1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
407 
question upon any particular point, wc will try to answer 
it to the best of our ability: We like such young farmers. 
Surfeit.— "J. H. S.," Union City, Pa., lias a 
horse that has the surfeit ; lie asks what can be done for 
him. The animal is out of condition or has been allowed 
to become heated and suddenly cooled. Give bran 
mashes and keep the bowels loose. Feed moist feed 
with crushed oats and a little linseed meal, but no corn. 
Keep the stable well ventilated and administer some 
tonic medicine. 
Peat or Turf as Manure. — A. 
Sprecher, Black Hawk, Wis., asks whether he can use 
turf or peat as manure, without preparation, and what 
would be the best crop to raise the first year after it is 
applied. Peat, when dried, is very indestructible, and 
in this state is a poor manure. If piled when dug it 
will on exposure to the frost become fine and fit for ap- 
plication to grass land, for which it is best fitted. For 
any other crop it is not of much valnc without some pre- 
paration. Lime (four bushels to the cord of peat); is the 
best material to reduce it to a state fit for use. 
Seed Wheat.- " J. B. M.," Hamilton Co., 
Ohio, asks which is the best seed wheat, and if we could 
send him a sample and prices ; also, if we could supply 
him with some. For our own use we would choose the 
Diehl or the Treadwell. The first is a white wheat, the 
latter an amber wheat. Both yield well and are favorite 
wheats among millers. TheDiehlis perhaps the hardiest. 
Any seed dealer whose advertisements appear in our 
columns, would supply these or other wheats at market 
prices. We do not deal in seeds, nor do wc know the 
price of these wheats. Something above the price of or- 
dinary wheat is charged by the seedsmen for seed, but 
this depends on the scarcity of the seed and its purity. 
Weeds Plowed under. — A Subscriber, 
Ora Oak, Wis., asks if a crop of weeds plowed under 
henefits the soil. Wc do not think any benefit is derived 
from permitting weeds to grow and then plowing them 
down. If weeds have grown unavoidably, of course we 
would plow thorn in, but would rather make a clean fallow. 
Great mischief is often done by permitting weeds to grow, 
in the hope of getting some benefit from them as manure. 
Seeds will mature and propagate at a very early 6tage of 
the plant, and when it is supposed to be in blossom they 
are often ready to seed the ground for many future crops. 
Wheat and Clover. — R. Garcia, Pow- 
hatan C. H., asks how to make forty acres of poor land 
grow good wheat and clover. If we could answer this 
satisfactorily, we should have no anxiety as to the source 
of onr bread and butter for all time to come. In fact, we 
should possess something equal to the philosopher's 
stone. This must be a work of time and some expense. 
Probably a dressing of lime to commence with, and grass 
gradually brought in, would be a proper course. Ample 
information on this subject can be gathered from the 
back numbers of the American, Agriculturist. 
How to Kifll Sassafras Bushes. — 
R. Garcia. Sheep will soon destroy them by browsing 
the leaves aud twigs, or they may be plowed up and 
gathered and burnt, hut many years will be required to 
effect their entire removal. This must be followed up 
by clean culture every year after the first plowing, and 
cutting the sprouts persistently C. Hoffman. We do 
not know of any way of killing sprouts by " chemicals," 
that is practicable. Cutting while in full vigor is the 
only available method. 
Wire Fences.— 3. F. Brayman, Kane Co., 
111., says a wire fence, really serviceable, is more expen- 
sive than aboard fence, with lumber at $30 per thousand. 
He builds a fence with seven wires at equal distances 
apart, posts of white oak or cedar, six feet apart, and set 
alternately on either side of tho wires, when fastened 
■with staples. Staples, however, are objectionable, and 
he recommends the posts to be bored with a half-inch 
bit and the wires passed through them. This prevents 
cattle or horses from breaking the staples when pressing 
against the wires. The extracostof this fence he thinks 
is repaid in its impenetrability by unruly cattle, who will 
readily break through an ordinary wire fence. 
Ashes— the hest time to apply them. 
— H. M. Wilson, Portage Co.. Ohio.— The best time is, 
as soon as they can be procured ; they can he spread at 
once from the wagon in which they are hauJed as easily 
as at anytime, and one time is as good to apply them as 
another. 
Uce on Poultry. — "Tormented," Me- 
tuchin, N. J., is plagu:d with hen-lice. They arc in hi* 
■ chicken-house, in his horse stable, aud in his dwelling 
house. He bought a book, entitled " What I Know 
about Farming,* 1 by a well-known author, and then 
bought a farm to carry out the ideas therein set forth. 
But an undesirable stock has taken possession of his 
premises, and his author knowing nothing about them, 
he seeks further light. — Remove the horse, wash him 
thoroughly with carbolic soapsuds daily, or twice a day, 
until he is free from them, or they will eventually kill 
him. Tear out of the stable and the chicken-house all 
the fixtures, and give it and them a coat of hot white- 
wash, with an ounce of carbolic acid dissolved in a pail- 
ful of it. Anoint the fowls beneath the wings with a 
mixture of lard and kerosene oil— two parts lard to one of 
oil. The lice will not live on the human person, but if 
among the clothes they may be got rid of by washing 
with soap and hot water. If they are destroyed out of 
doors they will disappear from the house. Burn the nest- 
boxes, and make new ones, and paint them with crude 
petroleum. Also study the back numbers of this paper. 
Glanders. — A (t Subscriber " asks if glanders 
causes a running at one nostril only, or IT both are affect- 
ed. In its first stages it is almost impossible to distin- 
guish glanders from nasal gleet. Glanders is shown by 
the nature of the discharge, which is gluey and sticky, 
and often adheres to the nostril, and is also glossy in ap- 
pearance. The lining of the nostril is also ulcerated, 
and there is a peculiar expression of the nose, caused by 
the raising of the nostrils, which wc have never seen in 
any other disease. In gleet the nostrils are of a dull, 
leaden color, without any spots, and the discharge runs 
or parts freely and is not adherent. 
Curry-Comhs and Cards.— G. Pauls, 
St. Louis Co., Mo., uses a curry-comb which he says is a 
great improvement on the old-fashioned square ones. It 
is rounded on the corners, and is more convenient to use 
on this account. He wants a good card to scratch stock. 
In this item of cards an improvement is much needed. 
The old-fashioned one is of the weakest description, and 
soon becomes clogged with hair, dust, and dirt. What 
is wanted is a metal frame shaped like a gridiron, on the 
bars of which the teeth are fixed. This will give room 
for the dirt to pass through, and it can be easily cleared 
from all such matter. Then, with good steel-wire teeth, 
such a card will do good service. 
Pears Cracking.-" J. G.," Redding, Ct. 
We can not tell you why your pears crack, aud we should 
like to see some one who could. 
The Peerless IPotato.— Harry Oopsey, 
having seen a statement in the A^ T. Evening Post that 
the Peerless was a failure, writes that he planted half a 
bushel on April 24th, and on August 19th dug nine and a 
half bushels of the finest potatoes he ever saw. 
Horses Slohbering; or Running: at 
the Ittouth.— J. C. Adams, Kalamazoo, Mich., wants 
to know why his horses are thus affected after pasturing 
on young clover. "Is it the clover, or, if not, what is 
it? "—We can not tell ; it has been a subject of investi- 
gation with the writer for some time, but it has not yet 
been traced to a satisfactory source. It has been said to 
be caused by St. John's wort in the pasture ; but our 
fields, or at least the one specially concerned, was quite 
free from this weed. Others attribute it to the webs 
of spiders, thickly woven over the fields, which are 
taken up with the clover into the horses' mouths. Can 
itbe any acrid principle in the young clover which affects 
the salivary glands? We suggest the following experi- 
ment: Feed the grass cut from the field which produces 
this effect, in the stable, carefully examining it, and ob- 
serving that it be free from any weeds, and also from 
spiders' webba. If the effect still continues, it may be 
attributed with certainty to the clover. The slobbering 
may be stopped by feedings quart of bran at a meal. 
I.ime for Trait-Trees and fbr 
Land. — T. A. Stout, Adams Co., Ohio, asks how he 
should apply lime to his soil, which is a light "poplar 
and sugar-tree" laud, produces well, but does not last. 
Also if lime is good for young fruit-trees. — Lime must be 
used cautiously and with judgment, as it is exhaustive if 
not backed up with a good deal of vegetable matter. It 
should never be mixed in a compost heap when stable 
manure is the main ingredients. When sods, weeds, 
ditch-bottoms, swamp-muck, leaves, etc., are used, then 
lime maybe mixed in. It will hasten the decomposition. 
In general, when barn-yard manure is used, that should 
be first plowed in ; after that the lime should be spread, 
according to the amount of inert vegetable matter in the 
soil, at the rate of from 10 to 50 bushels per acre. Then 
harrow in the seed with the lime. Land in which lime- 
stone exists is improved by lime equally with that free 
from ft; because limestone is practically without effect 
on vegetation. Lime is very beneficial to young trees, 
bnt, as with other crops, fruit-trees will not grow on 
lime and ashes alone. 
Grass in Wheat.— E. S. Mndgett, Bel- 
knap Co., N. II. The plant scut is Chess, or Cheat. 
I>raft of a Roller.— " L. D. I.," Beau- 
fort, Mo., wants to know whether the tongue of a roller 
should be opposite to its center, level with the axis, or 
framed above the roller, to secure the lightest draft. It 
will make no difference, theoretically ; the draft in both 
cases must be from the axis of the roller, and therefore 
the least cumbrous and simplest mode of connecting the 
tongue will be direct from the iron rod which passes 
through the center. Every inch, however, that the frame 
is raised above this point will raise the line of draft from 
a perpendicular to the plane of the horses' shoulders, and 
so a proportionate amount of the horses' labor will be 
expended uselessly. 
Tall Wheat for Ufame.— A "Subscriber," 
Manhattan, Kansas, sends us a sample of wheat yield- 
ing thirty-five bushels per acre; weight per bushel, 
sixty-five pounds. It is a very fine white wheat and looks 
like White Mediterranean, but we have found so much 
dissimilarity between Eastern wheats and those growu 
west of the Mississippi, that it is difficult to name it 
with certainty. 
Rrich-Clay.— An " Old Subscriber," Fall 
River, Mass., has some swamp land underlaid with a bed 
of bine clay. How can he try experiments in brick-mak- 
ing without burning an entire kiln ? First ascertain if 
the deposit is sufficiently extensive to be available for 
brick-making, and induce a brick-maker to examine it. 
He will eay at once if the clay is suitable. 
What is the flatter -with the 
Sheep ?— H J. R. K., 1 ' Clarksville, Tenn., has lost some 
sheep in the following manner, viz., they leave the flock 
and refrain from feeding. Before they die they swell up, 
and a frothy foam escapes from their nose. These are 
similar symptoms to what we have eeeu follow poisoning 
with laurel (Kalmiaangustifolia). If this plant is found 
on J. R. R.'s farm, we think this is the cause of the 
trouble, and it should be thoroughly eradicated, as sheep 
will occasionally feed on it if it is within their reach. If 
not past remedy when discovered, sweetened milk given 
freely will lead to a recovery. These are also symptoms 
of rot, but this disease is not very frequent in this coun- 
try, except in very wet pastures. If on parting the wool 
the ekin is seen to be of a yellow color on the brisket, 
and the eye has lost its bright color and appears pale and 
muddy at the corners where it ought to be bright red, 
then the disease maybe the rot. The animal should be 
destroyed, lest it communicate the complaint to the flock. 
Ventilation of Iee-IIouses. — I. M. 
Graham, Pinewood, Tenn., sends a sketch of his ice- 
house, which does not keep ice very well. The air is 
warmer in the house in August than outside. Should 
there be ventilation ? If so, where and how much ? The 
principle involved in this question is, that where there 
is evaporation the temperature of the surface at which 
the evaporation occurs is reduced. Also, there can be no 
continued evaporation unless the air is in motion. There- 
fore, when a enrrcntof air is admitted iuto the upper part 
of an ice-house, the moisture is carried off, renewed evap- 
oration occurs, aud the temperature is lowered. So that 
rain and sunshine arc excluded and the covering is abun- 
dant, the ventilation may be as free as possible, bnt only 
at the top. See illustration of ice-house in this number. 
Xhe l*raii*ie Farmer. — In the great 
calamity which befell Chicago, the daily papers were all 
euspeuded. We are glad to learn from Mr. Thomas, one 
of the proprietors, that it fared better with the Prairie 
Farmer. They were able to save their subscription 
books, files, aud much other valnable material, and the 
regularity of their issues was not interrupted. Of course 
the destruction of their building is a great inconvenience 
to the proprietors and all concerned, but they, with trne 
Western energy, will soon he at work again as if noth- 
ing had happened. 
Drain-tile Machine.— " D. II.," Page 
Co., Va., wants a good drain-tile machine. There are 
several of these machines manufactured, and it would 
seem to be to the interest of the manufacturers to adver- 
tise them. 
How to Oet the Seed out of 
Clover.— " R. O.*" There are machines called clover- 
hullers, for this purpose ; but nearly all of the seed may 
be got out by placing a board in front of the common 
thrashing machine and leaving only n small place for 
