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The National Dairy.
The tenth annual convention of the American
Dairymen's Association was recently held at
Ulica, N Y., commencing on Jan. 12th. It is
to be regretted that the Pacific coast conld
not hare been represented there. It would
.have been to the adrantage of our own dairy
interests and we should have contributed our
mite of interesting and useful information.
Although this association has selected Utica as
its established place of meeting, it is not be
cause this is the center of the most celebrated
dairying district in Amerioa, if not in ths world
but because it is central in its location and
inore easily reached from all points. Far from
being looal or exolusive in its character and
membership it is in reality what it claims to be,
an American association numbering among it&
mmbers practical dairymen from Canada on
one side, to South Carolina on the other. We
hope the Dairy of California will be represented
at the eleventh annual meeting of the associa
tion. We would like to lay before our readers the
entire proceedings of this convention, but this
is impossible; we will, however, make some
selections culling snob, prints as we think o f
most practical value to our readers:
The Patl Season.
Mr. Moon, of Herkimer, said early in the year
the season was unfavorable, and milk of night
was brought skimmed; the people asked for
making of butter earlier in the season, bo that
it had required about i lb. of milk more to a lb.
of cheese. The average had been 98. The
weather had been wet along toward the middle
of the season, but no difficulty had been expe
rienced in keeping milk over night. The latter
part of the season bad been dry, which hart
caused decrease in milk.
Mr. Ellsworth, of Barry, Mass., said Boston
dealers had told him the quality of butter the past
year was poorer than the year previous. Very
little goodbutter wasin market. The butter was
shipped from different points.
Mr. Partington, of Canada, said that buyers
Tiad found their cheese better the last year
They had a very dry Beason. He did not know
whether the improvement was in quality of
milk or in manufacture.
Home Market.
Mr Farrington inquired why the home con
sumption fell off.
Mr. Peters said a fine, small cheese is needed.
The popular taste cannot be educated to skim
cheese.
Mr. Douglass, of New York, was not aware
there had been any special diminution in the
domestic trade. There are more direct domes
tic outlets, instead of ordering though New
York. He thought therefore the consumption
was if anything increased.
Mr. Folsom agreed with Mr. Peters, and a
duced figures to show it. There was a falling
off in home consumption in 74 of nearly 40,000
boxes. The short lots fine, small cheese has
always sold readily on the score of bize, not
fineness. To hold the home trade you must
make small cheese and fine cheese, not skim
cheese. He as Borry to see the creamery trade
so general. There was a limited demand for
skim cheese and only limited. Mr. Moon, of
Herkimer said the public does not recognized
individual catiacitv the fact stated in the ad
dress that the great amount of poor cheese pulls
down the prices. It renders the trade unstable.
This poor quality is induced to a great extent
by skim cheese,
Preservation of Butler.
Mr. L. T. Hawley of Onondaga, addressed the
Convention on Preservation of Batter. He
proposed to advance somewhat new ideas.
Butter should be so manufactured as to be its own
preserver. Salt is used in so small proportion
that it does not preserve it. Batter will become
irowy as soon with a salt flavoring as without.
If salt only flavors butter how shall we preserve
it? and that is so well understood by good dairy
men that it seems superfluous to discuss it fur
ther. Select cows noted for richness rather
than quantity of milk. Keep them in tho les.
condition with fine pasturage and pure water
Preserve the milk from source of taint. Keep
every thing in the oioat cleanly condition.
Skim as soon as the milk is slightly sour and
plaoe in temperature of 55 to 64. He proceeded
to detail butter manufacture, urging washing
with pure, cold brine, which enables the butter
to become cleansed of the cheesy matter.. Salt
with pure Onondaga salt, not as a preserver but
as a flavorer of butter. Salt one ounce to the
pound, more or less, according to the amount
of water in the butter; one ounce to tho pouud
is not too much for a year's keeping. Avoid
over-working, as that cause rancidity. Air
tight firkins made of white oak, solid timber,
should be used. Soak the firkins with hot
brine to neutralize the taste of the wood. Pack
the butter in carefully, cover with cloth and
layer of salt and cover with clean flat stone,
and store in a cellar where there are no vegeta
ble odors. Salt will preserve butter if there 1b
enough, but in butter only enongh is used to
flavor and harden it. He urged the impor
tance of manufacturing, packing and storing
butter so well tbat it will keep without salt. If
butter is taken from the churn before it is gath
ered and put into a sieve, made for such pur
pose, and clear salt water be poured over it, it
will the sooner be cleared of the buttermilk
and cheesy matter, which are what causes butJl
ter to trow, ana not tne sail.
Mr. Hawley, in leply to inquiry, said his ex
perience showed that if the -butter fat ooly is
retained in the batter it will keep without any
difficulty. Butter made by Mr. Flower the
way described kept sweet two years and four
months. Cheesy matter in the butter will make
it frowy and the salt will not prevent it. Too
much fault is laid to the salt. If the cheese is
well manufactured undoubtedly any kind of
clean salt will preserve it sufficiently.
Mr. F. D. Stone, of Cleveland, 0 addressed
the convention on "Butter and its Preserva
tion." It is not unlikely tbat the first idea of
butter was obtained by toe agitation of mi.k
in bags conveyed on camels in crossing the
desert. Analysis of 1,000 parts ot batter shewed
30 of butter. Tbebutterfloatelnthemilkingiub
ulis. These globules rise to the surface and con
stitute cream. Cows fed on odorous food impart
a taint to the milk. So even after the milk is
drawn from the cow; even a sprig of catnip on the
shelf will impart odor to mil. The milk should
be kept aa near blood heat as possible till brougb
to rest in the pan. The best-approved tempera
tare for obtaining cream is 60 to 70 The in
creased temperature in churning is doe only to
friction, and not chemical action of the milk.
Tbe purest water, if any is used at all, should
be used in washing the butter, and every parti
cle of water worked oat. Good batter will be
firm tad brittle, a sort of Incipient crystallisa
tion. Bolter loses flavor through fermentation
of lactie or butyric add, throogo cheesy snatter
being left in the batter. A serious detect is
butter packages is the absorption of batter into
tbe wood. I great deal of lose occurs annually
through this cause. Objection were found to
stone jam and metallio packages. Ths desired
abstanoe for the inner surface of metal vessels
is parafflne, which by chemical aid can be ap
p'ied so that no injury will remit to batter from
packing. He announced that be wonld exhibit
specimens of this parafflne and metal packages
thus prepared for packing Wednesday, The
cost is about the same as that of the wooden
package. He exhibited a small package. The
parafflne is nsed on the tin, which is granulated
to hold it, and a little parafflue poured on top
seals the package. The tin package has an
outer case of wood.
Mr. Donglass, of New York, said spruo is
used in Northern Oneida and in Ltwis county,
and dealers have requested that this wood be
not nsed. It imparts an odd taste. This im
provement in package is a desired improvement.
Proper care should be given to the investigation
of tbis'matter. Any soft, resiny wood is objec
tionable. Ash with hard cover is desirable.
Domestic Economy-
Good Food for Working Men.
How muoh pleasure is lost and how muoh
material is waBted by a lack of intelligent oook
ing, too many think that neither science nor
art has anything to do with the duties of a
cook. And yet we all know from pleasant as
well as sad experience, that some cooks will
prepare a most tempting repast from materials,
which in the hand of another, will come on to
the table so ill prepared as to need a most rav
enous appetite to induce one to eat.
The hard work of the farmer or mechanlo so
sharpens his appetite; the rugged health of the
family caused bv abundant exercise in the open
air and the multitudinous duties of the house
wife, all lead us to fall into careless habits in
the selection and preparation of our food.
While we are aware that economy on every
hand is necessary to the success of the farmer
above every other class of working men, we can
see not the slightest reason why he should not
live well. There are many delicacies within his
reach. He can have his varieties of fresh gar
den vegetables, his plenteous supply of poultry,
fresh eggs, choice gilt-edge batter, milk and
cream in abundance, plenty of fruit, etc Why
should he live poorly? Because in far too many
instances all these resources from a lack of in
telligent and pleasing cooking are not used to
adantage.
The housewife does not use the material at
her command understanding. The bread will
be made always in the same way. The pota
toes will be boiled for every meal in stereotyped
fashion; the meats ditto, and the farmer's table
which could be most invitingly supplied, is gen
erally coarsely laid.
This is not always from a lack of knowledge,
as is proven by the inviting repasts whioh are
temptingly placed upon the table when com
pany is invited. But in such households it is
due to a careless lack of forethought and a
want of appreciation of good food.
Scientific economy is lost sight of in our liv
ving. How seldom do we stop to count tbe
cost of a meal, or of any particular plan of living.
We do not recommend extravagance in food,
but ask the lady members of our Order to give
careful intelligent thought to the preparation
of their meals. Husbandman.
To Stkam a Tubket. All of us are used to
roast and boiled turkey, but a steamed turkey is
more of a novelty, while it is also a most deli
cious dish. Cleanse the fowl thoroughly, then
rub pepper and salt well mixed into the inside
of it. Fill up the body with oysters mixed with
a tmall cupful of bread orumbs. Sew up all
tne apertures; lay tne turkey into a large
steamer and place over a kettle of boiling water,
cover closely, and steam thoroughly for two
hours and a nalt. Mow take It up; set tbe
platter in a warm place, and turn whatever
uravy there is in the steamer, straining first
into the oyster sauce whichyou have prepared
in the following manner: Take a pint of oys
ters, turn a pint of boiling water over them in
a colander. Put the liquor on to boil, Bkim off
whatever rises to the top. Thicken it with a
tablespoonful of flour rubbed into two table
Hnoonfnla of butter: season well with neriDer
and salt. Add two or three tablespoonfuls of
cream or milk to wniten it, and pour it over tne
turkey and platter; serve boiling hot. This
sauce must be made while.the turkey is still in
the Bteainer, so that it can be poured over the
turkey as soon as it is taken up.
Snowflake Cask. Take a half cup of but
ter, two cups of white sugar, four cups of flour,
one cup of sweet milk, three eggs, one tea
spoonful of cream-of-tartar, and one-half of
that quantity of saleratus. Stir butter and
sugar together, add the beaten yolks of eggs,
and half the flour with the cream-of-tartar in it;
turn in nearly all the milk, dissolve the salera
tus in what is left and add it. Beat the whites
of tbe eggs and mix in; stir in remainder of the
flour. Bake in jelly-cake tins. Orate the meat
of two fresh cocoanutB after paring off the outer
skin; add to them one cup of sugar and the
beaten white of two eggs. Spread between tbe
cakes, which should have been baked in three
pans. Heap the cocoanut very high on the
top of tbe uppermost cake and soatter sugared
almonds among it.
Potato Fbittkbs Boil two large potatoes.
mash them well, beat four yolks and three
whites of eggs, and add to tbe above, with one
large spoonful ot cream, another of sweet wine,
a squeeze of lemon, end a little nutmeg. Beat
this baiter half an hour at least. It will be ex
tremely light. Put a good quantity of fine lard
in a stewpan, and drop a spoonful of tbe batter
at a time into 1'. rry tnem; and serve witn a
sauce oomposed of a glass of white wine, the
iuice of a lemon, one desert spoonful of peach-
leaf or almond water, and some white sugar
warmed togetner, or tne oommon wine sauce.
Gcbman Apflb Poddimo. Take a deep tin
pudding dish and cover it with a layer of the
best pie crust. Have some good, tender an-
pleecut fine, and spread over the paste; a layer
ol apples, witn somoent sugar tor sweetening,
and cinnamon and nutmeg to taste; again a
layer of apples, etc, until your dish is filled,
when you poor over it a tea-trap full of cream,
add your cover and bake to a light brown.
Pbofebbob Simula has published a card in
New York, with regard to the use made of hi
name in the complaint of the English stock
holders in tbe Emma mining company against
Park, Stewart and others, in which he aays
every cnarge oontainea in tnat complaint,
"emanatina from any source, imputina to me
fraud, complicity or other improper act, either
in connection with the examination of the
Emma mine, with its sale, or with the owners
thereof, is entirely without a shadow of truth."
TxbNavix Obawob. This excellent fruit,
ao Baaed oa account of tbe peculiar form of
its calyx, can now be obtained in our market.
They are Imported from Australia, not vet
having been raised in oar own country. They
are ofgood sU, fine sweet favor end are en
tirely aeeeUeae. The ekie is eosaewhat thicker
aad the palp lees solid than that of the ordi
nary sweet orange.
UsirdL MrolVTfAT,ON
The Alchemists.
What manner of men were the alchemists?
How did they preserve, cultivate and transmit
the wonderful delusions of their creed? We have
endeavored in a former chspter to show that
the idea of transmutation arose from the old
Qreek idea of the conversion of one element
into another; and the belief in the possibility
ot transmutation once admitted, the pursuit of
the alchemist would naturally follow in a mys
tical and credulous age. As to the men them
selves their character was twofold; for there
was your alonemist proper, your true enthusl
aat, your ardent, persevering worker, who be
lieved, heart and soul, that gold could be made,
and that, by long search or close study of the
works of his predecessors, be could find the
Philosopher's stone; and there was your knav
ish alchemist, a man who bad wits enough to
peroeive that the search was futile, and impu
dence enough to dupe more credulous people
than himself, and wheedle their fortunes out of
them on pretenoe of returning it tenfold in the
shape ot a receipe for converting lead into gold
Of the true alohemist we have many
pictures. The alchemist, the astrologer, the
mystic, the wizard, were men of tbe same
stamp. They often practiced the same arts
side by side. The same habit and altitude of
thought belonged to one and to all, and became
all equally well. Take the dreamy, maudlin,
semi-manical Althotas, who bad been described
so well by Dumas: "An old man, with gray
eyes, a hooked nose, and trembling but busy
hands. He was half buried in a great ohair,
and turned with hU right band the leaves of a
parchment manuscript." Note also his intense
abstraction, his forgetfulness ot the hour, the
day, the year, the age, the country; his abso
lute and intense selfishness and absorption, the
oonoentration of the whole powers of his soul
upon his one object. Or let us look at Victor
Hugo's Archidiacre de St. Jo3as, in his search
for the unseen, the unknown, and tbe alto
gether uncanny; the bitterness ot his soul, his
passionate musings, his conjurations and invo
cations in an unknown tongue; his .own self,
that wonderful mixture of theologian, scholar,
mystio, perhaps not much unlike the divine S.
Thomas Aquinas himself.
"If we peep into Dom Claude's cell, we are
introduced to a typical alchemist's laboratory
a cloomv. dlrnlv-llshted place, full of strange
vessels nnd furnaoes and melting pots; spheres
and portions of skeletons hanging from the
ceiling; the floor littered with stone bottles,
pans, charooal, aludels aad alembics, great
parohment books covered with hieroglyphics;
the bellows with its motto ' Spira, Spera'; the
hour glass, the astrolabe, and over all cob webs
and dust and asnes.
Cement Walls and Cisterns.
With one pint of quick lime or good (now)
oement, we use from one to two parts of ooarse,
sharp sand, to make a stiff paste. This for
quality, depends on the freshness of the lime
or cement, whioh requires leas sand in propor
tion to its strength. Sand is useful to diminish
the cracking, as the paste or mortar dries,
thereby to give it " body " and help fill up.
ijulck mortar snouid De made up every day,
for each day's work, which is contrary to prac
tice in this country, bat the mortar is better.
It never becomes soft after use, from age.
Into this, fine and ooarse gravel can be worked
by the trowel, as the joints are flushed. For
cisterns, Rosendale and Portland cement takes
the place of lime, with only less sand, and
makes wallB as solid as Bansome stone. The
magnesia of the cement seems to have a pecu
liar affinity for unburnt limestone and briok
surfaces.
Finely pulverized soft brick, mixed with
about equal parts of wood ashes and a little
water in a basin, is put on the surface of a
cement-laid or grouted floor of a dwelling
bojse, with a trowel, and worked up to a finish
that much resembles a glaze on pottery. This
is easily swept and washed, and wears always
a clean appearance. As a paste to repair old
cisterns and stop cracks, with or without the
addition of a small quantity of iron filings and
sal-ammoniac this is very valuable.
We wish it were possible to impress our
masons'with the fact that thin joints make the
best walls, and require the least quantities of
water and cement, bom ot wnlon are cnoml
cally stronger and better for being mixed for
the purpose.
Chalcedony.
What boxwood is to the wood engraver the
means without which the finest art would be im
possible that chalcedony is to the engraver of
gems. Hard without brittleness, susceptible ol
a fine and endurable polish, tinted by nature
with beautiful, and at times, strongly contrasted
hues, or capable of taking such colors at the
hand of man, it has been from the earliest
period ot art not only the favorite medium but
the only possible medium of the gem engraver's
most striking effects. In its simplest state
chalcedony is an unattractive white stone,
nearly transparent, and chiefly useful for mak
ing spear-heads and arrow-tips, or there more
modern representatives, gun-flints. Sometimes
It nas a striped or Danaea appearance, one to
alterations of more or less translucent layers,
ranging in color from very white to the white
of skim milk, still not very serviceable for
gems or jewelry. When strained by metallic
oxides, however, chiefly those of iron, it raises
to tbe dignity ot gemstone, isard, cornelian,
chrysopralsc, etc, which, uniformly tinted
hrnwn. vallaw. red or crreen. as asate. onvx-
sardonyx, etc., 'when the colors lie in bands or
strata, or are separated by layers of white.
The natural formation of these flowers of tbe
mineral world is recorded in their substance.
Though commonly found in lavas and other
isneous rocks, or in tbe debris remaining from
their disintegration, gemstones are substan
tially an aqueous product, and require tne
ageney of fire simply to develop their fine colors,
a step in their production more the work of
art than ol nature.
Aoc or tbx Acstbauan Gold Dam. Among
some fossils recently described by Professor
M'Coy, of Melbourne, is an extinct wombat,
from tbe gold drifts of Victoria. This foteil,
called Ptaeolomy$ plioctnua, is of much inter
est, ae having enabled Professor M'Coy to ebow
that the aunterous deposits whence it is de
rived, instead of being merely alluvial, should
be referred to tbe more ancient pliocene period,
thus corresponding in age with tbe gold drifts
of the Urals.
Tbi Vifcocrrr or Light. MM. Flxeau and
Cornu have been measuring the velocity of
transmission of light, by esperieaente carried
on between tbe Paris Observatory and Monti
berr. The light sent to Montlhery is reflected
and returns to the Observatory, the distance
there and back being twenty-two thousand
yards. This experiment has never hitherto
been saade on ao large a scale, or with each
precautions. Tea powerful Instruments were
need.
How to Distinguish Good from Poisonous
Mushrooms.
8o many deaths or severe cases of poisoning
occur from eating poisonous mushrooms, that
it is very important to know how to distinguish
the good from the bad. The toltowing is given
by Prof. Bentley, which, though not full or
unerring, gives the general" characteristics
whioh the edible or under trees and poisonous
species of fungi may best be distinguished:
The edible mushrooms grow solitary, in dry,
airy places, and are generally white or brown
ish; they have a compact, brittle flesh; do not
change color, when cut by the action of the
air; juice watery, and odor agreeable; taste not
bitter, acrid, salt or astringent.
The poisonous mushrooms, on the contrary,
grow in dusters in woods, and in dark, damp
Slaoes. and are usually of a bright color; their
esh is 'tough, soft and watery, and they ac
ouire a brown, green or blue tint, when ont
and exposed to the air; the juice is often
milky, the odor commonly powerful and disa
greeable, and the taste either aorid, astringent,
acid, salt or bitter. These characteristics are
almost Invariable.
HorVTIcdLTdrV..
Pruning, its Principles and Practice.
From Paclne Rural Press.
EdxtobsPbxss: This is one of the most im
portant operations connected with the manage
ment of trees. It may therefore be reasonably
presumed that no one is capable of managing
trees successfully without knowing well how to
prune, what to prune, and when to prune.
This knowledge can only be acquired by a
careful study of tbe structure of trees; because
the pruning applied to a tree must be adapted
to its particular habits of growth and mode of
bearing its fruits.
In view of this fact; I should say something
of the structure and mode of formation of the
different parts of trult trees, but to enter into a
full detail of all of these faots would consume
too much time and space for my present
limits.
The idea that our bright California sun and
clear atmosphere render pruning an almost un-
If a tree is severely pruned immediately after
it has put forth its leaves, it recoives Buoh n
cheok as to be unable to produce a vigorous
growth the same season; the sap is impeded in
its circulation, and the result is that a large
number of the young snoots that would nave
made vigorous wood branohes bad they not
been oheoked, assume the oharacter of fruit
spurs and branches.
Pruning: to Diminish Frultlulness
Is conducted on the same principle as thnt to
renew growth, for this, in fact, is the object.
The removal of large branches, where they are
to be entirely separated from the tree, is often
very clumsily performed. They are either cut
bo that a portion of the base of the branch re
mains and sends out vigorous shoots, defeating
the objects of the pruning; or they are out so
close that a portion of the wood of the main
branch on the stem is taken with them, and a
wound made whioh requires years to heal up.
Both these extremes should be carefully
avoided.
The Season for Pruning.
In California, I would say that all fruit trees
should be pruned in the dormant seaBou es
pecially the apple and poar; tbe peach and
prune just as the buds begin to swell. The
fruit and leaf buds are then easily distin
guished from one another, and tbe object of
pruning is accomplished with more precision.
Orapes, gooseberries and currants, may also
be pruned at any time in winter. The oherry
tree should always be lightly pruned, beoause
severe amputations almost invariably produce
the gum.
Whero it is absolutely necessary in the
spring, tbe wound should be coated with graft
ing composition.
The Theory
Of the pruning of fruit trees rests on the fol
lowing general principles:
1 The vigor of a treo subjected to pruning
depends, in a great measure, on the equal dis
tribution of sap in all its branches. 2 Prune
the branches of the most vigorous parts very
short, and thoBe of the weak parts long. 3
Leave a large quantity of fruit on the strong
part, and remove the whole or greater part
from the feeble. 4 Bend the strong parts and
keep the weak erect. 5 Remove from tbe
vigorous the superfluous shoots as early in tbo
season as possible, and from the feeble parts as
late as possible. 6 Pinch early the soft ex
tremities of tbe Bboots on the vigorous parts,
and as late as possible on the feeble parts; ex
cepting, always, any shoots which may be too
vigorous for their position. 7 The sap acts
with greater force and produces more vigorous
growth on a brunch or shoot pruned short,
than on one pruned long. 8 The sap, tend
ing always to the extremities of the shoots,
causes the terminal to push with greater vigor
than the laterals. 0 The inoro the sad Is ob
structed in its circulation, the more likely it
will be to produce froit buds. 10 The leaves
serve to prepare the sap absorbed by tbe roots
for the nourishment of tbe tree, and aid the
formation of buds on tbe shoots, All trees
therefore tbat are deprived of their leaves are
liable to perish.
If these principles and practices of pruning
be carefully studied in connection with the
habits of growth and bearing of the different
ruit trees, pruning will ba comparatively an
easy matter.
The mode of obtaining any particular form
or character cannot fail to be perfectly plain
and simple; yet no one need hope to accom
plish in all things the precise results aimed at,
for even the most skillful operator is 'some
times disappointed. But those who give con
stant attention to their trees will always dis
cover a failure in time to apply a remedy. I
insist upon it because I bave been taught it by
most abundant experience that the most
nnremittins watchfulness is necessary in con
ducting trees in particular forms. It is not by
any means labor tbat is required, but atten
tion that tbe most delioate band can perform.
Fifteen or twenty minutee at a time, say three
times a week during active growth, will be suf
ficient to examine ertxj sboet on a moderate
collection of orchard trees; for the eye very
soon becomes trained ao well to tbe work tbat
a glance at a tree will detect tbe parte tbat ere
either too strong or too weak, or tbat in any
way require attention.
This is one of tbe most Interesting features
in the manasement of orchard trees. We are
never allowed to forget them. From day to
day tbey require some attention and offer
some new point of interest that attracts us to
them and augments our solicitude for their
prosperity, until It actually grows into entbu
aiasmT W. H. Nash.
Oattlb Pear in Eroorsj. The cattle peet
continues to rage in Bustle, not leas than 300,
000 animals having perished from it last year,
Tbe last opinion seams to be that tbe railroads
are asaoag the cause of barn and that veterinary
inspection is not to be relied on.
Bullion Product
It is well known that the figures representing
the annual bullion product of the Paclfio
States and Territories are always lower than
the real production. Nevertheless the tables
furnished by Wells, Fargo Sc Co. are recognized
as statistics upon which to base calculations ot
advance or deoline, as there re no others ex
cept such as are based upon estimates alone.
This company, as common carriers, handle
meet of the bullion produced, carrying it from
the mining districts to the mints, where" it is
coined. They have, therefore, the best oppor
tunity of obtaining reliable data with reference
to the bullion production. Still it must be re
membered that the figures they give only repre
sent what has actually passed through their
hands, so that there is no danger of an over
statement. But considerable dust and bullion
is carried from tbe mines by private bands, of
which Wells, Fargo Sc Co. know nothing. It
frequently happens in this State that after a
clean-up, a miner with a few thousand dollars,
who is going to San Francisco, will carry his
own bullion so as to save the charges of the
express company. This, of course, happens
elsewhere, so that the bullion product, as stated
by Welle, Fargo & Co., falls actually short of
the real product.
How much it falls short, is, of course, im
possible to say; but 20 per cent, is usually added
to the sum actually handled by Wells, Fargo Sc
Co., for that carried by other means. There is
considerable complaint from the newspapers in
the Territories, especially those with compara
tively small production concerning the
amounts as given by Wells, Fargo St Co. They
perhaps, forget that without these statistics,
which are compiled with some trouble by Wells,
Fargo Sc Co., we should be entirely at the mercy
of tstlmata, or would have to Walt for those
oompiled by the United 8tates Mining Commis
sioner, whioh are published a year or two be
hind time. Mr. Valentine, the General Super
intendent ot Wells, Fargo & Co., deserves credit
Instead of blame for furnishing us such as he
does. Mr. Valentine considers tbat the allow
ance of 20 per oent. for " undervaluation and
other conveyances " is a liberal concession. In
some of the Territories, Arizona and Colorado,
for instance, the statement is usually consid
ered low. From Colorado and Utah consider
able ore and base bullion is shipped, of which
WellB, Fargo & Go. have no official knowledge.
In Arizona considerable dust is shipped by pri
vate hands as, in fact, is tbe case in all the
States and Territories.
The bullion statistics give Arizona this year,
a very poor showing for all the work done in
1874, and the figures are undoubtedly low. Colo
rado complains of injustice in this matter
iilo, as will be seen by reference to an article in
another column. In foot, tbe figures of all the
States and Territories are small and may be
taken as a minimum statement; Nevertheless
they are much more reliable than mere esti
mates, and certainly more correct than half the
statistics we take for granted on seeing them in
print. The Qovernment sets aside such a
meagre appropriation for the collection of
mineral statistics, that it is ImpotBible for the
commissioner to collect them In any Bystematlo
manner. If all mine owners would send to
Home authorized individual an acoount of their
work, it would be all right; but mine owners
will not do it any more than people will pay
taxes without compulsion. Scientific Prtss,
Wkab and Bkpaib op tbk Bbain. The no
tion that those who work only with th-ir brains
need less food than thoBe who labor with their
hands has been the cause of untold mischief.
Students and literary men have often been the
victims of a slow starvation, from theirignorance
of tbe fact that mental labor oausts greater
waste of tissue than muscular. Acoordiug to a
careful estimate, three hours' hard study wears
out tho body more than a whole day of work
on tho anvil or farm. "Without phosphorus,
no thought," is a German saying; and the con
sumption of tbat esential ingredient of the
brain increases in proportion to the amount of
labor which the organ is required to perform.
This wear and tear of tbe brain are easily
measured by carerul examination ot tbe salts In
the liquid executions. Tho importance of the
brain as a working organ is shown by tbe
amount or blood It receives, wblob is propor
tionally greatsr than that of any other part of
the body. One-fifth of the blood goes to the
brain, though its average weight is only one
fortieth the weight nf the body. This fact alone
would be sufficient to prove tbat brain-workers
need more food and better than mechanics and
farm laborers. JfuiUer.
To ReNdkb Glass Opaque or Fbobted. Aa"
cording to Dingltr's Journal, a sheet of ordinary
glass, wuetni-r patent piate or crown does not
matter, is cleaned; and if only portions of it
are to be frosted, thoso are left bare, while the
others are proteoted by mechanical means in
any simple manner. Some fluorspar is rubbed
to a fine powder and mixed with concentrated
sulphuric acid, so as to make a thin paste, and
this is then rubbed by means of a piece of lead
upon those parts of the glass required to be
rendered opaque. A flno frosted outline or de
sign may thus be produced upon a sheet of
smooth transparent glass. To finish tbe oper
ation, the glass is gently heated in an iron ves
sel oovered with a funnel passing up the chim
ney, to get rid of ihe noxious fumes tbat are
given off; on cooling, the plate is washed' with
a dilute solution of soda or potaBb, to remove
any acid yet remaining, nnd is then rinsed in
water. Focusing glasses for tbe photo camera,
and development glassee for pigment printing,
can be prepared in this way at very little ex
pense. Buffalo bunting is becoming more and more
popular among our English cousins. It it said
that folly one hundred English gentlemtn are
over in a body for a vrand buffalo hunt on
tbe plains. The hunt is to be organized on a
magnificent scale. Twenty sooats, headed by
Buffalo Bill, will chaperon them, and in addi
tion to a vast retinue of servants, cooks,
grooms, valets, etc., tbey will be accompanied
by a brass band, whioh will discourse sweet
mutie as tbey gather about their camp-fire to
partake of tbe evening meal of buffalo meal
Natcbauzatxom of Cbixameh. Poland,
from tbe House Judiciary Committee, have re
ported favorably oa Page's bill to restore the
law relating to naturalization juat as it was
prior to the late alteration, in which the omis
sion of the work "white" left tbe door open for
tbe naturalization of Chinamen. The result
win be, ibould tbe bill paea, ae it moet bkcly
will, to prevent the naturalisation ot China
men. AaoTBn New Atrxaorp. Tbe Smithsonian
Ibsiitnte has received a cable dispatch an
nouncing the discovery, at Berlin, ot a new
planet, la riant ascension 230. dwllnailom ISO
3' north, of the twellth magnitude.
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