1862. 



THE ILLINOIS FARMER. 



21 



the wolves credit for getting hold of a tough one. 

 We were mistaken, for we soon found her sitiing 

 on a nest of eggs of her own laying ; the two in- 

 etincts having this time acted in their natural 

 order. Owing to the lateness of the season the 

 eggs were addled, so that for five months' labor 

 industriously put in, resulted in nothing but a 

 bit of experience. 



To wind up the curiosities of our turkeydom, 

 the old gobbler got excited at the slily hen-tur- 

 key, and by way of showing her how to sit, 

 found a hen's nest in the grass and sagely began 

 his labors ; but unfortunately for the success of 

 the experiment and his own welfare, be became 

 the prey of hungry wolves, thus losing his own 

 life in teaching a foolish wife the modus operandi 

 of incubat'on. 



Whenever I see a farmer work hard all sum- 

 mer to raise a crop, and then let a large portion 

 of it go to waste, says I, hen-turkey ! 



When I «ee a young man idling away his time 

 with a cigar in his mouth, or a mug of beer to 

 his lips, I immediately think, hen turkey! 



When I see a house-keeper dressed in silk, 

 throwing a peck of old bread into the swill bar- 

 rel, says I, hen-turkey ! 



When I see a young lady gaily attired, with 

 rings, ear-drops, breasf pins and bracelets, call- 

 ing upon her mother to sew up a rent in her new 

 dress, says I, bah ! you are no better than our 

 hen-turkey. Uncle Joe. 



-«•♦- 



To Remove Clinkers from Stove. — Some kinds 

 of coal are liable to form clinkers which adhere 

 to the fire brick lining of stoves, grates and fur- 

 nacbs and become a source of great annoyance, 

 as they ciunot be removed by usual means with- 

 out breaking the firebrick. Persons who are thus 

 annoyed will be glad to know that by putting a 

 few oyster shells in the fire close to the clinkers, 

 the latter will become so loose as to be readily re- 

 moved without breaking the lining — Scientific 

 American, 



-«•»■ 



Cheap Marine Glue — The celebrated marine 

 glue is composed of a solution of India rubber 

 and lac varnish, and it really does not contain a 

 particle of genuine glue. As lac is becoming 

 dearer every year, a substitute for it has been 

 sought for in the manufacture of marine glue, 

 which is so well adapted for coating the interior 

 of aquariums, wooden water tanks and for caulk- 

 ing seams of ships. It is stated that asphaltum 

 dissolved in refined naptha with some India rub- 

 ber, makes a cheap and very good marine glue. 



Iron Cement. — To prepare iron cement for 

 stopping leaks, take sixteen parts of clean 

 wrought iron filings, three parts powdered sal- 

 ammoniac and two parts flower of sulphur; mix 

 all well together, and preserve the compound in 

 a stoppered vessel and in a dry place till wanted 

 for use. Then take one part of the mixture and 

 add it to twelve parts of clean iron filings, and 

 mix this new compound with as much water as 

 will bring it to the consistency of a paste, having 

 previously added to the water a few drops of sul- 

 phuric acid. 



] From the- Country Grentleman and Cultivator] 



Spreading Manure in Autumn. 



Eds. Co. Gent : In your issue of Nov. 7, urder 

 the above heading, R. Goodman says "you startle 

 New England farmers by the advice of Mr. Thomas 

 to Cayuga county farmers, to spread their ma- 

 nure for spring planting in the fall. It is the 

 general supposition with us, and practiced upon, 

 that by so doing the best part of the manure will 

 be washed away, but if put on just before plant- 

 ing, a'd then plowed and harrowed in, all the 

 good of the manure will be retained ; * » 



and I do not know a farmer of my acquaintance 

 in Massachusetts or Connecticut, who would not 

 think it wasteful farming to spread manure in the 

 fall on land to be plowed in the spring " 



Mr. Goodman's article is followed by editorial 

 remarks, which go to show very clearly that the 

 loss, if any, can be but trifling, and gives two 

 reasons why autumn manuring is better than 

 spring — "1st, It accords with experience, and 

 2ndly, It agrees with theory." 



It is to be presumed that a great majority of 

 our farmers entertain the same opinion in this 

 matter that Mr. G. ha? expressed. Whether this 

 opinion is correct or not, is practically a matter 

 of great consequenee in the aggregate to (he 

 farming community. I believe Mr. Thomns is 

 correct in his " advice to Cayuga county farm- 

 ers," and whatever course in this method of ap- 

 plying manure is profitable to the farmers of that 

 county, 7-ill also be found equally so to the farm- 

 ers of other counties and States. 



It is but about a dozen years since the quality 

 of clayey and loamy soils for combining with and 

 retaining the fertilizing ingredimts of manures, 

 has been thoroughly investigated and rightly un- 

 derstood, even by the scientific. 



Prof. Liebig in his " Modern Agriculture," 

 says "there is not to be found in chemistry a 

 more wonderful phenomenon, one which more 

 confounds all human wisdom, than is presented 

 by the soil of a garden or field. 



"By the simplest experiment, any one may 

 satisfy himself that rain water filtered through 

 field or garden soil, does not dissolve out a trace 

 of potash, silicic acid, ammonia, or phosphoric 

 acid. The soil does not give up to the water one 

 particle of the food of plants which it contains. 

 The most continuous rains cannot remove from 

 the field, except mechanically, any of the essen- 

 tial constituents of its fertility. 



" The soil not only retains firmly all the food 

 of plants which is actually in it, but its power to 

 preserve all that may be useful to them extends 

 much further. If rain, or other water holding in 

 solution ammonia, potash, phosphoric and silicic 

 acids, be brought in contact with soil, these sub- 

 stances disappear almost immediately from the 

 solution; the soil withdraws them from the water. 

 Only such substances are completely withdrawa 

 by the soil as are indispensable articles of food 

 for plants ; all others remain wholly or in part in 

 solution." - 



"It must be so," Liebig, "thou reasones' 

 well," else the millions of acres of fertile prairie 

 land would have been as barren as the sands of 

 Gape Cod. And the fertility of the alluvial soil 



