1807.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
245 
Comparative Nutritive Value oi" 
©liferent Kinds cf Cora.— In response to several 
inquiries, we answer : That the nutritive value may prob- 
ably be come at with considerable accuracy, by weighing 
a carefully measured, well shaken down bushel. This 
will not give accurately the fattening value, which, de- 
pends in a good degree upon the amount of oil contained 
in the corn, but by no means wholly upon this. Differ- 
ent varieties vary greatly in the oil which they contain. 
The Dent corn contains generally less oil than the Flint, 
the Flint less than the little Pop corn. 
Cost of Oetting" Crops to Market. 
— It is estimated by an intelligent Iowa farmer, that it 
costs fully eighty per cent, of the value of the wheat crop 
to get it to an Eastern market^ which always determines 
the producer's price; pork, 25 per cent.; beef, 15 per cent.; 
and wool, 4 per cent. This is a pretty strong argument 
for raising sheep, and killing dogs on the prairies. 
Shall tvc Milk Before Calving ?— 
"G." writes: "I have a fine heifer which has just 
dropped her first calf. Her bag got very large and felt 
hard some days beforehand, and I am still afraid that I 
am going to have trouble with it. A man who keeps 
many cows told me I ought to have milked her when it 
first filled with milk. My uncle, last year, milked a cow 
a fortnight before calving, taking as much as a pailful a 
day. Is it the best way ? Is there danger if it is neg- 
lected?" It is not to be recommended as a general 
practice, if it can be avoided, but if the bag swells and 
feels hot, by all means draw the milk, and knead the 
bag when empty, washing it with warm soap and water, 
and perhaps greasing it to prevent inflammation or garget. 
Duty ott Imported Breeding* Ani- 
mals. — The wise provision in our Revenue laws, ad- 
mitting breeding animals dufey free, is frustrated in a 
measure, by the very absurd, illiterate, and unjust decis- 
ion which decides that birds are not animals, aud hence 
that fowls and poultry of all kinds imported for breeding 
purposes, are subject to pay duty. If birds are not ani- 
mals, what are they? and what are animals? Webster 
defines animal as " an organized body, endowed with 'life, 
sensation, and power of voluntary motion, " and that is 
the common acceptation. The humblest forms of ani- 
mals are distinguished from vegetables, by having dis- 
tinct mouths and stomachs. An oyster is an auimal as 
truly as a man, and a bird as truly as an ox. This matter 
ought at once to be tested in the Courts, if the Treasury 
Department continues to beg the question, and allow its 
employees in the Custom Houses to interpret plain Eng- 
lish to suit themselves. It is fair to suppose that Con- 
gress meant animals when it used the word in an im- 
portant law — and that if our law-makers had intended 
to admit free quadrupeds only, they would have said so. 
"Big Things "—Monster Hogs.- 
Ivory Lord, of Saco, Me., writes: "Zero of Egypt de- 
sires to see the 'big things 1 reported, so as to know 
how to proceed this year in order to beat them. "Well, 
try this, 0° : March Tth, 1861, Richard S. Rogers, of South 
Danvers, Mass., killed a hog 34 months old, the live 
weight of which was 1,103 lbs., and dead weight 934 lbs. 
The last 1G months he was fed all the Indian meal and 
milk he could eat. He could stand and walk to his last 
day, and of his own accord walked up an inclined plane 
into a cart to be hauled to the butcher. Mr. Rogers esti- 
mated the cost of this huge grunter at 25 cents per lb. ; 
he received 8 cents per lb. for him. This is the greatest 
weight of a porker that has ever come to my knowledge. 11 
[In 183-2, December 21st, Benj. Rogers, Mansfield, Bur- 
lington County, N. J., killed a hog which weighed 1,011 
lbs. Iu 1863, A. H. Benham, McLean, Tompkins Coun- 
ty, N. Y., had a hog which weighed 1.335 lbs., which was * 
exhibited in our office, and killed in New York, December 
19th, weighing, alive, 1,273 lbs., dressed, 1,174 lbs.— Ed.] 
Horse-Btacins' at Fairs may far 
better be Broken up titan Permitted.— F. 
K. Phoenix, of Bloomington, 111., writes : " Last year our 
County Fair managers determiued to do without horse- 
racing. The sporting people prophesied and threatened, 
but the result was very much the best Fair, and the best re- 
ceipts ever known in the Society's history — and that too, 
in despite of some very unfavorable weather. I think we 
shall hear no more iu favor of connecting the two in our 
Society — the issue has been made and victory won," 
Cure Tortlie "Gapes in Chicken*.*' 
— J. H. Mabbett writes : " Take a four or eight ounce 
vial and till it with large grains of wheat ; then fill the 
vial with turpentine and let it stand, corked tightly. 
When you see any of your chick* begin to droop and 
gasp, catch them and give each one grain of the wheat. 
If in the morning, give another at night. If in the after- 
noon, give one the nest morning. I have never found 
this to fail in my ' family. 1 Handle them gently, and don't, 
for mercy's sake, put a feather down their windpipes."— 
[The turpentine kills or paralyzes the worms, which are 
the cause of gapes, and they are coughed up.— Ed.] 
Potatoes UJniler Straw.— This method 
of growing potatoes seems to answer well in some places 
and not in others. We have given the experience of 
those who have failed and those who have succeeded. 
The following from J. Cass, Sacramento County. Cali- 
fornia, will interest those who live in a similar climate : 
"For the last three years my potatoes have invariably 
run to vines aud set no potatoes. Last year I tried the 
covering with straw and I had splendid potatoes ; the 
ground kept moist all Summer, and we could get a mess 
any time by rooting in the straw with our hands. I 
planted as follows: Old ground that was in assorted 
vegetables the year previous, was ploughed in, and 
half potatoes, cut lengthwise, dropped 15 inches apart, 
in every third furrow, and put about 8 inches of old 
wheat straw on them ; it seemed to check the growth of 
vines and made the potatoes set.' 1 
Suffolk IPig-s.— "We have frequent inquiries 
for this excellent breed, many of them from the West. 
Berkshires, Yorkshires or Seftons, and other pure breeds, 
are also in more or less request. Breeders of valuable 
kinds of stock would do well to advertise. 
Cnre for I^ice on Cattle.— Isaac Schau- 
ber, Saratoga County, N. Y., says : " A few applications 
of good cider vinegar along the back bone, on the head, 
aud other places where the lice gather, will soon finish 
them." It will give them a check, which cleanliness 
and good keeping will make more or less permanent. It 
is, however, a safe and convenient application. 
Plastic Slate ISooting*. — We are con- 
stantly receiving inquiries in regard to this material. The 
fact is, we know very little about it. What we do know, 
is favorable. The claim of the venders, that it re-forms 
stone, is absurd ; but the slate flour mingled with the gas 
tar remains suspended in it, and the tar is said not to sep- 
arate and run, as do most tar roofs, when they are ex- 
posed to great "heat of the sun in summer. 
Over-Cropped Land. — What is the best 
plan to recuperate land that is still rich, but from frequent 
cropping with wheat fails to bring remunerative crops ? 
G. P. S. The land wants a rotation of crops, and clover 
turned in the summer before wheat is sown. If the clover 
does not grow stout enough, sow a little plaster early 
in the spring. The clover is a good manure for wheat. 
Comparative Value of Hay and 
other Food.— According to experiments conducted 
in France and Germany, 100 lbs. of good hay is equal in 
_ alimentary value to 
400 lbs. of green clover, 45 lbs. of wheat. 
275 l 
1 green Indian corn 
54 l 
1 barley. 
374 l 
1 wheat straw. 
59 l 
1 oats. 
442 * 
1 rye straw. 
57 l 
1 Indian corn. 
195 l 
oat 6traw. 
63 ' 
1 sunflower seed. 
400 l 
1 dried corn stalks. 
69 ' 
' linseed cake. 
275 • 
carrots. 
105 ' 
wheat bran. 
54 ' 
1 rye. 
83 * 
dried oak leaves 
Farmer's Frmit Calce. — Contributed by 
Sirs. E. Smith, Plymouth Co., Mass. Soak 3 cups of dried 
apples over night in warm water ; chop (slightly) in the 
morning, and then simmer 2 hours in 2 cups of molasses. 
Add 2 eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of sweet milk, % cup 
of butter, \V» teaspoonfuls of soda, flour to make a rather 
thick batter ; spice to suit the taste. Bake in a quick 
oven. Kepnblished by request of a subscriber. 
Fii-e and Watcr.proof Wash. — "A. 
S. K.," of Fitchburg. Mass., sends ns the following recipe, 
of which he says : " For roofs of houses, barns and other 
buildings, or for brick-work, this preparation is nne- 
qualed." Dry-slake common stone lime iu a close vessel, 
and when cool, pass eight quarts through a fine sieve ; 
add to it one quart of fine salt, and two gallons prtre wa- 
ter. Boil and skim. Then, to every four gallons of this 
mixture, add one and a quarter pounds of alum, three- 
fourths of a pound copperas, half a pound potash, aud 
five quarts fine beach sand. The wash will now admit 
any coloring matter that may be desired, and may be ap- 
plied with a paint or whitewash brush in the same man- 
ner as oil paints, lie adds : ■' It looks better than any 
other kind of paint, will stop leaks in roofs, prevent moss 
from growing, and, when laid upon brick-work, will ren- 
der it Impenetrable to rain or moisture." [The " Chem- 
istry" of this wash is not quite ohvions, but as really 
pood washes for out-door work arc rare, we give it 
publicity on our correspondent's authority.! 
Housekeepers with Small Children and 
Smaller Help. 
A lady correspondent at the West, puts the fol- 
lowing question : 
" In your reply to the Southern lady who had de- 
termined to do her own work— after speaking of 
the arranged kitchen— you add : ' Fitted out with 
these appliances, a woman in good health and 
without small children, can often do her own work 
with less -worry without a servant than with 
one.' Now, here let me ask: What would a 
woman do with very few of these appliances, and 
six or eight small children— say under ten years old ? 
In those essays I have met with a good many 
things that coincide with my experience, my think- 
ings, plannings, and doings— and yet when I have 
read them through, I have felt as though there 
■was something wanting. A wish came up that 
some one who had six or eight smalt children to 
care for and do for, iu addition to her other duties, 
would write on the subject. 
It seemed to me I might learn many a lesson. I 
wish to make my system of housekeeping as good 
as I can under my present circumstances. 
But for want of such a paper, I intend to' make 
the most of those published." 
As the woman with eight small children is likely 
to be busy for some time, we will answer for her, 
for this case demands immediate consideration. 
Eight small children and no help ! It is a hard 
ease, and requires considerable philosophy, and 
some piety, to get along with it smoothly. Do not 
despair. Tour case might be worse in two partic- 
ulars ; you might have no children at all, and you 
might have more. We know of a woman who has 
twenty-five, all comely and doing well. The sad- 
dest people we know of are childless husbands 
and wives, and the most cheerless homes are those 
where there is no cradle to rock, and no playthings 
to put up when evening comes. Better a dozen 
than none. You need the education which will 
come of training them to thrifty and virtuous hab- 
its. Do not doubt for a moment that they will 
live, grow up, and be useful and happy, and that 
they will all rise up and call you blessed. The k'md 
Providence that has given them being, has a work 
for them to do, and will iu some way provide for 
their training. Do not won't/. Worry kills a great 
many more people than work. There must neces- 
sarily he a different standard of attainment in such 
a home, from that which prevails where money and 
servants are plenty. There can not be so many or 
so flue dresses, playthings, books and amusements. 
They can not be kept in such absolute cleanliness 
and order, as if each child had a nurse, and a gov- 
erness devoted her lyhole time to their education. 
If you do the best you can under the circumstances, 
duty is discharged — a matter of thanksgiving. 
Look at the Sunny Side. — There is such a side iu 
every lot in life. Most children grow up in homes 
where there arc no servauts, and turn out passably 
well. Men and women of the highest culture and 
social position, more often than otherwise, began 
life in this condition, and the early habits of self 
help and industry there formed, determined their 
characters and success. To be born in affluence is 
generally a calamity. The children of the rich are 
most appropriately objects of compassion. What 
shall be done for such, to make them useful and 
happy, is a much more difficult problem to solve 
than the proper training of the children of the poor. 
The men who make our laws and mould public 
opinion, as a rule, grow up uuder the necessity of 
labor. Their mothers filled the offices of nurse, 
cook, aud laundress in their homes, and to this day 
it is the honest conviction of these distinguished 
men, that their mothers were the best women and 
the most savory cooks iu the world. 
Cultivate Sclf-Udp in your Cliildrcn. — Mothers 
sometimes err in excessive tenderness aud devotion. 
Children love occupation and will have it. The 
passion for dressing dolls may as well be turned to 
dressing something more substantial. A little girl 
can soon learn to dress and wash herself, and then 
to perform these offices for her younger brothers 
and sisters. Play should never be forestalled, but 
