192 
THE NONDESCRIPT ANIMAL^ ETC. 
and terminated when perfect by rough burr-like 
fruit, or flower heads, which have been used by 
cloth dressers from time immemorial, for raising the 
nap upon flannel and woollen cloths, by means of 
their crooked paleae, or spines. 
The soils in which the teazle succeeds best, are 
deep, loamy clays, moderately rich, but it will grow 
on many other lands by the addition of farmyard 
or pig-sty manure. The situation should be rather 
elevated, airy, and if in a cold climate, exposed to 
the south. In rotation, it may occupy the place of 
a crop of grain or Indian corn, as the first year, 
the plants are treated similar to turnips, and the 
second the crop is ripened : or, it may be cultivated 
as a fallow to prepare for wheat 5 and by burning 
the stalks and refuse after the crop is cut, it will 
be found not to impoverish, but rather improve the 
land. The soil should be plowed deep and well 
comminuted by harrows, forks, or spades. 
The proper season for sowing, is the end of May 
or early in June. The quantity of seed per acre 
may vary from eight to sixteen quarts, and in 
quality, it should be fresh and plump. The most 
expeditious mode of sowing is broadcast, but no 
crop is better adapted for growing in drills, as 
the plants require to be thinned and hoed. The 
distance between the rows may be from two 
feet to two feet and a half. In the summer and 
autumn of the first year, the soil should frequently 
he stirred with a hoe or the plow, and if sown 
broadcast, the plants may be thinned out to a dis- 
tance of twelve or fourteen inches every way, or 
eight to ten inches from each other, if sown in 
rows. In their young state, they generally stand 
our northern winters without much injury from 
frost or snow, and are an excellent crop for clearing 
land of weeds, from their lateness of hoeing, there 
being fewer weeds when the season is so far ad- 
vanced. 
Early in the spring of the second year, the ground 
is again to be worked over with a spade or fork, 
care being observed that none of the mold fall into 
the hearts of the plants; and, later in the season, 
when they begin to spindle, they should receive 
another dressing by raising the earth around the 
root stems, with a hoe, in order to support and pre- 
vent them from being blown down by the wind. 
In the north of France, while the plants are in 
flower, they reduce the number of heads to each 
stalk, ^f practicable to, two or three, in order that 
the energies of the roots may be directed to fewer 
points. 
The harvesting of the crop, when no regard is 
had for seed, usually occurs in July, of the second 
year, which is announced by the yellowish color 
of the heads, soon after the fall of the flowers. 
They should be cut off, with a sharp knife or hook, 
just above the upper leaves, with from nine inches to 
a foot of the stem left on, and received into a basket, 
or tied up in handfuls by the . stem of one that is 
more perfectly ripened. In the mean time, the 
hands of the operator should be guarded against the 
spines by means of strong gloves. Three cuttings 
are made at intervals of eight to ten days, selecting 
those only which have yellowish heads. On the 
evening of the day they are cut, they should be put 
into a dry shed or barn ; and when the weather is 
fair, and the air clear, they should be taken out, 
daily, and exposed to the sun, till they become per- 
fectly dry. Much care must be taken, however, 
that they are not wet, or moistened, by the rain or 
dew. During this operation, sortie make use of 
small poles on which the handfuls are hung, and 
conveyed to and from the sheds. 
As soon as the teazles are completely cured; they 
should be closely stored in a dry room, till they be- 
come tough, of a bright color, and ready for use. 
They should then be assorted and separated into 
three different grades. The finest and firmest are 
called kings ; the second, middlings ; and the infe- 
rior, unripe, and brittle kinds, scrubs. 
To save the seed, leave a few of the very best 
plants uncropped ; and then, when the seed is ripe, 
cut off only the largest and terminating heads, from 
which the seed can easily be separated by beating 
with flails, and cleaned by a fanning mill or a com- 
mon sieve. 
Green Sward for Root Crops. — Most farm- 
ers have tried green sward for potatoes and found 
it highly successful. Few, however, have tried 
them with beets, carrots, turnips, &c. ; for which 
the sward is equally beneficial. The only nrepa- 
ration needed, is to add long manure enough to a '- 
ford a supply of vegetable food below ; then turn 
over a good growth of grass, burying it deeply, and 
follow with the subsoil plow ; and on the sur-"ce 
scatter well-rotted manure, guano, ashes, orplasur, 
and harrow thoroughly lengthwise of the furrow t 
The surface is thus well prepared for the seed, and 
the rotting of the manure, grass, and roots. Keep 
the under soil loose, while the preparation from the 
subsoil plow will give a greater extension to the 
roots. Let some of our readers try this plan at the 
present season, no matter if the sod is not turned 
over before the 15th of June. Try it and"let us 
know the result. 
The Nondescript Animal. — There has been 
recently exhibited in this city, what purported to bo 
a wonderful animal which was caught by Coi. 
Fremont's party, on their route to California. It 
appears to combine the form and general appear- 
ance of the horse, with the shaggy hide of the buf- 
falo, and a tail without hair. The former, though 
somewhat singular, appears to have been the ani- 
mal's own ; but the paucity of the caudal drapery, 
the pilgarlic tail, we opine, is due to the assistance 
of art, to eke out the rarity. We have conversed 
with an intelligent Mexican, from Zacatecas, himself 
another Job, or Jacob, in the extent of his ownership 
of cattle, sheep, and half-tamed horses, who says 
horses of this description, though very rare, are 
still occasionally seen among the numerous herds 
of Mexico and the country adjoining, commonly 
known there by the name of caballos chinos, or 
curly-haired horses. 
Advantages of the Ridge System of Plant- 
ing Potatoes. — The ridge, or drill system, (thus 
AAi) of planting potatoes on moist, low ground, 
gives double surface, double light and heat, double 
air, double protection against rain, double depth of 
mold and drainage, and is altogether superior to the 
flat-surface mode of planting. 
