1874] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
87 
Bug^s in Peas.— "W. M. S.," Vancouver, 
Wash. Terr. — Tell your neighbor that when bugs once 
get established in a locality it ia difficult to get rid of 
them. One of the best methods is to plant the peas in- 
tended to be saved for seed as late in the season as they 
will ripen. In your moist climate this ought to be prac- 
ticable; and if all the growers in a neighborhood will 
adopt, this the bug will die out. 
The Early Beatrice Pencil* — The 
Agriculturist was, we believe, the first journal to call at- 
tention to this variety. Some three years ago we noticed 
the receipt of specimens of the fruit from North Carolina 
and have kept watch of its progress since. Oar trees 
were injured by the severe cold of last winter, but it has 
been fruited in a number of localities since. Colonel Ed- 
ward Wilkins, of Kent county, Md., who is probably the 
largest peach grower in the world, has planted largely of 
the Early Beatrice. Hale's Early, heretofore our earliest 
variety, in most localities rots badly, while this is from 
ten to twenty days earlier, ships well and. as far as heard 
from, is free from rot. It is worthy of the attention of 
peach growers, and if it fulfils its present promise will 
add another leaf to the pomological laurel that crowns 
the venerable head of Thomas Rivers, its originator. 
C«ol«l Pish. — "A Female Subscriber" writes 
that the gold-fish in her aquarium will die, but as she 
tells us nothing about the aquarium we are unable to do 
other than guess. We guess that the fish die because 
the aquarium is in too warm a place or because they are 
not fed. The remedy for the first will suggest itself; 
for the other, roll soft bread into small pellets the size 
of duck shot and offer every few days. Remove such as 
are not eaten. 
A in 11 in en Mower.— English horticultural 
papers announce a new lawn-mower which is claimed to 
be effective in all respects and is sold for a guinea. This 
is what our makers will ultimately come to. Who will 
Btep in first and make a fortune by offering a five-dollar 
mower? At this price great numbers of people whose 
grass plots are too small*to warrant their using the pres- 
ent machines at $15 to $25 and upward, would purchase 
a small and effective one if sold at $5. Of course, such a 
machine as this will not auswer for those who have a 
large surface of grass ; these will continue to buy the 
large machines. The $5 machine would find its sale 
among those who have none at all. 
Malt Dust.— "J. W.," Hollidaysburg, Pa.— 
Malt dust would be a useful fertilizer for berries, etc. We 
cannot say what the value of it is, as it is not much used 
in this country. In England fifty to sixty bushels to the 
acre is considered a good dressing and equal to an ordi- 
nary manuring with other fertilizers. 
Miieilag'e, etc.— " Yosemite." — Assuming 
you refer to mucilage of gum arabic, it may be kept from 
"becoming stiff" by keeping it covered; if too thick 
add water. We have not found it necessary to use any- 
thing to prevent souring. Make in small quantities at a 
time. We Iclow nothing of the firm inquired about. 
Letters upon household and all other matters come to 
the editor, who distributes them to his associates accord- 
ing to their contents. 
Dollars and Greenbacks. - "A. D. 
F.," Iowa. — The questions you propose are of a kind 
npon which widely differing opinions are entertained, 
and we could not give space to the discussion that an 
opinion either way would open. A sufficient answer to 
your first question ia the fact that gold is the standard of 
value in all civilized countries. 
Pear Trees.— 14 J. G.," Illinois.— The north 
Side of a hill is preferable to the south; many prefer a 
north-east exposure to any other. The Bartlett is the pear 
found better adapted to a great variety of situations than 
any other and it is more profitable. Probably nine 
trees of this are planted to one of any other sort. For 
other varieties you should take the experience of those 
who have grown pears in your neighborhood. 
Tnberouis Chervil. — If any of our readers 
cultivate this we would like to have their experience. 
The seeds are offered by some of our seedsmen, but we 
never succeeded in making any grow, and we learn from 
a French journal that unless sown soon after ripening it 
rarely germinates. 
Hedge.- "R. I. T.," Bricksburg, N. J.— The 
honey locust would make the best hedge foryour locality. 
Willows.— u J. W. H."— Cuttings from the 
ai^e of the little finger to two inches in diameter ami 
from a foot to three feet long may be set a foot apart, 
making holes with a dibble or crowbar. But it is of no 
use to set them unless you can keep the ground around 
them clean and cultivated until well established. 
Norway Spruce.— "B. L. H.,' 1 Mich.— 
For a screen with trees in a single row, six feet apart is 
the proper distance. When vegetation is scarce, especi- 
ally if snow is on the ground, sheep will eat almost any 
green thing, and we should not be surprised if they nib- 
bled the spruce. 
Kational Horse Shoeing;.— u E. H.," 
Benton, Wis.— This work is sent from this oflice by 
mail for $1. 
Double Geraniums.— Mies "C. F. G.," 
Accomac Co., Va.— These need no treatment different 
from the single. In pots a better bloom may be had by 
moderate use of liquid manure. 
Camellias.— Mrs. "J. T. B.," — Camellias 
drop their buds because the air is too dry. When grow- 
ing they need a warm place, at other times a room where 
they will not freeze will answer. Can't advise about 
pruning without seeing the plants. No plants should be 
watered every day or every other day, whether they need 
it or not. Give water according to the kind of plant and 
its condition. Better allow the soil to get too dry now 
and then than to keep the roots constantly soaked. 
The IJlue-<jlrass Region of Ken- 
tucky.— "J. H. A.," Coleta, 111. The blue-grass re- 
gion of Kentucky comprises all that part of the State 
where there is a limestone soil ; where the sandstone 
predominates this grass, although it will grow, does not 
flourish as upon the limestone. The so-called blue-grass 
region lies across the middle of the State, and covers about 
twenty counties, including an area of 12,000 to 15,000 
square miles. 
Saving 1 Manure.-" H. D. B., n Ulster 
Co., N. Y. You will find descriptions of sheds for mak- 
ing and saving manure in articles in the Agriculturist of 
last month, as well as the present month. 
Cranberries. — "M. E. D.," Vineland, 
N. J. — The fruit is borne npon the growth of the preced- 
ing year. Your other questions have been answered in 
other articles. 
■lee om i ng a Farmer.-" R. E. M., n 
Pittsburg. A careful, cautious man apt to learn, espe- 
cially one who has been brought up to a mechanical 
trade, and therefore taught to use both his brains and 
hands, might soon learn to become a successful farmer. 
The first year he might expect to learn enough to enable 
him to pull through the second year with credit and more 
or less satisfaction. He should, however, closely watch 
his intelligent neighbors and consult with them, and not 
be ashamed to ask questions when necessary. 
Weo-Footed liens.-" Old Subscriber," 
Fall River, Mass. The American Coot belongs to a 
family very distinct from that to which the hen belongs. 
Besides, it is not web-footed, but has its toes only mar- 
gined with a membrane. If there is a race of web-footed 
hens in your locality we should be glad of a description 
of them, or a specimen, as you suggest. 
Animal Dust. — "J. D. S.," Livingston 
Co., N. Y. Animal dust is the dried refuse of slaught- 
ered animals, blood, bones, and offal, dried and reduced 
to powder. It is oue of the most valuable fertilizers, and 
is now manufactured entirely pure and free from adulter- 
ation. 
Foaming: of Cream. — 'iosemite." 
When cream stands too long before churning in the win- 
ter time it foams up and " swells 11 in the churn, requir- 
ing longer churning, and sometimes refuses to come into 
butter at all. Too low a temperature in the milk-room 
also produces the same effect. The butter produced un- 
der such circumstances is inferior both in color and tex- 
ture. The only preventive is to maintain a temperature 
of at least 55 degrees in the milk-room, and not to keep 
the cream more than four days before churning. 
Fresh or l)e4*oinpose<l Manure. — 
" Peachblow.''' Since the year 1853 there has occurred a 
great change in the methods of culture of potatoes. 
Since that time the potato-rot has been very prevalent in 
places where it was previously unknown. It has been 
found that fermenting manure greatly promoted disease 
and assisted the growth of the destructive Hindus ; con- 
sequently its use has been abandoned, and thoroughly 
rotted manure used instead. In England, where the moist 
climate is favorable to the potato disease, it has been 
found that superphosphate used alone tended to prevent 
its appearance, while with well-rotted manure the disease 
partially appeared, and with fresh manure the crop was 
totally destroyed. The author you refer to. who wrote 
twenty years ago, would probably greatly modify his 
views now in the light of our present information. 
What came of a Windmill ?— " J. 
T. Smith," Cedar Rapids, Iowa, gives his experience 
with windmills. He made a Windmill of the pattern 
figured in the Agriculturist of May, 1872, with which he 
run a small corn mill which ground one bushel per hour, 
by the addition of a 30-inch pulley upon the shaft of the 
windmill and a six-inch pulley npon the corn mill, and a 
? B -inch rope. He concluded that he had the cheapest 
power possible at the cost of only a few dollars until a 
sudden storm tore his mill to pieces. After some ex- 
periments he finally applied narrow strips, 4 feet long, 
to the arms, giving one square foot of surface to each 
atrip. There are 100 of these Btrips upon a wheel, 12i4 
feet in diameter, with which he is able to run a double 
corn sheller. When not in use the wheel is turned edge- 
wise to the wind. The mill, which is as simple as a 
common spinning wheel, cost $13 for material and labor. 
manure for Cucumber*.— "B. S. H." 
There is no special manure that is equal to barn-yard 
manure for any crop. But if barn-yard manure can not 
be procured, the next best fertilizer is a mixture of guano 
or hen manure, wood-ashes, plaster, and fine bone-dust 
in about equal proportions. They should be mixed quite 
dry, and used as soon after mixing as possible. 
Permanent Whitewash. —With the 
return of spring comes the usual inquiries for a good 
whitewash. We have only to repeat the following di- 
rections giren before, as follows : Take half a bushel 
of unslaked lime, slake it with boiling water, covering 
it during the process to keep in the steam; strain the 
liquid through a fine sieve or strainer, and add to it a 
peck of salt previously well dissolved in water; three 
pounds ground rice boiled to a thin paste, and stirred 
in boiling hot; half a pound Spanish whiting, and a 
pound of clean glue which has been previously dissolved 
by soaking it first, and then hanging over a slow fire in 
a small kettle inside a large one filled with water ; add 
five gallons of hot water to the mixture, stir it well, and 
let it stand a few days covered from the dirt. It should 
be put. on quite hot ; for this purpose it can be kept in a 
kettle on a furnace. A pint of this mixture will cover a 
yard square of the outside of a house, if applied with a 
large paint-brush. 
Feed Barrow. — In reply to many in- 
quiries we would say that the feed barrow figured in the 
Agriculturist ot January, 1874, is one that was made by 
one of the editors of this paper for his own use. The 
barrel was an iron-bound wine cask of IS gallons and 
the arms were of hickory, steamed and bent iuto shape. 
The whole cost of the wheelwright's work was $4, the 
rest of the work was done at home and really cost 
nothing but a few cents for bolts. A farm workshop 
ought to contain every necessary for making Buch an 
article. 
Crops for Sowing 1 to CJrass.— U W. 
B.," Templetou, Mass. Neither Hungarian grass nor 
millet is a good crop to sow grass or clover seeds with. 
One serious objection againBt them is that they come too 
late, while these seeds should be sown early. If the soil 
is well prepared and in good order no foster crop ia 
needed and the grass seed may be sown alone. We have 
raised an excellent stand of grass in this way, especially 
one of orchard grass, which, sown in April, might have 
been cut in July for hay. For clover it is preferable to 
sow it in this way, and, if the ground is rich and well 
prepared, it may be cut the first season. 
"Hooks or Haws." — "E,," Madison, 
Ohio. When the eye is destroyed and the hooks are 
affected with a fungoid growth, the best remedy is a solu- 
tion of nitrate of silver applied to the diseased parts with 
a camel's-hair pencil. It is quite possible that the removal 
of the diseased membrane by means of a sharp and 
pointed pair of scissors would be the simplest and best 
method ; now that the eye is gone there is no use for the 
hooks. 
The Cornell UniTei-sity. — The Register 
of this inslitntion for 187-J-74 is received — an exceed- 
ingly neat volume, which does credit to the University 
press from which it is issued. As an academic and 
technological college this seems to DC meeting with a 
fair share of success. It has 4t>l students, and its faculty, 
