168 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[May, 
Read the Story. 
On page 196, the Publishers give the first chap- 
ters of a Remarkable Story, by Edward Eggleston, 
author of the "Hoosier School-Master.'' It is 
entitled a "Love Story," but it will be found to 
differ very widely from the sensational novels or 
love stories that fill up flash newspapers, and form 
the staple of "yellow-coveredliterature." It illus- 
trates life in the West thirty years ago, and though 
following a historical chain of occurrences in the 
eventful lives of a group of persons, which will 
render the story attractive, there is a constant 
dropping in of the philosophy of human actions, 
so to speak, which is full of instruction and food 
for thought. The author has a wonderful power 
of observation, and delineates character and con- 
duct with a master-hand. Having read many 
chapters of the story in advance, we can assure all 
who follow it that they will enjoy a rich repast, 
affording great pleasure and profit. It will doubt- 
less have a success unsurpassed by any American 
story that has ever yet been written. 
The small portion given in this paperhardly takes 
the reader into the merits of the narrative, but will 
suffice to give some idea of the style and character 
of the whole. Its earlier chapters read like a "Western 
Idyl ; but Mr. Eggleston soon gets us into the 
grotesque scenes which he draws so strongly, and 
Gottlieb Wehle, the Backwoods Philosopher, the 
Millerite Preacher, the Steam Doctor, Cynthy Ann, 
the "Hawk," and, above all, Jonas Harrison, one 
of the most effective Western characters ever 
drawn, make a rare gallery of original portraits. 
The speeches of Gottlieb Wehle, Jonas, Cynthy 
Ann, and the Philosopher, the Night Adventure of 
August, the Mob Scene, the life-like description 
of gambling in the saloon of a Mississippi steam- 
boat, are drawn most vividly. 
*** The weekly numbers of Heakth and Home 
are supplied by all News-dealers. Single copies are 
mailed, post-paid, from this office, for 10 cents each. 
XTRA. 
*#r The subscription to Hearth and Home is only 
$3 for a whole year, but when specially desired, 
subscriptions will be received from the beginning 
of this Story (April 20th) to the end of this year 
(over 8 months) for Two Dollars. 
XXTR1. 
*#* Hearth and Home and American Agriculturist 
are sent together for §4 a year ; or $3 will pay for 
both from April 20th to the end of 1872. 
UT. B. — In making up Premium Clubs, referred 
to elsewhere (pages 165 and 168), Three subscribers 
for either paper, or both, from April 20th to the 
end of 1872, may be counted as Two full-year sub- 
scriptions in Premium Clubs. 
Perclieron 13<»rses. — H. E. Fisk, New 
York, asks the price of a pair of Percheron horses, or 
the cost of importing a pair. The Percheron horses are 
very scarce since the late war in France, and would pro- 
bably be difficult to procure. Imported horses arc held 
at high prices on their arrival here on account of the risk 
incurred on the voyage. Clydesdale horses possess every 
good quality of the Perchcrons, and probablj r more. One 
might cost $2,000 to import. Some were lately sold in 
England for work-horses (geldings) at $1,500 per head. 
Winter in the North-West. 
Ou April 10th we received by mail a cluster of peach- 
blossoms, plucked on March ISth, at Olympia, 'Washing- 
ton Territory. Coming at a date when our own peach- 
trees were still enjoying their winter's rest, it occurred to 
us to say a word about the climate of the North-west, 
when most opportunely a friend handed us a slip from 
the Philadelphia Inquirer, in which the required data 
were already collated, and of which we here present the 
substance. There is a general impression that Oregon, 
Washington Territory, and Montana must he very cold, 
as they are so far north, forgetting that isothermal lines 
(lines of the same temperature) do not correspond with 
parallels of latitude. A comparison of the monthly mean 
temperatures as well as the mean of four months will 
show this in a striking manner. Most of the figures in 
the following table are furnished by the United States 
Signal Office at Washington, and represent three daily 
quotations of the thermometer at each place — morning, 
noon, and evening: 
Dec.Tl. Jan. '72. Feb.'TO. Mar. "73. Mean. 
Louisville, Ky... 35° 33° 33° 35° 34 
St. Louis, Mo.... 31 28 32 36 31K 
Chicago 23 27 26 39 26 
Baltimore 30 35 36 33 33 H 
Philadelphia 30 29 32 29 30 
Washington 33 33 34 33 33 
New York 30 30 30 29 29 % 
Helena, Montana IS 26 36 42 30 
Kalama, W. T.. . 31 32 44 — 36 
The temperature at Helena, Montana, may properly be 
taken as a fair average for the territory. It is on the gen- 
eral route of the Northern Pacific Railroad, directly in 
the mountains, and but a few hundred feet below the 
highest point on the line. Notwithstanding the past 
winter has been the coldest ever known in Montana, 
it will be observed that the average temperature at Hele- 
na (latitude 46*4 *) for the four months was the same as 
that of Philadelphia, although the latter city is 4,200 
feet lower and -150 milea further couth. Similar com- 
parisons may be made with Chicago and other cities. 
The average winter temperature at Kalama, Washing- 
ton Territory, on the finished portion of the Northern 
Pacific road (in latitude 46°), was several degrees warmer 
than at Louisville or Baltimore, in latitude 39°. The great- 
est cold of the past winter at Kalama was 14° above zero. 
Letters from members of the Montana territorial gov- 
ernment, dated March 6th, state that for three weeks 
previous to that time (beginning about the middle of Feb- 
ruary) the weather had been so mild that all signs of 
winter had disappeared ; farmers had put in their 
spring grain crops, and new grass was three inches high. 
As we write near New York, April 10th, we can see the 
firstplow afield that we have observed this spring, though 
of course the past has been an exceptional season. 
The question of the climate of the North-west is now 
an important one, as a railroad through Montana and 
Washington Territories will open a vast region to set- 
tlers, who, as well as the projectors of the road, arc inter- 
ested in knowing what obstacles the climate may present. 
What ts a^Jointer" P1om?-"M. 
F. C., 11 of Somerset Co., N. J., asks what is the jointer 
plow mentioned by ' Walks and Talks ' f " It is simply an 
ordinary plow with another small point and mold-board 
attached to the beam in the place or just in front of the 
conlter. It cuts a small furrow an inch or so deep, and 
two or three inches wide, and turns it to the bottom of 
the previous furrow, where it is covered by the regular 
furrow slice. It'is sometimes called the Michigan iouble- 
plow or Michigan subsoil plow. The word "jointer" 
refers to the small plow on the beam. This plow was 
first brought to general notice at the New York State 
Trial of Plows in IS "30, and has been very extensively 
used ever since. It is a favorite plow with all that class 
of farmers whose great object is to check the growth of 
weeds rather than to kill them. 
I>rain-THe or Stone?- "C. C. W." 
asks whether he should sell stone at 60 cents a perch, 
with only a few hundred yards to haul them, and buy 
tile, oruse the stone in drains, and whether it would pay, 
after covering the tile with some earth, to put in sis 
inches of small stone on top of it ?— We would sell the 
stone and buy tile. The small stone would be quite 
useless where C. C. W. proposes to put it. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Orange Judd & Co., Puhlishers, 243 Broadway, N. Y. City. 
Annual Subscription Teems (always in advance) : $1.50 
each for less than four conies: Four to nine copies, $1.25 
each: Ten to nineteen conies, $1.20 each: Twenty copies 
and upward, $L each. Papers are addressed to each name. 
ZW Either English or German Edition, at these prices. 
HEARTH AXD HOME: $8 a year for less than four. 
Four to nine copies, $2.75 each ; 10 or more copies, $2.50 each. 
£§*=■ Hearth and Home (weekly) with Amer- 
ican Agriculturist sent to one address for $4. a year. 
Large Pay «* Little Work, 
and that, too, for rainy days, evenings, odd spells, or for 
a constant occupation— for MEN, WOMEN, and CHIL- 
DREN — anywhere, and everywhere Over 11,000 
Persons have found it so ; and here is how it is : 
The Publishers offer 107 Premiums, every one of them 
& first-rate article— just as good as so much money— for 
use or for sale. (Seo list on page 165, and send for a 
free, full description, if not having one.) Now, to get 
one of these articles without money, it is only necessary 
to solicit and forward a few subscribers for the American 
Agriculturist or Heakth and Home, or for both of them. 
The number required is given against each premium. 
It is easily done. Show a copy of the papers, ex- 
plain their value and cheapness — the cost being only 
a few cents a week. Few Post-Offices have around them 
lees than twenty-five families, and many have hundreds, 
that would be profited in mind and pocket by reading 
one or both of these journals. They only need to have 
this shown to them. Any enterprising person, old or 
young, can do this just as easily as it has been done by 
the 14.000 who have already secured the premiums. 
Human nature and human wants are similar everywhere. 
Read page 165. These premium offers will remain open 
two months yet (to Jnne 30), and May and June are good 
months for getting them. Partly filled premium lists 
can be completed, and new ones be begun and com- 
pleted. A subscriber a day will get a large premium. 
Many can get several each day or week. Begin to-day. 
Any one taking hold with a will, determined to suc- 
ceed, will succeed. The Premiums are open to aU. 
-•-• ■»■ ■ - 
Value of Manure from different Animals. 
A discussion was recently had at Lodi, Wis., on the 
relative value of the different kinds of manure. "The 
debate drifted on to the value of different animals to pro- 
duce the best manure, consuming the same kind of food, 
and not being able to agree, it was decided to submit the 
matter to the American Agriculturist. Of course, yon will 
understand that the question is whether with horse, ox, 
cow, sheep, or any other animal, consuming the same 
food, the quantity and quality of the manure will be the 
Bame." There is considerable difference in the bulk of 
manure made from different animals, as well as in the 
amount of water which it contains. But the intrinsic 
value of the manure made from a given quantity of food 
is practically the same, whether the food is consumed by 
a horse, ox, cow, or sheep. "We say practically, because 
there are certain hypothetical cases in which there might 
be a difference in the value of the manure, but it is in all 
cases so slight that it is useless to discuss them. The 
manure from an animal that lost weight during the con- 
sumption of a given amount of food would contain a little 
more plant-food, and consequently be a little more val- 
uable than from an animal, eating the same amount of 
food, that gained in weight. The flesh, wool, hair, feath- 
ers, hide, horn, and bone produced, take something from 
the manure. He is a very unwise farmer, however, that 
starves his ani'mals for the sake of making his manure & 
trifle richer in nitrogen. It is generally said that a horse 
doing hard work will not make as rich manure as a horse 
lying idle. But if both have the same amount of food, 
the idle horse, if he gains iu weight, would ho less valuable 
than the working horse, that gained nothing or lost 
weight. But these are merely theoretical refinements 
