1864. 



THE ILLmOIS FAEMEE. 



85 



the commencement of the war, out of tlie dead 

 horses of the army of the Potomac. The popular 

 idea is that when Rosinante yields up the ghost, she 

 is buried in some field, or left to moulder into 

 mother earth in the woods somewhere. Not so . 

 She has made her last charge and gnawed her last 

 fence rail, but there is from $20 to $40 in the old 

 animal yet. A contract for the purchase of the 

 dead horses of the army of the Potomac for the 

 ensuing year, was let a few days ago, to the highest 

 bidder, at $1,76 per head, delivered at the factory 

 of the contractor. Last year $60,000 were ch^ared 

 on the contract, and this year it is thought $100,- 

 000 can be made on it. The animals die at the 

 rate of about fifty per day, at the lowest calcula- 

 tion. 



At the contractor's establishment they arc thor- 

 oughly dissected. First, the shoes are pulled off; 

 they are usually worth fifty cents a set. Then the 

 hoofs are cut off; they bring about two dollars a 

 set. Then comes the caudal appendage, worth 

 half a dollar. Then the hide — I don't know what 

 that sells for. Then the tallow, if it be possible to 

 extract tallow from the army horses, which I think 

 (extremely doubtfnl, unless they die immediatelj' 

 after entering the Stervice. And last, but not least, 

 the shin-bones are valuable, being convertible into 

 a variety of articles that many believe to be com- 

 posed of pure ivory, such as cane-heads, knife-han- 

 dles, &c. — Army Correspondence. 



Stirring the Soil— Cultivators vs. Plows. 



The gradual extension of steam power in the cul- 

 tivation of the soil in England, has tended to pro- 

 duce sounder views as to the advantages which re- 

 sult from stirring the soil by cultivators or grub- 

 bers. At one time it was deemed essential for the 

 luxurient growth of a grain or bulbous crop, that 

 the soil should be inverted. This is now proved 

 not to be necessary ; on the contrary it has been 

 shown that on retentive soils the crops produced 

 on lands which have been stirred but not inverted, 

 are more abundant than where the soil has been 

 turned over by the plow. An intelligent corres- 

 pondent residing in Buckingham, who has the be<t 

 opportunities of ascertaining the results produced 

 by the use of cultivators compared with plows, 

 draws attention to this fact in his report for that 

 county. It is highly probable that, as the steam 

 engine is more generally brought into requisition 

 in cultivating the soil, that the implement most 

 commonly used will be a cultivator or grubber. — 

 Those farmers who are preparing land for wheat — 

 whether the previous crop had been beans, pota- 

 toes er turnips — could undertake experiments to 

 ascertain the difference of produce from one part 

 of a field stirred by a grubber or cultivator, com- 

 pared with that produced on another portion of 

 the fieli'., which has been stirred by the plow. — 

 The question is one of such great importance, that 

 it is to be hoped several farmers will conduct ex- 

 periments, not only in the preparing of land for 

 wheat, but for other grain crops, and report the 

 results. — North BHtish Agriculturist. 



to Japan, for I have neither seen nor heard of it 

 in any other country. On the 10th of June — so 

 says my journal — fires were observed blazing all 

 over the country, and dense masses of smoke were 

 seen rising from every cornfield. This time it was 

 not the burning of rape stalks, for they had all 

 disappeared, having been converted into their ele- 

 ments of earth and air, the former of which was 

 already entering into another form, and was sup- 

 plying food for the summer crops. It was the 

 bearded barley which was now going through the 

 crucible, the object being to separate the heads of 

 grain from the .straw and awns. This was done in 

 the following way : — The grain having been tied 

 up in small bundles or sheaves; is removed to a 

 convenient spot on the edge of the field. When 

 the burning is to begin, the workman takes a sheaf 

 in one hand, and with the other applies fire to the 

 upper or grain end of the sheaf. It immediately 

 ignites, the awns go off in a blaze, and heads of 

 grain snap from the stalk and fall to the ground. 

 Lighting another sheaf, the workman throws the 

 first away in a blaze, regardless apparently of the 

 worth of the sti-aw, and so the operation goes on. 

 As the beard, ess heads fall to the ground the fire 

 goes out, leaving them slightly browned by the op- 

 eration, but with the grain unharmed. — Fortune^s 

 "Tedo aridFekin." 



Harvesting in Japan, 



Another portion of the crop was harvested in a 

 most curious way, which I think must be peculiar 



IxTKRKSTixG TO WooL GROWERS. — A Correspond- 

 ent of the Free Press says that a bit of mercurial 

 ointment about the size of a pea, will cure the 

 itching of the fine-wooled sheep, which has been 

 so troublesome the past season, and caused them 

 to pick themselves, and injure the looks of the 

 fleece very materially. He warrants it to cure in 

 three days without the least injury to the sheep. 



Beauty m Stock has no invariable standard. In 

 the estimation of some it results from small bones 

 and dlose, compact frames ; while others consider 

 that structure the most perfect, and therefore the 

 most beautiful, which is best adapted to the use for 

 which it is destined. With such beauty is relative. 

 It is not the same in an animal designed for beef 

 and in one designed for the dairy or for work. — 

 The beauty of a milch cow is the result of her good 

 qualities. Large milkers are rarely cows that please 

 the eye of any but a skillful judge. They are gen- 

 erally poor, iince their food goes mainly to the 

 production of milk. — Jennings cattle and their dis- 

 eases. 



—•— 



Blackberry Syrups. 



Joseph C. Thomas, Chaplain and reading agent 

 of the army of the Cumberland ; writing to the 

 Sanatary commission last summer says: 



Of all the blackberry preparations, I believe 

 the test of experience shows the vast superiority 

 of the blackberry sirup. I give in brief the recipe 

 for making it : 



"Take two pounds of the bark ef the root, 

 cleanse well, add suitable quantity of water, boil 

 two hours, pour off the liquid, add more water, 

 thus continue to boil and pour off until all the 

 strength is extracted, strain, add all the boilings 

 together, simmer to two quarts, strain, add four 



