46 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURISr. 
[FEBKrART, 
Talue of <Joi*u Fodder. — The estimatt's 
01 the feuding qualities of corn stallis vary more perhaps 
than almost any other article of foilJer. These different 
estimations are based much mure upon the ways it is 
iiseJ, tlian up<)n any just notions of its nutritious I'alue. 
On tlie prairies and on n large portion of the West it is 
seldom gathered atali, but the cattle are left to browse it 
in the fields. On a great part of the South the leaves 
and tender tt)ps are gathered, bound in bandies, and 
constitute the chief dry fodder in uinter. In the Middle 
and Eastern Stales it is usually hauled in after the corn is 
harvested, and fed around the slacks, thrown upon grass 
ground or iii the barn -yards. Some fartners lake gi eat 
pains to cure it well, house it well if possible, and feed it 
after chaffing it fine and soaking it twelve hours, or 
steaming it till well cooked, usually adding bran, corn or 
oil raeui in moderate quantities. These estimate corn 
fodder as nearly or quite equal to good upland hay, for 
all kinds of neat cattle and sheep— but best for cows. 
Tlie iuo!$t Proliiic Cow on Record, 
— We have not. so far as we remember, the personal ac- 
quaintance of Mr. Henry Is'eff, of West Bui re, Hunting- 
don Co., Pa.t ^\lio is responsible for tlie following very 
lemarkable stat&ment ; but he is an old subscriber of the 
Agriculturist, and his letter carries wilii it such assurance 
of honesty, Ihat he has our entire ciedeiicc. He writes ; 
*• A short lime since I read in the N. Y. Times an ac- 
count of a very prolific cow in England, having/owr calves 
atone lime, which all died soon after. Porter Town- 
ship, Huntingdon Co.. Pa., can beat tliat "all hoilovv." 
When I \>as a boy, about Unity years since, my father 
had a cow that had ttghfeen (16) calves at seven (') 
births. The first time she had one, the next time three, 
Ihe next time four : tliree times succeeding tliis she had 
three each time, and the last time she had two. Tliey all 
lived and grew up fine and large, with the exception of 
one. which was one of the four. When the cow was 
found in the field witli the four calves, one was dead, 
although it was as large as the living ones, and seemed 
as perfect in every respect. I can give any amount of 
testimony to prove the correctness of tlie above, if anv 
one tliinks it incredible or wants more evidence." 
>£u!»lied Xiirnip.H for Stock. — Peter 
Gale, Westchester Co.. N. V.. say= : "I have a stoiie 
weighing 60 or ?0 pounds, placed itislde of half of a large 
molasses cask, set at oue side and 6 inches from the top, 
putting one turnip on this stone at a time, with a mallet 
neighing i or 5 pounds, I inash a bushel in from tiiree to 
five minutes."' Would it not be belter to place the stone 
over the half-hogsliead tub and surround it (the stone) by 
a bottomless haif of a fluur barrel to catcti ^natterings ? 
JFarmiii^' in ^ftiuuemotn. — We do not 
wish to invite our readers to see who will tell the biggest 
(true) story about the prolits of western fiuniing. for we 
cannot publish the statements if they send tliem ; but the 
following is given as a remarkable example of success in 
legJlimate farming in very favorable seasons, and in a 
location where the rise in the value of land was very 
rapiAr It is given on the authority of F. M. Crosby, of 
Dakotah Co., Min. 
"In the year IS63, J. W. Treager purchased thirteen 
hundred acres of unimproved land in Washington Co.. 
Minnesota, fu- which he paid $1U,001'. In the summer of 
1663 he broke seventy-five acres, upon \>)iich he raised 
a crop in 1664. That crop was sold for sufficient to pay 
for the land upon whicii it was raised, for breaking and 
fencing it, and all the expense of ruising, harvesting and 
marketing tlie crop, and $1,100 beside.-. 
"In tlie season of 1865 lie cultivated 800 acres of the 
land anil raised ; 
Ifi, 000 bushels of wheat, worth. S16.000 
7,000 •■ ■' oais. '• 2.600 
3,000 '• -barley, '• 2,100 
■J,000 " ■' potatoes " 500 
4,ono •' •• corn, " 2,600 
Total value of crojis raised in 1665 .$24.00J 
The cost of seed, raising, harvesting and market- 
ing the same was S.OOO 
Leaving profit, after paving all expenses .$16,000 
A Id the profit received "from the crop of 1864 1.100 
Hakes the profit of the two crops .?17.100 
It cost him to break and fenre Ihe land he lias 
under cultivation (Icducling the expenses of 
breaking and fencing the land, cultivated in 
1864), which « as paid with the crop of that 
year -2.200 
To which add ;he cost of the land {deducting the 
cost of the 75 acres cultivated in 1804) 9..''>00 
$11,700 
Deduct that sum from $17,000, the total profit of 
1964 and 1565 Jeaves. $5,400 
After pa\ing for the land and all expenses of breaking 
and fencing it. and the expense of seed and raising and 
raarketing his crops. 
".Mr. Tj eapei has realized from two crops, the first bring 
only sevejitvfive acres, after paying all expense*, suf 
ficient to pay foi ICOO acres of l;in 1, to pav the expense 
of breaking and fencing 860 acres of it, and 15400 in cash. 
" The buildings upon his land co?t hira $3000, and his 
farm is now worth ^OS.OOO, making a total profit of 
$37,400. — Farmers who have operated upon a smaller 
scale, have realized profit in proportion. 
'• This is a simple statement of facts. From it the world 
can judge whether farming in Minnesota is profitable." 
Ice IIoii»&es and Filling*. — Our plau for 
an ice-house described on page 3o0 (November) was not 
intended for the cheapest one that would keep ice well, 
but for a good one in which the theory of the best way 
to keep ice is well carried out, and which would keep 
ice well on any soil and In any climate or exposure. The 
fact is that soni'a uf the cheapest, most carelessly knock- 
ed together houses, if the ice is only well packed, keep 
it excellently, while some built at great expense, which 
lack good drainage or ventilalion. or something else, keep 
itbuttvvo or three months. Ice houses ouglit to be filled, 
if possible, in very cold weather, after the interior 
of the house has become thoroughly cold, and when the 
ice if-^elf is not only perfectly dry. but very cold. It re- 
tains this cold a long time, and besides, if the cakes are 
well cut and closely packed, with the interstices chinked 
full of ice dust or snow, a few pailfuls of water may be 
dashed on, vvliich will immediately freeze and make the 
whole nearly a solid ma*:?. Cakes thus frozen together, 
will nevertheless crack apart easily when the ice is needed 
in summer. The ice cakes should be cut with right 
angles, and of uniform sizes, so that tlie layers may fit 
the size of the house as nearly as possible, leaving 
about 6 inches all around, to be filled with straw or saw- 
dust closely packed. It is usually best to lay a bed of 
tanbark or straw, some three inches thick upon a level 
floor of boards, such as ^^ as described in the November 
number, but if the floor be of rails or of boards laid un- 
evenly upon the ground, the bed should be 6 or 8 inches 
thick. The floor .should never be of matched boards, for 
it must allow water to pass through freely. In large ice 
houses the practice of setting the cakes of jce on the 
edges, is frequently advocated. We see no reason to 
prefer it in small houses, for if the ice be carefully 
packed, all the thawing will take place at the exterior ot 
the mass. When filled, the ice should be covered with ' 
H thick layer of straw. 
IVtal&in»- a !^olid ^las^ oi' Ice.— Whore 
8 supply of water can be had. with a little fall, and where 
there is sufficient cold weather, an ice house can he 
readily filled with a solid mass of ice at trifling expense. 
Arrange a pipe so that the water can be thrown out 
over the floor of the ice liouse in the form of fine spray. 
as from the rose nif a watering pot. This will freeze as 
it falls, quite rapidly in cold weather, and in a brief time 
a whole house can be thus filled with a solid mass. 
iVInle^ and Horse Xeams* — "Bob." 
There aie a good many good thing- about mule teams, 
hut you can't trust them. With sieady work, if not 
abused, and with enough to eat they will do more work 
than most horses. No teams we ever .saw will do more 
work than those little Kanuck stallions, which twenty 
years ago were much more common than they are now. 
They would weigh about 800 to 1000 )ioinids apiece when 
fat. were as spry as cats, tough as knots, afraid of noth- 
ing, and reliable. As a general thing, too, they knew 
niore than their drivers, about many things. AD the 
horses we use for farm work are mares or geldings, and 
they are therefore more liable to disease, need more 
care, will not sland so haid work, have less pluck, are 
more apt to shy, etc. In all ihese particulars a horse is 
hurt by gelding— but it does a mule good. Mules will 
bear a certain kind of abuse better than horse^. Tliey 
are very knowing, and teacliable if they must learn, not 
naturally docile like a good horse. They make good 
farm teams, but are better adapted to the climate of the 
Southern states than to ours. 
'Wiudmilli-t. — In reply to several inquiries 
for windmill powers, we will state that such are now 
employed jdl over the country, fiu pumping water, 
churning, driving saws for cutting fiie wood, and tliey 
may be made to run thrashing machines, or grain mills. 
Such a mill can be elected over or near a barn, to drive 
several kinds of machinery and any skillful mechanic can 
put one up. If the wings are not self-regulating, a 
brake can be applied to some journal to stop them, or to 
make tiiem run slowly during a gale. 
A AVarni I»onltry Honse for ilKaine. 
— A would-be poultry fancier in Andro.scoggin Co. asks 
how he can build warm enough for Black Spanish Fowls. 
In December. 1S64. we gave a plau of a poultry house, 
which was lathed and plastered, ceiling and all, and had 
conveniences for fire in very severe weather. This is an 
expensive plan, but good. The best thing lor (ujr !\Iaine 
friend lo do !■<. to iMg out a pit 3 fee! deep, about « frt t 
wide, and as long as he pleases; lay up aback-wall 8 
feet high, and a front wall towards the east and south ■'' 
feet higli, with a 4X6 inch plate on each, laid in mortar 
or cement. Between the end-walls. 2'^ feet from the 
back plate, lay a strip of scantling, supported in the mid- 
dle, if necessary, by braces to the back wall ; roof ove: 
between this and the back, .in d set 6-foot green-house 
sashes lo cover at least two-thirds of the pit. to rest on 
the front wall, and this scantling— rafters being set cor- 
responding to the width of the sashes. Make holes for 
ventilation in the back wall, set the roosts very low — no: 
ovet 3 feet high, and all ou one level— provide other 
conveniences and necessities as frequently directed. 
Make the door in one end, and the entrance boarded off 
from the fowls' quarters. Finally hank up the earth on 
the outside, making very thick earth walls, well sodded. 
Such a house will be warm both summer :md winter. 
Thorough drainage is very necessary, and in winter U 
will probably be best to have thick straw mat«, made to 
roll, to lay over the glass on veiy col i nights. 
Ckeap .Stump I»nller?i,— Kenben Seip, 
Steuben Co., N. Y., inquires for a cheap stump puller. 
He will find illustrafious of three different stump pullers 
in the Agriculturist (ov 1S6.=>. one on p. TT, March ; p. 114, 
April, an<l p. 371, December. For pulling sound slumps, 
a very strong machine is required, having a large screw- 
to lift a stump vertically, or a system of palleys with a 
long chain and iron ro<ts attacbr-d to another stump, draw- 
ing over the top of a frame set near the slump to tie lifted. 
'%Vhite Clover. — '■Will Swedi.'^h White 
Clover give a large yield of good hay?" Not equal to 
red clover. It can be obtained at most seed stores. 
Oarden :%otes.— Rev. W. K. Dnro}-, Middle- 
esses Co.. Mass., sends us what we consider a model 
letter, for it gives as well as asks information. The fol- 
lowing bits of garden experience will interest many. 
Some of Mr. D.'s queries are answered in the present 
number, and others will be attended to in time. 
■■A few Garden Notes for 1^65. The Conks' Favorite 
Tomato has proved, with me, lo be nothing better than 
the Early Apple, long grown. The Early York is. how- 
ever, a deci.ded improvement ; being fully a week earlier 
than the Apple, smooth and good-flavored, and an abun- 
dant bear.^r. Of coinse. the Fejee still maintains Its 
rank as a late Tomato.— Of Beans. Ihe Fejr-e ffrom 
Gregory, of Marblehead) proves with me. lo be not only 
the earliest, but decidedly the be^^t of H\f bush sort-s. It 
resembles the Cranberry Bean in tenderness and flavor; 
but is much earlier.— The Early Wakefield Cabbage has, 
Ihis year, given great satisfaction, proving early, tender 
and of excellent flavor. It is nearly as early ns Early 
York, but has none of its fiabi»iness or toughnes*. It 
also grows larger with me than 'he Winniqsladt."" 
Canlillo^ver!*, — " W. K. D." Cauliflowew 
will sometimes run up to flower in dry weather. They 
must be kept growing when once started, by watering if 
need be. We have found both Early and Half-early 
Paris to do on sandy soil, but we used a good dressing of 
muck and ashes. 
Onions. — J. M. Shaver. Wc»lmoreland Co., 
Pa. The whole story of Onion culture is given in our 
pamphlet on that subject. Price by mail 20 cents. At 
the season for sowing we give directions in the Jlonlhly 
Notes, but of course cannot go so fully into the mailer. 
Inline in tlie Orclisird. — Levi Lebo, Dau- 
phin Co., Pa., wishes to plow bis orchard for a crop and 
use lime, and says '• most of our farmers here think lime 
destructive to fruit trees.'* Most of our farmers find Hme 
a beneficial manure. If other crops on your land are 
benefitted by lime, there will be no danger of hurting the 
trees. In many parts of New England it is regarded 
almost as a specific for old orchards beeinning to fail. 
Muleliin;*^ Trees. — One of our Westchester 
friends, when he plants a tree in spring, scnvs a circle of 
buckwheat all around it quite thickly. When the buck 
wheat is in blossom, lie pulls it up and ]■■<}■< it around tlie 
tree for a mulch. In this way, whatever nouri.^hment 
has been abstracted from the soil, is returned to it by llie 
decay of the buckwheat. 
Are Butternnt Trees Injurious?— 
J. B. Howe, Worcc.-^ter Co.. Ma=s. Young fruit trees 
may he injured by butteiDnt and other forest trees, if the 
roots of the latter are so near as to rob the fruit treos of 
nourishment or to unduly shade them. 
Plant H«nil>ng:s.— Letters and circular^ 
are received whicii show that th^ vencJers of wonderful 
plants are still abroad. Some chap is about in Oliio, sel 
ling plums which Ihe Curcnlio will not lourh, because 
they are on slocks of the will nbim. and ■■ qnince.'= a"; 
