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AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[January, 
Northern Michigan.— A correspondent writes 
■that the crops iu Northern Michigan were excellent, and 
that the farmers had good fall weather for securing them, 
lumbermen expect a favorable winter for their work, 
and say that if it should prove to he, there will be more 
logs “ barked ” this season than ever before. 
Poultry Exhibitions should be conducted im¬ 
partially, though they often are not. If they could be, 
there would be greater interest in poultry raising. The 
real standard of merit is not ownership or breeding, but 
quality. The judges who can stick to this point, and 
be untrammeled by prejudice of “strain” arc those 
who wiil be in the front rank. “ No favoritism; the 
birds to win,” should be the motto of judges at the 
poultry exhibitions ; then, and not till then, will farmers 
and amateurs become regular exhibitors. I. K. F. 
Cow-MIlUers in New Zealand.— Mr. John 
Xambie, a New Zealand subscriber, sends an account of 
"his experience with cow-milkers: “Some eight years 
ago I saw an advertisement in an Ayrshire paper, setting 
forth the merits of the milkers; so I wrote to Mr. John 
Drummond, of cheese-making celebrity, in Ayrshire, in 
reference to it. He sent us 2 or 3 sets, and I gave them a 
very careful and patient trial, extending over two years. 
The result of my experience is that the milkers (I refer to 
the “silver tubes”) will never prove entirely satisfac¬ 
tory. Although used with the greatest care, the teats of 
some cows became inflamed and swollen. It varied in 
effect with the degree of coarseness in the animal. Fine¬ 
skinned cows were easily irritated, while coarse and 
thick-skinned animals were not affected, except by a de¬ 
creased flow of milk from the continual use of the tubes. 
The inside of the teat would appear to be of such delicate 
structure, that no foreign substance, however skillfully 
formed, can possibly be introduced without producing ir¬ 
ritation. I noticed some cases where, after the irritation 
had subsided, the inside of the teat appeared callous and 
hard, as if nature was making an effort to accommodate 
herself to the altered circumstance ; this was also accom¬ 
panied by a less flow of milk. That the milkers are useful 
in case of an accident to the teat when it would be impos¬ 
sible to squeeze it by hand, I can personally vouch for.” 
Wire-Binders to tlie Bear. —There has been 
much complaint from farmers that the straw from har¬ 
vesters that use wire-binders contains bits of wire that 
get into the animals’ stomachs and causes serious in¬ 
jury. The millers, also, have tabooed the wire-binders, 
as shown by the following resolutions, adopted by the 
Minneapolis Miller’s Association: 
Whereas, The committee appointed by this associa¬ 
tion to examine into and report upon the damage to mill 
machinery, arising from the use of wire-binders for 
wheat, having rendered a report recommending the dis¬ 
continuance of the use of said wire-binders, and said re¬ 
port having been accepted by this association, therefore, 
be it Resolved , That, whenever practicable, a difference 
-of ten cents per bushel, under corresponding grade, bo 
made in the purchase of any wheat containing wire. And 
be it further Resolved, That we most earnestly recom¬ 
mend the discontinuance of the use of wire-binders for 
binding wheat. 
The Lancaster Butter-Carrier.— No matter 
how good butter may be, if it reaches the market in a 
soft and unpresentable condition, it can not sell for the 
best price. We several years ago figured one form of but¬ 
ter-box or pail, in which ice was used at each end, but 
this was more especially intended for those who take 
their own butter to market. In the Lancaster Butter- 
Carrier, we have a contrivance, on a similar principle, in 
which butter may be sent by express. The butter is to 
be made into pound prints, wrapped in muslin, and each 
print dropped into a tin cup of the proper shape; these 
cups fit into a case holding four dozen or any desired 
number. The peculiarity of the carrier is, that one cup or 
several may be replaced by water-tight cans containing 
ice, and the temperature kept low until the butter reaches 
its destination, when the ice-cans are refilled. This com¬ 
mon-sense affair is advertised elsewhere by E. L. Resh. 
Longest Tunnel in tlie World.— Eleven years 
ago, we passed from Southeast France over Mount Cenis, 
into Italy. The road zigzagged up mountain sides, and 
through defiles, until we crossed a notch in the summit, 
6,773 feet high, where the snow never melts. Ten hours 
time, and 21 horses used in relays, were required to 
get our carriage holding sixpersons,half of them children, 
over to Suza. Five years ago, we went through the moun¬ 
tain in 30 minutes, in a railway carriage, so well lighted 
and running so smoothly that but for the guide-book 
we should hardly have known we were under a mountain 
at all.—Look on the map and find Luzerne in North 
Central Switzerland, and Lake Maggiore in Northern 
Italy. Eleven years ago, in passing between these two 
places, we used three days’ time, and more horses than 
we can remember. The road at the St. Gothard Pass 
reached an elevation of nearly 7,000 ft., where the snow re¬ 
mains all summer. Now they are building a railroad 
between these two places, and to get it through they are 
digging a Tunnel under St. Gothard, which is to be 
48,936 feet, or over 9 miles long—the longest one in 
the world. There are other tunnels enough to make 
nearly 23 miles of tunnel in 108 miles of railroad. The 
cost of this railroad is to be nearly $60,000,000. Through 
this highway is to pass the immense traffic between the 
two great nations of Germany and Italy. In going over 
from Luzerne in 1867, we met hundreds, probably thou¬ 
sands, of heavy, slow-moving wagons, plodding up the 
steep road, loaded with freight, passing from Italy to 
Germany. At least hundreds of them were laden with 
silkworm cocoons, taking them to Germany to be 
transformed into silken thread and fabrics; other hun¬ 
dreds of wagons carried casks and barrels of Olive Oil. 
Healthful or Stealthy. —A common mistake is 
the use of the word healthy for heal thful. Many kinds 
of food may he in a very healthy condition and yet not 
be health/a! for a sick person, or a well one even. 
Heal thful food, health/;! exercise, health/!;! air may all 
contribute to put a person in a healthy condition. 
Healthy refers to the condition of a person; healtk/u! to 
the quality in an object, in a food for example, which 
will help to put or keep a person healthy. 
A Safety Stirrup.- “H. R.,” Springfield, Mo., 
suggests an improvement on 
the ordinary form of stirrup, 
which he thinks would be less 
liable to catch the foot in case of 
accident. The foot-rest is of 
wood or iron, but only extends 
across the bottom and up the 
sides of the foot. The strap 
forms a loop in which the wooden 
or metallic portion rests, as 
shown in the enguving. A 
projection from the bottom may 
be turned up at the end to pre¬ 
vent the foot from passing through the stirrup. 
Wheat In Northern Minnesota.— “A. B.,” 
Clay Co., Minn. To grow more than 15 to 20 bushels of 
wheat per acre without manure, you probably need to 
prepare the land better, and to cultivate the growing 
crop. As you only raise spring wheat, begin by plowing 
the land thoroughly in the fall, then plow again early in 
spring (if you did not plow last fall, plow twice next 
spring), and thoroughly pulverize with the harrow. Sow 
the wheat in drills 12 to 16 inches apart, using three 
pecks of seed to the acre; then cultivate the growing 
crop with some such implement as Travis’ Wheat-Hoe. 
Similar practice to this has doubled thecrop in a number 
of cases that have come to our notice. It should he re¬ 
membered, however, that no amount of cultivation can 
take the place of fertility, either natural or supplied. 
The American Cotswold Record, edited by 
Chas. P. Willard, Chicago, Hi., and published by the 
American Cotswold Association, of which the Editor is 
Secretary. This is an exceedingly neat volume, giving 
over500pedigrees, engravings of several noted sheep, and 
an essay on Cotswold sheep by the Hon. Chas. P. Mat¬ 
tocks, of Maine. This being the first volume, can be re¬ 
garded as only a beginning, as the number of owners is 
very small and does not include the names of several 
well-known breeders of Cotswokls that we shall expect 
to see in another volume. 
IiUcern or Alfalfa In Canada. —“S.,” in On¬ 
tario, adds his own experience to what we have already 
given. He says: “ In the spring of 1876, a friend in Cali¬ 
fornia, sent me a pound of seed, which I sowed on about 
y lo th acre, in drills 10 to 12 inches apart. It came up 
nicely, was kept clean that season and hoed once in the 
spring of 1877, since which, no cleaning has been needed. 
In 1877, it was cut twice (a portion three limes), both 
crops being very good. It was manured in fall of 1877, 
and this year (1878), there have been four good cuttings, 
one very heavy, and the rest each apparently equal to a 
a good crop of clover. I can not give weight of crop, as 
it was all fed green to working-horses, which thrived well 
upon it, and appeared to like it better than anything else. 
Iliad no hope that it would succeed on my land, which is 
stiff clay with a northern exposure. It has, so far, stood 
the winter well. My little bit of experience is decidedly 
favorable, and if I were farming, I would try it more ex¬ 
tensively. It is quite possible that, as suggested by Mr. 
Chapman, one, and the chief cause of success, is the use 
of Californian seed, as European seed has been tried 
in this neighborhood without any encouraging results.” 
A Wisconsin Clieese. —Cheese-making, to judge 
by the display made at the recent Dairy Fair by Wiscon¬ 
sin, promises to become a leading industry in that State. 
On the last evening of the Fair we had the company of a 
large exporter of Cheese, who, having no interest in the 
samples examined, gave an impartial opinion as an ex¬ 
pert, as we passed around, freely using the tryer. He re¬ 
turned several times to a lot that had no mark to indicate 
where it was from, and at last remarked: “ Whatever the 
judges may decide, that, in my opinion, is the best cheese 
here.” We afterwards found that the cheese was made 
in June, 1878, by Clark & Reynolds, Oakland, Jefferson 
Go., Wis., and was exhibited by Blackwell & Co., New 
York, to show the keeping qualities of their cold ware¬ 
houses, the cheese having been stored there since July 27. 
A Good Corn-Sheller is “Adams’ Self-Feeding 
Power Corn-Sheller,” advertised by the Sandwich'Manu¬ 
facturing Company. This was invented 20 years ago, 
hence i3 one of the oldest. It is built to do a great 
amount of work; is fitted with elevator and cob-stacker, 
and requires 2 to 6 horses to drive it. Its operation is 
much the same as that of hand-shelling, so that the corn 
is not broken or crushed. This company also make shel- 
lersfor mill and small farmers use, also the “Young Sam¬ 
son ” horse-power, a compact and convenient apparatus. 
Florists, Look Out !—There is a chap calling 
himself Beaubien, who is going among florists and taking 
orders for “Double Yellow Petunias,” “ Yellow Verbe¬ 
nas,” and other remarkable novelties. He claims that 
his stock is being cared for by some florists in South 
Framingham, Mass., who are much annoyed at the use 
of their name by this scamp. The fellow takes orders 
for half cash down and half on the delivery of the plants 
—which, of course, never happens. It is a wonder to us 
that he can find any florists to believe his statements. 
Cure for Roup. —“I. L. R.,” N. Y., recommends 
pine tar applied externally and a few drops in the throat 
as a remedy for roup. 
Early Fruiting Beaches.— J. O. Nixon, Harri 
son Co., Miss., wrote that bn July 12th he ate a peach 
from a tree which fruited when but a year old. The 
seeds were sown in the fall of 1876, the plants came'up 
in the spring of ’77, and when 4 to 6 inches high, about 
70 young trees were transplanted to his nursery. Last 
spring many of these trees bloomed and set fruit, all of 
which, save two peaches to a tree, were picked off. He 
had still eight trees with fruit that promised to ripen. 
A Good Knife for 50 Cents is advertised by 
Maher & Grosh, Toledo, O. We have whittled with one 
of these knives, and find it to be a very good thing. A 
poorer knife than this has often nestled in our pocket- 
cut our fingers, skinned musk-rats, cored apples, and 
been swapped for marbles and fish-lines, when the writer 
was a hoy. Those who send 50 cents for this knife will 
more than likely get their money’s worth. 
Patent Machine Rolled Horse-Shoe.— 
This shoe, patented by John D. Billings, is made from a 
bar of steel so rolled as to form two pieces at right angles 
to one another; when this is bent to form a shoe, there 
is a continuous calk below, and a continuous edge above 
the web or platform upon which the foot rests. The 
shoes are very easily fitted ; it is claimed that they are 
easier to the foot than the old form of shoe, and that they 
give a more uniform bearing. The shoes are highly com¬ 
mended by those who have tried them. 
New and Good Music can be bad very cheaply 
by subscribing to “ The Portfolio,” a monthly journal 
published in Boston, and which has long been advertised 
in our columns. The December number gives eight 
selections, vocal and instrumental, besides all the current 
news and gossip in the musical and other arts. 
The American Agriculturist Clubbed 
with Other Journals. 
In response to numerous requests from our subscribers, 
relative to obtaining the American Agriculturist in con¬ 
nection with other publications, we have made arrange¬ 
ments with a few of the leading Magazines, which will 
be forwarded iu combination with our Journal as follows: 
[Postage additional when sent to foreign subscribers.] 
Regular The 2 sup- 
price plied, post- 
.for paid, by 
American Agriculturist with both. us for 
Scribner’s Monthly ($4.00).$5.50.$4.75 
Scribner’s St. Nicholas ($3.00). 4.50. 3.90 
Demorest’s Monthly ($3.00). 4.50. 3.90 
Harper’s Monthly ($4.00). 5.50. 4.75 
Harper’s Weekly ($4.00). 5.50. 4.75 
Harper’s Bazar ($4.00) . 5.50. 4.75 
Appleton’s Journal ($3.00). 4.50. 3.90 
Popular Science Monthly ($5.00). 6.50. 5.50 
Atlantic Monthly ($4.00). 5.50. 4.75 
On receipt of subscriptions as above, we deliver the 
names and pay to the offices of publication of the maga¬ 
zines ordered, and should there ever be occasion for com¬ 
plaints of non-receipt of such magazines, these should be 
made direct to their respective Publishers, and not to us. 
