1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
247 
Guano.— "R. K.," Newark, wants to know 
how and when to use guano. This being a very soluble 
and concentrated manure, should be applied early in the 
season. For corn or potatoes, mix in the proportion of 
one part of guano with three of fine, dry earth, and apply 
a handful in the hill at planting. For vegetables, bar- 
row or rake in the guano at the rate of 500 pounds per 
acre just before sowing. For strawberries or the lawn, 
apply about half the above quantity just as the growth 
commences in the spring. It is apt to burn a crop if the 
season be dry, 
Maimriii- Clieap Land.-C. D. Koch, 
Pcarlington, Miss., lives in the piney woods where land 
is worth ten cents to $1 per acre, and is therefore sup- 
posed to be unable to repay the expense of proper ma- 
nuring and cultivation. He wants to know if manure is 
roughly spread on in big lumps and plowed under, 
whether he cannot subsequently get the full benefit of it 
by plowing and cultivating.— Most certainly not. Ma- 
nure in big lumps cannot be properly decomposed, and 
is not in a condition to yield to the soil its full amount 
of fertility. To get the full benefit of manure it must be 
well rotted, and in a fine state of division. It must he 
evenly distributed in the soil, so that each plant may 
get an equal share, or the crop will be very uneven— some 
parts getting too much, and others none at all. In this 
way neither portion will be benefited. The fact that land 
is worth but $1 per acre does not necessarily make it un- 
abletoyield to an improved system of cultivation. Where 
land is cheap and labor dear, the effort should be to 
make the crops as large as possible, and return most for 
the labor expended. The first step towards this is to 
use manure most efficiently. 
Master on Wheat.— Luke Townsend, 
Black Water, Bel., asks about plaster on wheat in stiff 
clay soil, that brings eight bushels of wheat per acre. 
This land certainly needs il doctoring," but plaster isnot 
the thing needed. We would recommend lime at the rate 
of twenty-five or thirty bushels per acre. 
Lime oh Corn-StnlVble.— J. H. Muss en, 
Center Co., Mo. To lime a corn-stubble most profitably 
where manure is scarce, the ground should be plowed 
and sown with buckwheat early in July. When the crop 
is in full blossom, but before any seed has matured, it 
should be plowed under, and carefully harrowed. After 
a lapse of two or three weeks, spread evenly what ma- 
nure there is, and cross-plow the field thoroughly. 
Twenty-five bushels of slacked lime per acre should now 
be spread, harrowed in, and the seed (rye if the ground is 
poor, wheat if it is in better condition) may be drilled in. 
Such a field should be sown with clover (one peck per 
acre) in the spring, and that clover to be left on the ground 
the first year, and the second year turned under. 
Superphosphate on Mea<low 
Lands. — J. M. Cowles, Norfolk, Conn. Guano, which 
would cost a little more than superphosphate, will he 
preferable for meadows. It would not be wise to apply 
either to very dry land, especially in a dry season, they 
would both burn the grass. On moist land, guano might 
be applied successfully in any season. 
Peas Tor CJreen Manure. — J. M. 
Graham, Pine Wood, Tenn. Peas make a heavy crop 
of stems and leaves, and are considered specially bene- 
ficial to land by reason of the dense shade afforded. 
To sow them for green manure, the land should be 
plowed, and if a drill is used, barrow; if not, the peas 
may be sown on the plowed ground and covered 
by drawing the harrow across the furrows on its back. 
When the peas are in blossom, turn them under, and 
don't cross-plow until they are rotted. In the South the 
cow pea is used ; further North the common field pea, or 
the black-eye marrowfat. The time of sowing will de- 
pend on the time you want to use the land. Two 
months will be required for the peas to come into 
blossom. 
Red Corn.— "A. W. M.," Ind. We do not 
know of any special virtue in red corn that would, when 
fed to the mare, cure scours in a colt Probably a change 
from green to dry feed would have this effect. Colored 
corn is said by millers to make {•tronyer feed than white 
corn. The greater proportion of oil contained in it is 
supposed to be the reason of this. 
Salt-fisli as IVInnnre. — A subscriber 
Alexandria, Va., asks what he shall do with 250 barrels 
of salt herrings. Take the herrings near to where you 
want to -use the manure, throw up a bank of earth a foot 
high, and spread on that a layer of herrings 6 inches 
thick, then put a layer of earth — the surface soil of the 
field— then fish, and so on until your stock is exhausted. 
Cover the sides, ends, and top of the heap with soil to pre- 
vent the escape of the ammonia which will soon be 
abundanth' produced. Leave the top dishing, to receive 
the rains. When decomposition has somewhat reduced 
the mass, turn over, and when well decomposed, spread 
on grass or plow it in for corn. If you have an old 
pasture or waste ground, whence you can get sods, use 
them or any similar waste matter in the compost. 
Improvement of Marsh Lands. — 
ft J. Wood, Portage Lake, Mich., wants to know how to 
bring into cultivation a marsh. which has a layer of twenty 
inches of black muck, resting on an impervious white 
sand. First, drain. The manner of properly doing this 
may be learned from Waring's "Draining for Pn fit/ 1 
When drained, plow thoroughly in the fall ; in the spring, 
spread fifty bushels of freshly slacked lime per acre, and 
harrow until the lumps are well broken up. Sow to oats, 
and seed to timothy. On such a piece of land, this grass 
will take though sown in the spring. 
Clover. — A Subscriber, Beaufort, Mo. 
Where frosts are not severe or injurious, clover seed may 
be sown in the fall, say August or September. A dry Bea- 
son would prevent a good catch anywhere. Early sow- 
ing in the spring generally takes the best. 
Potatoes iwrowinig to Tops. — Wm. 
H. Erwin, Mifflin Co., Pa., has a very rich lot that he 
plants in potatoes, and they grow to tops only. He 
wants to know if cutting the tops would do any good, 
and if so, at what time. This lot is probably in need of 
a rotation. If very rich, a crop of ^cabbages taken off 
would bring it into condition for potatoes. The yield 
has sometimes been improved by preventing the tops 
from maturing seed-balls. Cutting off the blossoms 
would effect this. 
Wire Fencing;. — J. P. Smith, Hinds, Co., 
Miss., asks will it torn cattle or hogs, also about its 
relative cheapness. A good two-wire fence will turn 
cattle if properly put up. Its first cost will he more 
than with hoards at $'20 per thousand. A wire fence 
that would turn hogs would be worth several times as 
much as the hogs. The cheapest way would be to fence 
in (not out) the hogs with a tight hoard fence, and make 
them earn their living by working up coarse manure. 
Potatoes in new Ground. — John P. 
Kast, Mechanicsburgh, Pa., has raised a crop of potatoes, 
partly in new and partly in old ground, and finds those 
from the new ground had a brown streak through them, 
and that the Harisons thus raised were "sad" when 
boiled and Bmelt disagreeably. There is nothing sur- 
prising in the fact, that the Harisons were sad when boil- 
ed. They are not only very generally sad themselves, but 
the cause of much sadness to those who unwittingly eat 
them. The brown streak and bad odor is probably owing 
to the abundance of undecomposcd vegetable matter in 
the soil. Among Pennsylvania farmers it is considered 
best to take a crop of grain, generally buckwheat, off new 
ground before planting to potatoes. 
Curing Hay.— R. L. Cooper. You will find 
in the June number of the Agriculturist, page 219, direc- 
tions for curing hay. The green color can only be pre- 
served in the hay by drying quickly and in the shade. 
The least heating or fermentation will destroy it. Asa 
slight heating is considered an improvement to clover 
hay, the green color cannot he preserved when it is cured 
in cocks. Timothy hay may be cured so as to retain its 
green color hy constantly turning, and putting in the barn 
the afternoon of the day it is cut. It does not require so 
much curing as clover, being less full of sap. 
Tintotliy Hay.— F. Kraft finds his hay to 
be so dusty that it chokes his horses when thrown to 
them, and wants a remedy. If timothy hay is not dry 
when put into the barn, some mold will gather on it, 
which makes a dust very hurtful to horses. On limed 
soils hay will be dusty, and the dust acrid and productive 
of coughs. If wetted before feeding, the dust would be 
prevented in a measure, but if cut and wetted, the dust 
would be effectually prevented from injuring the horses. 
Salt, spread on the hay when put into the barn, a few 
handful 9 at a time, will prevent mold and keep down 
dust, as the hay will be always a little moist. 
Curing: Clover Hay. — George Muih, 
Carrolton, Ind., cuts his clover from the Gth to the 15th 
of June, or when about one-fourth to one-third of the 
heads are browning; cuts, according to quantity aud 
labor force, from two to sis acres at a time ; commences 
about four o'clock in the afternoon, cuts nest morning 
until nine or ten. sees that all the clover cut is evenly 
spread; at noon he commences raking (where first cut) 
in light windrows, at the same time starts the team to 
load and haul into the barn. His hay-mow is 14x50 feet, 
12 feet high, with a jointed floor ; on this he commences 
spreading evenly at one end, about the thickness of a 
middle-sized forkful ; he thus goes over the whole mow, 
then sprinkles a little salt overall the hay, in quantity 
about as much as he would give his stock if the hay was 
not salted, rather less, than too much. Next he goes 
through the same process until the mow is filled up. He 
is careful to tramp and pack the clover as little as pos- 
sible, to let it settle of its own accord. Further, he 
places in the mow every eight feet a ventilator, to permit 
evaporation, and prevent the hay from molding. These 
ventilators arc made each from two planks six inches and 
two planks eight inches wide, aud fourteen feet long, to 
reach to the top of the hay ; the planks are bored full of 
holes with a two-inch auger, and form an inside space of 
six inches square ; they are set on the floor, and propped 
until the hay supports them. He learned this evaporator 
plan many years ago from the Agricultwist . Where 
the clover crop is light, this plan would do; but with a 
crop of two tons per acre the clover would heat in the 
barn and probably take fire or become worthless. He 
does not give time for a heavy crop to become cured. 
Grass Seeding in tlie Fall.— E. A. 
Goodell, Minnesota, has a piece of land sown to barley, 
and wants to seed to grass this fall and cut a crop of hay 
next season. He has also two or three high knolls, soil, 
sand and gravel, which he would plant with trees, and 
asks what kinds be should plant. If the land is in good 
heart, it may be successfully seeded to timothy this fall 
by thoroughly harrowing, spreading some fine manure, 
and sowing and brushing in eight quarts of seed per 
acre. If clover is desired to be sown in the spring, put 
on only six quarts of timothy, and early in spring four 
quarts of clover. Those knolls might be planted either 
to fruit or timber trees ; but if planted, the young trees 
should be kept well cultivated until established. On 
just such soils, sainfoin succeeds, and it is a question 
whether it might not be profitable to introduce that, 
plowing in a crop after a few years to enrich the soil. It is 
not wise to plant poor spots with fruit or any other trees. 
Gang: Plows.— "M.," Chowchilla Creek, 
Cal., says that in the San Joaquin Valley three or four 
gang plows are in more common use than any other ; 
further north, "in the sand," four to seven plows are 
used in a gang. For a four gang, ten-inch plow, a team 
of eight good mules are used, and work from daylight to 
dark, and keep in good condition, fed morning aud 
evening on all they can cat of wheat and wheat straw. It 
would have been an interesting item to know what 
amount ofland can thus be plowed in a day often hours. 
"M." does not inform us on this very material point. 
Colic in Horses. — A. M. Alexander, Miss. 
— In this disease, prevention is better than cure. Colic 
may be prevented by care in feeding. When succu- 
lent green fodder is used, such as the blades and tops of 
the green corn, colic is common. It is caused by the pro- 
duction of gas in the stomach and intestines from the 
fermentation of the food, or hy permitting the horse to 
drink too freely of cold water when tired and exhansted 
by work. Feed sparingly of succulent food until the ani- 
mal has become accustomed to its use. Water often and 
give little at a time and never either immediately before 
or after a feed. If the horse has been permitted to be- 
come very thirsty, give no more than half a pailful at a 
time; letting fifteen minutes elapse between the drinks, 
until he is satisfied. If notwithstanding all care, he is 
troubled still with colic, give him 2 oz. sweet spirits of 
nitre and 1 oz. tincture of opium in half a pint of water. 
If necessaiy repeat in half an hour, adding 1 oz. tincture 
of aloes. Any spirituous medicine should be carefully 
administered. If no inflammation be present a pint of 
rum with half an ounce of pure ginger might afford relief. 
Fast-Walking: Horses. — Geo. S. Myers, 
Lcwiston, Pa., says he has a colt four years old that can 
walk a mile inside of ten minutes. If our correspondent 
can procure another animal of equal walking capacity, he 
would have a valuable team. 
SSroken-winded Ilorse. — "H. C. M." 
asks if "anything can be given to a broken -winded horse 
to stop his blowing while he is working ?'— We know of 
nothing. Feed him on moist, cut-feed, sr.y S lbs. of 
chopped timothy hay, S lbs. of bran, and V2 >'>s. of ground 
oats, peas, barley, or corn, per day. The main object 
should be to let him have sufficient nutriment without 
overloading bis stomach. And he shonlo never be work- 
ed for an hour or two after eating. Let iim have all the 
food and water he wants in the evening, but comparative- 
ly little before he goes to work in the morning. When 
he is brought to the stable at noon, give him half a pail- 
ful of water, with a pint of meal stirred into it. Then 
