286 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[AVGUBT, 
{^ i-K ii«1 stones ESibbb l>y llic Foot. — 
M. F. Dean writes: "A grindstone may be hung to 
turn with tlic foot without friction rollers by using the 
common axle of the hardware stores, and running the 
bearings in boxes of hard wood. Witn a little practice, 
a person can do a job of grinding, and turn with the foot, 
in one-half of the lime it will taketo do the same with 
another to turn, and do it easier. The best, sized stone 
for the above purpose is one weighing from one hundred 
to one hundred and fifty pounds, and rather thin. I look 
upon friction rollers as of no use, and frequently a nui- 
sance. The bearing* should lie kept well oiled." — While 
Mr. Dean is no doubt right in the statement that a heavy, 
thin stone may be run by the font with considerable case, 
we still retain our high opinion of friction rollers. 
BSog- Cholera. — This is a disease about 
which we have no authoritative opinions from veteri- 
narians who have carefully investigated the disease and 
indicated the means to be used for n cure— at least, 
means indicated by successful practice. Our readers 
will find a brief basket item on the subject of cures, in 
the May number. Mr. VC. II. Rousseau. M. D., of Iowa, 
sends us the following, which we hope may be thorough- 
ly tried and reported upon. Sulphite is a powerful anti- 
septic, not poisonous, and largely used in human prac- 
tice. He writes : "The sulphite (not sulphate) of soda 
will both prevent and cure hog cholera. For a prevent- 
ive give ten grains of the sulphite of soda three times 
a day in their slop or water. For a cure give thirty 
grains of the sulphite three limes a day. For a bad case, 
perhaps more should be used for the first few closes. The 
length of time for which the preventive should be used 
would depend on the cause. ^ 
f ITIi<* Cos tie <«;*r<l< rs I/ibor Ex- 
change — A notice of this establishment in the Agri- 
c/l/i/nst for July has excited so much interest, and the re- 
marks made about the rascalities of the Greenwich Street 
intelligence-offices have received such complete endorse- 
ment from those who have been victimized, that wc arc 
happy to give other fact* in order that the benefits of the 
Labor Exchange may be more widely realized. During the 
year ISfiS, which was the first year of its full operation, 
more than 31.000 persons were provided with places; 
more of these went, to New York and New Jersey than 
to all the rest of the United States. This year the number 
given employment will probably exceed 40,000. During 
a large part of the year labor is in excess of the demand, 
and consequently employers have considerable choice 
and wages are lower. During the busy farming season, 
however, the demand is greatly in excess of the supply, 
wages are high, and even boys are quickly engaged by 
the farmers at full rates. The demand is most active 
just in the haying season. It is very desirable that the 
emigrants should go farther from NewYork than most 
of those do. who are hired out from the Office. Col. Can- 
tador, the chief clerk of the Labor Exchange, and his as- 
sistants are usually able to supply laborers or mechan- 
ics to parties applying by letter, giving proper references 
and sending money to defray the emigrants' expenses. 
He has found great difficulty in sending men to their 
destinations, who have not valuable luggage, and now 
only such are sent. Some good men become perplexed 
and bewildered on the road, think, perhaps, they are 
lost, and join some parly of emigrants, or accept em- 
ployment of some one before they reach their journey's 
end. If their chests can bo checked through and the 
check sent, by mail to the employer, the men arc 8UT6 to 
find their way. Hence it is that at hurried seasons letter 
orders for help are so hard to fill. It is, however, much 
better for the fanners or other employers of a district to 
club together and defray the expenses of one of their 
number or of some trusty man as their agent, who should 
come on, make selections and engagements, and accom- 
pany the. laborer? all the way home. An agent so ap- 
pointed should bring documents lo show who be is, and 
that the employers are respectable and responsible men. 
No opportunities are given to persons Wishing to secure 
settlers upon wild lands, nor tn any except those wish- 
ing to hire laborersat fair wares. The ljargain with the 
laborer is not made by the Office, but it is settled between 
the man or woman and the employer, and the current 
rate of wages is well known by theemigrants. 
Pasturing Mowing Lands. 
Tt is the custom among average farmers to feed off the 
second growth of their meadows. In our opinion the 
hay crop of America is vastly injured, both in qunlity 
and quantity, by this practice, and the value of the fall 
feed is in the long run much less than tbe value of the 
extra and better hay that would result if the practice 
were discontinued. We are often cautioned not to feed 
off the aftermath so closely as to leave no protection 
against frost. The fine mat of dried grass remaining on 
a field during the winter has but little influence against 
the action of a frost which penetrates sometimes to the 
depth of from three to five feet into the soil ; no doubt, 
even a slight coating of grass on the surface, like a thin 
mulch of straw or seaweed, by preventing frequent freez- 
ing and thawing, has a beneficial effect, both by prevent- 
ing the throwing out of roots in winter, and by really 
making tbe soil richer. But there is a belter argument 
than this. If forest trees are cut off at the ground in the 
summer lime their roots almost invariably die, or the 
shoots that they throw up the following season arc feeble 
and scanty; if, on the other hand, they arc allowed to 
grow undisturbed, until after winter sets in, and arc then 
cut off, the shoots which grow from the stumps the next 
year will be much more numerous and more vigorous. 
If a field of turnips were mowed over early in August, 
the leaves being entirely removed, and were then allowed 
to grow undisturbed, the roots would attain a tolerable 
size ; but. if the cutting were repeated two or three times 
during that and the following month, very little root 
would be formed. These examples illustrate the well- 
known action of nearly alt perennial and biennial vege- 
tation during the latter part of the growing season. The 
plant starts in spring by using the nutritious matter stor- 
ed in its root ; and in the case of grass, and probably of 
most other plants, matter is deposited in the roots during 
the latter part, of the season, after the full development, 
of leaves, and in the case of seeding plants after the seed 
has been perfected. We may expect — indeed, practice 
proves — tljot we shall attain comparatively the same 
rcsnlt from the late summer cutting or feeding of our 
meadow lands, that we wonld from a similar cutting of 
a forest or of a turnip patch. Meadow trasses start in 
the spring without available leaves. They form fresh 
leaves out of the matter stored in the roots. They then 
go on, and by the aid of these leaves produce more leaves, 
stems, and seeds. At the proper time wc cut off almost 
the entire plant. If left to itself from this time on, it 
forms enough new leaves to accumulate a large amount 
of plant nutriment, in the roots, ready for the early growth 
of the following season. We interfere with this process 
by cutting off the leaves after the first hay crop is remov- 
ed ; or by allowing them to be eaten off by- pasturing 
animals, we reduce the store of nutriment, on whose 
abundance the abundance and early maturity of the next 
season's crop largely depend. We are now stating general 
principles, rather than precise directions ; for many field* 
so situated as to commence their growth early in the 
spring, and whose soil is rich, mny be mowed twice 
during the season, without, material injjiry. This is 
a question of practice that must be decided according to 
the circumstances of individual cases; but as a rule it is 
safer not to crop too closely and it is as well demonstrated 
by practice as it is proven by theory, that the excessive 
removal of the growth of the latter part, of the season is 
a permanent injury to the crop. In addition to this, which, 
in our view, is the strongest objection to the pasturing 
of mowing lands, the disturbance of tbe soil by the 
hoofs of animals, especially during wet weather, is a 
serious disadvantage. The degree to which this will 
operate as an objection depends on the character of the 
land. If a meadow produces two and a half tons of good 
hay in each year, that is enough to ask of it. At any 
ordinary agricultural price it is paying a very large inter- 
est on its cost; and the length of time during which it 
will continue to do so, will depend, more than on any- 
thing else, on the care with which it is treated after the 
main crop has been removed. 
After Potato Digging. 
The usual crop after potatoes is weeds, which have 
ample time to mature their seeds before frost, comes, and 
to make trouble for many years afterwards. Few farmers 
estimate the amount of damage done to their lands by 
this untimely seeding. We have seen land so stocked 
with charlock, Canada thistles, and other weeds, that the 
cost of all hoed crops upon it was fully doubled. Their 
presence depreciates the value of the oats and barley, 
and even of grass, No grain or grass seed fit to be 
sold can Ik; raised upon it, and even the manure made 
from the feeding of such crops is less valuable by reason 
of the foul seeds. Yet many farmers press right on 
stocking their land with weeds, as if they were a most 
valuable crop. The potatoes arc dug and marketed in 
July, or early August, and the ground lies waste for the 
rest of the season. If crops are not wanted, the oppor- 
tunity should be improved to destroy weeds. Plow the 
land as soon as the potatoes are off. After ten days go 
over it with a harrow. This will destroy a second crop 
of weeds. In ten days more go over it with a brush 
harrow, which will destroy a third crop. In two weeks, 
follow with a harrow, and so on. until the frost comes in 
November. A second crop may be taken from the pota- 
to ground. If not in good heart, sow good superphos- 
phate, or Peruvian guano, at the rate of 300 lbs. to the 
acre, on the old rows. Go over the rows once with a 
cultivator. Sow turnip seed sparingly upon the fresh 
soil, and put them in with a light one-horse harrow or 
bush. When the turnips are up, cultivate between the 
rows, and keep these spaces free from weeds. The tur- 
nips will soon shade the ground, and prevent the growth 
of weeds in the rows. There are frequently lime months 
or more between the early potato harvest and the closing 
of the ground, and in this time a fine crop nf white tur- 
nips may bo grown at a cost of less than six cents a bushel. 
They are excellent for young cattle, and will assist ma- 
terially in making beef and mutton. Sometimes the po- 
tatoes come off early enough for buckwheat or the win- 
ter grains. If manure is judiciously used, two crops 
in a season may be taken from the soil. 
Sending Honey to Market. 
BY M, QUINSY. 
" Q.," Brownsville, Minnesota, writes : " I expect, to 
have a large quantity of honey to sell this year. It is 
quite a bee country along the Mississippi, and the mar- 
ket, in places, becomes glutted sometimes. Can I send 
my surplus by rail, two hundred miles, without having it 
smashed? What kind of boxes are best for traiiRporta- 
tion by rail? 1 '—The kind of boxes will make but li tt lo 
difference. No box ever invented will save it from being 
" smashed" unless more rare is given to tbe handling 
than we have ever been able to seenre. I have had some 
experience in sending honey to market by canal, and 
a very little by rail. The breaking docs not occur on the 
car or boat, but in handling. It was long before I could 
feel any confidence that it would go safe, even by water, 
but now I feel quite secure. Owe freighting firm in this 
vicinity carried over §00,000 worth of box honey to the 
New York market last fall, and not a pound was broken 
on the way. I formerly packed the glass boxes, contain- 
ing honey, in close, firm cases, marked, "Handle with 
Cam," "This Sipf, Up," etc., but invariably, the first, 
thing seen on its arrival in market was a stream of 
honey from the cases, and every box reduced one-half in 
value. It was then suggested that, as every man that 
handled produce would comprehend that gloss could be 
broken, though Ihc thinnest window pan. is will stand ten 
times more jarring without breaking than honey-comb, 
that if they could see the glass, they might take a little 
care. It worked like a charm. I made cases, holding 
about 50 lbs., 15 inches by 30, and inches deep, 
as follow- : on the longest sides I nailed narrow strips 
like lath, bottom and top, leaving an open space where 
the glass sides of the boxes could be plainly seen when 
placed inside. I nailed handles on each end, and found 
these simple devices more effectual in securing gentle 
handling than any outside care. The men arc sure there 
is glass there, for they can see it. I have sent, hives of 
bees weighing eighty pounds full of heavy sheets of 
comb, a thousand miles by rail, safely, by putting springs 
under the bottom, and so fixing the top that, nothing 
could be set upon it. I think the above-described cases, 
with a little alteration, can be sent with equal safety. Give 
two inches more in (lentil, and make springs, say of the 
staves of an old Hour barrel. Put three of these inside, 
on the bottom, the middle one bending in an opposite 
direction from the other two; or springs may be made 
of coiled wire, and one placed in each corner. On these 
springs lay a second bottom, and on this set the boxes. 
Label the top of each case "This Side I"])," "Handle 
with Care," in large letters ; and if it is kept and han- 
dled so, it will be all right. These carriers should be 
made to pay all damages. A few lessons are needed. 
It would be best to make a special contract with the 
transportation agents. By having the springs inside of 
each ease.they can be piled without danger, one above an- 
other, which could not be done if they were on the outside. 
Harvesting Clover Seed. 
A Maryland subscriber of the Agriculturist inquires as 
to the best method of harvesting clover seed. We may 
not be able to tell him the best method, for what is best 
in some circumstances may not behest In others. But 
wc can tell him the method that we ourselves adopt. If 
there Is a large growth of clover, it should be harvested 
with reference to its value for hay as well as for seed. In 
this case we cut it as soon as the earlier blossoms are 
dead ripe, and while the later blossoms are quite green 
and the stalks and leaves full of sap. Such a crop will 
not yield much seed, but if carefully cured, the hay, after 
the seed is Ihrashed out. makes valuable fodder. We cut 
it with a mowing machine and rake it into windrows, 
turning them as often as necessary, and getting the par- 
tially cured hay into small, well-formed cocks as soon as 
