180 



POPITLAE SCIElSrCE E"EWS. 



[December, 1888- 



were placed exactly one foot apart, the trenches 

 being tliiee feet, measuring from the middle of 

 each. These were covered with another inch of 

 soil, and powdered sulphur was scattered upon it 

 at the rate of 400 pounds to the acre. Then an 

 additional spread of fertilizer, at the rate of 880 

 pounds to the acre, was given, making in all 1,760 

 pounds to the acre. The trenches were then re- 

 filled with the soil taken out, which, being some- 

 what lighter than the rest, left the soil of the 

 trenches higher than that between. 



We are careful not to compact the trench soil 

 any more than can be helped. The ridge left soon 

 settles to the general level, and is so preserved 

 during the season, as all hilling up is carefully 

 avoided. The plot was planted to the following 

 varieties, all seedlings of the Rural New-Yorker: — 



No. 2 .... 33 pieces — one trench. 

 No. 3 .... 66 " —two trenches. 

 No. 4 .... 66 •• — " 



Making, in all, 165 pieces, which, being placed one 

 by three feet apart, made just one-eighty-eighth 

 of an acre. 



The result of this experiment was certainly 

 quite remarkable. The j'ield from seedling 

 No. 2 was at the rate of 1,076 bushels to the 

 acre. No. 4 gave 644 bushels to the acre, 

 while No. 3, on account of the plants being 

 nearly destroyed by the flea-beetle, gave only 

 276 bushels to the acre of imperfect potatoes. 

 The attempt to raise over 700 bushels of pota- 

 toes to the acre is to be renewed next year, 

 and the result will be looked for with interest. 



How much of this extraordinary yield is 

 due to the "trench method" of cultivation, 

 and how much to the special attention and 

 extra fertilization given to the experimental 

 crop, is uncertain ; but we think it has been 

 clearly shown that the new sj-stem is a great 

 improvement on the old one, and we commend 

 it to the attention of agriculturists. The 

 Rural New-Yorker publishes numerous let- 

 ters from correspondents who have raised pota- 

 toes the past season by the new method, and 

 all agree that it is an advantageous one. 

 — • — 

 HOW TO TELL A HORSE'S AGE. 



The foal is born with twelve grinders. When 

 four front teeth have made their appearance, the 

 colt is twelve days old; and when the next four 

 assert themselves, its age will be about twenty- 

 eight days. The corner teeth make their appear- 

 ance when the foal is eight months, and these 

 latter attain the height of the front teeth at the 

 age of a year. The two-year old has the kernel 

 (the dark substance in the middle of the tooth's 

 crown) ground out of all the front teeth. In the 

 third year the middle front teeth are being shifted; 

 and when three years old, those are substituted by 

 the permanent or horse teeth, which are larger and 

 more yellow than their predecessors. The next 

 four teeth are shifted in the fourth year, and the 

 corner teeth in the fifth, giving place to the per- 

 manent nipper. 



At five years of age a horse has forty teeth, of 

 which twenty-four are giinders far back in the 

 jaw,' with which we have little to do. But, be it 

 remembered, horses invariably have tushes, which 

 mares very rarely do. Before the age of six is 

 arrived at, the tush is full-grown, and has a slight 

 groove on its internal surface (which generally dis- 

 appears with age, the tush itself becoming more 

 rounded and blunt) ; and at six the kernel or mark 

 is worn out of the middle front teeth. There will 



still be a difference of color in the centre of the 

 tooth. 



The tushes have now attained their full grpwth, 

 being nearly or quite an inch in length; convex 

 without, concave within, tending to a point, and 

 the extremity somewhat curved. Now, or perhaps 

 some months before, the horse may be said to have 

 a perfect mouth. 



At seven years, the mark, as described, is very 

 nearly worn out of the four centre nippers, and fast 

 wearing away in the corner teeth, especially in 

 mares; but the black mark still remains in the 

 centre of the tooth, and is not completely filled up 

 until the animal is eight years old. As he gets on 

 past seven, the bridle teeth begin to wear away. 



At eight the kernel has entirely disappeared 

 from all the lower nippers, and begins to decrease 

 in the middle nippers. It is now said to be " past 

 mark of mouth." 



When more than seven, the knowing ones are 

 accustomed to go by appearances of the upper 

 fronts, from which some conclusions may certainly 

 be drawn, as the marks remain in them long after 

 they have been lost from the bottom ones. Much 

 reliance can never be placed on the tushes, for some- 

 times they may be found quite blunt at eight, and 

 as often remain pointed at eighteen; and sometimes 

 those in the same mouth will show an apparent 

 difference of a year or more. 



There are indications which enable very shrewd 

 observers to guess at a horse's age after eight years 

 even, but none to enable accurate determination. 

 In the ninth year the mark has entirely disap- 

 peared from the upper middle teeth, and the hook 

 on the corner only has increased in proportion as 

 the bridle teeth lose their points. At eight the 

 upper surfaces of the nippers are all oval; and as 

 the animals get older, they diminish in width but 

 not in thickness; they become more rounded, and 

 appear wider apart. 



At twelve years of age the crown of all the lower 

 front teeth has become somewhat triangnlar, and 

 the bridle teeth much worn down ; but any thing 

 further must be left to experts, and would serve no 

 useful purpose to enlarge upon here. AVe must 

 not, however, omit to mention the fact, that, as 

 horses advance in age, their gums shrink away, 

 conveying that long, narrow appearance of the 

 teeth which has long formed the subject of a prov- 

 erb. They likewise lose their upright appearance, 

 and appear to lean forward, more particularly the 

 upper ones, which assume an arched shape. 



Beyond the indications of age afforded by the 

 teeth, are some others, which very little experience 

 will render familiar. A dark-colored horse, as a 

 brown or a bay, will in time turn gray about the 

 face, mane, and top of the tail. The back becomes 

 hollow, and the pit or cavity about the eyes gets, 

 by degrees, more and more pronounced. — Dublin 

 Farmers' Gazelle. 



SOME IMMENSE CAKES. 

 The Germans have always been great adepts 

 in the baking of cakes, and various achievements 

 on this gastronomic field have attained some his- 

 toric renown. When the Emperor Maximilian was 

 crowned in Frankfort-on-the-Main, in the year 1562, 

 there was (as the chronicles of that town inform 

 us) erected on the Koemerberg (the place before 

 the Roemer, the great civic building or town-hall) 

 a shed made entirely of cakes, in which a whole 

 ox was roasted. This ox was fastened to a wooden 

 spit by the head and feet; and it was filled inside 

 with all sorts of animals, such as a pig, a sheep, 

 a deer, some sucking pigs, partridges, peacocks, 

 little birds, geese, ducks, hens, and sausages. The 

 roasting of this ox commenced on Sunday be- 

 fore the coronation, and lasted till the Monday 



in the week following, and the shed from cakes 

 was erected round it. The people stormed the 

 shed, and demolished it, and every one wanted to 

 get something of the cake and the roasted ox : but 

 hardly one out of twenty could get a piece, and 

 those who had the good fortune to carry off some- 

 thing were not able to keep it, — there were always 

 ten at hand who wanted to divide with him ; and 

 nobody was more amused than those who looked 

 at the performance from a distance. 



Augustus the Strong, elector of Saxony and 

 king of Poland, who died in 1733, had a similar 

 monster baked in the camp of Zeithain. Five tons 

 of flour were imported from France, one tun of 

 milk, a ton of butter, and a tun of yeast; forty- 

 eight hundred eggs were used for it, and a 

 special oven was erected for the cake which was 

 thirty feet long and fifteen feet broad. In a sol- 

 emn procession, drawn by eight horses, the harness 

 of which was ornamented with "bretzels," the 

 gigantic cake, covered with flowers, was drawn 

 along. The master baker marched in front with a 

 knife seven feet long; sixteen assistants followed 

 with flags; carts with cooked meat and drink 

 closed the procession; and the god Bacchus sat on 

 a cask. Arrived before the king's tent, the proces- 

 sion halted. The Minister mounted the cake by 

 means of a ladder, offered the first piece to the 

 king, the following ones to the court lords and 

 ladies, and the rest was speedily demolished by the 

 soldiers, who stormed it in regular siege fashion. 



GLEANINGS. 



The number of hides imported into England for 

 home consumption is estimated at nine millions per 

 annum, which, together with the domestic hides, 

 bring the total number to about twenty millions. 



An " Inch of Rain " means a gallon of water 

 spread over a surface of nearly two square feet, or 

 a fall of about one hundred tons on an acre of 

 ground. 



Breton Cattle. — A North-eastern piovince of 

 France, called Brittany, is the home of Breton cat- 

 tle. In color they are black and white, and are 

 small and hardy, live on scant pasturage in sum- 

 mer, and are supplied in winter with cheap native 

 provender. The cows are fine milkers. 



The Burning Bush. — An herbaceous peren- 

 nial named Dictamnus Fraxinella is sometimes 

 called the burning bush, from the fact that the 

 volatile oil generated by its flowers will, on a fine 

 summer's evening, ignite if a lighted match is 

 held above the flower. It is a very simple plant to 

 grow, and will thrive in almost any soil. Is easily 

 raised from seed or by division. 



Giant Tree in California. — An engineer 

 of the Comstock mines reports that, while spending 

 some time recently in the wilds of the Sierras, in 

 Tulare County, California, he came upon an enor- 

 mous tree of the sequoia species, which he believes 

 to be the largest on the continent. The party had 

 no rule with them, but one of them measured the 

 giant with his rifle, which is four feet in length. 

 He found it to be forty-four lengths of his gun in 

 circumference, at a point above the ground as high 

 as he could reach. The top of the tree has been 

 broken off, but it is still of great height. 



To Exterminate the Thistle. — The famous 

 Henry Ward Beecher, preacher and fancy farmer, 

 claimed to have solved the problem of getting rid 

 of the Canada thistle. He said, ' The only way 

 to exterminate the weed is to plant it for a crop, 

 and propose to make money out of it. The worms 

 will gnaw it, bugs will bite it, beetles will bore it, 

 spiders will web it, birds will peck it, heat will 

 scorch it, cold will freeze it, rains will drown it, 

 and mildew and blight will cover it." 



