110 
AMERICAN AGRIOnT/rURIST. 
[Apbil, 
rounds are laid, get on the bulk on Hie knees, and as you 
lay a hand put your knee on it, and thus pack as close 
and compact as possible. When nut bulking down, have 
boards laid on the tobacco, and weights put on to keep 
it level. Keep the ground leaf separate from the prime. 
Boxino. — Boxes should be made 30 inches square by 
42 inches in length outside ; saw the end-boards 28 inches 
long, nail them to two ij< inch square slats, so that the 
head will be 28 inches square; when two heads are 
made, nail the sides of the box to the heads so as to 
come even with the outside of the head, the sides being 
28 inches wide ; then nail the bottom on firmly ; the top 
can be nailed slightly until after the lubaeco is packed, 
when it can be nailed firm. Set your box by the side of 
the bulk, and let one man get in the box and another 
pass the tobacco to him, one hand at a time, taking care 
not to shake it out, but put in the box as it comes from 
bulk, with the but of the hand next the end of the box. 
Place close and press witli the knee firmly ; lay alternate 
courses at each end, and if the tobacco is not long 
enough to lap sufficiently to fill the centre, put a few 
hands cross-wise in the centre. When the box is full, 
place it under a lever ; have a follower, that is a cover 
made of inch boards, nailed to two pieces of scantling, 
and made to fit inside of the box ; lay this on the tobacco, 
and place blocks of scantling on it of a sufficient 
height for the lever to be clear of the box when pressed. 
Press down firmly with a strong lever, and, while knee- 
ing in another boxful, let the lever remain so that the 
tobacco gels set in the box. When ready, lake the lever 
off and (ill up as before, about six inches higher than the 
box , press it below the top of the box, take off your 
lever and nail on the top as quickly as possible. Some 
use tobacco-presses for packing, which are perhaps more 
convenient ; they are of various patterns, but a lever 
saves expense of a press, and is within the reach of all. 
If tobacco is sold at the shed. It should be sold before 
packing, being easier examined in bulk than in the box. 
«-. — »m _ 
Notes on Flax Culture — III. 
Before flax can be used by the manufacturer, 
the fibrous material must be separated from the 
other portious of the straw. Each stalk con- 
sists of three distinct parts, viz.: awoody stem 
in the center, called the "shoove," or "boon;" 
next to this and surrounding it are the fibers, 
and outside of sill a thin bark or skin. The fine 
filaments of fiber are cemented together and 
fastened to the other parts of the stalk by a gum- 
my, resinous matter, which must be extracted 
in order to separate the filaments and render 
them sufficiently pliant for spinning. This part 
of the business is a chemical operation, and 
properly a separate branch, of importance 
enough where flax is largely cultivated, to re- 
quire the services of appliances specially adapt- 
ed for the work, and skilled operatives to con- 
duct the process. In France a class of men 
termed "liniers" take the raw flax in the straw 
from the hands of the cultivator, and attend to 
all the manipulations necessary to prepare it for 
the manufacturer. Were this crop grown to a 
sufficient extent in this country, such a division 
of labor would undoubtedly soon be made here. 
In fact, in view of the prospective increase in 
flax culture, parties are already experimenting 
and perfecting processes whereby they expect 
to be enabled to profitably purchase the straw 
from the fanner and reduce it to the desired 
state. Until such arrangements are completed, 
it will be necessary for the flax raiser to follow 
the method heretofore practised, and to conduct 
the "retting" as it is termed, upon his own 
premises. This consists in decomposing the 
gummy, resinous, matter by fermentation and 
putrefaction ; literally rotting it away. It is 
done by subjecting the flax to the action of mois- 
ture and warmth. To this end, it may be steep- 
ed in vats, ponds, or sluggish streams, which 
is called water-retting, or it may be exposed to 
rain and dew, termed dew-retting. The latter 
process is almost universally employed in this 
country. About the last of August, the straw- 
is taken to a smooth meadow, or pasture land, 
where it may be kept clean, and spread care- 
fully in swaths, about half an inch thick. Keep 
the huts even, and make the rows several inches 
apart, so that the ends of the straw may not 
become interlocked. If there be not rain and 
dew enough to wet it frequently and thorough- 
ly, the retting may be hastened by turning it. 
Many recommend to let it remain until one side 
is sufficiently retted, before exposing the other. 
The turning is easily and quickly performed 
^ 
witli a light smooth pole ten or twelve feet long, 
slightly curved as shown in the engraving. 
About five weeks is usually sufficient to com- 
plete the process of dew-retting. This, howev- 
er, depends materially upon the state of the 
weather. Frequent showers and heavy dews 
may reduce this time considerably. When the 
flax has turned a silver gray color, and the lint 
is seen separating from the woody part, particu- 
larly at the ends, and when on bending or twist- 
ing a small bunch of it in the hands the woody 
part breaks freely, leaving the lint clear, it is 
sufficiently retted. When dried it is ready to be 
operated on with the brake, or to be stored under 
cover or in thatched stacks, until disposed of. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Both Sides of the Dog Question. 
m 
The Editor of the American Agriculturist in- 
dulges in a sweeping invocation to " stir up the 
public sentiment in favor of enforcing the dog 
laws:" "To shoot or poison every dog larger 
than a rat terrier, that looks at your premises :" 
Or to "cut their tails off as short as the Dutch- 
man recommended, viz., close behind the ears." 
"Very good," exclaims the terrier man, "only be 
careful to discriminate as to size before you 
shoot, or poison." " Just right," exclaims the 
little Miss as she pats her diminutive lap-dog. 
" Capital," says the sheep breeder. " Just right," 
echo a host of men. And " quite wrong," re- 
tort another host. " Partly wrong and partly 
right," says the writer. We can not do without 
dogs, and we can not do without sheep. Every 
one knows why we can not do without sheep. 
Every one does not know why we can not do 
without dogs. One reason is, we can not get rid 
of them. Another is, the farmer can not be 
secure in his crops, nor sure of his full quota of 
lambs without them. [We "don't see it."] 
But few farmers that have lost from 50 to 100 
bushels of corn in one season, as many have, will 
be in favor of the faithful dog's tail being trim- 
med as high up as was the Dutchman's dog. 
Farmers that have urged bounty acts for the de- 
struction of foxes, would much rather see a well 
known hound's head with a little more tail left 
on. The truth is, we need well bred and well 
trained, dogs, if any. Our country is cursed with 
an endless variety of curs that sneak, and stroll, 
by ones, twos, threes, and half dozens, scattering 
racket, wool, mutton, and slaughter and confu- 
sion, hydrophobia, frightened horses and broken 
carriages in dangerous profusion. Every owner 
of a dog should be responsible for his conduct. 
If he is too poor to pay damages, he is too poor 
to own any dog, and if he persists in keeping 
one, let him (the owner) go to jail like a crimi- 
nal. We should not tolerate an irresponsible 
man in our nation. Every owner of a dogshould 
give him every opportunity to chase sheep when 
he is a puppy, and if he does it, whip him: if he 
does it again, whip him harder : if lie does it 
again, place the dog at one end of a rope and an 
old Heenau and Bayers ram at the other end. 
After a reasonable number of discharges and re- 
coils, loose, and try him again. If he offends 
again, deliver him over to the American Agricul- 
turist, then anticipate the finale. 
Mr. Editor, please compromise in your next, 
number, by excepting from your extreme trim- 
ming operation all sporting dogs until duly con- 
victed of crime; but if you will not relax from 
your apparent iucorrigibleness, do not suspend 
the writ of habeas corpus in case you get my dog 
in your clutches. Onio. 
By a curious coincidence, in the same mail with 
the above plea, came the following list of dam- 
ages awarded by the Supervisors of Jefferson 
Co., Ohio, to owners of sheep killed by dogs 
during the year 1862. 
Tristram Frink, Rulland $25 00 
James G. Kellog, Lorraine 6 00 
James A. Hunt, Antwerp 14 50 
Guy E. White, Antwerp 50 
James Dickson, Antwerp 7 50 
Delos McWayne, Brownville 8 50 
Bela Case, Hounsfield 4 00 
James Van Allen, Hounsfield 10 00 
Daniel Smith, Ellisburgh 60 00 
J. T. Burton, Rodman ._ ., 5 00 
George Cooper, Adams 20 00 
M. C. Porter, Adams 30 00 
N. M. Wardwell, Adams 8 00 
T. V. Maxon, Adams 1100 
John W. Arthur, Champion 15 CO 
William Dobson, Henderson is SO 
Henry Griffin, Henderson 3 no 
Wm. E. Overton, Henderson 3 00 
Geo. Sabin & Bro., Brownville 8 00 
Patrick Boyed, Wilna G 00 
sasToo 
The above was forwarded by Mr. Robert J. 
Holmes, of Jefferson Co., who fully endorses the 
crusade against dogs for their sheep-killing pro- 
pensities and adds : " I find it don't improve a 
bed of tulips or a collection of choice asters, to 
have a pack of dogs running over them." If all 
would agree to have none but well trained ani- 
mals, and to keep them in place, there could be 
little complaint; but the laws can not well dis- 
criminate, and it is better that a few should lose 
their favorite dogs than that many should have 
their flocks destroyed. 
•-• ^m-*^— «-» . 
"lampas" in Horses, 
The horizontal bars in the roof of the horse's 
mouth are undoubtedly intended to aid the ani- 
mal to retain food in the mouth while it is being 
masticated. They are abundantly furnished 
with bloodvessels and nerves, and are therefore 
very sensitive. When colts are teething, the 
disturbance of the adjacent parts sometimes 
causes these bars to be inflamed and swollen. 
Then the animal can not eat without pain, and 
uninformed persons have ascribed the apparent 
falling off of appetite under such circumstances, 
to a disease named " Lampas." To remedy the 
supposed ailment, it has been recommended ami 
is still practised in some localities, to burn out 
the swollen bars with a red hot iron made for 
the purpose. The operation is an unnecessary 
and injurious cruelty. The portion of the mouth 
thus destroyed, can never be replaced, and thus 
the power of perfect mastication is impaired. 
The only surgical operation allowable in cases 
needing assistance, is to lance the inflamed parts, 
the same as a physician would treat the gums of 
