1874.] 
AMR RICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
127 
Cml»t»a<>-c Plan&s.— Sometimes one can 
drop nothing and make trouble. Peter. Henderson & 
Co.'s advertisement for last month offers plants of Jer- 
sey Wakefield Cabbage at $1 per thousand. In making 
up the page a dropped out. It should have read "$10 
per thousand "— and cheap enough at that. 
Your TOnrac— -Miss "R. E." writes to know 
if a certain journal is still published. Information of 
this kind, of interest to but oue person, can only bo 
given by mail. All making such inquiries should send a 
stamped and directed envelope, a directed postal card, or 
at least a letter stamp. Had the question been other 
than of personal interest, it would not have been an- 
swered, as the lady did not send her name. We can not 
notice anonymous letters, and we hope all readers will 
bear this in mind. Sign letters as you please, but gi7e 
as the real name beside. 
I'urdy's fhrorao.-A. M. Purdy, pub- 
lisher of the Small Fruit Recorder, Palmyra, N. ¥., 
sends out a fine fruit piece. It comes at the very mo- 
ment of closing these pages, and we can only say that it 
is a very handsome and creditable production. 
Sanflonl Corn.— "A. 8.," West Brighton, 
N. Y., sends us his experience with what he purchased 
as the Sauford corn aud which he understood was to he 
an early corn. It turned out to be remarkably prolific 
of fodder, but very sparely so of seed, and his crop, 
planted on the 15th of May, failed to ripen at all. yielding 
about 30 bushels per acre of unsound corn.— Our own ex- 
perience with this same corn was very similar. With ns 
it was inferior to the common white flint corn. If would, 
however, probably succeed better in a lower latitude than 
that of New York. 
Elcagnus parviloliiis. — "B.," La 
Porte, 1ml. This is a very neat shrub, and promises 
well as a hedge plant, but has yet to stand the test of ex- 
tended trial. We saw a good stock of it in the nursery 
of Thomas Meehan, at Gerinantown, Pa. 
Safe Oils.— "C. M.," Springfield, Mo. If 
there iB no inspector of oils in your State whose brand is 
a safeguard, you must test the oil yourself. No oil should 
be used which gives off a vapor that will flash at a lower 
temperature than 110°. An inch of oil put in a deep tin 
cup and heated should not give a vapor that will take firo 
when a match is held above the oil at a less temperature 
than 110*. It is not convenient for every one to do this, 
as few have a suitable thermometer, hut every grocer 
who sells kerosene oil should have an apparatus made 
for the purpose of testing it, and be able to assure his 
customers of its safety. Insist that your grocer shall 
give you good oil. 
Poultry Book.- u G. H. H.," La Grange, 
Mo. L. Wright's Practical Poultry Keeper is probably 
the best work for those who desire to keep poultry for prof- 
it. It must be remembered that no one book of moderate 
size could be exactly adapted to every person's particular 
requirements. It will be always necessary therefore for 
the student to adapt his own circumstances to the general 
rules or ideas therein given, which any person of ingenu- 
ity ought to he able to do. If one can not do that, but 
must have particular directions for every emergency, he 
is not the man to succeed with poultry, which require 
more tact in their management than any other stock. 
North-western Da-irymcn's Asso- 
ciation held its annual meeting at Woodstock, 111., 
commencing February 10th. The attendance was large 
"and the proceedings interesting. The dairy interests of 
the North-west were shown to be exceedingly flourishing 
and the business profitable. The production of cheese 
had been sufficient to displace Eastern cheese to a large 
extent in Western markets and leave a surplus for foreign 
export. The burden of the speaker's remarks were the 
improvement of quality of cheese and butter by means of 
care in feeding, perfect cleanliness in mil king, and in 
the daily, order in every department, and honesty in ali 
dealings. The following officers were elected: Pres- 
idents. Favtll, of Missouri i Secretary, G. E. Morrow, 
of Wisconsin: Treasurer, R. R. Stone, Illinois, with 
fifteen Vice Presidents, representing Iowa, Illinois, aud 
Wisconsin. 
BSreaking; Prairie.— " J. H. B./» Has- 
tings, Neb. The common way of breaking prairie sod 
renders it necessary to plant a crop of sod corn or let the 
son lie fallow until it rots, when it may be cross plowed. 
It is best to follow the custom of the country in this 
respect, especially for new beginners and those from 
England, where everything is so different from things 
here. By using two plows, one following the other, iq 
the name mrrow, the sod may be covered with mellow 
soil, but it is doubtful, even then, if clover or mangels 
would thrive the first year. The sod requires reclaiming 
by a process of rotting or decomposition before it is 
available as food for plants. We would adviso you to 
keep the seed until next. year, when yon will have this 
year's breaking to replow, and break all you can this 
spring, so as to have as large a crop of corn as possible, 
which will doubtless be found useful. 
ISook oil Horses. — "A. B.," Cass Co., 
Iowa. The best work we know of upon the management 
of horses is " The Horse in the Stable and the Field," by 
Stonehenge; price $3.60, at this office. 
As to Patented Articles.— "G. B ," 
Oneida Co., N. Y. If patented articles have it not dis- 
tinctly stamped or marked upon them that, they are pat- 
ented and the date of the patent, then the patentee must 
notify the oik; who infringes before he can enter a suit 
against him. The butter-tub you refer to mayor may 
not be patented ; we can not say as to thai, but it is very 
certain that oaken butter-tubs, which are larger at one 
end than at the other, have been in use for many years 
back, and. unless there is something else about, them 
which is novel, there can he no valid patent on such a tub. 
For all information about procuring patents apply to the 
patent department of this office. 
S>og l»ower.- u L B.," Oxford, Ohio. 
Among the really useful dog powers probably the best 
is one made on the plan of the common horse power; it 
is sold for $35 and may be driven by a sheep or a calf. 
Tallow Scraps.— 41 J. J. B.," Monroe 
C« . N. V. Tallow scrap contains skin and more or less 
fat is it has been well or badly pressed. The fat, is use- 
less as manure, so that the skin is the only valuable part, 
and the value obviously depends upon the character of 
the scrap. For manure we should hesitate to pay $30 a 
ton for it, but would do so to use it as food for hogs or 
poultry, for in this way the fat and digestible parts would 
be utilized, and the skin or indigestible parts would be 
in much more valuable condition for manure after pats- 
ins through the animals. 
"BromophTto. M - "C. II., " Bullitt Co., 
Ky. We do not know of what this fertilizer consists. 
Any fertilizer, the composition of which is kept secret, 
should be regarded with suspicion. We will not adver- 
tise or advise the use of any compound of this kind. 
Delay in Replies.— If our correspondents, 
when writing for information along with other business, 
would remember our frequent request and place their re- 
marks or queries upon a separate piece of paper from 
that on which they write about their other business, in- 
closing both in the same envelope, they would much 
facilitate the reply to their inquiries. Letters sometimes 
lie over a whole month for want of this precaution. 
Contraction of tSae Hoot*. — "J. H. 
D.,' 1 Stouts, Ohio. Contraction of the horn of the hoof 
is an effect and not a primary disease, and the lameness 
is a symptom of the obscure disease which causes the con- 
traction. It may be caused by chronic founder or lami- 
nitis or by a diseased navicular hone, either of which is 
incurable. If it is not caused by the above it may 
result from had shoeing and cutting away the frog, in 
which case a Goodenongh shoe should be used and the 
frog in future be left entirely uncut. Contraction of the 
hoof rarely or never occurs when the frog is allowed to 
come to the ground. 
Government Itelj> for Colonies. — 
Charles Stumm. The government gives no help in the 
shape of seed, implements, or passage money to home- 
steaders. It is enough that it gives a free homestead, 
upon which a man must work his own way to independ- 
ence. We do not advise persons without means to go on 
to a homestead. They suffer hardships and disappoint- 
ments, which are apt to disgust them with their position. 
Frost IMstnrbing a Cellar Wall. — 
"B. It.," East Killingly, Ct. When the fall rains 
saturate the ground and the winter frosts follow, the wet 
ground in freezing expands greatly. This expansion 
pushes in the cellar wall, and as the north side is the 
coldest that side suffers most. The remedy is to have 
a drain to carry off the water from around the house, 
for when the soil is dry or nearly so frost has but little 
effect upon it. 
Heat for a Compost.— "C. H.," Hill- 
view. Ky. A compost heap of stable manure aud leaves 
will heat np very rapidly and will soon be in danger of 
firo "anging unless plentifully supplied with moisture or 
turned over to reduce the fermentation. As a rule nothing 
but a loss is made by keeping manure piled up, so as to 
heat very rapidly. We would draw it out and spread 
it at once where it is to be used. 
How Many Bundles of Oats to an 
Acre.— "T. A. M., n Owensboro, Ky. The number of 
bundles of oats there maybe to an acre upon good land 
depends upon tho size of the sheaves. The best crop 
we have raised, which is probably more than the average 
and of which on that account we kept a record, amount- 
ed to nearly 600 sheaves to the acre. The yield of grain 
was one bushel to a dozen sheaves. It was a large 
strawed variety with heavy grain, the seed of which was 
imported from Nova Scotia, and therefore might not 
be a fair test, hut it is the only one that occurs to us. 
Plaster npon Wheat.-" A. H.," Litho- 
polis, Ohio. We have seen no reason to believe that 
plaster has any benefit whatever upon wheat. Clover, 
corn, peas, potatoes, and perhaps oats are the only crops 
for which we have found it of service. 
Preserving Posts.— " W. F. C.," Albany, 
N. Y., sends us as a plan for preserving posts a receipt 
which has been widely published in both agricultural 
aud scientific papers, the editors of which ought, to have 
known better. It is to paint the posls with linseed oil 
in which powdered charcoal has been mixed. This is 
said to make them indestructible, but it can have no* 
more effect than any -other paint. The charcoal, being 
merely a surface application, can not. prevent the decay 
which takes place in the interior of tin; post from natural 
causes, nor can it prevent moisture entering by way of 
the minute cracks which are found in the limber; and 
where moisture and change of temperature occur, decay 
takes place, unless there has been a chemical change m 
the wood by some active, penetrative agent. 
The Gardeners* Monthly.— What is 
the matter with it ? Has it changed editors, or wdiat has 
happened? In the March number a correspondent asks 
the editor to tell him something about "Jerusalem arti- 
chokes." Whereupon, after mentioning the proper arti- 
choke, some learned writer says : u Another artichoke is 
that called 'Jerusalem.'' It is a sort of sunflower, and 
' Jerusalem' in this case is nearly the sound in English 
of a French word Which signifies sunflower. 11 Weal- 
ways thought a knowledge of ancient, and modern lan- 
guages a good thing for au editor to have, and we are; 
now more than ever convinced of if. The French names 
for this so-called artichoke are Toplnamlxmr and Poire- 
daterre, and that for the sunflower in general is soleSt. 
If any one can make these words sound like Jerusalem 
we have no doubt it is the learned friend of the G. M. ; 
but we would suggest that he would meet with better 
success if he tried first on the Italian word for sunflower, 
girasole. The article continues: "We suppose it was 
called artichoke by mistake, by some one who did not 
know any better, and then sunflower bad to be tacked 
on to distinguish it. This [what? having sunflowers 
tacked on ?] happens even in this day to the best of us." 
A sad moral reflection, but behold how it is pointed and 
adorned : '" The editors of Hearth and Home and Amcr- 
ieati Agriculturist , for instance, arc among the most in- 
telligent in the country, and are seldom caught asleep, 
but [so Jove sometimes nods] they did once figure and 
describe a plant, which is really Ttdinum patens varle- 
galum, as Boussingaidtia Lacfiattmii. So, for distinction, 
we have to say Humboldt's Boussinganltia when we 
mean the real Madeira-vine, and Thurber's Boussin- 
gaultia when we speak of the other." There I if that 
does not make the whole Jerusalem artichoke business 
"as clear as mud in a wine-glass' 1 then there is no virtue 
in illustrations. What interests us most in this remark- 
able illustration of the statement that editors, like com- 
mon mortals, arc liable to make mistakes or have sun- 
flowers "tacked on to distinguish 1 ' them — we hardly 
know which— is the positive assertion that the editors of 
Hearth and Home and American Agriculturist have Li fig- 
ured and described" a plant under a wrong name, and 
actually done this in the case of Toli/wm patens varie- 
gatmn — which they did flgnre and describe as B&ussin- 
gaulUa Lachavmii. As at the oidy time when this fla- 
grant error is likely to have been imposed npon a deluded 
public Heauth and Home was edited by Mr. Donald 
G. Mitchell, wc leave him to excuse himself to the 
tribunal of the G. M. (not Great Mogul, but Gardeners 1 
Monthly) as he best may. Hut for ourselves, the little 
we can say must be in extenuation, and in the humble 
hope of mitigation of sentence. A new plant was intro- 
duced for the beauty of its leaves alone, Now, we ap- 
peal to the Gardeners' Monthly if it is an unn donable 
sin, and one to be remembered foryeareand lo be brought 
up against the one who commits it in its own page*, 
wdierc to he held up as a warning and terror to evil- 
doers is better thin, to b;- praised <]•.■,■ hen- ? T 3 he Ihc 
