1863.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
357 
Chloride ofi* liiiiic— Kxplauatlons.- 
This is recommended in some papers as a manure) and we 
are asked how it is used to dry the atmosphere in fruit- 
rooms, without imparting an odor. In such cases the article 
usually known as chloride of lime (bleaching powders) 
is not intended at all; here, as in many other cases, a 
misuse of chemical terms may lead to an unpleasant 
mistake. When lime and salt are employed for agricul- 
tural purposes, whatever decomposition takes place pro- 
duces chloride of calcium, which is the chloride of the 
metallic element of which lime is an oxide. When chlo- 
ride of calcium has all the water driven off by heat, it 
absorbs moisture again very readily, and this is the ma- 
terial used in Fiance to destroy the humidity of fruit- 
rooms. The chloride of lime is a common name for a 
rather complex substance containing several chemical 
compounds, besides a quantity of free chlorine. It is 
employed as a disinfectant and for bleaching, but not 
for either of the purposes above alluded to. 
Sheep Washes.— A number of these pre- 
parations are used in England, and one is now advertised 
in our columns. As a general thing, we refuse to adver- 
tise secret preparations, but the composition of this being 
made known to us, we should think that it would be cer- 
tain to destroy vermin, and be beneficial in skin diseases. 
The certificates of reliable men who have used it would 
seem to warrant others in making experiments with it. 
Persian Insect Powder.-P. A. Ber- 
tens, Florence. This is the powdered flowers and leaves 
of Pyrethrujn Willemoti, and probably other Caucasian 
species. The powder was first introduced, put up in 
small bottles, as a secret preparation, but it may now be 
purchased in bulk at some of our city drug stores. It 
readily stupefies most insects, and if the application is 
thorough, kills them. The powder should be kept in 
well closed bottles, otherwise it loses its power. The 
article has become one of considerable importance, and 
the inhabitants of a number of villages in the Caucasus 
devote themselves to its cultivation and preparation. It 
has been introduced into France, but we have not heard 
of its being grown In this country. 
Sweet Potatoes and Yams. — L. Kes- 
singer, Buffalo Co., Wis., asks if these will succeed in his 
State. We have a letter from a correspondent who says 
he has been successful with the Sweet Potato there. If 
by Vain he means the Dioscorea Battatas, we suppose that 
it will grow there; it is perfectly hardy here, and difficult 
to eradicate when once it gets a foothold in the soil. 
.Buying a Farm on Credit* — U A Friend" 
asks of the Agriculturist, whether it is advisable for a 
man having $300 cash, to buy a farm for $3000. Decided- 
ly not, unless you know of a gold or other mine on the 
premises from which a large amount of the price can be 
speedily dug. As a rule, it is seldom safe to run in debt 
for more than one half of the purchase money, and many 
have found even this a heavier load than they counted on. 
A "Water Gap."— "Young Tennessee 
farmer" asks how to make a good permanent water gap. 
Perhaps some reader of the Agriculturist can tell us what 
it is, and him how to make one. It is probably a local ap- 
pellation for something others know by a different name. 
Straw Beehives.— To " Black Brook's" 
inquiries about the straw hive described in the Agricul- 
turist for October we answer: There is an entrance for 
the bees at the bottom of one end, three-eighthsof an inch 
high by three inches long. It will admit all the air the 
bees need through the Winter. Any good straight, clean 
straw is suitable, and probably flags and rushes would 
do. Oat straw looks rough, but answers well. Rye with 
the heads trimmed off, makes a very neat hive. For cut- 
ting the straw, the old-fashioned primitive straw-cutter 
is probably best. One is needed that will allow the straw 
to be pushed through the proper length. It is unnecessary 
to wash the hive with any thing before admitting the bees. 
drafting: the Shag-hark Hickory. 
—"J. S. H.," Marlboro, Mass. This is sometimes done 
in the South of Europe, but it is said not to succeed well 
in cold countries. Flute or ring budding is said to do 
best. Walnut trees are very difficult to transplant at any 
time on account of their few fibrous roots. We should 
prefei Spring for the experiment. 
Three Crops of Pears in one Year. 
— " E. N.," writes that there is a pear tree in Evansville, 
Ind., which produces two crops of pears in a season, and 
this year bore three crops, two of which came to perfec- 
tion. It is not rare that pears set fruit for the second 
time, but such fruit is usually inferior, if it ripens at all. 
It is not a desirable character in a tree. 
l>isinnee for Dwarf Pears. — J. C. 
Cole, of Chautauqua Co., N. Y., writes that he set his 
pears at 6 feet apart and finds them too much crowded. 
It will do to move them in the Fall or Spring if done 
with care. Pears may be so pruned as to be kept at this 
distance, but we think it better to give them more room, 
8 or 9 feet is near enough for the free growing kinds. 
Grape Vines on Walls.— " Subscriber," 
who has a superabundance of stone, in a rocky part of 
Rhode-Island, wishes to know if it will do to train grapes 
against his stone walls in place of a trellis. In this coun- 
try the European practice of growing wall fruit is not 
practicable. The sun here is so powerful that the leaves 
and fruit are scorched, and this takes place even where 
the vines are set too closely to a common board fence. 
An Enemy to the Tine.— G. L. Morris, 
Baltimore Co., Md. The caterpillar is the larva of the 
Satellilia Hawk-moth. They are great feeders, and are 
very destructive to the vine, but fortunately not very nu- 
merous. They enter the ground after they are ftdl grown, 
where they undergo their transformation, and come out in 
the following June and July, as a night flying moth known 
as Philampelus Satellitia. 
What is fc * Wine " ?— It is the pure juice 
of the grape, which has undergone the vinous fermenta- 
tion. The addition of sugar, water, milk, eggs, etc., to 
say nothing of logwood, brandy, alcohol, or sugar-of-lead, 
makes compounds which may make medicine, but not 
wine. The juices of other fruits, of rhubarb, sugar and 
water with a little ferment, the sap of birch and maple, 
and other things fermented, have more*or less a wine-like 
taste, and may be called wines, but they are not, and as 
soon as we admit that any thing but the pure juice of the 
grape is wine, we are all afloat. An old German vintner's 
opinion was asked in regard to one of these sugared com- 
pounds profanely advertised " for Sacramental use," with 
the assurance that it would not make any body drunk. 
" No," said he, " it wtil make you sick though." 
New- Rochelle Blackberries Pro- 
ductive.— F. W. Winship, Bureau Co., 111., writes : "h\ 
the Spring of 1661, I set out 12 roots of the Lawton Black- 
berry on the east side of a high board fence. They made 
a fair growth during 1862, as it was a wet season. I gath- 
ered the first ripe berries on the 8th of July, and the last 
on the 12th of September. One stalk had on it 1400 ber- 
ries at one time, and commenced to ripen its first berries 
about the 21st of July, and finished on the 12th of Sept., 
at which time I gathered 182 ripe berries. Some of the 
berries from this bush measured 4 inches in circumfer- 
ence, and 10 berries laid in a line so as to touch one 
another, measured Il# inches. The stalk was about 11 
feet in length, and had 15 lateral branches. From the 
12 original bushes I gathered about 3 bushels of berries. 
Who can beat this, and who says the Lawton Blackberries 
are not productive ?" [The proper name is New-Ro- 
chelle, though the same variety is sometimes called Law- 
ton— a name given without proper authority. The gen- 
eral complaint against this variety is its sourness — a pre- 
judice resulting from picking the fruit as soon as it is 
black ; it is not ripe until some days after coloring.— Ed.] 
Cranberries from Seed,— E. T. Baxter, 
Tuscola Co., Mich. This method of raising plants is not 
recommended by cultivators, as the plants are very slow 
in growing, and there is no certainty that a large propor- 
tion of them will bear well. If disposed to make a trial, 
cut the fruit crosswise, when the seeds may be easily 
taken out ; these are to be sown in a patch of moist, 
well prepared soil, and covered very thinly. It will save 
much time to get plants from a fruitful bog, or to procure 
them from some of the experienced cultivators. 
Small Fruits in the Shade.— J. B. 
Jones, Hudson Co., N.J. Blackberries and especially 
Raspberries do well in partial shade. Strawberries require 
more sun. Currants will grow tolerably in a little shade. 
Names ot" Fruits. — I. M. Chapman, Port- 
age Co., Ohio., wishes to know how to pronounce Tri- 
omphe de Gand, and objects to such " outlandish and bar- 
baric names being applied to fruits, etc." Tree-omph der 
Gan, is as near as we can give the pronunciation in Eng- 
lish. The strawberry originated in Gand (Ghent! and 
the name means the triumph of that place, and sounds not 
strangely there. The name is generally pronounced 
Triumph de Gand, in this country, and might convenient- 
ly be shortened into simple Triumph, in the same way 
that the Duchesse d'Angouleme is now abbreviated into 
Duchess. A Frenchman would be as much troubled at 
some of our names, Hubbardston Nonsuch for instance, 
as our friend is at that of this strawberry. When new 
things are brought into a country where a different lan- 
guage from the one in which they originated is spoken, 
their names, if the things themselves become popular, 
are soon popularized. Such names are not "barbaric" — 
they are only unusual. 
Plants for Names.— "H. J. L.," Fairfax 
Co., Va. The plant is Gent tana Saponaria, the Soap- 
wort Gentian — R. S. Reeves, Logan Co., Ky., sends a 
narrow -leaved variety of the same species ; variety line- 
aris. Gentiana angusti/olia has only one flower on the 
stem.. J. A. Brown, Wayne Co., Ohio: The seeds sent are 
those of Frasera Carolinensis, or American Columbo, the 
bitter root of which is used in medicine as a tonic, and is 
sometimes sold instead of the imported columbo ...An- 
gelo Brown, Wayne Co., Pa. The hardy annual is 
Erysimum Pcroffskianum ; it came from the Caucasus, 
and is a species of Hedge-Mustard T. C. Wells, Riley 
Co., Kansas, sends Dalea laxifiora, a pretty perennial 
from the prairies. Those who send specimens are re- 
quested to give their address in full, as we sometimes 
wish to make inquiries. 
Yellow JLiijtin.— "Reader," Pine Plains, N. 
Y. We have not heard of any experiments with the 
Yellow Lupine. The While Lupine has been tried, but 
without much success. The difficulty with the Lupines 
as a green manure, seems to be that the seed is so large in 
proportion to the amount of foliage produced that it lakes 
an enormous bulk in comparison to clover. 
Thorns from Seed.— T. Wilbur, Marion 
Co., Mo. Gather the fruit when it is dead ripe, put it in 
a vessel of water until the pulp becomes sufficiently 
softened to allow the seeds to be separated, and then wash 
them out. Sow at once if the ground is open, or mix wilh 
earth in a box and expose to the weather during Winter, 
and sow in Spring. Some species of the thorn do not 
come up until the second year after planting. We do not 
know how the Black Thorn is in this respect. 
Osage Orang-e Seed.— Several Subscri- 
bers. We have to repeat what we have already stated 
several limes, that we do not know where the seed can 
be procured. The supply formerly came from Texas, 
and other Slates now in rebellion. Seed is produced in the 
loyal Slates— but not at all enough for the demand — Now 
that the commercial supply of the seed is cut off by the war, 
those who have bearing trees are turning their attention 
to saving the seed from them, and we have several inqui- 
ries as to how it may be secured. The fruit Is placed in 
heaps until it has decayed, the seed is then washed out 
and dried. It is better'to expose it, mixed wilh sand, in 
boxes, to the action of frost, as it is then more certain to 
come up promptly in Spring. 
Allen's Cylinder Plow. — O. Kiminet, 
Sibley Co., Minn. Allen's Cylinder Plow is not made of 
steel. He has steel plows adapted for use on the prairies, 
at prices from $11) to $1S ; it may perhaps be cheaper for 
you to purchase one from some house nearer home. 
Ughtning Rods.— R. D. Warren, Mass. 
Never having seen the copper rod of which you speak 
we can not express any opinion. As copper conducts 
electricity about five times more readily than iron, it 
has an advantage over that metal, as the rod can be 
made much smaller than usual, and be equally efficient. 
Unreliable " Cures." — How many of the 
vaunted "cures" of animals of one trouble or another, 
are really due to the applications made by the would-be 
doctor? Very few, we apprehend. Give ailing animals 
good care, a loosening diet if needed, with protection from 
the weather, and in nine cases out of ten they will get well 
themselves. Nature will often effect a cure in spite of 
all manner of malpractice, which is subsequently regarded 
and heralded as the means producing the cure. 
Cheap Paint Tor Brick Walls, etc.— 
Mix hydraulic lime (cement or water lime) with water to 
the consistence of thin cream, and apply it with a brush 
like a lime wash. The color which is a pretty stone 
color, may be varied by using any of the ochres, lamp- 
black, etc. It will not hold upon wood. 
Removing: the Blair.— A lady wishes to 
know if there are any means by which superfluous hair 
can be removed from the hands and face. Several pre- 
parations called " depilatories" are sold ; but, so far as we 
have any knowledge of their composition, they contain 
arsenic, lime, or some other caustic, unsafe to the skin. 
A less dangerous but somewhat painful method, some- 
limes used in surgical operations, Is to cover the hairy 
spot with adhesive plaster, leave it on a few hours, and 
then remove it with a smart twitch, which will take out 
many of the hairs from the roots— if not all of them. Most 
of the depilatory operations are of only temporary effect. 
