1S07.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
49 
Muck Composts. — "M. M. S.," Nashua, 
N. H., uses this :— To each cord of dry muck add 1 bush- 
el live ashes, and 4 quarts of salt, and mix well, and pile 
to shed rain.....""v7. T. S.," Westchester Co., N. T., 
proceeds as follows : Slake lime with as much strong 
brine (an old meat or fish brine preferred, or brine made 
from the refuse salt of a packing house), as it will take 
up and not become wet. This is scattered over layers of 
muck dried by a few weeks exposure to the air, using 
about Y z bushel to the cubic yard." — This is a large propor- 
tion; it is usual to recommend the lime and salt mixture 
at the rate of 1 or 2 bushels to tho cord (133 cubic feet). 
Supply of Gnano. — A correspondent of 
tho N. Y. Times says : During the month of November, 
1866, 39 vessels of 35, 094 tons loaded guano at the Chin- 
chas, principally for Europe. It is estimated that there are 
about 200,000 tons of guano on the Guannappe Islands, 
which the Peruvians have commenced to work. The 
islands are within seven miles of the main land. The guano 
at the Chinchas will be exhausted in about two years. 
Hen Manure.— "W. H. S., of Buffalo," W. 
Va., inquires about the use of this article. It is one of tho 
best kinds of manure, better then muck that is Bold under 
the name of guano. It is good spread and plowed-in in 
field or garden. It is more commonly used as a fertilizer 
in the hill for all kinds of farm and garden crops. It is 
quite too strong to use by itself, and should either be 
mixed with four or five times its bulk of muck or loam, 
or be mixed with earth in the hill at the time of planting. 
Undiluted it will destroy most seeds that it comes in con- 
tact with. . v 
Spring; "Wheat on New K^and.— A. A. 
Crook, of West Virginia, has some land grubbed an 
cleared this winter, and asks what is the best variety of 
spring wheat to sow, time of sowing, quantity per acre, 
etc. Sow the best kind that can be obtained in tho 
neighborhood, and as early as tho land is in fit condition 
to work— a buBhel and a half to two bushels per acre. 
Spring Wheat in Wisconsin. — A 
Farmer's Club in Fond du Lac Co., Wisconsin, passed an 
unanimous vote that the Fife was the best and most 
profitable variety of spring wheat to sow in that County. 
Wc mention the fact, not for tho purpose of creating a 
demand for seed of this well known and excellent variety, 
but rather to commend the action of the club. If farmers 
in different parts of the country, when they meet together, 
would take a lesson from our horticultural friends, and 
take a vote as to what are the best varieties of seeds, etc., 
they would soon be in possession of much useful infor- 
mation. Let the vote be intelligently and honestly taken. 
Sowing Winter Wheat in Spring. 
— John Gilman, of Minnesota, writes us, that the crop of 
spring wheat in 18G5 was very heavy and badly lodged, 
and in harvesting, several bushels per acre were shelled 
out and sprouted, and grew on tho ground. There was a 
heavy fall of snow which remained all winter and until 
tho first of April. The spring whoat which came up tho 
fall previous, did not winter-kill, and many farmers left a 
few acres to see what it would come to. Mr. G. says, his 
wheat was cut with a "header, 11 leaving a very high 
stubble, which he burnt, then harrowed the ground once 
and left ten acres to grow to wheat. lie had 126 bushels 
of uncommonly fine wheat. He asks the opinion of the 
American Agriculturist, whether it will be safe to use this 
wheat for seed the coming spring ? We should be afraid 
to risk too much of it. Spring wheat can be obtained by 
sowing winter wheat in the spring, and continuing to do 
so until tho desired habit is established. But until this 
habit is formed, there is danger that a good portion of the 
wheat would not mature. How far this spring variety 
has been changed into a winter wheat, by once sowing in 
tho fall, is uncertain, and we would not liko to risk sow- 
ing a large area. Sow a few acres, as early as jiosinbU, and 
if the season is favorable, the probabilities arc, that you 
will get wheat of better quality than the proper spring 
varieties will yield. 
Corn Planter and Manure Sower, 
—Mr. J. B. Grinnell, York Co., Pa., wants to know whero 
he can get a good corn planter that drops two rows at a 
time and sows guano, plaster, etc., at tho same time. Wo 
do not know of one that wc can recommend. There may 
be one; certainly, such a planter is much needed. On 
many soils it is very beneficial to drop a little plaster or 
superphosphate with the seed, to give the plants an early 
start. This is important on all crops, but especially so 
with corn. A strong, vigorous growing young plant is 
almost invariably followed, on good land, by a large yield. 
Peruvian guano, however, should not be dropped with 
tho seed, as a good article will certainly injure it. Or- 
dinary snperphosphato will not hurt any seeds, but there 
are some superphosphates, which arc impregnated with 
the liquid from gas-works to furnish ammonia, which will 
destroy seed, and should be used with great care. 
Wheat in Maine.— M. K. Allen, of York 
Co., Me., wishes " to raise wheat enough tho coming sea- 
son for home consumption, 1 ' but says, he " is ignorant of 
the right way to proceed." Soil, a sandy loam. Proposes 
to use bone-dust or superphosphate. A mixture of super- 
phosphate and Peruvian guano, half and half, would be 
better — say 100 lbs. of each per acre. If fine bone-dust, 
500 lbs. per acre. Sow these manures broadcast and har- 
row them in before putting in the wheat. Break up tho 
manures fine, and rim them through a sieve to take out all 
the lumps. If mixed with equal parts of sifted coal 
ashes {not wood ashes), or with fine sand, it will enable 
you to distribute the manures more evenly. Make tho 
ground as mellow as psssible. Spring wheat differs from 
winter wheat, we think, in requiring a looser and mel- 
lower soil. Sow as soon a3 the snow goes off and the 
land can be got ready, or else do not sow until rather late. 
Where the midge is troublesome, late sown wheat some- 
times escapes, while that which is sown moderately early, 
is destroyed. We should prefer, however, to sow early, 
as late sown frequently gives only a light yield. Make 
the land rich, mellow and dry; sow early and rather 
thick — say 2\/ 2 to 3 bushels per acre. Thick seeding, wo 
think, favors early ripening. 
Good for Egypt I— " Zero," writing from 
South Pass, in Southern Illinois, Bays, that seeing a notice 
a year or two Bincc in the old Genesee Farmer of a 
turnip measuring about 8 or 9 inches across, he meas- 
ured some of his that beat " Father Harris " by 1 inch ; 
but he " thought it would be too bad to brag over the old 
gentleman about one inch," so he let it go. "But, 11 he 
adds, " the story I have now I can't hold. Ezra Pierce 
raised a crop of Strapleaf turnips, a great many among 
which weighed 10 to 11 lbs. each, and one, 13 lbs. cleansed 
weight, 'no grease nor dust.' This one measured 34 
inches around. Will not 'Egypt' beat the world for 
large turnips ? We have a kind of sweet potatoes, called 
'Bermudas,' which weigh 8 to 12 lbs. If you have state- 
ments of any big things, please publish them, so as to 
give us a chance to get ahead another year. 11 
Warts on Cows' Teats.— J. E. Blake, 
wants to know how these may be removed. If the warts 
are drawn out, and a waxed linen or silk thread is tied 
close down to the roots, they dry up and drop off after a 
while — generally without making a sore. If suppuration 
takes place, it may be treated like any cut or wound. 
Application for Chapped Hands 
and Calf-bitten Teats.— Dr. "Hoosier," of Rush 
Co.,Ind., sends us the following sensible note-: " It is about 
this time of the year that the young folks, and often old 
ones, are complaining of chapped-hands and lips. Now, 
this state of the human economy is quite annoying, espec- 
ially to the ladies ; consequently, almost everybody is 
hunting after heal-all ointments, and soothing lotions. 
I have used a simple mixture for many years, with great 
success. It is made as follows : Take 1 oz. Glycerine, 
add 15 grains of Tannin, shake thoroughly, and it will 
soon dissolve. Apply this preparation to the chapped 
surface, once or twice a day. A few applications will 
suffice to cure. This mixture is valuable, also, for the 
chapped and calf-bitten teats of cows. Rub the teats 
just before milking. It is readily washed off. 11 
Driving- Horses to Plow.— W. F. 
Brown says: "At the West, we always use the single 
line on tho near or left-hand horse, and couple the other 
by a jockey stick, about four feet long, fastened to the 
hames' ring of the line horse, and to the bit of the off 
horse. Tho jockey stick has a chain about six inches 
long, at each end, with a T or cross piece attached to slip 
through the rings. Any patient man can teach a horso in 
one or two days to go better than with double lines. A 
pull on the line menus haw, and a jerk, gee. Tho horse 
soon catches your idea by these signals, and obeys as 
readily as by the bit, in the ordinary way. The line is 
buckled into a ring on a rein buckled to the bit, and 
passes between the hames, and is kept to its place by the 
rein that you check the horse's head up with, that being 
put over it. Therein is held by a loop over the left hand." 
This method of driving remedies the difficulty complained 
of by our friend who "walks and talks" on the farm. 
[Will he please take notice, and will Mr. Brown please 
try again. — Eds.] 
Cooking' Food tor Stock. — W. F. 
Brown, of Ohio, recommends the Sorghum pan as the 
best Teasel out for this purpose. He says: "My pan is 
II feet long and about 3 wide at tho bottom. Tho sides, 
(made of 2-inch stuff) aro sloped at an angle of 45 degrees. 
Tho sheet iron bottom (No. IS iron, I believe,) is heavy, 
nud is riveted together, and then nailed on to tho wood 
with common shingle nails. The pan holds about 250 
gallons. The furnace is built of brick, and made wide 
enough so that the wooden sides of the pan will come 
just outside of the wall. The flue is made 2 bricks by 3, 
that is 2 feet by 16 inches, and about 10 foot high, with 
furnace door and grate. That part of the flue or chimney 
which is exposed to the weather, should be built with lime 
mortar, but the furnace will last twice as long if laid up 
with common clay. The door and space under the pan 
should be made large eo as to take in brush, corn stalks, or 
any light material for fuel. A quick, blazing fire is better 
for boiling than one made of solid wood. A large scoop 
holding about 2 gallons, is very convenient for emptying 
the pan. In making mush, have an old broom cut off 
to within six inches of the handle, and stir briskly with 
this to keep the material from burning. Put out the Are 
as soon as the mush is cooked. It will take but little 
wood, and not over 45 minutes to cook six barrels of 
mush. In boiling potatoes, it would pay to have a 
cover to tho pan." 
Carrots ibr Spring; Feed.— "M. H. 
S.," says: Four quarts of oats, with 6 or 8 good-sized 
Carrots, will go farther in feeding a horse than eight 
quarts of oats without the Carrots. Alone, the roots are 
excellent feed for cows in the spring before grass comes. 
Also chopped fine, and mixed with ground oats, they 
make the best of feed for sheep having early lambs. 
Working? Covrs in the Voice. — Chas. 
"W. Treadwell, of Rockingham County, N. H., has sent 
us a beautiful card photograph of a floral car drawn by a 
pair of cows, which figured at the late County Fair. He 
says they use the cows for all kinds of light work, plow- 
ing old land, harrowing, hauling wood, etc., and find 
them serviceable and uninjured in their milk. They are 
5 years old, well broken, give 14 quarts of milk each a 
day. Moderate labor will cause a cow to eat more, digest 
it better, and probably improve her health were she to be 
kept in a stable. In the pasture she gets an equivalent 
amount of exercise, and with it the better health and ap- 
petite. Much labor immediately reduces the yield of 
milk, and impairs the quality of that which is obtained. 
Tat Pigs— How to Wake Them.- 
Mr. Allen, of Missouri, wants to know how it is possiblo 
to make pigs weigh from 2G0 to 300 lbs. dressed, in nino 
months from birth. This is rather more than the avcrago 
performance of Yankee pigs, but it is by no means unu- 
sual, even with the mongrel stock found in their yards. 
The pig6 are chapped about the first of March from a large 
thrifty sow. The mother has a plenty of straw for her 
bed, and a nice warm sty, with a small yard attached. 
After she is nicely over the birth of her litter, she is well 
fed with skim milk, boiled potatoes, and a provender 
made of Indian corn and oats ground together. This Is 
cooked and is fed warm three times a day, and with great 
punctuality and as much as she will eat up clean. She 
never has a chance to waste an ounce of flesh in squealing 
for her meals. This is a matter of great importance. 
The pigs fed on such a mother should not be more than six, 
if to get the best results. The pigs have all the milk the 
mother affords, and as soon as they begin to feed from the 
trough, they share her messes, which are increased in 
quantity as the pigs grow. The rule is to give just as 
much of the swill as -they will cat up clean. On dairy 
farms they have all the Bklm milk, and where they can 
drink in addition to the provender. The pigs are kept 
growing every hour from birth until they are slaughtered. 
They sometimes have clover, grass, weeds, or green corn 
stalks thrown into the pen for a little change of diet, but 
the staple is the provender and plenty of it The last 
few weeks the potatoes are dropped, and they arc fed al- 
most wholly on corn meal or raw corn. Pork, thus made, 
is of splendid quality, and it is by no means uncommon 
to have pigs so treated weigh from 200 to 300 lbs. dressed, 
at nine months old. 
Raising Calves by Hand.— A Cali- 
fornia correspondent says: "I have taken calves from 
one to two days old to as many weeks, and taught them 
first to drink milk warm from the cow. "When they aro * 
used to this, add a handful of corn meal, (or better still 
oil meal), and stir welt while they arc drinking. All 
milk may bo withheld at perhaps three weeks old, by giv- 
ing more tea and meal ; barley or wheat meal will do per- 
haps better than corn. Tea is the best substitute for 
milk, and should be made from good sweet hay, and not 
steeped too long. If the calves are troubled with scoures, 
stop the meal a day or two, and give a little now milk. 
If they are constipated, give a little more oil meal or rye 
meal." 
Fine Devon Steers.— A correspondent at 
Tort Byron has a pair that weighed 16-10 lbs. at one year 
old, and 2534 at twenty-one months old. This speaks 
well for the stock, and for the caro taken of thorn. 
