62 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
liquid, one-third or more, often nearly or 
quite two-thirds, of the wall as completed, 
may consist of gravel, and coarse broken 
stones, put in while the cement is being 
placed in the molds forming the walls. As 
before intimated, no one should undertake to 
put up a building without first finding what 
lie can do with the materials at his disposal. 
Some Hotes on a Farmer’s Education. 
At the Farmers’ State Convention, held at 
New Britain, Conn., December 15, 16, and 17, 
the leading topic was : “What the Farmer 
Ought to Know, and How he may Leam It.” 
The following remarks are extracts from our 
notes taken upon the lectures and discussions : 
The old view that anybody could be a 
farmer is passing away. Farmers are “ look¬ 
ing over the fence ” more than ever before ; 
they observe, and imitate when it seems de¬ 
sirable. This awakening of thought has de¬ 
veloped into the establishment of various 
agricultural schools,many of which have been 
unsuccessful, and for various reasons. Too 
much was expected of them; the teachers 
were not trained to their work, and the pupils, 
in many cases, have been educated away 
from the farm. The love for farming and 
farm life must be developed in the child. 
The home teachings mainly shape the farm¬ 
er boy’s future. Object lessons, instead of 
book lessons, most interest and instruct the 
young—and the farm with all its plants and 
animals offers the very best opportunities for 
this training of the powers of observation. 
Study nature and refer to books, and not 
study books and afterwards refer to nature. 
The great lack in the farmer’s education is 
system and balance. In no occupation is 
there greater demand for independent thought 
and accurate judgment. To obtain these he 
must read the best agricultural papers, estab¬ 
lish and attend farmers’ clubs, take part in 
me annual exhibitions, and in every way 
possible meet his fellow fanners, that by so 
aoing he may increase his knowledge. 
There is much work for agriculture to be 
done in the common school. The apparatus 
required is simple and cheap, and plants, etc., 
are always at hand. A text-book of the rudi¬ 
ments of farming could be put into every 
common school with great advantage to every 
child, and as Professor Johnson remarked, 
we should then have “ more broth and less 
dish-water in our schools.” Scientific methods 
should be cultivated in youth ; the method is 
as valuable as the facts. The only reason for 
this lack of agricultural instruction is the in¬ 
difference of the people. Boards of Educa¬ 
tion and Boards of Agriculture should put 
their heads together and help to bring in this 
new dispensation. The village and city school 
should share in this work ; the whole system 
leading up to the Agricultural College, where 
the highest and most thorough education can 
be obtained. As a stimulus and an aid in 
bringing about this system in agricultural 
education, schools of a few months’ duration, 
in the winter season it may be, might be held 
at various points in the State. The nation is 
safest only when the youth are educated thor¬ 
oughly—and agriculture is on a sound and 
permanent basis only when the boys, and girls 
too, are instructed in the elements of farming. 
“How Best to Remove Warts?” 
—This question was discussed at the last 
meeting of the Conn. Board of Agriculture, 
One gentleman said a large wart on the ud¬ 
der of his heifer prevented her being milked. 
He was recommended to apply grease or oil, 
at frequent intervals. Boiled linseed oil has 
been thus used with good results. In one 
case mentioned, a number of large warts 
were removed from various parts of a horse 
by bathing them in a weak solution of pot¬ 
ash. When warts are small at the base, they 
may be removed by a string frequently 
tightened—“tied off” as it'is sometimes 
called. Warts are more frequent and abun¬ 
dant on young than old animals. They often 
disappear very quickly and without any ap¬ 
plication. The methods employed for curing 
human warts would make a very curious list, 
exhibiting many strange and fanciful whims. 
Something About Lucerne. 
Lucerne (probably so-called after the Swiss 
canton of that name) is now the subject of 
so many letters of inquiry, that one would 
suppose it to be a new thing rather than 
one of the oldest agricultural plants in cul¬ 
LUCERNE OR ALFALFA ( Medicago saliva). 
tivation. It affords a marked illustration 
of the difficulty experienced in establishing 
the real value of an agricultural plant, espe¬ 
cially one that, in order to be useful, requires 
a special culture. It was first prominently 
brought to the notice of our farmers near the 
end of the last century by Chancellor Living¬ 
ston. When so distinguished a man pub¬ 
lished his results, others, as is apt to be the 
case, looked only at the great yields he ob¬ 
tained, without due regard to the methods by 
which he secured them, but treating Lucerne 
as they did clover, met with a general failure, 
and the plant fell into a disfavor from which 
it has been slow to recover. Numerous let¬ 
ters show that there is a renewed interest in 
the plant, and before considering its cultiva¬ 
tion, it is necessary to meet some of these 
inquiries by describing the plant itself. 
Though sometimes called “ Chilian Clover,” 
it is not a native of South America, but most 
likely of parts of Asia and Southern Europe. 
As with many other plants in cultivation from 
the earliest times, its origin is somewhat un¬ 
certain. On the Pacific Coast it is so gener¬ 
ally known as Alfalfa, that many suppose 
the plant cultivated under that name to be 
different from Lucerne. Curiously enough, 
Alfalfa is the Arabic name for the plant, 
brought by the Moors into Spain, whence it 
was brought by the early Spanish settlers to 
Chili; hence it happens that one of the oldest 
of names comes to, and is, adopted in the 
newest of countries—California and Oregon. 
It is not a Clover proper; the clovers belong 
to the genus Trifolium, while Lucerne is a 
Medicago (M. sativa). In the clovers, the 
flowers are in close, mostly globular heads, 
and the small 1 to 6-seeded pod is straight. In 
Lucerne the flowers are in loose spikes, and 
the small pod is twisted upon itself in two 
and sometimes three coils. Besides these dif¬ 
ferences, the divisions of the leaves of Lucerne 
are narrower in proportion to their length 
than those of any cultivated clover. Its roots 
are large, and in suitable soil run to a great 
depth, thus making the plant indifferent to 
drouth. The engraving gives the upper part 
of a plant with leaves and flowers of 
the natural size. The renewed interest 
in Lucerne is in part due to the makers 
of the choicest butter; some of these 
have found that fodder-corn, whether 
used for soiling, or cured, will not yield 
the very best butter. These do not 
doubt its feeding value, or think that it 
introduces any bad flavor into the but¬ 
ter, but they find a lack of the delicate 
aroma that comes from the best grass 
and from clover. In looking for a soil¬ 
ing plant that shall take the place of 
Indian corn, several have tried Lucerne 
with success. The various estimates 
that have been given of the value of 
this plant are due to the different treat¬ 
ment given to it. Under favorable 
conditions, its yield is enormous, while 
under neglect it is most unsatisfactory. 
It is probable that its value is greater 
in southern localities than in north¬ 
ern ones, as, when once well establish¬ 
ed, its roots are down below the 
influence of drouth, and many more cut¬ 
tings may be made on account of-the 
longer growing season. But it is where 
irrigation is practised that the greatest 
results are obtained, for where it may 
be copiously watered the rapidity of 
growth and its bulk are astonishing. 
As with many other plants that are sturdy 
enough when established, Lucerne is very 
delicate when young, and is easily crowded 
out by weeds; hence, if sown broad-cast, it 
rarely gives satisfactory returns except on 
unusually clean and rich soil. But under any 
circumstances, it is better to sow it in drills ; 
if the land has had some hoed or cleansing 
crop the previous year all the better. It is 
recommended by different writers to make 
the drills from 12 to 30 inches apart; our 
preference would be for the wider distance, 
or the narrowest that would allow of cultiva¬ 
tion between the rows. An English writer 
claims to have had the best results by placing 
the Lucerne in rows six feet apart, and cul¬ 
tivating the spaces between with potatoes, 
cabbages, carrots, or other highly manured 
crop. The seed should be sown as early as the 
soil can be well prepared; with the rows a 
foot apart, ten pounds of seed is required to the 
acre. The covering should be very light, and 
it will be well to roll after sowing. The 
