316 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[August, 
Gold Detecting. — “A. W. R.,” Placer Co., Cal., 
asks, “ what acid is used in determining the presence of 
gold in minerals or soil?”—If gold is in its native state, 
the form in which it is frequently found, the grains will 
not be brittle, but will flatten if hammered ; they will 
not dissolve in any ordinary acid, but only in a mixture 
of nitric and muriatic acids. To detect gold when com¬ 
bined with sulphur, iron, etc., requires a process too long 
to describe here, and altogether too difficult for one 
not accustomed to such work. 
Drained Marsli. —“M. W. J.,” Mayfield, Mich. 
The drained marsh intended for cranberries, but which 
will not grow either corn or oats, will probably improve 
after a year or two of cultivation. It may be that the soil 
contains too much of the injurious peroxide of iron, which 
frequently occurs under such circumstances, but will 
be changed to harmless compounds, after continued ex¬ 
posure to the air. An application of lime—say, 25 bush¬ 
els per acre—might be beneficial. Ashes on such land 
seldom are of much value. Corn, oats, and rye usually 
succeed best on land like this for the first few years. 
Horses and Cattle Together.— “ H. F.,” 
Evansville, Iiid. So long as the animals are properly se¬ 
cured, there is no good reason why horses and cattle can 
not lie kept under the same roof, without injury to either. 
The Best Agricultural College, is asked for 
by “ L. H. J.,” of Wellsboro, Pa., “ for a young man who 
has a good English'education, and has had some years’ 
practice on a farm; who is not afraid of work, and wishes 
to become a first-class farmer, or none at all.” We can 
not say which is best, having had experience with only 
a few. Would recommend the Mass. Agricultural Col¬ 
lege. Amlferst, Mass., or the Michigan Agricultural Col¬ 
lege, Lansing, Mich., or Maine. College, Orono, Me.—those 
being known to us personally as doing good work 
as agricultural colleges. 
Carbolic Acid for Slieep-dip.— “J. W. C.,I’ 
Bates Co.. Mo; We would advise you not to use un¬ 
prepared carbolic acid for a sheep-dip. It is unsafe 
for such purpose, as one cannot tell how diluted or 
concentrated it is, and it may be absorbed by the skin 
and act as a poison. A good article is “ Buchan’s. Cre- 
eylic Sheep-dip,” of which carbolic acid is the basis. 
For some reasons it is preferable to tobacco. 
Sheep Scab.— “J. S. McC.,” loin, Kansas. 
When Sheep pens and pastures are once infected with 
scab, three years may elapse before the insect and the 
eggs will perish. But the pens may be freed from the 
infection by a thorough washing with lime wash, contain¬ 
ing carbolic acid at the rate of one hundredth part, mixed 
with it. The scab disease may be cured by washing the 
sheep in the preparation referred to in the preceding 
item. The sheep should be thoroughly soaked; the 
scabs be broken up and the raw surfaces well washed. 
Shorthand.—“L. H. Y.,” Yostville, Pa. Any per¬ 
son of ordinary intelligence can learn to write shorthand, 
but it requires a great deal of practice to become expert. 
Graham’s book is good ; some prefer Munson’s. 
Cutting Cows’ Tails.— “A. E. H„” Harmony, 
Kan. We mean what we say, when we state that it is 
unnecessary ever to cut off a cow’s tail. There is no such 
disease as tail-ail; nor do we, or any intelligent veterina¬ 
rians, know of any reason why the tail should ever be cut. 
“B. V. B.,” Monson, Mass., who thinks very highly of 
the American Agriculturist , asks, what to do instead of 
cutting the tail, to prevent the hair from curling? Well, 
if one doesn’t like the curl, he may cut it off; but we do 
not see why a cow should not wear one curl, especially 
as it does no harm. 
All We Know.— A subscriber, residing we don’t 
know where, wants us to inform him “all weknowabont 
farming, and also the quantity and best ingredients of 
fertilizers.” “ W. A. W.” does not ask much of the edi¬ 
tors in his first request; but they cannot answer the sec¬ 
ond, unless lie tells something of what he knows about 
what ho wants to use the fertilizer for, and where he lives. 
The Mole Drain-Plow.— “ W. B. E.,” Ply¬ 
mouth, HI. The mole drain and sub-soil plow is effec- 
' live in stiff clay lands. Upon light soils the opening 
^made by the plow soon’caves in and fills up. 
Breadlines* Jn Cows.—“G. W. H.,” Stony 
Point, N. Y. We can suggest no plan to keep cows 
within bounds that are able to creep under bars only 
18 inches from the ground. We fear such cows might 
fly over the stone walls. For the walls, with ordinary 
cows, it might be useful to plant stakes on each side, to 
which a rail is fastened with wire. For the bars 
it might answer to put a lower bar six inches from the 
ground. A cow that will creep under that is incor¬ 
rigible, or too small to be worth keeping. If they work 
the bars out, boro holes in the ends and insert pegs. 
Potaslt on Fruit Trees.— The “Gardener's 
Chronicle” (London, Eng.), quotes a correspondent of 
an American paper, as to the value of potash on trees, 
and hie method of applying it, which is to slice up “a 
few bars of common soap,” and bind the pieces in the 
branches where the rain will dissolve the soap and carry 
it down over the bark. This is no doubt excellent prac¬ 
tice, but it is very strange that so accurate a paper as the 
“ Chronicle ” should regard this as a method of applying 
Potash. It surely knows that hard or bar soap does not 
contain potash. All hard soaps are soda soaps, but are 
not on that account the less useful to the tree. 
Fruit-Growing- in tlie United States.— 
The magnitude of the fruit-growing interest is not ap¬ 
preciated by many people. Col. Marshall P. Wilder, 
Pres, of American Pomological Society, in the last Re¬ 
port of the Society, makes the following estimate: Acres 
in fruit, including grapes, 4,500,000. Apple and Peach 
trees each 112,000,000. Pear trees, 28,000,000. Grape- 
Vines, 141,000,000. Value of annual products : Apples, 
$50,400,000 ; Peaches, $56,135,500 ; Pears, $14,1-30,000 ; 
Strawberries, $5,000,000; Grapes, $2,118,000; other fruits, 
$10,000,000. Total, over $138,000,000, equal to half the av¬ 
erage value of the entire wheat crop. This would give 
an average of over $3 worth of fruit for each man, wo¬ 
man and child in the whole country—or over $1.00 
w orth of apples, and the same of peaches. 
Houdans and Hedge.— “B. H.,” Iowa. The 
fowls take their name from a town in France. With us 
it is usually pronounced as if spelled Iioo-dan, but the 
French pronunciation, as well as it can be expressed in 
print, is Hoo-dong, as if it were written dong, with the g 
silent or nearly so. A sound which can only be properly 
learned by bearing it pronounced... .Your hedge may be 
cut in the fall. 
Potato Diggers.— “ R. D. M.,” Wilmot, N. S. To 
use such an implement, good judgment is required to 
adapt it to the peculiar circumstances of each case. A 
man may be a good plowman, and yet require practice to 
become expert with a potato-digger. If it runs either 
too deep or too shallow, and will do both, it is certainly 
possible to make it hit a proper depth. We advise you 
to try again this season. 
P. and P. B.—Petunias and Potato-Bugs. 
“E. C., nn old Subscriber” in Wis., sends us a slip cut 
from some paper, to the effect that some one’s potatoes' 
escaped because “Wild Petunias” (whatever they may 
be) grew near the patch, and the bugs, being attracted by 
the Petunias, were poisoned by them. We do not know 
what is meant by “Wild Petunia,” as we have no native 
species of Petunia., but in gardens the plant is frequently 
self-sown, and becomes in a measure a weed, and this is 
probably what is referred to. However, our correspon¬ 
dent states that he, several years ago, found the ground 
under a Petunia in his wife’s flower-bed covered “nearly 
two inches thick (!) with dead potato-bugs, though said 
bed was on the other side of the house, and some distance 
from the potato-patch.” Ho asks, if it would not be well 
to plant Petunias among the potatoes. Here is some¬ 
thing worth following up, that we may learn its value. 
Potatoes above Ground. —W. S. Parsons, of 
Md., sends us a potato vine on which are potatoes in va¬ 
rious degrees of development, from fair-looking tubers, 
of the size of a butternut, down to that of a hazelnut, 
part tuber, and part branch. Such specimens are not of 
rare occurrence, when the growth of vines is so luxuriant 
as to exclude the light from the lower part of the stems. 
The potato proper, or tuber, is an underground stem, 
greatly enlarged by the deposition of starch. In cases 
like the present, the stem, being in the dark, does notde- 
velop as it would if exposed to the light, but thickens up, 
and makes a more or less perfect tuber. We figured a 
similar instance as long ago as April, 1863. 
Blasting ILogs.— “ Progress” writes that a better 
way to tamp a hole for blasting a log, than driving in a 
plug beside the fuse, is to tamp with dry clay, brick- 
dust, or sand, even. He says the plug will blow out, but 
the tamping will hold every time. 
Plums Do not Bear.— “S. A. D.,” Lowell, 
Mass., writes: “Some Damson plum trees, six years 
old, are healthy and vigorous, and situated in a garden 
that is well cultivated. They were loaded with fruit one 
year; since then they have had none. What can be done 
to make them bear?”_This is one of the many un¬ 
satisfactory inquiries that we are asked to answer. The 
writer thinks that the whole story is told, but he has 
really told but little. If the trees have bloomed freely, 
since the “ one year ” of bearing, but of which nothing 
is said, we should look to the Curculio, as the probable- 
cause of unproductiveness. The attack of this insect be¬ 
gins as soon as the fruit is set, or is as big as peas. We 
should look for no other reason for lack of fruit, unless- 
assured by good observers that it was not the curculio. 
If so, as likely to be the case, there can be no fruit, unless- 
the curculio is daily jarred from the tree, as we have de¬ 
scribed over and over, and are willing to describe again. 
If the trees bloomed, the chances are 99 to 100, that the 
curculio was the trouble. If the trees did not flower, 
then we should look for another cause. 
About Bleaeliliig.—“ J. H.,” Minneapolis. We- 
have so frequently stated that we do not answer anony¬ 
mous letters, that we infer you are a new subscriber, and 
not aware of this rule. Had you given your address, we 
should be able to ask for a more definite question, as it is 
not possible to answer one so general in terms as yours. 
Exhibition of tlie American Institute,— 
It is announced that the 47th Exhibition of the American 
Institute will bo opened September lltli,' and closed No¬ 
vember 16th, 1818. 
Department of Agriculture.— The resigna¬ 
tion of <T. R. Dodge, statistician, is announced just as we 
go to press. No reasons are given for a step which de¬ 
prives the Department of an industrious, useful officer. 
Natural Sciences at Brown University.— 
The Corporation of Brown have recently appointed Prof, 
A. S. Packard, Jr., the well known entomologist, of Sa¬ 
lem, Mass., to the new chair of Geology and Zoology. 
To Keep a Hoad liorse In Condition, we 
would say to “A. G.,” Hamilton, Ont., requires regular 
feeding with the best food, good grooming, and a clean, 
well-ventilated stable. A good course of feeding may 
bo as follows: A three-peck basketful of cut-hay moist¬ 
ened and mixed with three quarts of ground feed, of 
corn, oats, and wheat-bran, to be given morning and 
evening. At noon, four quarts of sound, crushed oats. 
At night, a few pounds of long. hay. With each feed, a 
-tablespoonful of salt should be given. If the animal is 
rough and hide-bound, give a quart of linseed-meal at 
each meal, in place of as much ground feed, 
Nuts and Nubbins. 
The musketo, like charity, begins to bum. 
Ten liot sun-days, all together—in J line 1878. 
That horse is not much at running fast, but he can 
stand the fastest of any liorse you ever saw. 
Scientific agriculturists speak of the “ fruit belt ” of the 
South. It is where green apples strike the small boy. 
A little girl yesterday, while watching the rain, turned 
to her mother, and said: “Ma, I guess the weather’s so- 
warm it’s melting the clouds.” 
A cynical old practitioner says, “ A lady who practises- 
medicine commits two faults: she increases the number 
of doctors and diminishes the number of women.” 
“ Your dog, wdiat does he want here ? ” inquired a dry¬ 
goods dealer of a customer whose big Newfoundland was 
upsetting things generally. “ Muzzlin,” was the answer. 
Statistics show that the number of idiots is increasing; 
and yet some newspapers continue to make war on quad: 
doctors. What’s a quack doctor for but to kill off fools ? 
“ When tempted to kick a man,” says a Scotch philos¬ 
opher, “ stop and remember that you may some day 
want a favor of him.” Tempted men generally stop to- 
see if the other fellow is the biggest. 
A boy of four will ask questions which the man of 
forty can’t answer. Even Darwin’s children can puzzle 
their father if they will only say to him: “Where that 
first hen came from, is what I want to know.” 
“Vat a monster language,” said a Frenchman ; “ here 
I read in ze newspapere zat a man commit a murder, 
was committed for trial, and zen committed himself to a 
reportair. No wonder everyzing in America is done by- 
committee.” 
On the Fourth a native American was upbraiding a 
naturalized German for celebrating the day so enthusias¬ 
tically. The German replied : “ You, sir, are an American 
from necessity; lam one from choice. And beside, sir, 
when you came into the country, you hadn’t a stitch of 
clothing to your back, while I was comfortably clad.” 
The American has been thiuking about it ever sinee. 
Work on the Boston Post-office extension is progress¬ 
ing slowly but surely. Four masons squinted over a- 
block of stone yesterday for three hours to decide if it 
was level, and then went to dinner. A couple of men 
who spent the principal part of the afternoon in getting; 
in and out of their overalls, got as far as spitting on their 
hands before it was time to “ knock off.” They will lift 
a couple of planks early in the week.—Rostov Panel'. 
