230 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
actly in the middle of one side, or so, it bal¬ 
ances, it turns easily with a slight wind ; in 
fact, a barrel thus suspended, is seldom still. 
This constant motion of so large an object as 
a barrel has an alarming effect upon the com- 
loving crows. One barrel will answer for 
four or five acres. Pieces of tin and other 
objects, as bright-colored cloth, may be 
attached to the suspended barrel, but they 
are not essential to the Barrel Scarecrow. 
Something About Plaster. 
A friend in Pennsylvania writes : “ I believe 
it is admitted that Plaster of Paris is bene¬ 
ficial to potatoes, and I expect to use it this 
spring. What I want to ask is, will it pay to 
buy the calcined plaster instead of the com¬ 
mon '? Do you consider the calcined plaster 
better than raw for potatoes ?”—This letter is 
an example of many we receive in the course 
of a year, and shows the common confu¬ 
sion of names as to plaster. It is unfortunate 
that we give the name “ Plaster ” to the sub¬ 
stance used as a fertilizer, as it is so apt to be 
confounded with “ Plaster of Paris,” a very 
different thing. Gypsum, the name of the 
mineral, is much better, as it is only applied 
to one thing. Gypsum, or Plaster, is a natural 
mineral, and widely diffused, often forming 
deposits large enough to be quarried. In its 
various degrees of purity and hardness it 
has different names, the finest being known 
as Alabaster. It is a Sulphate of Lime, and 
consists in 100 parts, of 33 parts of lime, 43 
parts of Sulphuric Acid, and 24 parts of water. 
Gypsum, then, is about one-fourth water. It is 
■dissolved by water, but not largely so, as it re¬ 
quires about 400 parts of water to dissolve one 
of Gypsum. It is frequently found dissolved 
in well waters, and is often the cause of their 
‘‘hardness.” When Gypsum is heated to 
about 275°, the water it contains is driven 
off. If, when ground fine, it is placed in an 
iron pot, and heated, the water in escaping 
will cause the mass to move as if it were boil¬ 
ing ; hence it is sometimes called “Boiled 
Plaster,” but the proper name for Gypsum 
that has had its water driven off is Plaster of 
Paris. From this it will be seen that Gypsum, 
or Plaster, and Plaster of Paris, are very dif¬ 
ferent things, Plaster of Paris being Plaster 
from which the water has been driven off by 
heat. If we mix Plaster with a quantity of 
water, the water will dissolve a small portion 
of it. If we mix Plaster of Paris with water, 
that will take up a portion of the water and 
“set,” or become solid. Plaster of Paris is 
used for hard-finish, for making casts, etc , but 
is not applied to the land. For agricultural 
purposes, one should not use Plaster of Paris, 
but always the natural product—Gypsum, or 
Land Plaster, and the finer this is ground the 
better. Should our correspondent “buy cal¬ 
cined plaster instead of the common,” the 
first thing it would do, when applied to the 
land, would be to take up water and “set,” 
and then would be likely to form lumps, 
which would but slowly dissolve. As to the 
uses of Plaster, there is nothing in agricul¬ 
tural science about which there is so much 
difference of opinion. It is not possible 
to tell in advance whether Plaster will or 
will not benefit a crop ; this can only be 
known by experiment, and in this the mate¬ 
rial to be used is not “ Calcined Plaster,” or 
“Plaster of Paris,” but merely the crude 
Gypsum, ground as fine as may be. 
The Early Bird. 
Possession is said to be “ nine points in the 
law ; ” a saying, the force of which we could 
better judge, did we know how many 
“points’’the law contained. Be this as it 
may, there is no doubt of the fact that in 
business and human affairs generally, as well 
as “in the law,” it is greatly to a man’s ad¬ 
vantage to be on the spot, where business is 
transacted, and to be there early. To no one 
is personal and prompt attention more im¬ 
portant than to the farmer or gardener who 
attends the markets; he here gets “posses¬ 
sion ” not only of the most favorable locality 
in the market, but of the attention of the 
buyers. People in general will gladly pay 
more for the first of anything, in the line of 
seasonable food, than they will for that which 
comes but a few days later. The farmer, 
who is impressed with this fact, and endeav¬ 
ors to meet the desire of the consumer by 
pushing his products into the market a few 
days earlier than the usual time, will be the 
one who “makes the market,” and sets his 
own price. Thus a farmer, within our knowl¬ 
edge, makes more money from his few dozen 
early lambs, which are ready for the butcher 
at a time when those of his neighbors are be¬ 
ing dropped, than he would if he had five 
times as many lambs, coming to market late 
in the season. What is true of early meats 
is equally so of early fruits and vegetables. 
A week’s time in ripening of the strawber¬ 
ries may make all the difference between a 
good profit and none at all upon the whole 
crop. Fruits, however, can not be so readily 
hastened, or forwarded, as vegetables, where 
much can be done to forward the crops. 
Early planting and attention to the potatoes, 
tomatoes, cabbages, beets, lettuce, and other 
staple articles from the garden pays, and 
pays well; in fact, it is the secret of success 
with many a market garden. More depends 
upon the quality and the time than the quan¬ 
tity of truck produced in the garden. 
Hookertown Turkey Lore. 
(Second Article.) 
Mr. Editor. —The greatly increased atten¬ 
tion paid to the turkey crop in the Eastern 
States, and in the Southern and Western 
States as well, seems to call for a few more 
notes from the Hookertown Club. Deacon 
Smith continued his remarks upon 
Turkey Nests. 
“ In the wild state the hen seeks the most 
secluded and inaccessible spot, where there 
is protection from birds and beasts of prey. 
Security against attack is the main thing that 
instinct prompts her to look out for. A tangled 
thicket of briars, a sheltering ledge, a hollow 
stump, a clump of brush filled with decaying 
leaves, suit her fancy. With little prepara¬ 
tion she drops her eggs upon the bare ground, 
in these secluded places. Domesticated tur¬ 
keys usually are left to a good deal of free¬ 
dom in choosing their nests. Some farmers 
have prepared nests, made of loose stones and 
boards, or old barrels, placed by the road¬ 
side, or near the barn and slightly covered 
with old brush. These are often exposed to 
the attack of weasles, and skunks, and other 
enemies, besides being unsightly. If there 
are no prepared nests they will seek the near¬ 
est bit of woods, or patch of brush, or fence 
corner, where they can find shelter. The 
whole turkey crop for the year is put in 
[June, 
jeopardy, by this want of preparation for the 
laying and breeding season. By having a 
yard devoted to fruit trees, and turkeys, and 
an open shed with sliding doors, you have 
complete control of the birds, their eggs, and 
their young, during their tender age. The 
risk is reduced to a minimum, and the turkey 
crop is as sure as any other raised on the 
farm. The nests under the shed, should be 
about three feet square, and arranged with 
slats in the front, so that the birds may be shut 
in or out at pleasure. The common A-shaped 
pen coop on a larger scale, the peak of the 
gable about three feet high, is a very good 
arrangement. If the turkeys are fed under 
the shed for a few weeks before the laying 
season, they will take kindly to the nests 
prepared for them. An experienced turkey 
raiser informed me that he kept his hen- 
turkeys during the process of incubation in a 
workshop. On one side of the shop is a car¬ 
penter’s bench, the space under which is 
parted off with boards, making apartments 
about three feet square for the nests. A nar¬ 
row strip of board Is nailed in front to hold 
in place the hay or leaves, which form the 
nest, which should be shallow so as to give 
room for all the eggs when the bird is ready 
for sitting. 
Early Laying:. 
“ Early broods are very desirable on several 
accounts, but there is a good deal of risk in 
having the chicks come out before the grass 
is well started, and there is settled weather. 
In the latitude of 40°, and northward, it is 
quite early enough to have the young chicks 
out by the middle of May. Birds hatched 
from the middle of May until July 1st, will 
have five or six months in which to grow be¬ 
fore Thanksgiving, and that is as soon as they 
will be wanted for slaughter or to sell as 
stock. The cold storms of April and early 
May, are likely to prove fatal to the chicks. 
The laying of the hens is very much within 
the control of their owner, and can be 
hastened or retarded by more or less feed at 
his pleasure. Some of our best breeders feed 
light after the first of February, for the pur¬ 
pose of delaying the laying season. They do 
not care to have chicks before the first of 
June. Coming out at that date they feel 
reasonably sure of raising the large majority 
of the hatch. After the birds have begun to 
lay and get used to the nests, it is well to 
feed generously, to keep up the strength of 
the hen while she is laying, and so prepare 
her for the sitting season. The number of 
eggs that a hen will lay depends a good deal 
upon the feed. The average is from 15 to 30 
eggs, while in some cases among the thor¬ 
oughbreds, they keep on laying all summer, 
without manifesting any desire to sit upon 
the nest. These perpetual layers become 
very much exhausted in the fall, and it takes 
them a long time to recover. ” At this point 
Deacon Smith yielded the floor, and Mrs. 
Tirzah Twiggs, wife of Seth, related her ex¬ 
perience in 
Taking Care of rhe Eggs, 
Tirzah said : “I used to leave my turkey 
eggs in the nests, which the hens made for 
themselves, just where it happened. But I 
soon found eout that that wouldn’t du enny 
heow. So I got Seth to make some nests 
under the wood shed, where things were 
handy, and I brought in the eggs every night. 
I bring ’em into the pantry, and put ’em 
into the large milk pans. I have ’em only 
one layer in a pan, so that they’ll be handy 
