1806.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
313 
Poudrette Troni I\e^v Yorlc to Oliio. 
—'•A. C," fiiur years a soldier, saved his money and 
bought a farm 22 miles from a R. R. station in Ohio. Up 
iaclvs manure, and asks if it will pay to get poudrelte 
from New York to make corn. No. imleed ! It will not 
pay lo cart poudrelte as far as ymi say. if you could have 
it for nothing. Guano, bone-dusl. a good superphosphate. 
nr even ground plaster are of sufficient value to haul so 
far. If your carts come back from the station empty, it 
might pay to bring a Us'it load of poudrelte, but not if 
you could get either of the other manures mentionett ; 
limt is. if piaster {or gypsum) has a good effect on your 
toil. Make your own pouJretle. See article on p. 319. 
CJk»i*conl ibi" IVIaiiiire. — James Fergu- 
son has at command a large lot of charcoal dust, which 
he would like to apply to liis land, if advisable. Char- 
coal does not act largely as a fertilizer. Its chief value 
is as an ab'^orbciit, and it may bu used in liie slables if it 
be frequently removed and mixed in a muck or eartliy 
compost. Charcoal first absorbs and then decomposes 
organic gases. Wj)en spread on the land it will produce 
«n immediate beneficial rffect. There is ahv.iys more or 
less ashes in such dust, which would act beneficially. 
Fei-tilizer Tor ^VUeat.— " W. W.," of 
Southern Indiana, has his choice between poudrelte, 
Peruvian guano, and flo'ir of unburnt bones, for his wheat 
land, which Is of clayeyeoil. Poudretle for field crops 
we do not believe in, except home-made poudrelte. 
Peruvian guano, if pure, is very good, especially if 
properly mashed and mixed willi 3 or 4 times its weight 
of dry tine muck or peat. This compost may be much 
improved by adding twice as much bone dust, and as 
much ground plaster (gypsum) as guano — say 150 lbs. 
guano, 150 IhS; gypsum, 300 lbs. bones. This mixture 
may be sowed on and harrowed in. or mixed with as 
much fine muck as you please, and applied evenly. 
Aiiini:il Cai"oa»j»es- — Cover up with loamy 
(soil, or muck, work ttiem over a few nv^nths after the 
temperature has become such as will allow fermenlation, 
and mingle again more soil or muck, using as much 
piaster as you please. 
"^Toolen "Wasto.— "F. O. W.," of Black 
Stone. Mass.. can have all the " picker waste " he vvanis 
from a woolen mill. It is oily and can not be wet, it is 
dry and might be used as bedding foj- horses, but he has 
tried it and "it spoils the manure" (!) "Left in a pile 
through the summer, it heats so that one can not hold his 
hand in it." We advise F. O. W. and anybody else who 
is troubled with too strong manure to treat it exactly as 
they would too strong tea or coffee— namely, dilute it to 
suit his tasie. You add water to strong tea : add ?oil or 
swamp muck, or straw to the waste, and make it just the 
i-trength you want, first heaping it until it begins to heat. 
Xlie JPeiice !\Hi5aiioe. — The Legislature 
of New York overhauled and amended extensively the 
fence law of the Stale. The more laws and amendments 
we have, the worse off we are and the farther fiom equal 
jusiice. until "the People of tlie State of New York, 
represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact '' that all 
owners of cattle of all kinds shall be responsible for 
them, and all the damage they do ; and in case they do 
trespass, wandering from the high way or from their 
owner's land, or elsewhere upon the premises of other 
proprietors, it shall be regarded as a misdemeanor of the 
owner, for w hich fines and pimishments shall be awarded. 
Ho>*' to s^et in Xiiiiotliy Grass. — '*C. 
F. S.," writes : " I have an 8-acre lot, once seeded with 
timothy, which has now runout, and grows nothing but 
a wild grass, having its rough prickly seed growing on 
the blades and not at the top of a stem. How shall I kill 
this grass? Tiie meadow is overflowed several times a 
year, and is nearly flat." There are 10.000 farmers who 
have each just aboui such a piece of ground. It needs 
draining, and the way to do it is to begin when the land 
i:j dry, and dig narrow straight ditches 30 feet apart, and 
3 feet deep, usually uniting in a main ditch or two dug so 
as to get the best fall possible. The ditclies should be 
as nearly level as possible and still have a distinct fall. 
Small drain tile should be laid in the ditches ; and 4-inch 
tiles would generally be large enough for the main drains. 
After the draining is done, plow in the sprins, raise a crop 
of corn, and follow with spring grain, seeding to Timo- 
thy. We sucgei=^t summer crops and spring plowing, sup- 
posing that the overflowing wouM interfere with other 
practice. This meadow offer? an excellent chance to 
irrigate after the plan suggesled in August 1S64. page 2I1G. 
PiucUing Grapes.— C. Thurston, Brad- 
ford Co., Pa., onjects lo our diiections to stop bearing 
canes at 3 or 4 leaves from the last bunch, as "agin 
natur," and suggests that "thorough trimming in tiic 
fall, with judicious pi aching oj", is according to my ex- 
perience tlie best course." Now friend T., we shouhl 
like to ask if thorfuigh trimming is not "agin natur?'' As lo 
"judicious pincliing." we directed just that same, on the 
supposition that the vine had been properly trained at the 
start. Rambling vines in rich garden soil, will have 
pretty much their own way, whatever you do wiili them. 
What is i* on tiio Pear Tree ?— C. 
C. Phillips, Cumberland Co.. Pa., says : " My dwarf pear 
trees have almost been stripped of their leaves by a 
slimy, sticky, snail-like worm. What is it ?'* We try to 
anticipate such common troubles as this in our " I+ints 
about work." Under the head of Fruit Garden, in June. 
it is said : " The disagreeable slimy slug which appears 
on pear and other trees is killed by a dusting of air slaked 
lime." We would not seem to lake our friend to task for 
not reading each paper from the heading to the last ad- 
vertisement, but use his query as a lampie of many for 
which we have already provided in our Hints about 
Work. That portion of the paper is made un with a 
great deal of care, and lliough many things must of neces- 
sity be repeated from year to year, it is always re-written 
and many new suggestions from letters, etc., worked in. 
IScans for a I^amc— " P.," Franlvlin.N. Y. 
Those in the green paper are apparently the White Run- 
ner, and the others are Lima. 
Oraftin^ ** XUorn Apples.'"— *' G. B. 
S." By "Thorn Apples." we suppose you mean some 
species of Thorn, of which we have several. The pear 
will grow when grafted upon the thorn, but the trees 
thus produced are usually short lived, and Inferior to 
tiiose grafted upon quince. 
Flies on Clierry Trees.— "Mr?. L. C," 
writes to know why flies gather on hev cherry trees, and 
she notices that the leaves are covered with what she 
takes lo be their eggs. The supp<)sed eggs are undoubt- 
edly aphides, or plant lice, which are very common on 
cherry trees. These lice exude a sweetish liquid, or 
honey dew, which attracts flies and other insects in 
great numbers. Tobacco water will kill the lice, but its 
application is not very practicable upon the large scale. 
XlaaBsUs to ^Vhom tHey are l>ite.— 
A delegation of the American Institute Farmers' Club, 
visited Hammonton, N. J., in strawberry time, and were 
splendidly entertained by the people of that enterprising 
place. For some reason not clear to us, it w as supposed 
that we should be there, and at the festival a fine bouquet 
upon the table was dedicated "To the Editor of the 
Agriculturist.^^ We are sorry that we did not get the 
bouquet, but are glad we didn't go. as we shovild have 
been obliged to make a speech, w Inch is the horror of 
our life. Still, the lady or ladies who were so thoughtful 
will accept our thanks for the compliment. 
WegCBieration of Strawl>erries, — 
M. Korff, asks if the statement made in the report of the 
Department of Agriculture for 18fi3. to the effect that the 
use of side runners in propagating strawberries causes 
the varieties to degenerate, has any foundation in fact. 
We never met any one but the writer of the article al- 
luded to who believed in or practised its teachings. One 
good healthy runner is ;is much a representative of the 
original plant as another, no matter from where it starts, 
and will perpetuate the variety as perfectly as will a bud 
taken from any part of a tree. The two cases are per- 
fectly parallel, and the strawberry plant may be regarded 
as a tree with branches loo weak to stand upright. 
I>eriTation of ** ^Vei^selia."- W. Pe- 
ters, New Haven Co., Conn. The pioper word is 
Weigela, and it comes £)'om the name nf Weigel, a Ger- 
man botanist of the last century. In Latinizing names 
of other languages, they follow the usual rules of Latin 
pronunciation, and in this case the g would be soft. 
The plant is now referred to an older genus. Diervilla, 
which is its proper botanical name, while Weigela will 
serve for its English name. 
Propagating- tlie Klaok:l>erry. — L. 
Grafton, Pulaski Co.. Ind.. was unsuccessful in propagat- 
ing the Lawton or New Rochelle blackberry. Many 
who have it in their lands would be glad lo know what 
he dill to kill it. We do not know- how it is in Indiana, 
but here Ihe smallest root will make a plant. It is too lale 
for peanuts — sweet potatoes will be noticed in season. 
"Goiaen Cnrrant.*'- A. Mitchell, Ma- 
coupin Co., III., sends us specimens of a currant of a 
bright yellow color. He consider.'; the fruit as excel- 
lent for tarts. It appears to be a varielv nf the Mis- 
Bouri Currant, and is known but not valued with us. 
An;i'Ie "Worms. — J. H. Luttenton, Orleans 
Co., N. V. You will find a b'!e' account of the history 
of the angle worm, with an e.' ■■. V t of Us eggs, In the 
American Agriculturist for J.'ii.'..ry, 1803. 
A "Rose*' on an Apple Tree.— E. 
W. Knight gives an account of a " white semi-double 
rose" found on an apple tree, and asks if we liavo 
" previous to this, knowledge of a double rose blossoming 
on the appie ?" No — hut vve have several times seen very 
handsome double apple-blossoms, which look remarkably 
like small double loses. They usually appear after the 
general blossoming is over. 
Xliorn Seea«.— '' N. W. W.," Peaccdale, R. 
I., says that the seeds of one of our wild thorns will 
come up the first year, even after being Kept dry all 
winter. Will he oblige us with a leaf or two, tliat vre 
may know the species. 
Ont-rtoor ^Vliite*'%va»>h — A (Colored 
Wash. — Having recently erected 1500 feet of rough 
picket ffiice, we adopted the following wash, which 
f-eems lo stick well, and appears very well. About a 
peck of lime at a time was put in a tub, and over this 
was poui ed two pailfuls of water, in which a large double 
handful of salt was previously dissolved. As soon as the 
lime began to boil up well, we added about ^^ lb. of 
coarse grease from the fat-tryers, and stirred it in thor- 
oughly white the whole was hot. It was tlien used on 
the pickets, rails and posts, stirring it often, and diluting 
as needed. For the running bottom boards we mixed 
nearly a harrelful of white-wash, in quantities of a peck 
at a lime, with grease and sail, as above, S'a lbs. of lamp 
black were then ground or mashed ; then thoroughly 
stirred in 3 quarts of sweet milk and strained into the 
barrel and well stirred — the stirring being repeated every 
time a pailful was to be taken out, and that in the pail 
frequently stirred while using. Tiiis applied carefully to 
the bottom board, gives a fine very dark lead color, that 
contrasts well with the white. Both the white and 
colored washes were applied very freely, H^ barrels of 
fresh lump lime being used. — Tlie posts and rails were 
washed before nailing on the pickets, and the pickets were 
also u ashed on one side, so that there is a coat of lime 
between the pickets and rails. The whole job is satis- 
factory, and the fence looks like one planed and painted. 
We expect the lime will add much to its durability. 
I>eep vs. ^Iiallo-w Pans for Milk;.— 
There is a general impression that cream rises moie 
freely when milk is set in shallow pans than in deep 
on&s. It seems, however, that the Orange County butler 
makers, at least in the factories, use deep pans or pails, 
and think they get just as much cream and of better 
quality, as there is less exposure to the atmosphere and 
consequently less liahiilty to its crusting over. X. A. 
Willard and otliers in Herkimer Co. have made some ex- 
periments which seem to prove that there is no advantage 
in putting the cream in shallow pans. If such proves to 
be the case, it will be a great saving of labor (in scalding, 
etc.). to use deepei' pans, as we shall need fewer of them, 
and this at the present cost of pans is no sliglit advan- 
tage.— Much must depend upon the cow, the season of 
the year, that is the temperature, and the length of time 
the rnilk will keep sweet and in the best condition for 
cream to rise. A few years ago the subject was discus- 
sed, and we know of numerous experiments which led 
us to consider it a settled fact that shallow pans gave the 
most cream, and we have little anticipation that this 
decision will be reversed. 
Xhe <nlory and ^liaine of Kn^land. 
— Several years ago Mr. C Ed\Nards Lester wrote a book 
with the above tiile. Since the war. during a poi tion of 
which he was in Great Britain and upon the Continent, 
he has re-written it. or rather we may say, put forth 
another work with the same title, in two volumes. Mr. 
Lester looks upon England's power and England's weak- 
ness as an American may now-a-days be expected to do, 
making few allowances, and applies to her the measures 
which she delights to apply to the rest of the world. He 
has furnished a book of many statistics, and statements 
in regard to the condition of tlie agriculture and of the 
agricultural population of Grtat Britain ; and in Ids dis- 
cussions of politics, religion and society, of the condition 
of Ireland and of India, and of the aristocracy, he fur- 
nishes a ma?s of matter which will be read with great 
satisfaction by at least some American people in their 
present frame of mind. Mr. L'^sier does not forget the 
love we bear to England as the mother country, and the 
home of our poets, philosophers and hi'^torians, nor the 
warm brotlierly affection we entenafn fur the working 
men and the liberal statesmen of England, and the work 
is one which will exalt Ihe appreciation and love of his 
own country in the heart of every American. It is In 
2 vols., email 8vo., 304 pages each , price In muslin $4- 
