204- 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
so the hardest frost will not affect the hud or head." 
We must apologize to our readers for publishing this 
farrago, but it is the best way to show up the absurdity 
of the thing. Much more nonsense might be quoted from 
Best's circular, now before us. A concern in Baltimore 
puts out a similar compound, which contains the same 
ingredients, but in different proportions. The case is 
just here. We have no doubt that a solution containing 
a considerable amount of potash and carbonate of am- 
monia, (an expensive article) if applied to fruit trees, or 
plants in general, will prove a serviceable manure, and 
that trees so treated will produce much better results 
than if altogether neglected, but no better than if given 
a generous supply of barn-yard manure every year. The 
whole secret lies in inducing people to do something with. 
their trees. This patent application acts upon the same 
principle with all the " hair renovators," the directions 
for which read, "apply the liquid, and brush it in for 
half an hour." If people could be induced to use the 
brush for half an hour without the "renovator," the same 
result would be obtained. We are at loss to conceive 
how any one can read the circulars relating to these 
" Tree Invigorators " without seeing the ignorance and 
stupidity they display, and the preposterousness of their 
claims. The Ohio circular says: "When applied to 
the tree it penetrates every pore, destroying the worm in 
the heart, and by connecting with the mineral substances 
of the earth, destroys the cause and prevents the crea- 
tion of any destructive insect," and bo on, and so on. 
The Baltimore pamphlet says : " As an insect destroyer, 
applied to the tree or plant, it aims, by subtle action 
through the pores, (what pores?) to reach the worm 
(what worm ?) wherever it has penetrated, while it will 
also combine with the mineral elements of the soil, to 
destroy the producing germ (what is that ?) and prevent 
the creation of the hostile insect." It seems to us that 
this is a dangerous thing that proposes to interfere with 
"creation." Now, if any one wishes to invest $5 in the 
Maryland or the Ohio recipe, let him doit, but we ask 
everybody to please stop writing us about the " Tree In- 
vigorator." Our time and space are too valuable to be 
devoted to such absurdities. We have "said our say." 
"Muck "— "WJmt is Muck?"— This 
question comes to us almost every month in the year, 
aud now and then we answer it, as we would be 
glad to do twelve times in a year if that were necessary. 
" Muck is money," says an English proverb. Muck is 
manure in English parlance, and covers pretty much 
every thing that is soft or moist and pasty. We apply 
the word almost exclusively in our agricultural technolo- 
gy to the partly decayed vegetable matter of swamps and 
peat mosses — even applying it to peat fit for fuel, if it be 
used as manure or as an absorbent in cattle stalls. After 
getting it out, let it freeze and thaw, or if on drying it is 
not very hard and lumpy, compost it with lime and it will 
become fine and crumbly. It is often rich in ammonia 
and always useful in composts. 
4'9ii|> Manure. — A subscriber says he has 
a quantity of chip manure on a email farm and w r ould 
like to know if it is good as a top-dressing for wet land. 
[Not very]. " Is it valuable for composting with other 
fertilizers?" [Yes]. "Is it good for dry land, plowed 
or harrowed in?" [Yes, both]. In short, well-rotted 
chip manure is very good for almost any soil and for all 
crops, if there are not too many wire worms in it. To 
kill these, compost it or mix well with lime and salt, or 
lime slaked with brine. 
liquid Mamire.-'C. M. F.," Boone 
Co., Iowa. The excrement of sheep or other animals 
may be used in the liquid form. Pat up a barrel as for a 
leach and draw off the strong liquid from the bottom ; 
dilute this to the color of ordinary tea, and apply it to 
plants only when they are in a growing state. If used 
when the plants are checked by drought it will prove in- 
jurious. On the small scale there is no better way than 
to apply it from the spout of a watering pot. It will be 
better to draw away the earth from around the roots of 
the plants, apply the liquid manure, and when this has 
soaked away, replace the earth. It need not be applied 
oftener than twice a week. 
"Weiglit of Rouen anil Aylesbury 
Ducks. — As mentioned on page 209, these ducks, if 
pure and well bred, are very much heavier than common 
ones. Good-sized common ducks weigh from 6 to S lbs. 
per pair. Aylesburys which would weigh less than 10 
lbs. would be below par, while Rouens ought to exceed 
this weight by 31bs. at least to be considered fair birds. 
Such are, however, only " fair." Choice breeding stock, 
when fat in the autumn, ought to bring down 16 lbs. at 
least ; and American breeders ought not to be satisfied 
until they can compete with the English, and produce 
birds of both breeds which will weigh IS lbs. to the pair. 
We believe that at the last Birmingham show, the 
prize Rouens weighed lOU lbs., aud the Aylesburys were 
nearly up with them. In 1S6G, at Birmingham, the three 
prize trios of Rouens weighed respectively, 19, 18>4, and 
17Si IbS'i and the best trio of Aylesburys, 18 lbs. 
Xexas Fever. — B>airy StocU for 
Illinois.— W. J. Jutkins, Champaign Co., HI., asks : 
1. " Is there any danger in pasturing cows on land where 
cattle have died of the Texas fever last year? 2. Is there 
any remedy, should there be any attacked with the fever? 
3. Also, what breed of cows would be best adapted to 
this locality for a butter dairy ? 4. Will cheese pay bet- 
ter at 25, than butter at from 35 to 40 cents per pound? 
1. We suppose there is no danger at all. 2. So far as 
known, there is no cure, though medical treatment has, 
it is claimed, cured some cases. 3. With our present 
knowledge, we would recommend the Ayrshires, as being 
likely to produce, with good-sized Western cows, a su- 
perior class of cows for cheese making. 4. Cheese would 
pay better than butter at the prices named. 
A Bl>roolin«' Cow. — Horses are apt to 
drool or slabber when fed on certain kinds of fodder, 
but cows are not affected by such feed, and drooling is, in 
our experience, a rare thing with cows. " J. S. G." has 
a drooling heifer, which is fed and treated like other 
cows which do not drool. Wc would try sponging her 
mouth out three or four times a day with oak-bark tea, 
or dilute alum water, (the former being probably pref- 
erable,) letting her swallow some of the decoction. In 
case it should produce constipation, the second or third 
day give a pound of epsom salts, and an ounce of pow- 
dered ginger. If tried, please report the result. 
Xricliina. — A correspondent writes that he 
is informed that pork must be boiled in order to kill the 
Trichina, should it be present, and that frying will not 
answer. There can be no danger from the parasites if the 
pork is thoroughly heated through, so that all parts shall 
be brought to about the temperature of boiling water, 
and it makes no difference whether this is accomplished 
by boiling, frying, broiling, or roasting. The pork must 
be well done, and done entirely through Raw ham is 
daily exposed for sale in the city restaurants, as is raw 
sausage. Why do not the Board of Ilealth stop it? 
The appearance of an illustrated article on Trichina in 
one of the pictorial Weeklies reminds us that the first 
popular account ever given of this parasite appeared iu 
the American Agriculturist in April, 1866. 
Gravel-wall, or Concrete Houses. 
— Moses Hadley, Ind. You will find in the February, 
March, and June numbers of the American Agriculturist 
for 1865, fall directions and numerous hints and sugges- 
tions in regard to making gravel-wall buildings. We 
know of no late treatise on the subject that has not a big 
axe to grind in the shape of some patent. This materia!, 
if good ingredients are used, is very cheap, durable, and 
strong, and there is no trouble about securing a hand- 
some rough finish. Smooth sticks, three inches in di- 
ameter, placed in the lower course, twelve to eighteen 
inches apart, and drawn up as the wall rises, make a 
series of tubes, which prevent dampness striking 
through, and enable one to plaster on the inside without 
furring off from the outer wall. 
Trial ol" Mowers and Hay-mak- 
ing Tools.— The New England Agricultural Society 
announces a trial of Mowing Machines and other haying 
tools, to take place at the Agricultural College farm, Am- 
herst, on the 22d to 25th of June. All entries must be 
made before Saturday, June 10th, at the office of the Sec- 
retary of the Society, Col. Daniel Needbam, Boston. 
Entrance fees as follows: Mowers, $50; Tedders, $25; 
Horse-forks, $20; Horse-rakes, $20. 
I^o^ging:. — G. A. Porterfield, of Jefferson 
Co., W. Va., wants to know how to get logs out of a 
stream by which he can float them down to his farm. 
The banks are not high. It would not pay to have a 
regular " way" built, unless there were to be great use 
for it; but any ordinary logs could be rolled out thus: 
fix two timbers extending from the bank into the water 
at some distance from the shore, get the log parallel to 
the shore and resting against these skids ; pass two ropes, 
each attached to the upper end of one of the skids, under 
the log and back to the shore. A pair of horses at- 
tached to each rope will roll out a heavy log. One pair 
made fast to both ropes would probably roll out common 
16-foot logs. The ropes may be attached to a set of blocks, 
or to a windlass, and thus power enough be applied by 
a single horse or by hand even. 
Affiieiiltural Colleges.— J. T. Huger, 
Tyler Co.. West Va. Yon will find statistics in regard 
to the various Agricultural Colleges in our Agricultural 
Annual for lsitf. The Michigan College is the oldest . and 
is now in successful operation. Some Michigan people 
oppose it in the hope of serving certain ends of their 
own, but it still has a moderate support from the legis- 
lature. The Massachusetts College has been in operation 
only a short time, but it is already a success. The Penn- 
sylvania College has been reconstructed so many Times 
that it cannot be considered as being established with a 
permanent policy. The Illinois Industrial College is still 
in the embryo state. If the Cornell University at Ithaca, 
New York, has made any provision for agricultural edu- 
cation it has not informed us of it. Other schools, 
especially in the Western States, are in a more or less 
advanced state. 
AgrrieuEtnral Papers a Power.— 
Very few who do not read the correspondence of the 
agricultural papers have any idea of the hold they have 
upon the people. We do not often publish the com- 
mendations which come to us individually, but here is 
one which is so general that we give it as a specimen of 
hundreds. " C. C. D.," Minnesota, says : " I take four 
different papers, but we can hardly wait from one 
month to the next for our papers to come." " C. C. D." 
will find his questions about Roueu Ducks answered 
elsewhere in the present issue. 
Asparagus. — " G. E. S.," Middletown, O. 
There is no reason why an asparagus bed cannot be 
made as well in autumn as in spring. All hardy herba- 
ceous plants, of which asparagus is one, do better if 
transplanted in the fall than in the spring. The making 
of asparagus beds in spring is laid down in the books, 
and it seems very difficult to get people to take a com- 
mon-sense view of the matter. Any thoroughly hardy 
plant may be set without detriment whenever it is at 
rest and the soil is ready. 
IVtitmcfts in California,. — The N. Y. 
Tribune has the following ,* " The nutmeg tree is indigen- 
ous to California. There is not a large number of the 
trees in the State, but nutmegs were gathered and sold in 
Placer county many years ago." The vitality of an error 
like the above is astonishing. The same statement ap- 
pears every now and then in some paper, and now it is 
the Tribune's turn to keep it alive. There is in Califor- 
nia an evergreen tree, related to the Yews, which from 
the shape of its nut is called the California Nutmeg Tree. 
It is no more a nutmeg than a Horse-chestnut is a Chest- 
nut. The botanical name of the tree is Torreya Cat/for- 
nica, the genus being named in honor of Professor John 
Torrey. There is a Torreya in Florida, a third in Japan, 
and possibly a fourth In China. The tnoa nutmeg is as 
widely separated from the Torreya as a peach is from a 
pine tree. The resemblance of the fruit of the Torreya 
to the nutmeg ceases with its shape. As to flavor, the 
wooden nutmegs of Connecticut would be preferable. 
^lissisqnoi Water and H'owclers. 
— Several have written us about them. A chemist of 
reputation and employed in a responsible position under 
the TJ. S. Government informs us that the Missisquoi 
water contains a smaller amount of mineral constituents 
thau ordinary well water, and that he considers it a very 
pure and harmless water. We have no knowlegc of what 
the advertised u Missisquoi powders" arc, but if they 
really represent the Missisquoi spring our advice is to 
stick to the well or pump. 
Wheat after Oats.— H. M. Tappan, Ful- 
ton Co., O., writes : " I have about ten acres, plowed 
up two years ago, it being a heavy sod. It has been 
planted to corn two years in succession, and is now iu 
oats. Will it pay me to sow it to wheat next fall ? The 
land is very rich, and is partly sand, and some clayish 
loam." — Ans.~~ It will probably pay to sow wheat on very 
rich land. If too much richness is not taken out of it, 
your wheat will do well. Of this you must judge. It is 
a very bad rotation, ordinarily, to let wheat follow oats. 
Put on three hundred pounds of Peruvian guano, ami 
the wheat will probably do well enough. 
Stveet Corn. — The lady who sent the sam- 
ple of dried sweet corn is informed that it \va* remarka- 
bly fine. The owner of the patent dryer in which it was 
prepared should advertise it. 
Sensible.— " G. H. S.," Beaver Dam, Wis., 
believes in obtaining the experience of others through 
agricultural books and papers. He says: "I have a 
strong conviction that there is no occupation in this 
western country in which systematic labor and persistent 
brain work are more needed than in farming. I am also 
just as thoroughly convinced, that if the business men of 
onr country were to transact their business with as little 
system and head work as do most of the farmers, not 
one in ten could sustain himself for fifteen months."— 
Mr. P., wc shall be glad of your experience, and the fact 
that vou are unaccustomed to writing is no obstacle. 
