MISCELLANEOUS. 93 
competent apiarians that would watch their habits 
and wants; and if our climate should at first prove 
too severe for them, they should be placed in a 
green-house to winter, where they would be an in¬ 
teresting and harmless appendage to any gentle¬ 
man’s collection of green-house plants. Their in¬ 
troduction would be only second in interest to the 
introduction of the Alpaca, which I am glad to see 
you so much engaged about. Henry Watson. 
East Windsor, Jan., 1846. 
GROWING WOOL. 
The growing of wool is one of the most interest¬ 
ing, pleasant, and profitable employments. Our re¬ 
sources and natural advantages for wool-growing 
are not surpassed, if equalled, by those of any other 
nation. With us, as a nation, the business is yet 
m its infancy, as well as the manufacturing of the 
article. The quantity raised is annually increasing, 
and expensive establishments are continually spring¬ 
ing up in various sections of the land; and it is 
reasonable to suppose that the time is not far distant 
when the skill, enterprise, and perseverance of our 
people, will enable them to compete with the world 
in the manufacturing, as well as growing, of this im¬ 
portant staple. Our wool and woollen goods will 
ere long find their way into the various markets of 
the world, as our cotton and cotton goods have at 
the present time. 
The sale of wool depends much upon the manner 
in which it is prepared for market. It should be 
thoroughly washed, and no dirt of any kind tied up 
in the fleece. 
For washing I prefer a clear stream, with a gra¬ 
velly bottom, it being free from either sand or mud. 
Each sheep should be thoroughly soaked in the 
water, and then suffered to return to the land; then 
they should be thrown in again and the washing 
completed. I have never known this practice to in¬ 
jure the sheep, and the washers are more apt to get 
the wool clean than when they are thrown into the 
water but once. After washing they should not be 
driven on a dusty road, while the wool is wet. 
They should be kept in a clean pasture until shear¬ 
ing, which should take place in from four to eight 
days after the washing. If they run beyond this 
length of time, the wool will get dirty, and the pros¬ 
pects of making a good sale are thereby lessened. 
The fleeces should be tied up in a compact, regular 
form, and packed away in as neat and orderly a 
manner as possible. The wool should be kept in 
the dark, as its exposure to the light wfill in a few 
days give it a yellow color. G. 
Salem, Jan. 20, 1846. 
Buckwheat Cakes. —You gave a method of 
making with soda and acid. These are not in 
every farm house. Here is my method. If you 
wish to have them made in five minutes, take some 
salaeratus or pearl ash ; dissolve it and put it into the 
batter, when mixed ; stir well, and then pour in some 
vinegar ; effervescence will at once commence, and 
directly the batter will be light, and may be baked. 
The cakes will not be as good as if raised with 
yeast, but will be good. When the batter has been 
put to rise with yeast, and does not, put in some 
salseratus or pearl ash and vinegar, and soon the 
cakes will be light. T. 
CASTRATION OF CALVES. 
I was for a long time troubled about having 
calves altered. My family have bred cattle for 
sixty years, and yet always employed a man to 
castrate all the males that were made steers. I sub¬ 
mitted to this inconvenience myself for a long time. 
At length I was forced by chance into the perform¬ 
ance of the operation myself. I soon found there 
was no mystery about it. 
A calf that is to be altered, should undergo the 
operation as early as possible after being dropped. 
Throw him down and let one person hold him ; he 
need not be tied. Have a sharp knife—a pen-knife 
is the best. Press the testicle down into the bag. 
Cut through the skin on the back or front side, to 
the testicle; pull the testicle out of its sheath and 
draw it out, until the cord which attaches it to the 
body is some way out of the body. At about two 
inches above the testicle in the calf, the cord is 
quite small, and enlarges as it goes up. Cut the 
cord at the small part; it will at once draw back 
into the sheath. Do the same to the other testicle, 
and let the calf go. 
If it be a bull that is to be altered, the best -way 
with him is to put him in a narrow stall and tie his 
head fast and close to the manger ; put a rope round 
his neck and pass it down, and make a noose about 
each hind leg between the forelegs, and draw his hind 
legs well under him, and fasten the knots. So 
fixed he cannot move. His testicles will hang 
down, back of his legs. Take the knife and make 
an incision on the front or back of the testicles ; cut 
through to the testicle; draw it out until the small 
part of the cord appears; cut off the cord at the 
small part. This done to both testicles, the ope 
ration is over. Put nothing in the wound. 
Let it be done in good weather, or if bad weather, 
house the animal and there is no danger, and in a 
few days he will be well. In general the things put 
into the wound cause all the trouble. It is cruel to 
cord them, and frequently they are lost by it. Rams 
may and should be altered i n the same way, Never 
cord them for mere humanity. A. S. 
New York, Feb., 1846 
ANNUAL MEETING OF ONEIDA COUNTY 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The Annual Meeting of the Oneida County Agri¬ 
cultural Society was held at Trenton, on the 8th of 
January, and considering the day, which was 
stormy, was fully attended. The following gentle¬ 
men were elected -officers of the Society for the en¬ 
suing year. 
For President , Dolphus Skinner, Deerfield ; Vice Pre¬ 
sidents , Squire M. Mason, New Hartford; Henry 
Rhodes, Trenton ; David Uttly, Western ; Calvary 
Wetmore, Vernon; Horatio Seymour, Utica; David 
Gray, Marcy; Eli B. Lucas, Kirkland; John J. Knox, 
Augusta ; Henry B. Bartlet, Paris ; Pliment Mattoon, 
Vienna; Corresponding Secretary , John P. Burgett, Uti¬ 
ca ; Recording Secretary , Benjamin N. Huntington, 
Rome; Treasure r, William Bristol, Utica; Managers , 
Israel Denio, Jr., Rome; Lucius Warner, Vernon; 
Chauncey C. Cook, Kirkland; Lewis Benedict, Ve 
rona, Lewis Eames, Lee. 
Some of the premiums awarded were—On winter 
wheat 66 bushels, 56 bush. 54 lbs., and 41 bush. 
9 1 lbs., per acre. On spring wheat, 34 bush., and 
