AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
481 
1879.J 
November Fair List. 
STATE FAIRS 
Alabama .Montgomery.Nov. 10-15 
South Caroliua.Columbia.Nov. 11-11 
Industrial and District, dec. 
Air.. Institute.New York.Sept. 17-NOV.22 
Illinois Fat Stock.Chicago.Nov. 10-15 
International Dairy Ass’n.New York.Dec. 1-13 
Delaware Dairy’n Ass’n.Delhi, N. Y.Nov. 12-13 
Carolina Fair Ass’n.Charlotte, N. C.Nov. 4- 7 
Poultry Exhibitions. 
Cincinnati.Cincinnati, Ohio.Dec. 24-31 
Central Penn.Pottsville, Pa.Jan. 8-15 
Council Bluffs.Council Bluff's, Iowa.Jan. 20-23 
Champlain Valley.Burlington, Vt.Dec. 16-19 
Brocton Fanciers.Brocton, Mass.Dec. 23-26 
Eastern New York.Albany, N. Y.Jan. 20-27 
Empire State.Syracuse, N. Y.Jan. 29-Feb. 5 
Germantown Pet Stock. .Germantown, Pa.Dec. 23-26 
Huntington Poultry.Huntington, Pa.Jan. 12-15 
Indiana State. .Indianapolis, Ind.Jan 8-15 
Middlesex Poultry.L iwell. Mass.Dec. 29-Jan. 1 
Mts-iden Club_’.Meriden, Conn.Jan. 6- 8 
Northern Indiana.Fort Wayne, Ind.Jan. 27-80 
Oxford Co.Soutli Paris, Me .Dec. 16-18 
Rock River. :.Sterling. Ill.Dec. 9-12 
Rhode Island.Providence.Feb. 411 
Southern Conn.Bridgeport.Dec. 1519 
Southern Mass...Fall River.Jan. 13-17 
Southeastern Iowa.Burlington.Dec. 29-31 
Terre Haute.Terre Haute, Ind_Dec. 29-Jan. 3 
Wabash Valley.Lafayette. Ind.Dec. 10-17 
Western Poultry Club_Bloomington, Ill...Jan. 16-23 
Dishorning Calves.— " II. Q. A.,” Beaufort Co., 
S. C. Tlie usual method of preventing the growth of the 
horns of calves is to sear the first growth with a hot iron 
as soon as it appears. The operation is not very pain- 
f'nl, as the first growth of horn is not sensitive, not yet be¬ 
ing sufficiently matured to become provided with nerves. 
Scratches In Horses.— This is one of the most 
common diseases of horses, and one that is caused by 
ill-ventilated and filthy stables. A horse's feet will get 
sore if he is forced to stand in a stable that is seldom 
properly cleaned, and upon a heap of his own excrement. 
The sore which appears under the fetlock joint can bo 
cured by bathing with a solution of Sugar of Lead and 
Water; but it is best so to keep the horse, neat and clean, 
that no occasion will arise for the use of such a remedy. 
The European Sugar Crop.—' While we are 
struggling to reach a satisfactory development of the 
manufacture of beet-sugar, and arc writing, talking, and 
disputing on the possibility of growing beets and produc¬ 
ing sugar from them, in Europe the manufacture reached 
the enormous amount of 1,550,000 tons in 1808, and the 
crop of the present year is estimated to exceed it by 
00,000 tons. In Germany the beet-root tax was paid in 
1878 upon 4,622,900 tons of roots, and the average yield of 
sugar from these was 12J 4 per cent. In Franco also the 
manufacture is taxed, so that we should possess an ad¬ 
vantage in our favor in the freedom from this charge. 
W hy it should be a question with us, whether or not we 
can grow beets, with our climate so similar to that of 
Central Europe where beet culture flourishes, seems an 
absurdity. The only difficulty appears to he that we do 
not set abont it. Trie past season the writer lias grown, 
ip New Jersey, an aero of Vilmorin’s Improved Sugar- 
Beet with success, and the roots arc as fair, smooth;- and 
sweet, as could be desired, and they arc found to be most 
excellent for the production of milk and butter. 
Tlie Present Valne of a Duchess.— At the 
recent sale of the herd of the Earl of Dunmore, Duchess 
114th was sold for $14,040, and Duchess 117th for $16,040. 
Considering tlie remarkable depression in business in 
England, and the low condition of agriculture, these 
prices are as good as might be expected. But then the 
roaring and keeping of Duchesses is not agriculture. 
Home-made Bone-dust.— Bone-dust, as valu¬ 
able as that sold for $35 to $55 per ton may be made at 
home, through the winter, with little trouble, if a stock 
of bones can be procured. Pack the bones in layers in 
boxes or barrels, with a quantity of unleached wood 
ashes, and, keep the whole moist, but not wet. After a few 
months, break up the bones into fine powder. This will 
possess every fertilizing quality of the best bone-dust. 
The Trade In Peanuts. — The peanut is an 
American institution which flourishes in all places, high 
and low, and among all classes ol' people. In the highest 
halls of legislation, and the poorest haunts of the lowest 
of the populace, the peanut is a cherished delicacy, and 
bhe business of growing and distributing it hag become 
so important that it has been found necessary to reduce 
it to rules and standards. Hereafter, by agreement of the 
dealers in this edible, the farmer standard measure, the 
bushel, is abolished, and in place of it, the hag of 100 
pounds is to be tlie regnlar package, and tlie price is fixed 
at so mncli per pound. So that tlie peanut, at once lowly 
and aristocratic in its uses, takes a foremost place in the 
reform in weights and measures which promises to abol¬ 
ish the present uncertain and incongruous bushels with 
t’lie pecks, gallons, and other fractional parts of it. and 
give us in place of it the pound as a unit, and the 100 will 
become I he usual business quantity by which articles here¬ 
tofore measured by tlie bushel will he bought and sold. 
German Agriculture.— Official statistics give 
tlie following figures representing the condition of Ger¬ 
man Agriculture at the end of last year: Acres of arable 
land 55,000,000, meadow 25,000,000, gardens 580.000, vine¬ 
yards 320,000 acres. Twenty-six per cent of the whole 
country is in forests, 7 per cent is occupied by roads, 
lakes, rivers, and waste land, or about ‘/ 3 not tillable. 
American Jerseys. —Prof. G. E. Morrow, of the 
Illinois Industrial University, has just returned from a 
trip to Europe, and, among other places he visited, were 
the Channel Islands. He thinks the Jerseys and Guern¬ 
seys in their native homes are no better than those which 
have been in our country for some time, and nothing is 
to be gained, aside from numbers, by further importa¬ 
tions; besides, the acclimated animals are better adapt¬ 
ed to our climate, ways, etc., than new comers conld be. 
Advance in Dairy Goods.— The advance in 
dairy products during (be month of September is some¬ 
thing phenomenal. A rise of 100 per cent in the price of 
cheese in 20 days is without precedent. From 5 to 10 
cts. a ponnd is an advance that is cheering to the dairy¬ 
men who have for a long time battled with misfortune. 
Butter has advanced 25 per cent, and will probably follow 
cheese to a still higher advance. Now let dairymen take 
warning from the past, and avoid saddling the market 
with poor qualities. Let them encourage consumption 
at home by making only the best possible cheese, and 
consulting the tastes and whims even of the home mar¬ 
kets. There is a vast field to be occupied, and millions 
of pounds of cheese will yearly be eaten by Americans 
if the quality is only made attractive, as it should be. 
AVcediug Out. — The season is drawing to a close, 
mid any farmer that has had a poor cow in liis herd 
through the summer, should decide to not have her an¬ 
other year, and forthwith begin to fatten her for beef. 
There may be sheep in the flock that do not pay their 
way, and should also be “ weeded out.” The poor stock 
should never he bred from, as “ like begets like,” and it 
is only perpetuating tlie poor in tlie place of the good. 
Cast out ail inferior animals; and with this rule rigidly 
followed there will he great improvement in farm stock. 
Wheat in Corn.— The common western practice 
of seeding corn fields to wheat, which is made so easy, 
now that one-horse drills are in use, is one that offers 
stronger evidence of the advantage of clean culture than 
a world of talking or writing could do. A corn field in¬ 
fested with weeds cannot thus be sown until it is plowed, 
which would he very late, while clean fields have been 
sown nearly two months before the com has been cut. 
Heavy Fleeces.—Tlie gradual improvement of the 
American Merino has resulted in a greater addition to 
the value of a wool-hearing animal than has been reached 
in any other country, or perhaps in any other case. The 
weight of wool in proportion to weight of carcass has 
been doubled, and fleeces of 34 or 35 lbs. are not infre¬ 
quent. Three rams in Vermont tlie past season sheared 
31,35, and 37 lbs. respectively, and although this is so far 
unprecedented, no one can tell to what greater weights 
of fleece the skillful breeders of Vermont may arrive. 
New Grades of Wheat.— The Grain Committee 
of the N. Y. Produce Exchange have established new 
grades for wheat which have already gone into effect. 
Among others are the following: Extra winter wheat to 
be bright, sonnd, dry, plump, and well cleaned. No. 1 to 
be sound, dry, and reasonably clean. Nos. 2 and 3 to bo 
second, and unfit to grade higher. Amber and red win¬ 
ter wheats are similarly graded. No. 1 North-west spring 
wheat to be sound, well cleaned, and weighing 58X lbs. 
to the bnshel. No. 2 to be sound, reasonably clean, and 
50 }.< lbs. to the bushel. No. 3 to weigh not lees than 53>; 
lbs. to the bushel. These grades are grown in the North¬ 
west. Nos. 1, 2, and 3 spring wheats, are similarly 
graded. *• Steamer spring wheat’L is slightly soft or 
damp, and of an inferior quality, and grades as above 
with the word “ steamer ” prefixed to each number. 
Dominique-I/CRliorns. —The following opinion 
of the editor of the “ Poultry World” may be submitted 
to those correspondents who have objected to our recent 
remark that we knew of no breed of fowls called Domin- 
ique-Leghorns: “False Feathers. —J. D. C., Scranton, 
Penn., inquires: 1 Do White Leghorn eggs overproduce 
Speckled or Dominique chicks ? ’ —'Wc never knew a 
strain of White Leghorns that would not, rarely—say in 
one case in five hundred, or a thousand, if the former 
estimate offends any * Leghorn man ’—throw a chicken 
with a few black feathers. Hence a thoroughly Speckled 
or Dominique colored fowl may not be an impossibility. 
But such a manifestation would be exceedingly improba¬ 
ble. Wc never have seen one among our own White 
Leghorns, though we have raised great numbers in all, 
sometimes several hundred in a season. Unless very 
positive that there had been no crossing with another 
breed, we should be more inclined to believe that a 
Dominique-Leghorii was the result of a mixture of other 
blood, than that it was a freak or reversion. At the same 
time we fully admit that it may be a freak, for very marked 
1 sports,’ ‘ variations,’ or whatever they may he called, do 
occasionally occur with every animal, wild and domestic.” 
—If we are wrong we err in good company. In the desire 
to multiply varieties for profit or notoriety, many crosses 
are made which can not be dignified by the name of breed. 
Muck. —A muck bed lias been called a gold mine by 
some persons who have had a good one on their farms 
and have used it properly. If not a gold mine, it is at least 
a source of much valuable fertilizing material, and of one 
of tlie very best absorbents for the liquid manure, which 
in most stables and barn-yards goes to waste. Muck 
should be drawn out and left in a pile near the bed to 
dry, after which it can be taken to the stable. The ma¬ 
nure decomposes the muck, and the muck holds the 
soluble matter of the manure—a mutual benefit. 
Why arc Potatoes Hilled “ Oregon.” 
Potatoes are hilled up to prevent them from growing out 
of the ground, as some varieties have a strong habit of 
doing. Earthing up also tends to mellow the soil and 
to encourage the stem to throw out more roots. 
Potatoes for Fattening Hogs.— When fed 
alone potatoes do not give good returns in pork, because 
they are not rich enough in albumiuoids—the elements 
which are necessary for the formation of flesh—lean 
meat, or muscle. Tbe conclusion to be drawn from the 
various experiments in feeding swine, is, that the ratio 
between tbe carbo-hydrates and' albuminoids, the fat¬ 
forming elements, and the muscle-producing food should 
be as 8 to 1. Potatoes stand about 101 to 1, tbe fat-form¬ 
ing material—tbe starch—being too abundant for the ni¬ 
trogenous portion. Peas have tbe albuminoids in excess, 
the ratio being about 2| to 1, and are therefore well fitted 
to mix with the potatoes, to bring the food to the right 
standard. If one bushel of peas is added to a bushel of 
potatoes, it makes the ratio 10| plus 2$, or 13 to 2, or 6| 
to 1. The carbo-hydrates are still lacking, and by adding 
another bushel of com, the ratio stands 7.8 to 1. which is 
about right. The peas ought to be boiled with the pota¬ 
toes, when a mixture is obtained easily digested by the 
swine, nud equal to the best hard corn in fattening prop¬ 
erties. The price of potatoes and peas, and corn, will 
determine which is the cheaper of these two foods. 
Give tlie Pigs a Rubbing Post.— It is as 
natural for a pig to rub as it is to cat; hence we may 
suppose that it is necessary. A pig that is being fed nU 
it can eat, and is confined in a close pen, needs to Imve 
its skin nibbed, and if a good place is fixed for tlie 
rubbing, so much the more comfort for the pig, and 
better health, and the pork may be improved I hereby. 
Exercise for Fowls. —A novel way of furnishing 
liens, that are confined' in a small space, with an abund¬ 
ance of exercise, is recommended by an exchange. A 
piece of meat is suspended by a string just so high 
that tlie fowls arc obliged to make a good jump to 
reach it. We suppose other kinds of food could be thus 
placed, and no lien would be without the incentive to 
take the necessary exercise while eating her duily food. 
English Cattle Shows.— The “N. Y Kveniug 
Post” has a correspondent, an operative in a factory In 
Manchester, Eng., who, over the signature of “A British 
Workman,” manages to get in more sense to the Bquare 
inch than is usually found in such writings. He thus 
gives his views of the recent County Cattle Show. He 
says: “Immense sums of money were given in prizes, 
and immense crowds of people congregated daily to see 
* * *. But a few of us have been rather struck at tbe 
apathy exhibited in connection with the apparant favor¬ 
itism exercised in the judging of cattle, etc. This im¬ 
mense favoritism, together with the competions of peo¬ 
ple who have nothing else to do with their money and 
time but train and feed animals which they own to the 
very topmost pitch of perfection, must make an ordinary 
competitor think it only a waste of time, money, and pa¬ 
tience to enter the lists at all. As an instance of this. It 
is worthy of notice that the President of the Society, the 
Earl of Ellesmere (quite a youth in appearance), takes 
first, second, and third prizes in every class of cattle he 
exhibits. The Duke of Westminster, the wealthiest 
aristocrat in the world, also takes first and minor prizes 
in almost everything he exhibits. Of course, all this 
makes Manchester working-men wonder why working 
farmers have the courage to face the family influence, tlie 
full purse, aud the flunkeyish favoritism with which 
ucli specimens of our nobility arc blessed.” 
