18CS.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
285 
Saving Blanks and Farmers. — 
tL A. HV 1 Lebanon, Ct. " Where shall wc get capital to 
make improvements ?" We recently visited a rather poor 
farming district in your State, and learned that almost 
every man had a sung little "pile 1 '' in the Savings Bank. 
In the State of New Hampshire, the reports show about 
fourteen millions of dollars in the Savings institutions, 
the most of it the spare capital of cultivators. Your 
State is still richer in capital, and would divide move, per 
capita, than any other State in the Union. These banks 
are not a fair index of the surplus wealth of the farm, for 
since the war the favorite investment has been in United 
States bonds. A farmer who lias faith in his business 
need not go far to find capital to make improvements. 
There are many small capitalists among farmers always 
ready to loan, who prefer an indorsed note, or a mortgage 
on real estate, to any other security. Savings Banks are 
ready to loan on long terms on similar conditions. There 
is really no lack of capital to make any improvements 
upon the farm, that are desirable. Wo have no doubt 
that these spare funds invested in draining, in the raw 
material of manures, in better tools and stuck, would pay 
a larger interest than in bank' 3 . Farmers need muro 
faith in their business, rather than more capital. 
Canada Thistles.— The Journal of the N. 
Y. State AgM. Societysays: "The Illinois Legislature has 
passed a law providing that any person bringing into the 
State seed of the Canada thistle, in the packing of goods, 
grain or grass seeds, or otherwise, and permitting the 
same to be disseminated and vegetate, shall be liable to a 
fine of $400; and any person allowing this thistle to 
mature and disseminate its seed upon bis lands shall bo 
subject to a penalty of $75." Good for Illinois. 
Thills for Ilorse-Ifioce and Culti- 
vators.—" D. F. II., " Ira, Vt. Thills have been intro- 
duced to some extent of late, and work well. They give 
i steadiness to the implement, so that there is lees 
danger of damaging the crops, and at the ends it is more 
easily transferred from one row to the other by lifting. 
II reeding; of Water Fowls in I-.arg;e 
Flock**— "P. J. A.," 1 Cooperstown. There is not the 
Fame danger in large flocks, as in the case of hens and 
turkeys. In a state of nature many varieties breed close 
together and make their spring and fall flights in large 
flocks. In Norfolk, England, geese are bred in large 
numbers. A Mr. Bagshaw, a farmer there, fattened 12,000 
for market last year. With a good pond, or running 
stream of water, there is not much danger of overstock- 
ing. It will not pay to breed them in pens. 
How .TfiieU Pork a Bay ?— "3. B. D. t " 
Fremont, O. A pig put up to fatten and well fed, that 
does not gain one pound or more a day is not making a 
profitable use of his provender. A pig nine months old, 
and kept three months in the pen, ought to weigh 300 lbs. 
Some do much better than this. D. Edwards, of Little 
Genesee, N. Y., fed two Chester White pigs, which gain- 
2*2G lbs. in S3 days. They were fed on cooked corn meal, 
whey, sour milk, and clover, and returned ll 1 j ounces of 
flosh for 1 lb. of meal, not reckoning the other food. 
Sheffield Scientific School of Yale 
College.— This school received the U.S. Agricultural 
Land Scrip. Tin; Annual Report made to the Legislature 
has been received. The school is making progress in all 
departments, and offers an opportunity for Ihe study of 
the sciences bearing upon agriculture and of theoretical 
Agriculture which cannot be excelled on this side of the 
Atlantic. The fall term this year be-ins Sept. 16th. 
There arc 103 students in all departments and 21 profes- 
sors and other instructors with abundant facilities. 
A Curious Sheep Story.— The follow- 
ing we clip from the X. Y. Evening Mail, thinking our 
readers will appreciate a bit of nonsense this hot weather. 
The remarks by the Mall will be best appreciated if they 
nre read aloud. " Robert Butchclder, of Salisbury, has a 
flock of twenty-eight sheep, which during the winter 
were housed in a place where their vrool became filled 
with hay seed. They have been out to pasture for several 
weeks past, and the excessive wet weather has caused the 
seed to sprout, and they are now bearing about with them 
a crop of grass two inches in length. It is thought that 
if the wet weather continues much longer the clover will 
blossom." — Monitor.— Remark* et the Mail.— This is 
the most interesting story that ever we have seen, con- 
cerning some New Hampshire sheep who are wearing of 
the green. 'Twas related by a person on whose honor 
we rely, he never hack-ed cherry trees, and— shouldn't 
tell a lie. Robert Batchclder. this was the shepherd's 
name, and he pastured twenty-eight sheep on Salisbury 
plain. But when the leaves had fallen, and November 
winds were chill, why, ont on the open wold tbey couldn't 
get their fill. So Bobby kindly put them in a well protect- 
ed shed, with hay enough to feed them, in the mow up 
over head. And the seed it sifted down and it lodg-ed in 
their wool, and there it did remain, till the April moon 
was full. And then out went the muttons, all in the 
rain, you know, and, ill less than twenty-one days, the 
seed began to grow ; and it grew, and it grow-ed like the 
bean In fairy song, and now the grass upon their backs is 
more'n two inches long. And, It is expected, that, later 
in the year, red, fragrant clover blossoms will appear 1 
The moral of this sheep tale is clear to every eye, that by 
judicious management, if a person cared to try, he might, 
with little trouble, and with aid of rainy weather, have 
his lamb and green peas growing up together. 
When to Shut up I»ig* for Fatten. 
ing. — "L. O." Morrislown, N*. J. If the pens are 
famished with shelter and with water, we should say be- 
gin in August. A pound of pork is made much more 
economically in warm weather than In cold. Little food 
is wasted in keeping up the animal heat, and many green 
articles are available which are out of Sanson late In the 
fall. Swine enjoy fresh clover fed every day with their 
cooked corn or provender. Sweet corn ought to be rais- 
ed for the purpose of feeding in the green state to swine. 
It greatly promotes their thrift, and, we have thought, 
makes flesh as economically as auy food that can be given. 
Swarming; — Artificial or Natural ? 
— Wm. W. Cary writes: '"I am often asked 'Do you 
practice natural or artificial swarming?* 1 A direct answer 
to this question would not show the best course for you 
to practice, unless all the circumstances are similar. If 
your apiary is large enough to occupy your whole time 
profitably during the swarming season, then natural 
swarming may be recommended, but for one who has only 
a few stocks, it will not pay to watch for swarms to issue. 
Some, whether their apiaries be large or small, have oc- 
casionally to be from homo for a day or two, and such 
have a constant feeling of anxiety that swarms will be 
lost during their absence. Thus, it becomes important 
to study and practice artificial swarming. It can be done 
in the old-fashioned box hive, but with greater facility 
and certainty of success if the movable comb hive be 
used, and easier with shallow frames than deep ones.''' 
ISees in August. — ItyWin.W. Cary. 
— Remove all surplus honey as soon as sealed. Examine 
carefully all old stocks that have swarmed, to determine 
if they have a fertile queen. Where many hives are in a 
row, young queens are sometimes lost in returning to the 
hive. Such have not the means to rear a queen, and 
must be either supplied with eggs, sealed queen cells, or 
a queen, to avoid total loss by rapid depopulation and 
robbery. Keep a few queen-raising "nuclei " for such 
cases, and to provide a stock of queeus to take the place of 
superannuated ones or of those known to be drone layers. 
The Best Cross lor Mutton.— U L. 
D.," Litchfield, Ct. All the thorough-bred sheep are quite 
too dear in price to be raised for the butcher. Tbe fine- 
wools generally are small, and would not pay for this 
purpose. The long-wools furnish quite too much fat in 
proportion to the lean to be profitable for the consumer. 
The South Downs furnish an abundance of fine-grained, 
lean meat, and are only defective in size. If we cross the 
common Merino ewes of the country, (which are a mix- 
ture of "native," Saxony and Spanish Merinos,) with 
South Down rams, wc obtain a favorite class of lambs 
for the New York, and we presume all Eastern markets ; 
they are hardy, mature quickly, and show strongly the 
South Down points. If we cross South Down ewes, or 
these grades, with a Cotswold or Leicester ram, we diall in- 
crease the size, secure a more rapid growth, with flesh of ex- 
cellent flavor. If the object be to furnish early lambs for 
the butcher, this is perhaps as good across as could bo 
made. The very high prices paid for Iambs iu May and 
June make it very desirable for farmers to have a good 
stock on hand. A lamb four months old is often worth 
more than a yearling. The crosses we have indicated are 
highly prized by the mutton producers who supply the 
market at Norwich, England, where, upon an average, 
six to eight thousand yearlings are sold every week. 
Timely Hints About Thrashing, etc. 
Thrashing* (Virnin. — "The best of men 
are none the worse for a little watching." This is tmo 
of that important class of men "the thrashers." The 
work is generally clone by the bushol. Iu New York the 
old price was 3 cents for oats, 4 cents for barley, and 5 
cents for wheat. Last year, owing to the anxiety of farm- 
ers to thrash early, under the idea that the price of wheat 
would decliue, six and seven cents a bushel was paid. 
Of course the thrashers nre desirous of doing the work 
as rapidly as possible, and this is very well, especially as 
the farmer has to furnish six horses and half a dozen or 
so of men, besides the four horses and four men that ac- 
company the machine; but owing to their anxiety to 
" hurry up " it is well to see that the grain is all thrashed 
out of the straw, and also that it is separated from the 
chaff, and not carried on to the stack by the straw carrier. 
Tho "boss thrasher 11 is generally a "gentleman of leis- 
ure," who " sees that everything is right." "Would It 
not be well if the farmer himself, instead of working 
harder than any of the other men, should hire an extra 
hand and merely look after things? High as wage-; are, 
one bushel of wheat saved would pay for a man that 
could cut bands or throw sheaves from the bay nearly. If 
not quite, as fast and as well as himself. Of all days in 
the year thrashing day is the time for the farmer to see 
that every thing is done as it should be. This is work 
enough for one man, which should bo the fanner. 
Stacking- Straw. — It Is rare to see a proper- 
ly built straw stack. If the straw is designed for simply 
treading into "so-called manure," it is often left after 
the machine is gone in a shape admirably adapted for 
the purpose. But nice, bright, straw, especially if the grain 
is cut before it is dead ripe, is very readily eaten by stock 
in the winter and is certainly worth preserving for the pur- 
pose. Any man of ordinary skill can build a straw stack. 
The main point is to get good-sized forkfuls to place com- 
pactly round the outside, and another series of similar 
forkfuls to put iuside and partly on top of It to bind the 
outside tier. Tread firmly and keep the middle well filled. 
It is better to arrange to put all the straw in one large 
stack, rather than in two or three small ones, and it is bet- 
ter to have it a little too high than too wide with a flat 
roof. It may take an extra man to make the high roof, 
but it will pay. Another point to be specially attended 
to is to throw the chaff into the middle of the stack, or 
at least not to leave it in a heap where it drops from tho 
carrier. The weak spot in the stack, and where the rain 
is almost sure to do the most damage, is on the side next 
the carrier. Special care should be taken to get the chaff 
and short straw away and to build up around the carrier 
with long straw. Two men on the stack, for a ten horse 
machine, is enough at first, but as the stack gets higher 
three will be needed. Better put on four, even, than 
have a poor stack. But it is not necessary. Let the 
farmer lend a helping hand on the Etack occasionally, if 
necessary, and sec that all is going on right. If thrash- 
ing out of doors, see that the chaff and fine straw which 
fall on the ground are thrown on to the carrier. Do not 
let it accumulate, for if the man gets behind he will be 
apt to throw up grain also. The farmer had better watch 
these things than work steadily himself. Let the stack 
be finished off at once. If this is neglected at the time 
it will seldom be done afterwards. Every bit of straw 
should be on tbe stack before the machine stops. And 
then make some sheaves by drawing out straw from the 
tides of the stack, and fill up the bole where the man 
stood on the roof and make the whole roof so that it will 
shed water. We advise, as the result of our own experi- 
ence, that this be done at once and tho stack finished off 
as though you were sure of a heavy rain before morning. 
Thrashing; Wheat as Brawn from 
the Field.— Where it can be done, this is unquestion- 
ably the best and most economical plan. If portable 
steam engines were as common as they will be in a few 
years there would be no difficulty in thrashing as drawn 
from the field. Two extra men is all that is needed. But 
we now require two extra teams also, and these are not 
always to be had. One man can pitch as fast as any ten- 
horse machine can thrash. Our plan has been to have 
three wagons and two teams, with one man to each 
wa^on, who loads and unloads. We built a small stack 
by the side of the machine, holding perhaps a load, on 
which the man stands who cuts the bands. While chang- 
ing wagons, sheaves arc taken from the slack, so as not 
to stop the machine. Let the farmer give up all idea of 
doing any regular work himself, and attend to the chang- 
ing of the wagons and furnishing the sheaves, and there 
will be no trouble. Put a steady man in the field to piteh, 
and a load will always bo ready to take the place of the 
empty wagon. There are men enough around the ma- 
chine to run the empty wagon out of the way, and the 
other is in its place and the man throwing off sheaves in 
less than two minutes. There is a little excitement about 
it, when everything goes right, that stimulates activity. 
With favorable weather and on a large farm we would 
never thrash wheat in any other way. Where thero Is 
sufficient barn room, thrash out of doors and put theetraw 
in the bam. It is then safe, and can be fed out more con- 
veniently and with less waste than from the stack. 
The Outside Horse on a Sweep 
Power has to walk much faster than the inside horse, 
and consequently should have a louger half of the whiffle- 
