174 
AMERICAN AaRICULTUKIST. 
[June, 
Oestatf OM of Cows. — Two ueighbors 
have gone to law about Ihe danuige arising from a bull 
ruuning at large, contrary to the laws of the State of 
Iowa. The animal ran with four cows of the plaintifT. 
One of them caheJ williin -10 weeks, the others were ex- 
pected to, at furthest, within 45 weeks. To decide the 
length of lime a cow may go with calf, is of interest to 
all parlies concerned. The period of gestation varies, 
more or Jess, in all animals. The average period in the 
cow is considered 40 weeks. Tiie late Earl Spencer 
iiept a record of 764 cows; Ihey averaged between 284 
anl 285 days. Blane says he kept an account of 160 
rases, which varied from 241 to 308 days. Tessier says 
he found it to vary from 240 to 331 days, in 070 cases. 
Bergen considers the average period 280 days. Youalt 
makes the average 270 ; (this is probably an error). Man- 
vie records a case of a cow going 16 months; the calf 
died. There is a case recorded in 1831, in the Veterinary 
School of Utrecht, of a cow carrying her c;df 15 months, 
less 2 d:iys; the calf lived. The shortest period of 
gestation that we find recorded, where the calf lived, 
was 220 days. The authorities cited are reliable. 
Scratolics siuH Cirease arc scarcely 
known in well \t'nlil;ited stables, where cleanliness and 
care are exercised in managing horses' feet. J. B. 
Cheeseman sends his method of treatment, which is as 
follows: "Cleanse the heels with soap suds, and, when 
dry, apply hot lallow with a swab. One application is 
sufficient. Fish brine, or a coaling of common white 
lead paint, are equally efficacious." We appiove of your 
application of warm waler and soap, and rubbing the 
parts dry, after which tlie wliite oxide of zinc ointment, 
or a little glycerine, will be found excellent applications 
for these diseases. They can be obtained of any good 
iipothecary, are easily applied, and free from danger ; 
which is not tlie case with the remedies you mention. 
IJcc on llos's.— ''E. J. D," Mercer Co., O. 
—The Swine Louse (Ilamatopinus Suis) is readily de- 
stroyed by a strong decoction of quassia wood ; tobacco 
water is also used, but requiies especial caution in its 
application. A little benzine, dissolved in alcohol, ap- 
plied with a shaving brush, or piece of sponge, is said to 
be a certain cure, but, like tobacco water, requires care 
in its use. The pen should be kept clean, occasionally 
wliilcw ashed, and the bedding changed frequently. 
"^Viutcriug- Hogis on Xiiruips.— 3. M. 
Thurston, Dacota Co., Wis., writes ; "I have wintered 
my hogs on raw ruta-bagas for two winters, and think 
them better than polatoes." Sow ruta-bagas (m good 
deep soil in June, the earlier the better., 
Xlic Slieep Sliesiriug-s. — There are a 
number of shearinc festivals appointed in various parts 
of the country. They are of local interest, and we hope 
will be well managed and well attended. In rapid and 
close sheaiing. hurn;ine care for the comfort of the 
sheep, rather, we miglit say, care not to torture the poor 
animals, is not given sufficient weight iji deciding the 
merit of the shearers. Should occuriences of particular 
interest transpire, we hope to receive reports. 
Meat Itoues— I>oii'l; Burn Xliont.^ 
Make soup from them, then sledge them up fine, and feed 
them to the hens, or hogs, saving the manure of these 
animals. Or throw them broken fine into a heap with 
horse manure, peihaps making a regular compost, after- 
wards of the manure. Thus you save, and utilize on the 
farm or garden all the nitrogen (as ammonia). When 
they are burnt, even if the ashes be saved, all this is lost. 
Solution of ISones l>y Acid. — " Verd- 
ant Farmer" asks how to dissolve in oil of vitriol. It is 
rather a difficult thing to dissolve bones well. It is best 
not to do it in a hurry. Sledge up (down ?) the bones as 
small as you can conveniently, ]Mit them into a half- 
hogsliead tub (made of an oil cask), filling it half full ; 
wet them with water, so as to moisten the whole mass, 
and leave it a day or two, stirring to make all moist. 
Then take of oil of vitriol, about half the weight of the 
bones, dilute It by pouring it carefully into an equal 
qviantity of watei', or more— (it will become very hut, and 
may spatter), and pour this upon the bones. Stir thor- 
uughly and often— daily, for a week, mashing and break- 
ing the lumps. Add more water, if necessary, to be able 
to stir the mass, and finally dry off by addition of bone 
dust, sawdust, coal ashes, dry leached ashes, plaster, or 
muck. If big pieces of undecomposed bone be found, 
rake them out. This drying operation is best done 
on an earth floor. 
Wliy Oo Cattle 4jJua>v Old Bones?-- 
"H. H.," Westchester Co., N. Y.. asks; "What is the 
cause of cattle wanting to be chewing pieces of old 
bones, as is the case with mine? I give them salt, but 
they refuse it, and if they can find an old bone they would 
chew it all day if I would let them. Can you tell the 
cause?" You have sold corn, hay, milk, veal, young 
cattle, cows, etc., off your place, until the bone-material 
phosphate of lime is so nearly exhausted that the animals 
have got the " bone disease." Feed them a little bone 
meal daily, for some time, and sow bone dust on your pas- 
tures, and mowing land. It will greatly increase your crops 
besides. This advice is good for thousands besides you. 
Barley Spronts as manure. — "J. S.," 
Tamaqua Co., Pa., has used the barley sprouts of the 
breweries, with veiy good lesulls on potatoes and other 
vegetables, (two handfiils to the hill of potatoes!, and 
asks, if it can be regarded as a substitute for stable ma- 
nure? No, not by itself. Composted with swamp muck, 
and adding lime, ashes, plaster etc., to the soil, in mod- 
erate quantities, it may substitute stable manure. 
Autltraeite Coal Ashes. — ** New Sub- 
scriber" writes: "An English writer states that the 
ashes of English (bituminous) coal are good to mix with 
animal manures, to absorb or retain, till needed by vege- 
tation—those good qualities of the manure which might 
be lost ; or as I umterstaiid it, that they might have the 
same effect, in some degree, as plaster," and asks : " Are 
the ashes of anthracite coal of any value for the same 
purpose?" — Yes— but not of uniform value. Screened 
free from clinkers, they make a good addition to dting 
composts, or may be used alone on grass in autumn. 
^Vinterin^- Bees, Buried and Kx- 
posed.—Bidwcll Bros., Ramsey Co., Min., send us the 
following communication, which has special interest for 
bee-keepers. We print it, hoping to leceive from our 
correspondents a statement of their method of burying 
their bees. They write:— "On the 26lh of October last 
we selected ten stocks of bees to winter out of doors, 
and weighed each. On March 25th (nearly five months) 
we weighed them again, and found the following lesult: 
Ocf. 26. March 25. Loss. 
75 lbs. 55,^ lbs. I'J'^Ib; 
81 Vi '* 53 '2 " 273^ " 
73\' " 47 " 26^^ " 
73'^ '* 4BH *' 25':^ " 
73K " 47,'i *' 26 " 
Oct, 26. March 25, Loss. 
4 lbs. 41'ilbs. 323^ lbs. 
77V " 49K " 28 " 
19^ " 53K " 26 " 
77^ " 51 " 26'^ " 
70 " 46J^ " 23'^ " 
Whole number of pounds of lioney consumed, 265 
Average consumption in each hive 26 Ji 
The thermometer ranged from 08 above to 33 below zero. 
We buried in the ground eighteen miscellaneous stocks, 
October 26th, and re-weighed them the 27lh of March, 
with the following result. There were eight hives in the 
bottom tier, six in the middle, nnd four in the top tier. 
Oct. 26. March 27. Lous. 
92>< " 
.... 79jr " . 
■ ■ 13« 
82 " 
.... 19'4 " . 
• . 12« 
91 « " 
....-,9% '• . 
..11J< 
90,1^ " 
.... 803i " . 
.. 9!,- 
e7« " 
....7e« ■• . 
.. 8?i 
T2<i " 
.... 65)^ ■' . 
.. 7 
87 " 
....80 " . 
... 7 
82 " 
....75Ji " . 
... 6« 
87 " 
.... 18>,i '• . 
... 8X 
93 " 
.... 86Jf " . 
.. 7;i 
90 " 
.... 83 " . 
... 7 
90;i " 
.... S3X " . 
... 7 
78 " 
.... T2H '■ - 
• • 53i 
mx " 
.... 65K " . 
.. 4 
63;< " 
.... 60V " . 
... 3 
67 " 
....HU " . 
... 2if 
i6H " 
.... H'4 " . 
... 2 
Total amount of honey consumed,.. 
Average, 7 5.9 lbs. 
*' We might remark that the greatest stocks out of doors, 
and the strongest in the ground, consumed proportion- 
ately the most honey. Those at the bottom of the pit 
less than those at the top. The dirt was four feet through 
at the bottom, and only one at the top. The stocks that 
wintered in the open air lost about half of tlieir numbers, 
while those buried increased some, and came out bright. 
We shall bury all our bees next winter." 
To Stop Cliipinuelcs Pnllin^s^ Corn. 
— S. M. T. says his neighbors " soak their corn in a decoc- 
tion of tobacco, and it has invariably put a stop to the 
depredations of the Chipmucks." .Still, he asks for a bet- 
ter remedy. Why Is not this good enough ? 
JTIixing: ot* Plants.— G. Riiil, St. Louis, 
Co., Mo., and others. According to the laws of plant life, 
as we now understand them, admixture of different kinds 
of nearly related plants, can only take place through the 
seed. That the fruit -which encloses the seed may be 
changed by cross impregnation is quite probable, but it 
is not proven. Carrots and beets may be raised for seed 
in close proximity to ruta-bagas, or any other turnips, 
without the slightest chance of any change from this 
cause, although the turnips or the other vegetables may 
deteriorate, for the reason that ihe plants were not well 
grown. As to the question of potatoes mixing in the 
hill, we have many assertions that they will do so, but 
no proof, and we should require evidence, such as would 
convict a man of murder, before we could be convinced 
of the truth of the statement. That potatoes may vary, 
and that a colored variety may produce tubers partly 
white, or a white variety yield those having colored 
markings, we can readily admit, but instead of atlribut- 
ing'it to any influence of mingling sorls, we should 
rather ascribe it to the breaking out of some latent pecu- 
liarity. We have seen one branch of a grape vine pro- 
duce leaves mottled, and margined with wlute, and so 
with other plants, and see no reason w hy, under favoring 
circumstances, potatoes, which are merely branches pe- 
culiarly developed, should not sport as well. 
Scll-Resnlating: Fountain. — S. D. 
Newbro, of Ingliam County, Michigan, writes that he 
employs for securing a small but regular discharge of 
cider into the sawdust leach box, in the process of 
making vinegar in the quick way, an apparatus similar 
to the one here figured, in which K is a reservoir, T a 
trough connected with R by 
a pipe, the pipe entering 
first a box below, from 
which the flow into the 
trough is regulated by a 
valve attached to the float 
F. When the float rises to 
a certain hight, the valve 
closes, but re-opens again 
when the cider is drawn 
down. The spiggot, S, is inserted at any convenient 
place in the trough. Mr. N. suggests the value of this 
contrivance for maintaining a regular flow of sap into 
the evaporating pans in maple sugar making, and also its 
application as a fountain of fresh water for poultry,— for 
which purposes it is available, if the valve close lightly. 
^Vest JTersey Fruit CJro^vers* Asso- 
ciation.— The second annual Report of this Society is 
at hand. It is a modest little pampldet, but much more 
valuable than some of greater pretension, as it records 
the experience of its members with certain varieties of 
fruits, in a concise and definite manner. Any one living 
in Burlington Co., and wishing to know wdiat fruits suc- 
ceed there, can find in this little report just the infonna- 
tion he needs. We have looked over its contents with 
interest, and commend the example of the West Jersey 
Association to other Horticultural Societies. 
Catalogues, etc.. Received. —John 
Vanderbilt, 23 Fulton street, has issued a new illustrated 
catalogue, full of engravings of everything in the way 
of agricultural and horticultural implements, from a 
threshing machine to a garden rake, with descriptions in 
both English and .Spatush The Report of the State 
Board of Agriculture of California is at hand. Though 
it treats mainly of local matters, it abundantly shows 
that the people of that State fully appreciate their wond- 
erful natural facilities for making California a leading 
agricultural State, and mean to improve them. 
Xlie Vegetaljles of America.— A uew 
editionof this work, by Fearing Burr, Jr., has been publish- 
ed by J. E. Tilton & Co., of Boston, and is a most elegant 
specimen of book-making. The letter-press, engravings, 
and paper are of a character not often seen in books of 
this class. With regard to the matter, it is a most useful 
compendium of the cultivated vegetables, giving descrip- 
tions of varieties, with interesling notes conceining their 
origin and history. Although it was not within the inten- 
tion of the author to write a hand-book of practical 
gardening, he has given biief directions for the cultiva- 
tion of the different varieties of vegetables. Both aulhor 
and publishers can congratulate themselves upon having 
produced a work that is both useful and elegant. 
Trininting: Fruit Trees. If ''Yotiug 
Farmer" had read the calendar carefully, he would have 
learned that fruit trees may be " trimmed" at any con- 
venient season with the knife, but that limbs large enongli 
to require the saw are best removed in summer or later. 
Spring- Buddin;;: llie Peacli.— Several 
correspondents state that they liave been more success- H 
ful in budding tho peach in sprinc; than nl any olher time. 
The twigs containing buds should be cut before vegeta- 
tion starts, and preserved in the same manner as cions. 
Flo-^vers for Sliady Situations. — 
The Pansy and the Forget-Me-Not. the Primroses and 
Nemophilas, all do well. For these last, we wish to 
speDk a special kind word. The N. mnnilafais one of 
the largest, white, and blotched with violet. iV. insj^nis, 
is sky blue, small, but a great bloomer. N. discoidalis, 
is a rich maroon, bordered with white. They are all 
Californian anmials of the easiest culture, and if they 
have a partial shade, will bloom freely. 
I 
