1878.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
371 
other wares of the manufacturers, this engine has 
a good reputation among those who have used it; 
is substantial, compact, economical of fuel,easy run¬ 
ning, and sold at a reasonable price. It is claimed 
for this vertical engine, that it is much cheaper 
than a mounted horizontal engine of the same 
power, while nearly equal in essential particulars. 
Our Country Financially. 
Important and Interesting 1 Figures. 
At the Minnesota State Fair at St. Paul, the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States was present on Sept. 5th, 
and addressed an immense throng of visitors, dwel¬ 
ling mainly upon the material interests of our 
country. We epitomize from the address a few 
figures, which show the wonderful recuperation 
that has taken place even during these past five 
years of financial distress and enforced economy. 
These figures refer to the operations of the General 
Government. During the same time, by the econo¬ 
my in the expenses of individuals and families, in 
living, clothing, etc., the reduction of private 
debts, and the accumulations in savings’ banks, in 
Government and other bonds now held by our peo¬ 
ple instead of by foreigners, there has been going 
on a very great addition to the real wealth of the 
whole country, which will be shown in its magni¬ 
tude by the census of 1880. But to the figures : 
Aug. 1805. Aug. 1878. 
Total Interest bearing debt 
of the U. S. Government..$2,331,530,205 $1,809,677,900 
Decrease.$571,852,395. 
Annual interest paid.150,977,698 95,181,007 
Annual Saving.$55,796,691. 
(This annual saving, if put on interest each year, as a 
sinking fund, would in 24 years payoff the National Debt). 
Total taxes paid in the form of Customs and Internal 
Revenue taxes: 
In 1866.$188,273,465.-In 1878.$240,753,305. 
Reduc ion_$247,521,160—(more than half.) 
Total expenditures, including pensions and interest: 
1867: $357,542,675; 1873: $290,345,245; 1878 : 236,964,327. 
Reduct’n '67-78, $120,578,348—Reduct’n ’73-8, $53,380,918. 
Total Paper Currency Circulation, including Green¬ 
backs, National Bank-notes, and Fractional Currency: 
In 1865.$735,719.266...In 1873—$687,743,169. 
Value in LOld .509.999.505. . 684.000,000. 
Greenbacks worth, about_69J cents, gold_99$ cents 
EXTORTS AND IMPORTS. 
The excess of Imports over Exports, from 1863 to 1873, 
ranged from $39,000,000 to $182,000,000. On the contrary, 
during ttie past three years, ending July 1, the exports 
have exceeded the imports as follows: 
1876, $79,648,481; 1877, $151,152,094; 1878, $257,832,667. 
Total excess of exports over imports, (not including 
gold and silver, of which we have sent abroad large 
amounts produced here), for three years: $488,628,242.’ 
The exports of Agricultural products for the year end¬ 
ing July 1, 1868, were $319,904,531.—For the year ending 
July 1, 1878, they were $592,478,813. Difference between 
now and then, $273,471,282. 
Of Farm Products, and Petroleum, the exports for two 
separate years, ten years apart, are interesting: 
Year ending June 30, 1868 1878 
Breadstuff's, (grain, flour, etc.)... $68,980,997 $181,774,507 
Provisions, (meat, but’r, ch’e,etc) 30,278,253 123,549.986 
Petroleum. 21.810,676 46,574,976 
Cotton, manufactured. 4,871,054 11,435,628 
Leather. 1,414,372 8,077.659 
Live Animals . 733,395 5,844,653 
Oil Cake. 2.913.448 5,095,163 
Agricultural Implements. 673.381 2,575,198 
Fruit. 406,512 1,376,969 
The balance of trade against us from 1869 to 1873, was 
over $110,000,000 a year. During the past three years, it 
has been in our favor over $160,000,009 a year, and in the 
past year, over $257,000,000, exclusive of specie. 
House Your Poultry Early. 
BY I. K. FELCH. 
The change from summer to fall, with its warm 
days and cold nights, has its influence upon poultry. 
There is a distemper called “snuffles” that every 
chick has as it matures into a cockerel or pullet, 
though it is often unnoticed, and for want of treat¬ 
ment results in roup, when it becomes contagious, 
and disaster and death to the flock follows. If the 
young chicks are taught to occupy the fowl houses 
Before October, no very serious trouble results. 
Symptoms of the Distemper .—Listlessness ; face 
and comb quite red, and a puff or fullness of the 
face under the eye ; the second day a white froth 
in the corner of the eye; a decided loss of appetite. 
Treatment .—If tgken in hand before the appear¬ 
ance of the froth in the eye, it will usually only be 
necessary to wash the head and beak clean, and 
blow down through the nose into the throat, either 
with the mouth, or by means of a rubber nipple, 
thus clearing the tear tube; and bathe the head and 
wash the throat with a solution of carbolic acid— 
one part acid to ten parts water. The birds should 
be kept in a quiet place and allowed nothing but 
water. The third day they will be quite well. 
In aggravated cases when the eyes and face are 
much swollen, the head and throat should be 
thoroughly steamed by the use of a large sponge 
and hot water. The tear tube should be cleared 
(as above), a desert-spoonful of castor oil given, 
and bathing the face and throat with the carbolic 
acid solution, continued at short intervals. 
This distemper may be called a cold, or the in¬ 
cipient stages of roup. In our opinion it is no 
more roup than a cold is measles. There is no 
offensive smell to the breath as in roup, but if 
neglected it will induce that disease. The breeder 
has the choice of adopting the adage, “ A stitch in 
time saves nine,” or by neglecting it, have that 
scourge of a poultry house, “ roup,” to contend 
with. Be sure your fowls are in winter quarters 
before the frosty nights of October, and this, with 
other drawbacks to success, will be avoided. 
Talks on Farm Crops.— No. 20. 
By the Author of “ Walks and Talks on the Farm'' 
“ Hams on the Pig," etc. 
There is much talk and not a little enthusiasm in 
regard to the use of artificial manures for wheat. 
“You can see to the very drill how far the phos¬ 
phates were sown,” is an oft reiterated remark. 
“I put a mark on the fence,” said one of my 
neighbors, “but there was no need of that. A 
bliud man could see how far the manure went.” 
“Yes,” said the Dearcon, “and they say clover 
shows just as plainly the effects of the phosphates.” 
“ You mean,” said I, “ that when wheat is dressed 
with superphosphate and seeded down with clover 
and timothy, the phosphates not only benefit the 
wheat, but give a better crop of clover afterwards. 
This is precisely what I should expect. And if the 
clover is plowed under, or pastured, or if made into 
hay, and the manure saved and applied, artificial 
fertilizers will greatly enhance the permanent value 
and productiveness of the farm.” 
The Deacon is a new cpnvert to the use of arti¬ 
ficial manures, and is acting as agent for their sale. 
Possibly the commission has something to do with 
his conversion. He was walking over my field of 
mangels yesterday. We have been very short of 
men, and have had great difficulty in keeping the 
crops clean. Still, my mangels never looked better. 
When we had walked about half across of the lot, 
the Deacon stopped and wanted to know if I had 
been using any phosphates. “ Why do you ask ? ” 
said I.—“ Up to this row,” he replied, “the man¬ 
gels are not nearly so good as on the rest of the 
field. On this portion there are many vacancies, and 
I see you have set out cabbages to fill up the gaps.” 
“Yes,” said I, “ we set out over 30,000 cabbage 
plants, and I think 99 per cent of them lived and 
have done well. It is not nearly so much work 
as one would suppose, and the ewes and lambs next 
spring will be very grateful for them.” 
“ You had better have drilled in phosphates on 
the whole lot,” said the Deacon, “ and thus saved 
the necessity for cabbages. Up to this row you 
have 6even acres of mangels that completely cover 
the ground, and not a thousand cabbages on the lot, 
while on the remaining seven acres, the mangels, 
while perhaps as large, are not so even and regular. 
You did not sow any phosphates on this half?” 
“No,” said I, “ there were no phosphates sown 
here, nor on the other half. There is no difference 
in the land or in the seed or manure. There is only 
one reason for the difference. The land was a J 
clover sod last year, which was a very poor catch. 
We plowed up the north half and sowed corn- 
fodder, pasturing the south side and plowing it early 
in the fall. This spring the whole field was plowed, 
and 8 or 10 tons per acre of well rotted manure 
spread on the furrows. It was then harrowed with 
a Thomas’ smoothing harrow to break up the 
lumps of manure; and afterwards with a heavy 
three-horse harrow to work in the manure. It 
was then plowed again, rolled, and harrowed. 
And the heavier portions were cultivated with 
a two-horse cultivator, from which we took 
out every other tooth and then let it run as 
deep as two good horses could pull it. This 
mixed the manure still more completely with 
the soil and brought more lumps of hard soil to 
the surface. These were again rolled and harrowed, 
and the land, as far we had gone, was ready for the 
seed. We marked out the land, north and south, 
into rows of 3 feet 5 inches apart, drilled in the 
seed, and followed with a two-horse roller. When 
we had sown half the field, I concluded that seven 
acres was about as much as we should be able to 
hoe before the plants got too big. Mangels are some¬ 
times slow in coming up; not so the weeds. As 
soon as we can distinguish the rows, we go through 
with a horse hoe, I follow with the hand hoes, 
singling out the plants a foot or fifteen inches 
apart, and at the same time, cutting up all the 
weeds. It is very important that this work should 
be done promptly. A few days delay not only checks 
the mangel plants, but adds greatly to the labor. 
Weeds are like fire. It is an easy matter to put out 
a fire just as it starts, and it is much easier to keep 
the weeds down just as they are starting to grow, 
than after they get possesion of the soil.” 
“ We all know that, ” said the Deacon.—“ True,” 
said I, “but wa are very apt to forget it every 
spring. I have been caught more than once, and a 
singed cat dreads the fire. I did not want to put 
in all my mangels at the same time, because I knew 
we had not force enough to hoe them all at once. 
After we had drilled in the seven acres, I thought 
we had better wait a few days before sowing the 
remainder of the piece, and as we had time I con¬ 
cluded to give the land an extra plowing. And that 
is the only reason why the mangels are so much 
better on this half of the lot, than on the other half. 
That extra plowing was worth §10 or $15 an acre.” 
If I had to commence farming again, 1 would use 
the plow more freely. A German neighbor, whom 
I have alluded to, as one of the best and most ener¬ 
getic, and successful farmers in the town, planted 
eight or ten acres of early potatoes last spring. 
Just as they were coming up we had a severe 
frost, and the plants were more or less injured. 
Still he cultivated and hoed them and they finally 
grew vigorously, and looked quite promising. But 
for some reason, he neglected to “ green ” them. 
I presume he was busy with other matters, and so 
did not notice the bugs, and not a green leaf was 
spared. Then the weeds took full posession. It 
was a sorry sight; I could hardly understand what 
so good a farmer was thinking about. By and by, 
however, I noticed a wagon in the lot, and half a 
dozen men and boys at work among the weeds. 
They were digging the potatoes, and drawing them 
to market. It looked like slovenly work. But the 
next time I drove past, not a weed was to be seen. 
A good plow, with a jointer, had buried them. 
The change was wonderful. The field from being 
a picture of desolation, had been suddenly con¬ 
verted into a model wheat-fallow. It must have 
required some nerve to have abandoned the crop of 
potatoes, but it was undoubtedly the wisest course, 
and the quick use of the plow, enabled our friend 
to win a victory, out of a seeming defeat. It put 
the weeds under before they went to seed, and 
converted them into green manure. 
“I think I know what you are about to say,” said 
the Doctor. “You want to recommend farmers 
to plow their land in the fall as soon as the 
crop is off. This would certainly improve the ap¬ 
pearance of the country. And, on the whole, it is 
safe advice. But what of the fact, that where no 
plants are growing, the water which passes through 
the soil carries off more or less nitric acid.” 
“I will not discuss tils matter now,” said I, “It 
