laying the
plunts down gently upon the ground. lly
breakfast time the two acres were clear
ed. They were left all day to dry in the
mm, and a little before sunset they were
taken up and carried up to one of the
Htore sheds, which hud been cleared and
prepared for the purpose. Here they were
placed in a heap on the ground, covered
over with raw hides and mats, and left
for three days to heat. After this they
were uncovered and hung up on laths
from the roof, close to each oilier, and
jet KiUllelently far apart to allow the
flit t. J.I Ill I .1 1.,. 4, 1 1
this operation required great attention,.!
ii y tin tulitimtji u-ittitil Itui'ii'l l.i.. .
if the plants had heated too much.
i, .i , . , . , . u" 8
In ten days the operation was complete.
The leaves were then stripped o(T, the up
per leaves were placed by themselves, as
ulso the middle and the lower leaves; the
liigher ones being of the finest quality.
They were then tied in bundles of twelve
leaves euch, aud were packed In layers
in barrels, a great pressure beiug ap
plied with a weighted lever, to press
them down into an almost solid muss. In
nil they tilled three barrels, the smallest
of which, containing sixty pounds of the
fluent tobacco. The venture, like that of
the cotton, had proved a success, but the
trouble and care required had been very
great.
The next experiment which wns er
fected was that with the sugar cane. In
this, far more than in the others, Mrs.
Hardy and the girls took a lively Inter
" ,Ml ,"""' 11,16 ''"imnied until the thermometer showed
they remained until they were quite drv. that the ,vm... .;.i .
i.n.l were then taken down, a .lamp cover- of boiling. nd the surface was covered
JiiK being chosen for the operation, as with a thick, dark-colored scum. The
otherwise the dry euves would have lire wns then removed, and the liquor al
.rumbled to dust. 1 hey were again laid lowed to cool, the fumily now going about
n a heap, and covered up to allow them other work, as so large a quantitv of liq
to bent once more. J In. second heating ; nor would not be reallv cold until the
-ihik-11 impuiu uiijs io uccoiiinusn. and next Hir.
est. rngur had lieen one of the few ar
ticle of consumption which had cost
money, and It had been used lit considera
ble quantities for converting the fruit
into fine puddings and preserves. It was
not contemplated to make sugar for sale,
btu only for the supply of the house; two
mores, therefore, was (he extent of the
plantation. Mr. Hardy procured the cut
tings from a frioud who had a small su
gar plantation near Ituenos Ayres.
The cultivation of sugar cane' Is simple.
The hind having boon got in perfect order.
leep furrow were plowed at a distance
of five feet apart. In these the cuttings,
which are pieces of the upper part of the
enne, containing two or throe knots, were
laid at distance of three foot apart.
The plow was then taken along by the
nlde of the furrow, ao as to fill it up
gain and rover the cuttings. In sugar
plantations the rowa of canes are close
together, but Mr. Hardy had chosen this
distance, as it enabled his horse hoe to
work between them, and thus keep the
ground turned up and free from weeds
without the expense of hard labor. In a
short time the shoots appeared above the
soil. In four months they had gained the
height of fourteen feet, and their glossy
stems showed that they were ready to
cut.
".Now, Clara," Mr. Hardy said, "thi
is your manufacture, you know, and w
are only to work under your superintend
ence. The canes are ready to cut; how
do you intend to crush the juice out? be
cause that is really an important qurs
Hon
the young Hardys looked aghast at
each other, for in the pressure of other
matters the question of apparatus for
the sugar manufacture had been quite
forgotten
"Have you really no idea how to do it,
1 rank '
"Xo, really I have not, my dear. We
have certainly no wood on the place
wnicn woultl make the rollers; besides,
would be rather a difficult business.
Mrs. Hardy thought for a minute, and
men sum: "i should think that the man
gle would do it."
iiiere wus a general exclnmation of
Capital, mamma:" and then a burst of
laughter at the idea of making susrur with
a mangle. The mangle in question was
part of a patent washing apparatus which
Mr. Hardy had brought with him from
England, and consisted of two strong
iron rollers, kept together by string
springs, ami turning with a handle.
"I do think that the manirle would do
Clara," Mr. Hardy said, "aud we are all
much obliged to you for the idea. T had
thought of the great washing copper for
ooinug the sugar, but the mangle alto
gether escaped me. We will begin to
morrow, riease get al the tubs scrub
bed out and scalded, and put out in the
sun to dry."
"How long will it take, nana?"
"Some days, Ethel; we must only out
the canes as fast as the boiler can boil
tne juice down."
ine next dny the work begun. The
canes were cut at a level with the ground,
me tops taken off, and the canes cut into
lengths of threo feet. They were then
packed on a bullock cart and taken up to
the house. They were next passed
through the mangle, which succeeded ad
mirably, the juice Honing out In streams
into the tub placed below to receive it.
v nen all the canes had been passed
iiiiougn the mangle, the screws wer
iiKiiieucu to increase the pressure, and
ine were again passed tliroiiL'h. 1
which time, although the juice was not
so thoroughly extracted us it would havi
leen by a more powerful machine, the
quantity that remained wns not impor
tunt. As the tub was tilled the con
f ......... i .i . . . i
.. hit. iica- luKcn to tne grent copper, un
der which a fire was then lighted. The
ciushing or the canes was continued mi
til the copper was nearly full, when Mr.
naniy ordered the cuttimr of the nine
to be discontinued for the dny. The tire
under the copper was fed with the crush
ed canes, which burned very freelv Mr
ini dy now added a small niinntitv of
lime and some sheep's blood, which last
uigi-cuicut caused many exclamations of
horror from Mrs. Hardy and the voun-
ones, the blood, however, Mr. Hardy
informed them, was necessarv to clm-itv
the sugar, as the albumen contained in
the Wood would rise to the surface, bring
lug the impurities with it. The fire was
. . . 1 "M WHO
The following morning the tap tit the
not torn of tin loilt'r Win tiii'itml utt.l
... ,;!, mini- uiu origin and clear
anout the color of sherry wine. Th..
scum descended unbroken on the surface
of the liquor; and when the copper was
nearly empty the tup was closed, and
the scum and what little liquor remnine.l
was taken out. The bright syrup was
now again poured Into the boiler; the fire
relighted, aud the syrup was kept boillug
to evaporate the water and condense the
syrup down to the point at which It would
crystalline. It required many hours' boil
lug to effect this, nuy scum which rose
to the surface being carefully taken off
with n skimmer. At Inst it wns found
that the syrup on the skimmer began to
crystallize and Mr. Hardy pronounced
It to be tit to draw off into the large
washing tubs to crystallize. A fresh butch
of canes was now crushed, and so the
process was repeated until all the canes
wore cut. it took a fortnight altogether,
but only five days of this were actually
occupied In cutting and crushing the
canes. As the sugar crystallized it was
taken out-n dark, pulpy looking mass, at
which the young Hnrdys looked very
doubtfully nnd wns placed In a large su
gar hogshead, which had boon procured
for the purpose. In the bottom of this
eight large holes were bored, nnd these
were stopped up with pieces of plnintnln
stnlk. Through the porous substance of
those stalks the molasses or treacle slow
ly drained off. As the wet sugar wns
placed in the cask, layers of slices of
philntuJu stems were laid upon it, as tho
spongy substance draws the dark color
lug matter out from the sugar. The
plalntaln grows freely In South America,
and Mr. Hardy had planted a number of
this graceful tree near his house; but
these had not been advanced enough to
cut, and ha had, therefore, procured a
sufficient quantity from a friend at Ro
surio. It was three months before the
drainage of-'the molasses quite ceused;
and the Hardys were greatly pleased, on
emptying the hogshead and removing the
plaintnin stems, to find that their sugar
was dry and of a fairly light color. The
sugar canes did not require planting
again, us they will grow for iiumy years
from the same roots; and although tin
canes from old stools, us they are culled,
produce less sugar than those of the first
year's planting, the juice is clearer and
requires fur less trouble to prepare and
refine. Before another year came round
the boys made a pair of wooden rollers of
eighteen Inches in diameter. These were
covered with strips of hoop iron, nailed
lengthways upon them nt short intervals
fronj each other, thereby obtaining a bet
ter grip upon the canes and preventing
the wood from being bruised and grooved.
These rollers were worked by a horse
mill, which Mr. Hardy had ordered from
England. It was made for five horses,
and did a grent deal of useful work,
grinding the Indian corn into tine Hour
for home consumption and for sale to
iieiguuoriug settlers, and into coarse
menl, und pulping the pumpkins und root!
for the pigs und other animals.
Mr. Hardy also tried many other exper
iments, as the climate is suited to almost
every kind of plant and vegetable. Among
them was the cultivation of ginger, of the
vanilla bean, of flax, henin and coffee.
In all of them he obtained more or less
success; but the diiliculty of obtaining
lulior, and the necessity of devoting more
huu more attention to the increasing
Hocks, herds and irrigated land prevent
...11.!... j... . .
"ini iroin. currying them out on a
large scale.
CHAPTER XI.
It was now more than eighteen months
since the Hardys had been fairly estab
lished at Mount Pleasant. Everything
was prospering beyond Mr. Hardy's most
sanguine expectations. More aud more
land was monthly being broken up nnd
irrigated. Large profits had been realized
by buying lean cattle during the dry sea
son, fattening them upon alfalfa, and
sending them down to Itosario for sale.
The pigs had multiplied astouishinelv:
and the profits from the dairy were in
creasing daily, as more cows were con-
stuntly added. The produce of Mount
Pleasant was so valued at both Itosario
and Buenos Ayres that the demand, at
most remunerative prices, far exceeded
the supply.
Charley was now eighteen, a squarely
built, sturdy young fellow. From his
life of exposure in the open air he looked
older than he was. He had a strong
idea that he was now becoming a man;
and Ethel had one day detected him ex
amining his cheeks very closely in the
glass to see if there were any signs of
whiskers. Hubert wns nearlv seventeen:
he was taller aud slighter than his broth
er, but was younger both in annearance
and manners, lie hud all the rcstlessm.sa
of a boy, nnd lacked somewhat of Char
ley's steady perseverance.
Maud was fifteen. Her constant out-
of-door exercise had made her us nimll
and active as a young fawn. Ethel want
ed three months (f fourteen, and looked
under twelve. She was quite the home
bird of the fumily, nnd liked nothing bet
ter thnn taking her work and sitting by
the hour, quietly talking to her mother.
The time was now again approaching
when the Indian forays were to beiex
pected. Lute one afternoon Mr. Fitz
gerald had gone out for a ride with Mr.
Hardy. Charley had gone down to the
dam with his gun on his shoulder, and
mioert und ridden to n pool in the river
at some distance off, where he hud the
day before observed a wild duck. lii..l.
he believed to be a new sort. The cattle
nnd flocks had just been driven in by
Lopez nnd two mounted lientW lit tin mi,..
lier hour than usual, as Mr. I lard v had
that morning given orders that the uni-
nuns were ull to be in their ini.!,wn..
before dusk. The laborers In the fields
below were still nt work plowing. Ethel
was in the sitting room, working with
Mrs. Hardy, while Maud was hi th., irtii.
dell, picking some fruit for ten.
1 resently the occupants of the nnrln
wow startled by a sharp cry from Maud,
and in another instant she Hew into the
loom, rusnod nt a hound to the fireplace,
imiiii-m-u uown ner light rille from its
uooks over the mantel, and, crying
"Quick. Ethel, your rille:" w.w
again In an instant.
Mrs. Hardy and Ethel snr.mir tn tiw.i.
feet, too surprised for the moment t. .1..
anything, and then Mrs. Hardv repeat
ed Maud's words, "Quick, Ethel, your
rille!"
Ethel seized it, and with her ninM,.
ran to the door. Then they saw a sight
which brought a scream from both their
lips. Mrs. Ilurdy fell On her klleea nn.l
covered her eyes, while Ethel, after a
moment's pause, grasped the rille, which
had nearly fallen from her bauds, and
ran forward, though her limbs trembled
so that they could scarcely carry her on.
The sight wus indeed a terrible one
At a distance of two hundred vards Hu
bert was riding for his life. Hi. ,.,.
off, his gun was gone, his face was dead-
i. puie. lu-nitid mm rode three Indians.
The nenrest one was linmediatelv iu.i.in.i'
him, ot a distance of scarce two hum...
eiigth; the other two were close to their
oader. All were evidently ealni
him. " " -"v-
(To be continued.)
Her Drat'e Protect.
There wore nearly twcntv.ti,-
strikes In the lust twenty-three yenra!"
no exclaimed ns he turned from tho in.
dimtrlnl news..
Now, Charley, denr!" snll
Mm. Torklns, "do let s talk ni,,.f
something else than bnsebair." Wash
ington Star.
!Tr I on wh t.
Doctor Do rou ever have rlnc!n
sounds in your enrs?
Patient Certainly. I
girl. Philadelphia Uecor .
Woman's Best Friend.
Patience Woman ia woman'a beat
friend, after all.
Patrice I uueea you're right.
"Certainly I'm right. Even when
she ia getting married doesn't a man
j give her away ami the maid of honor
stand up lor herr xonKers oiaiea-
man.
Sign Wasn't Right.
He I wonder why Misa Elderly
never married?
She Oh, I suppose ehe waa born in
the wrong time of the moon.
He The wrong time of the moon?
bhe Yes, there wasn't any man in
it.
Bored Her.
"There ia something about Mr
Squinch that bores me," commented
the fair young thing, "but I can't say
exactly what it is. There is simply
some undefinable yet perfectly apparent
attribute of the man that has that effect
on me."
"I don't wonder," said the friend
"I never could endure him. He is such
a peculiar looking man, with his gimlet
eyes and '
"That's just it!" exclaimed the fair
young thing. Chicago Tribune.
The Limit.
Bridge And you go right to eatinz
soggy bread and half-cooked meats
For heaven's sake, why don't you dis
charge your cook and get another one?
Pike Well, ycu see, old fellow, so
far as I can find out the courts won't
grant you a divorce for bad ccokiDg.
Boston Evening Transcript.
Borrowing Trouble.
Mildred (a college girl to her room
mate) Katherine, if you will lend me
$10 I shall be everlastingly indebted to
you.
Katherine (who speaks from experi
ence) I don't doubt it. Smart Set.
Hero Worship.
Jim What do you mean by hero
worship?
Jam It ia the brief admiration we
feel for a great man immediately before
we begin to rip him up the back and
begin writing letters to the newspapers
attacking his character and utterances.
Baltimore Herald.
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