4,8 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
To Nurserymen, Florists, etc.— Wo 
have received a circular from the lt Verde Horticok Lyon- 
eats" tlie purport of which is that they would like to 
receive the catalogues of dealers in all parts of the coun- 
try. The Secretary of the Cercle is our esteemed corre- 
spondent, M. Jean Sisley. Rue St. Maurice, Mouplaisir, 
Lyon [Rhone], France, to whom all catalogues, etc., 
may be addressed. Wc may remark here that Lyons is 
one of the most active horticultural centers in Europe, 
and that the people there are desirous of entering into 
more intimate relations with our horticulturists. 
Orchard, — " Ground-Turner." If your or- 
chard has been manured freely for many years, no parti- 
cular injury will be likely to result from omitting the 
manure for a year. Lime, if readily obtainable, would be 
an excellent application in this case. 
Rape for Sheep. — Mr. Bowles, of Hamil- 
ton Co., Ohio, writes that he sowed an acre of rape after 
oats. " I turned in the sheep," he says, " November 6th. 
I could not pasture it earlier, because there was no fence 
between it and a cornfield. It was just out of flower. 
The sheep ate up every seed-pod, leaf, and stalk. The 
patch is as bare as a turnpike road. I think I will sow 
more next year.'" — We should not have expected that 
rape sown after oats, say in" August, would have flowered 
before winter. We sowed several acres in July, and none 
of the plants showed any indications of flowering. In 
our own case, as with Mr. B., the sheep ate it all np clean. 
Saifdust for Heading'. — "Subscriber," 
Marsh Creek, Pa., says he has used sawdust for bedding, 
and found the manure about equal to rotten wood, which 
he thinks unable to produce gTass or any other crop. 
But he thinks it an excellent mulch for trees, flf the 
sawdust was from pine, this would probably be its ef- 
fect ; hard-wood sawdust is more valuable.— Ed.] 
Wow comes Colorado with her addi- 
tion to the ranks of agricultural journals. The Colorado 
Farmer ia to appear, as we learn by a prospectus from 
Febles & Phillips. It would have helped matters some 
had they stated where their paper is to be published, as 
Colorado is a rather vague direction. 
ITachts and Scows.— Several requests for 
information about building small sailing boats or yachts 
and scows have been received, and although they are 
necessarily laid over for the present moment, they are 
not forgotten ; they will be quite seasonable by and by. 
Beans and Pod for i>'ame.-W. C. 
Rydd, DuPageCo., 111. The beans seem to be the White 
Kidney; at any rate, they are "as like as two beans." 
The pod is half a ripe seed-vessel of Martynia proboscidm, 
BOmetimes called Unicorn Plant. The green and tender 
fruit is much valued for pickles ; it however soon becomes 
woody, and when quite ripe ia as hard as horn. 
FREE.-lhe very Bent Table Cut- 
lery— Silver-plated Table Articles 
—Gold Pens— Indelible Ink— Chil- 
dren's Toys-Flower and Garden 
Seeds — Floral Sets— Sewing and 
Washing- Iflaehinos and Wringers 
— Knitting- ITIaehines — iYIelodeons — 
Pianos — American Watches — Sin- 
gle and I>oial»le Itarrel Gnns — As- 
tral Oil — Pumps — Family Weigh- 
er 
ing Scales — Dictionaries — Boohs — 
Toy Steam- Engines — Toy Steam- 
Boats — etc, etc., etc., are among the things 
that toe are distributing very largely nil over the country to 
our friends who send in clubs of Subscribers. Some report 
getting as many as fifty subscribers a day. Others get 
one, two, three, or more, as opportunity serves. Some 
make this their sole business, and sell the premiums 
received, and thus get large wages. There is no humbug 
or clap-trap about this. At least Fifteen Thousand per- 
sons have received thole premiums with great pleasure, 
nnd still, not one in ten of those who ought to read the 
American Agriculturist and Hearth and Home for their 
own pleasure and profit, is yet supplied with it. So there 
is abundant room for thousands of others to obtain these 
valuable premiums. This work can go on all winter. 
Worthy of Everybody's 
Attention. 
The fine Premiums offered on page 73 are well 
worth looking into. Over 15,000 Persons 
in all parts of this country, in British America, in 
Australia, in the Sandwich Islands, in South Africa, 
and elsewhere, have each obtained one or more of 
these Valuable articles, with little trouble, by simply 
collecting a list of subscribers. This has been done 
by many Children, by many men in all pursuits 
and professions, and by a large number of Ladies. 
Sec " A Good Paying Business," on 2d cover-page. 
Treatment of" Sheep* — J. H. Johnson, 
Greeley, Col., asks some questions anont treatment of 
sheep. He procured his flock from Iowa in February, 
1871 ; clipped five pounds of wool perhead on theaverage ; 
the cost of wintering was one dollar per head, and the 
loss from last severe winter was ten per cent, which was 
comparatively small for Colorado that season. He asks 
particularly about catarrh and 6cab.— We have found no 
treatment to affect catarrh, except tarring the sheep's 
noses liberally and making them lick and swallow some 
of the tar, and the removal of the flock from level, damp 
fields to dry hill-sides. Sheep grazed on hills seldom 
have catarrh, when on flat meadows or damp creek bot- 
toms they always have it. Salt is of no avail for scab. 
The sheep should have plenty of sulphurin their salt, and 
be dipped in carbolic sheep-dip, which is specially pre- 
pared for this purpose, or be treated with carbolic oint- 
ment. Tour druggists can procure it. Buchan's prapa- 
ations are best. 
Ulunimy-Wheat — Eye-Stones.— " L. 
S. G." We have heard of nothing to controvert what 
Prof. Gray says about mummy-wheat. An eye-stone is 
not a stone at all, but a part of a shell, and is conse- 
quently carbonate of lime. When put into vinegar car- 
bonic acid gas is liberated in the form of minute bubbles. 
The formation and escape of these push the eye-stone 
along. As to its "power of adhering to any foreign substan- 
ces in the eye, 1 ' we don't believe it has any. When put be- 
tween the eyelid and ball, the eye-stone is a foreign sub- 
stance which the muscles are trying to get rid of, and in 
forcing this out small objects are likely to come also. 
Sheep and Where to Raise Them. 
— " R. y. M.," Sherman, Texas, would go into the busi- 
ness of sheep-raising, and wants to know the proper lo- 
cality for it and the proper kinds.— For keeping sheep in 
large flocks we know of no locality that can surpass the 
buffalo-grass region of Western Kansas, and the kind 
most suitable for pasturing there would be the native 
ewes improved by pure Merino rams. There is a constant 
demand for half and three-quarter bred Merino wool, 
which sach sheep would meet. 
Washing-machine.- E. G. S." We 
can not undertake to say which is the best machine made. 
We like Doty's as well as any we have tried. 
Strawberries. — " Strawberry," Dnnleitb, 
111., has two acres of strawberries, and asks if he can im- 
prove the yield by the use of guano or plaster.— As he 
omits to state how they are planted, it is difficult to ad- 
vise. If they are in hills, a dressing of 300 lbs. of guano 
to the acre would be of service, as would fine compost. If 
the vfnes are matted together, put out a new plantation 
early in ppring, and get what the old one will yield with, 
out manure, and plow«t»under. 
I»i«is Losing their Tails.— "G. D.," of 
Ga., has had " two litters of pigs which, when two weeks 
old, lost their tails. The tails withered and dropped off, 
leaving stumps half an inch long. What is the matter?" 
— This is not an uncommon tronble. The so-called Ches- 
hire or Jefferson Co. breed of pigs are particularly liable 
to lose their tails. We have thought that it indicates too 
close breeding, and a weakened constitution. Some of 
the English breeders of Yorkshire (from which the 
Cheshireu are derived) have also had the same trouble. 
The immediate cause of the difficulty is a speck of fungus 
growth on the tail. This spreads till it surrounds and 
•' girdles " the tail, which in a week or ten days, as our 
correspondent says, '"withers and drops off." The 
remedy is to rub the tail with carbolic soap and crude 
petroleum. This is generally effectual if applied early 
enough, or before the tail is completely girdled. As 
soon . ~ there are any indications of the difficulty, we 
would rub a little carbolic eoap on the tails of all the 
pigs in the litter, and keep them well oiled with petro- 
leum. This will usually save them. If these articles are 
not at hand, rub the tails with lard and sulphur. The 
ring may sometimes be removed with a penknife, but 
carbolic soap or a weak solution of carbolic acid and 
petroleum is the best remedy. 
Small Breed of Pigs Wanted.- C. 
L. Crowell, of Wisconsin, writes : " Pork is only worth 
§3.40 per 100 lbs., live weight. Many farmers are sick of 
raising hogs, but not all of them. The demand for a 
smaller breed is greatly on the increase. The butchers 
will hardly buy a large hog at any price." 
"Will Plaster fix Ammonia ? "- 
If the plaster is dissolved in water, yes. If dry, or merely 
moist, no. So far as fixing ammonia is concerned, scatter- 
ing dry plaster on a manure-heap will do no more good 
than so much fine earth. 
l>o Snakes Swallow their Yonng ? 
—It is a very common belief that certain snakes, espe- 
cially the " Water-snake," offer themselves as a refuge 
for their young on the approach of danger. The young 
snakes arc said to run into the open mouth of the parent 
and hide there until it is safe for them to emerge. This 
is told not only of snakes in this country, but the same 
thing is in England believed of their viper. The matter 
i- not accredited by most of our naturalists, but one of 
our acquaintance, thinking that popular beliefs have 
some foundation in fact, asks for evidence. If any of the 
readers of the Agriculturist have any observations upon 
this point, we should be glad to hear from them. 
American Devon Herd-Book.— The 
third volume of the American Devon Herd-Book, Horace 
M. Sessions. South Wilbraham, Mass., editor, has been 
received. It is now ready to deliver to subscribers, and 
will be sent by mail, post-paid, on the receipt of $3. 
The first and second volumes $2.50 each, or $4.50 bound 
together. Davy's first and second volumes of English 
Devon Herd-Book— published in 1S51 and 1S53. and re- 
published in this country in 1855 by Col. L. G. Morris 
and Sanford Howard— bound ia one, $4.50. The founda- 
tion of nil the Devon herds in America m-u recorded in 
these volumes, and most of the present herds arc traced 
back to animals found recorded in Davy's first and second 
volumes. The fourth volume of the American Devon 
Ilerd-Book will be published in 1875, or as soon as a suf- 
ficient number of pedigrees are received to warrant it. 
All authentic pedigrees, written out in the form of the 
third volume, and sent to the editor at any time, with 
the fee of one dollar each, will be preserved for record in 
the fourth volume. 
Stock for the South. — Geo. H. W., 
Gallatin. Tenn.. asks if the Essex swine and Devon cattle 
are suitable for the Southern States.— Yes, probably 
better than any other varieties, unless it be the Ayrshire 
cattle, where dairying is the object. 
The Chromo Delivery. 
We regret that the delivery of our CHROIQOS to 
subscribers has not been so early and rapid as we had 
fully expected. More time than was calculated upon 
has been required to work them off in the best manner. 
The two new powerful steam-presses upon which tbey 
are being printed needed some adjusting, which required 
time ; and there was unlooked-for delay in getting a 
large supply of paper, which is of a peculiar kind, and 
had to be specially manufactured. Even these slight 
delays are far more annoying to the Publishers than they 
can be to their readers. But patience and experience are 
overcoming all difficulties. A large number of those first 
on our list will have received the Chromos before they 
see this, and we shall push on the work with all possible 
rapidity consonant with the best results. Our readers 
will be mnch pleased with the beautiful pictures, and we 
only ask their kind indulgence if they do not come quite 
so soon as they would wish, and as we would greatly 
desire to have them go ont. As all the Chromos are 
printed from transfers, leaving the original stones perfect, 
there will be no difference in the quality, or if anything 
there will even be improvement as the work goes on. 
The number that can be printed is unlimited, so that no 
one will be omitted, 
23^ See Page 73. 
The second and third Cover-pages 
give information of interest to every subscriber, whether 
old or new. 
