4 34 
AMERICAN AQR I CULT URI ST. 
IDeerfoot Farm) Southboro, Mass., is becoming 
one of tbe famous farms of the country. Deerfoot Farm 
pork is an esteemed delicacy on many hotel and 
private tables, and its 10,000 lbs. of butter finds a ready 
sale at high prices. How success has been obtained in 
these specialties, Mr. Edward Burnett, the proprietor, 
proposes to let the fanners learn for themselves, by hold¬ 
ing a “Field Day” on Nov. 6th (previously announced 
for Oct. 25th), to which farmers generally are invited. 
After an inspection of the farm, the Town Hall will be 
thrown open to visitors, and opportunity given for a dis¬ 
cussion of the things observed, under the auspices of the 
Southboro Farmers’ Club. Such “ Field Days ” combine 
the features of a fair and farmers’ club, and doubtless 
each one of the large number who will accept the invita¬ 
tion will receive a full return for the time and expense. 
32-Kowed Corn is inquired for by several of our 
readers. Those having it for sale, should advertise it. 
The International Dairy Fair, in N. Y. 
City,commencing Dec. 2d, at the American Institute, (in¬ 
stead of at Gilmore’s Garden, as previously announced,) 
is being organized rapidly, and promises to be a real 
success. Subscriptions to the fund for expenses and 
premiums are being received in encouraging amounts 
from merchants, transportation companies, etc., and 
firms and private individuals are offering large special 
prizes, some of which were announced last month. The 
latest is a " sweepstakes premium,” offered by H. K. & 
F. B. Thurber & Co. of New York, “of $250 for the best 
package of butter (not less than 50 lbs.) salted with Hig¬ 
gins’ Eureka Salt. This is open for competition to any 
farmer, dairyman, or creamery in the United States.” 
Waste of Manure. —“J. G.,” Adams Co., Pa. 
•'Barn-yard manure spread on the surface and exposed 
for eight or ten days before plowing under,” must lose 
somewhat in value, as decomposition is very rapid under 
the influence of air and moisture, which will result in 
the formation and exhalation of ammonia. Cold weather 
checks decomposition, but there will be more or less of 
it going on in the manure at any time when not frozen. 
If mixed with earth by plowing or harrowing in, or 
kept in heaps covered with earth, there is no risk of loss. 
Kids.— In answer to “ W. H.,” Mr. “L. M. R.,” of 
Orrville, Ala., writes that kids are born in pairs, some¬ 
times three at a birth. He owns “ a goat not yet two 
years old that is mother and grandmother of eight, seven 
now living. The increase of goats is more than double 
that of sheep. Goats are taxed in Alabama as a nuisance.” 
Lombardy Poplars for Lightning-rods. 
—Professor Asa Gray sends us the following note: The 
reason which lies at the bottom of the general belief, on 
the Continent of Europe, that lightning strikes the Lom¬ 
bardy poplar trees in preference to others, is coming to 
light. Green herbage, and green wood—sappy wood—are 
excellent conductors of electricity. A tree is shattered by 
lightning only when the discharge reaches the naked 
trunk or naked branches, which are poorer conductors. 
Au old-fashioned Lombardy poplar, by its bight, by its 
complete covering of twigs and small branches, and 
their foliage, down almost to the ground, and by its sap¬ 
py wood, makes a capital lightning-rod, and a cheap one. 
Happily no one can patent it, and bring it round in a 
wagon, and insist upon trying it on. To make it surer, 
the tree should stand in moist ground, or near water; for 
wet ground is a good conductor, and dry soil a poor one. 
It is recommended to plant a Lombardy Poplar near the 
house, and another close to the barn. If the ground is 
dry, the nearer the well the better—except for the nui¬ 
sance of the roots that will get into it. 
The Best “Cure” for Choked Cattle is 
an “ ounce of prevention ” in the shape of a root-cutter, 
through which all roots, apples, etc., shall be run before 
being fed to the animals. The price of such a machine 
is much less than the value of a single cow. Many farm¬ 
ers have lost several animals from choking during the 
years which a good root cutter would last. 
Italy’s Agricultural Products.— The Sta¬ 
tistical Volume issued by the Minister of the Interior 
this year, gives the following figures: Population, 
28,000,000. Acres of Wheat. 10,000,000; product, 136,000,- 
000 bushels. Corn, 4,000,000 acres; product, 80,000.000 
bushels. In Grapes, 4,000,000 acres; Wine produced, 
27,000,000 hectolitres (713,286,000 gallons); Olives, 2,000,000 
acres; Olive Oil produced, 3,300,000 hectolitres (87,179,400 
gallons). Silk grown, about 4,500.000 lbs ; but so much 
rough silk is imported and manufactured that Italy ex¬ 
ports over 5,000,000 lbs. of manufactured silk. About 
20,000,000 lbs. of Wool are grown, and about 15,000,000 
lbs. imported to manufacture, employing over fifty 
thousand persons. Flax and Hemp are largely grown, 
and manufactured by the poorer women everywhere. 
Military conscription absorbs about 100,000 able-bodied 
young men every year, each of whom serves three years 
in the regular Army; then on leave of absence 5 years; 
then gives partial service in the reserves 4 years, and in 
the Militia 7 years—in other words, is liable to be in or 
called into active service at any time during 19 years. 
Thus 500,000 men are constantly in the regular Army— 
quite a deduction from the number of producers, as 
compared with our own country, where less than 25,000 
men are in regular military service, or one to twenty as 
compared with Italy. In some other European coun¬ 
tries, the proportion is much larger than it is in Italy. 
Milk In Sealed Glass Jars, after the “ Arcy 
Farm ” method, described on page 413, has been sold in 
New York for some time. The price is 20 cents per 
quart jar, and as it insures just as pure milk as the cow 
can give; the plan suits wealthy customers very well, 
while it is said to be quite remunerative to the farm sup¬ 
plying it. The glass jars, or any nice packages, not only 
are an assurance of the purity of the contents, but 
when such pains are taken in the marketing, the buyer 
may be reasonably sure of good feed, proper care, and 
neatness at the farm. Such efforts always pay, under 
proper management in production and marketing. 
White Fuchsias.— “ H. P.,” Ionia, Mich. There 
are varieties of Fuchsia with white calyx and colored co¬ 
rolla, and vice versa , but we do not recollect to have seen 
any that were quite white throughout. 
Loss of Cow’s Tall.— “ J. B. A.,’ Providence, R. 
I. Cows lose the end of their tails from accidents, such 
as other cows stepping upon them-when lying in the 
stalls, bites of dogs, gangrene, caused by purulent disease 
resulting from the poisoning of injured parts by filth. 
There is no remedy for the loss; the switch never grows 
again, and the tail remains a “ stump tail ” through life. 
Beware! !— Stock Speculation.— We are con¬ 
stantly receiving letters from subscribers, far and near, 
especially the far off ones, inquiring if this, that, or the 
other “ banking house ” or “ stock dealer,” or “ broker ” 
is reliable; it such or such a scheme is not worth a little 
trial, etc. We say most emphatically, let all stock specu¬ 
lators severely alone. If you have money for which you 
have no fiTrther use, present or future, and which you 
must throwaway in gambling, or some other foolish man¬ 
ner, you may turn it to the acquisition of useful, though 
unsatisfactory experience, by sending it to some winsome, 
smooth-talking, unknown, irresponsible operator in 
stocks for others, to be invested (if not pocketed) in 
“ puts,” “ calls,” “ options,” “ straddles,” “double privi¬ 
leges,” “ combinations,” etc., etc. It is very easy to put 
on paper brilliant schemes, demonstrating very positively 
that you can’t lose, but must win. Now and then, not 
often, an investor is allowed to make a small “ strike,” 
just as a bait to others, or to have a brilliant example to 
refer to. Half a million or more circulars are sent out at 
a time to as many individuals, informing each one that he 
is the one selected for such an example. They are sent 
by shrewd writers possessing the knack of making 
others believe that they have special advantages for se¬ 
curing “points” in stock operations, the advantage of 
which they will be most happy to share with others (for 
a small commission 1). Ot course they are tco rich, or 
too generous, to want to enjoy themselves all the benefit 
of their superior facilities for knowing what stock will 
rise, and what will fall.—A regular Stock Board is useful 
for the selling and purchasing of good stocks and bonds, 
as investments, and -there are reputable, long-estab¬ 
lished firms who buy and sell on commission. But there 
are also numerous “bucket-shops,” and irresponsible 
“bankers” and “brokers” where the chief capital is 
“assurance,” and the ability to write advertisements and 
circulars of a taking character. So much for the preseut. 
If necessary, we will hereafter give a chapter of details 
on the way things are done in Wall street, Broad street, 
Exchange street, etc. In the meantime, to any reader 
who must invest a dollar or two, or a hundred of them in 
N. Y. slock speculation of any kind, we say, better put it 
into some organized, honest lottery (if you can find one); 
or into a horse race, or boat race, where yon are sure the 
horse or boat that ought to win, and is expected to win, 
is not privately “sold out” after the bets are made (if 
you can find such an one 1). 
A New Rotation.—“ F. J. G.” In any rotation 
that would be an improvement upon the usual one, a root 
crop should have a place, and an extra clover crop, or two, 
if possible. Thus, beginning with wheat seeded to grass 
and clover, we may take one year, hay; one year, pasture. 
then corn, followed by roots—mangels preferred ; then 
oats with clover; then clover-hay, and the aftermath 
plowed down for wheat, which brings ns to the beginning 
again. This would make a seven years’ rotation. The 
two cultivated crops with the clover would clean and en¬ 
rich the land, and there would be more fodder grown 
to the acre than in two of our present four year rotations. 
[November, 
Nuts and Nubbins. 
Josh Billings says that he goes to the White Hills by 
the best route in the world, and catches the best-route in 
the world after he gets there. 
A young mother gives her child a stick of candy, and, 
to teach it politeness, says: “What do children say 
when they got candy ? ’’—“More 1 ” 
A little Florida boy tamed an alligator, and the ugly 
reptile learned to like the little fellow—not, however, 
until the little fellow was all gone. 
“Fine nainsook, embreidered, makes lovely little slips 
for children, ” says a fashion writer. Orange peel on 
a sidewalk continues to be good enough for men. 
“ Say, papa, did mamma ever believe that some folks 
would be lost? ”—“Yes, she did,” replied the father.— 
“ Then what did she suppose would become of you ? ” 
The same backache which makes a boy howl when he’s 
digging potatoes, causes him to smile when he slips off 
the back way to the picnic. Boys are curious insects. 
“ We all knows,” said a cockney school committeeman 
to a teacher he was examining, “that A, B, and C, is 
vowels; but what we wants to know is, vy they is so.” 
At a Parisian hotel during the Exposition:—Maddened 
Guest—" Sixteen francs for a candle 1! ”—Courteous 
Host—“No, sir; one franc for the candle; fifteen francs 
for the candlestick, milord.” 
“What is the national air of this country?” asked a 
foreigner in Washington. “ That’s the national lair, ” 
replied a native, pointing to the Capitol, “ but the ani¬ 
mals are all out in the jungle just now, chasing voters.” 
Tourist (to fair companion)—How quiet and lovely 1 
Surely tills might be a spot the poet had in mind When 
lie said, “Silence reigns.” Guide—Ah, and ye may eay 
that same; and thunders, too, yer honor. 
We met a farmer, a day or two ago, who was so hard 
pushed that ho was on his way to pawn his hoe. We told 
him we were sorry to see his case s* hopeless.—“Hope¬ 
less!” he exclaimed, “far from itl You know the old 
mo: to, ‘ hoe-pawn, hope ever 1 ’ ” 
Annie—“ Can you tell me, ma, why the perfume on 
the handkerchief of my dear Augustus is like me shoot¬ 
ing an arrow at a target ? ”—Ma’— “ No, my dear, I don't 
see the similarity; why is it ? ’’—Annie—“Because it’s 
aro, ma, scent from my beau.” Ma faints. 
Said Brown to Parker: “I say, Parker, what’s the 
difference between a ripe watermelon and a decayed 
head of cabbage ? ”—“ Give it up ; can’t tell.”—Brown 
laughed softly as he said, “You’d be a nice man to send 
to buy a watermelon, you would 1 ” 
When little Thomas stoops to toy with berries, jam, 
and jelly cake, no art can soothe the chastened boy—no 
nostrums case his stomach ache. And if the griping 
pains defy the medicines prescribed to foil, his parents 
will do well to try the limpid, liquid castor oil. 
“What is a junction, nurse?” asked a seven-year-old 
fairy the other day of an elderly lady who stood at her 
side on a railway platform. “A junction, my dear,” 
answered the nurse, with the air of a very superior per¬ 
son, indeed, “why, it’s a place where two roads separate.” 
The young man had been giving his views about 
everything to everybody for an unendurabie half-hour, 
when the old man said, with nice courtesy, “I beg your 
pardon, sir, but if you begin teaching everybody at 
eighteen, when do you intend to begin learning?” 
A mature lady was making herself conspicuous at the 
opera by talking loudly to two young men accompany¬ 
ing her.— 1- What a bad example that woman is giving 
her sons,” said in a stage whisper a spectator in an ad¬ 
joining box. No further disturbance from that source. 
A recent advertisement contains the following: “If 
the gentleman who keeps the shoe store with a red head 
will return the umbrella of a young lady with whalebone 
ribs and au iron handle to the slate-roofed grocer’s shop, 
he will hear of something to his advantage, as the same 
is the gift of a deceased mother now no more with the 
name engraved upon it.” 
“A wasps’ nest contains fifteen thousand cells,” and 
the greatest of these “ sells ” is to sit down on the nest 
under the mistaken impression that all the wasps have 
gone to the sraside or somewhere on a visit. A single 
wasp loafing in the back kitchen, will give the sitter a 
warm reception. And no doubt a married one would 
treat him in the same manner. 
A young lady recently inquired at a store in New York 
for “ Louis Quinze ” shoes. Some were shown her by a 
spruce clerk, but, not liking a peculiarity about the 
heels, she asked if they had none without it. “ Oh, no,” 
said the clerk, “Mr. Quinze always makes them jnst 
like this.”—“Mr. Who? ”—“Mr. Quinze—Louis Quinze 
—of Paree—he makes all our goods of this class-we 
have them direct from him. You can see his trade¬ 
mark I ” The customer survived to tell the story. 
