374, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[October, 
The Telegraph Water-Carrier.— In making 
the drawing of the pulley for the Telegraph Water-Car¬ 
rier, described last month, the artist did not clearly rep¬ 
resent it. The pulley consists of a hollowed roller an 
inch in diameter, with a flange on each side 6 or 8 inches 
in diameter,fitted firmly to it. The pulley thus hangs upon 
the wire rope without danger of running off, and also 
passes safely over the arms, upon which the wire isfitled 
into shallow grooves and held with staples. 
Are Free-Martins Fertile?— “W. S.,” Iron 
Co., Mo. Free-Martins so-called, in reality a twin pair, 
male and female,are supposed to be incapable of breeding. 
Why it should be so, when the female is a female, is in¬ 
explicable physiologically ; but it is said by many breed¬ 
ers that such is the fact. That the popular idea has some 
reasonable foundation, is probable, but it is well known 
that it is not of universal application. Many cases are 
known to the contrary, and the rule seems to be that 
when the female twin is properly and fully developed,and 
has the true female appearance and form, she will be 
a breeder; and when the supposed female has a bullish 
look, she will be found on examination, imperfectly de¬ 
veloped, and consequently sterile. A case recently oc¬ 
curred in a noted Short-IIorn cow, Duchess Lally, 2d, 
which was a twin with a hull calf. This cow, 3 years 
old, produced a roan heifer calf, in July last, by Gd. Duke 
of Kirkledrugton, 2d. 
A Nebraska Well.— “L. S.,” Red Cloud, Mitln. 
The sub-soil of Nebraska is generally sufficiently solid to 
retain its form when excavated, especially in wells, with¬ 
out the protection of a curb. Open banks exposed to 
sweeping rains and storms, show very little wear during 
many years, so that it is thought unnecessary to protect 
the walls of wells. This is fortunate, as material for 
that purpose is scarce, or not readily obtainable. 
Gradual Change of Climate Through 
Cultivation. —In making an examination of the Wes¬ 
tern Plains, several years ago, we hazarded the opinion 
that the gradual spread westward of cultivation would 
have an important effect upon the climate, and tend to in¬ 
crease the atmospheric moisture by retaining the rainfall 
in the soil and giving it back again by gradual evapora¬ 
tion, instead of its sudden disappearance from the hard 
unbroken surface into the rivers. The expectation is be¬ 
coming verified. In Western Kansas, the wheat and corn 
line has moved west 100 miles since then, and in Colo¬ 
rado, the finest wheat, and even oats, have been growu 
this year without irrigation. 
St n billing in Wheat. —“ F. F. R.,” Valley Creek, 
Tex. Wheat can be “stubbled in” by sowing on the bare 
ground, and covering with a light plow. Or the ground 
may be run through with a cultivator, and the wheat 
dulled in with a one-horse drill which is made for the 
purpose, and sows 3 or 5 rows in each middle. (This drill 
is offered as one of the premiums by the American Agri¬ 
culturists 
Fall in Tile Drains.— “E. A. C.,” Huntley, III. 
There is no difficulty to be apprehended in an irregular 
fall in drains, unless some portion is nearly level. Where 
a drain falls 3 inches to the rod for the first 40 rods, and 
IK to 2 inches for the next 40 rods, there will be no danger 
of the deposit of sediment, which is the only trouble to be 
feared in any cjse. In draining irregular ground, it is 
impossible to avoid some difference of grade, and with 
even a fall of 1 inch to the rod, there will be a sufficiently 
rapid flow to carry off sediment or muddy water. In lay¬ 
ing tiles where sediment is to be expected, the joints 
should be fitted as closely as possible, and it might be 
well to even them with a piece of coarse stone, ora rasp. 
Merinos for Colorado.— A car-load of 100 Merino 
rams has recently been shipped to Trinidad, Colorado, 
for the flock of M. E. West, of that place. The rams were 
shipped by Hon. E. Townsend, of Pavilion Center, N. Y., 
a noted breeder of Merinos. They cost $2,550. 
Tuberculosis In a Cow.— “ S. B.” Tubercu¬ 
losis, or consumption, produces weakness, abortion, often 
gangrene and loss of tail, with increasing emaciation. A 
cow thus affected is probably past cure. The following 
may be tried without harm, viz.: give one ounce of Hy¬ 
posulphite of Soda, with half an ounce of Gentian root 
powdered, daily, for a month, then reduce the soda one 
half, but continue until a change occurs. Give bran mash 
once a day with a handful of salt. 
Treatment for Garget.— “A Reader.” Your 
remedy for garget is not new,but has been frequently given 
in the American Agriculturist ; this is to inject with a 
common syringe, or a bladder to which a suitable tube is 
fastened, a half pint or more of a solution of Bi-carbonate 
of Soda (Saleratus may be used as a substitute), and after 
it has remained in the udder for 10 minutes, to milk it 
out. It dissolves the caked milk, neutralizes the acid, 
and helps to bring away the contents of the udder which 
otherwise could not be drawn. Bathing the udder with 
warm water with considerable rubbing is useful. 
Patent Fences. —‘‘II. T. W.” The fence made by 
laying up rails between double stakes set in the line of 
the fence, and wiring or fastening the stakes together, 
and finishing the top by stakes and riders, can not be 
legally patented, it being a very old and common fence. 
The writer built a fence of precisely that kind over 25 
years ago. It is so easy to procure a patent on an old 
thing in common use, that much trouble and fraud occur. 
Cement of Floors, Etc.— “ J. II.,” Potter Co., 
Pa. The cement used for concrete and for floors, is either 
Rosendale, Kingston, or Newark cement; either is now 
worth about $1 a barrel. Portlapd cement is imported, 
and costs about $3 the barrel. It is no better than Ameri¬ 
can cement, excepting where it is required to set quickly. 
Salt for Hogs. —“S.,” Grand Prairie, Arkansas. 
Hogs require a moderate quantity of salt, but they can 
not use as much as a sheep without injury, because of the 
different character of their intestines ; the swine’s stom¬ 
ach is small, and is easily affected by acid substances, 
while the sheep’s paunch is large, and a large quantify of 
salt may be eaten with impunity, as it is largely diluted 
by the half liquid contents. Half an ounce of salt may 
be given occasionally to each hog, separately—not when 
in a bunch—otherwise some will take too much. 
Mangels or Carrots. — “ W. D.,” Greenville, 
Miss. Mangels are more easily grown than carrots, re¬ 
quiring less weeding, and they yield more. Otherwise 
there is not much difference between them. Mangels are 
largely grown, but carrots very seldom. 
Grass for Wood Got.— “E. R. S.,” Akron, Ohio. 
A wood lot may be seeded after the rubbish is raked up 
or burned off', by sowing any grass that may he desired ; 
if it is intended for pasture, a mixture of the grasses 
usually sown will be advisable, but Orchard and Blue- 
Grass should form the bulk of the seed. 
Soutlidown or Cotswold Lambs.- 11 H.," 
Baltimore, Md. Butchers will always pay more for a 
grade Southdown or other dark-faced lamb than for a 
grade of any white-faced breed. There is a reason for if, 
besides the alleged stupidity of butchers. Business men 
who look for profit are not always stupid. Black-faced 
sheep are descended from Southdowns or Scotch sheep, 
and these sheep are plump, solid, and easily fatten, and 
their lambs are like them. 
Lltne for Black Muck Soil.— “ G. A. P.,” 
Marlboro, N. II. Lime is a very good fertilizer for black 
mucky soil, as such soil contains a large quantity of raw, 
undecomposed vegetable matter. In seeding such land 
to grass, it would be advisable to spread 30 or 40 bushels 
of air-slaked lime per acre as soon as possible upon the 
plowed surface, harrow it in in the spring, and sow the 
grass seed with a thin seeding of oats. 
Preparing for Boots.-- “ IV. V. B.,” Warren 
Co., N. J. Land intended for roots should be plowed as 
soon as possible. It may be left rough, and manured in 
the winter, ready for cross-plowing in the spring. Roots 
can not succeed well unless the bottom soil is mellow, 
and deeper plowing is needed for roots than for grain. 
Tlie Disk Harrow.- “ S.,” Martin, Tenn. The 
disk harrow is a very useful implement; we find it rather 
heavy of draft, tut the work done by it is excellent. 
Washing Machines and Washers. —The 
introduction of a “ Washer” as distinct from a “ Wash¬ 
ing Machine ” for family use is something comparatively 
recent, though not altogether new. In “Washing Ma¬ 
chines” the fabric is filled with water or suds, and then 
forcibly squeezed out; this is done in a great variety of 
ways, from the old-fashioned pounder to the most ap¬ 
proved machine—in all the washing is accomplished by 
a succession of squeezes or pressing. In bleacheries, 
where immense quantities of fabric are to be thoroughly 
cleansed, the cloth is placed in an immense vat, and a 
stream of suds or other cleansing liquid is allowed to 
play upon It; this liquid, by a simple contrivance, is 
made to fall in a continuous stream; it passes down 
through the fabric, carrying out whatever impurity it dis¬ 
solves, and rises again from the bottom to repeat this 
again and again, until the liquid had taken out of the 
cloth all that it can dissolve. When this process, so ef¬ 
fective on the large scale, was made available in the fam¬ 
ily, the apparatus was called “ A Washer,” to distinguish 
it from those in which pressure and squeezing were used. 
The “Washer” is really the “Bucking Tub” of the 
bleachery upon a small scale, and of this several forms 
have been offered during the past 20 years or more, dif¬ 
fering in producing the effect by a more or less simple 
method. The style of which we have had special knowl¬ 
edge is the Robbins’ Family Washer, which accomplish 
ps the end—a continuous flow of soapy water—in a sim¬ 
ple and effective manner. Were we to stop just here, we 
should be overwhelmed with inquiries about the useful¬ 
ness of the Washer. In no other domestic labor-saving 
contrivance so much as in Washers and Washing Ma¬ 
chines do the makers have to contend with the fact that 
the help won't be helped. There is an ingenuity of stu¬ 
pidity as well as of intelligence, and the inventiveness 
sometimes displayed in preventing the working of a use¬ 
ful contrivance would work wonders if properly directed. 
So with regard to this Washer. If left to the sole 
management of “ help ” that are determined that neither 
this nor any other appliance shall prevent them from 
doing the washing by “ main strength and stupidness,” 
will very likely not work. Every mishap to the washing 
will be ascribed to it, and all will go wrong until it is set 
aside. To an intelligent person, one who is willing t® 
adopt whatever promises to be a real help in the hardest 
of domestic labors, who is determined to make it work 
if it will work, it can not fail to facilitate washing, and 
at the same time save much wear and tear of clothes.. 
Orchard Grass.— Our recent experience with this 
grass has been more favorable Ilian we expected. Know¬ 
ing from former experience its value for pasture and for 
mowing, we have sown it extensively the past two sea¬ 
sons, for soiling purposes chiefly. A field seeded last 
fall has been cut three times, and will doubtless furnish 
another cutting in October. This grass is largely grown 
in Kentucky, some farmers producing as much as 1,000 
bushels of seed every year. The regular price in that 
State is about $1 per bushel, which is about one-third the 
price it is sold at in the East. As this g ass should be 
sown thickly, at least 3 bushels to the acre (with 4 quarts 
of Red Clover), the cost of the seed is a serious item to. 
consider. The season for seeding is early in the spring, 
and a supply of seed should be procured in time. 
A Simple Stump Puller.— “F. A. W.,” Morris 
Co., N. J., suggests in using the stump puller described 
on page 338, September American Agriculturist , to re¬ 
verse the position of the lever, and make the ring the 
fulcrum in place of the stump. This, he says, has been 
found the best manner of using the lever. 
* Founder or Lamlnitis.-“J. A. C.,” P. E. 
Island. Founder, or fever of the feet, is caused by high 
feeding and hard work on hard roads, but many horses- 
are predisposed to it by constitution. The usual treat¬ 
ment is to give Salts in 12 ounce doses, once or twice, 
followed by half ounce doses of Saltpeter, to cool the sys¬ 
tem ; then take off the shoes, put the feet in hot water, 
baths, and give the horse a rest. 
WeigUt of Hay.— “O. S.,” Brooklyn, L. I. We 
. can not explain why “ Haswell’s Engineer’s Hand-Book ” 
| should incorrectly state that 216 cubic feet of hay from a 
6tack will weigh a ton, unless it be that civil engineers 
do not have so much to do with hay as a farmer has. We 
have weighed many loads of hay from stacks and barns, 
and know that Haswell’s figures are wrong. You can 
test it by measuring a bale of pressed hay, which you will 
find to weigh about 5 pounds to the cubic foot. 
Lime and Superphosphate. —“J. S. K.,”' 
Adams Co., Pa. When lime has been used for wheat the 
present season, it will be judicious to wait until spring 
before applying superphosphate. This will avoid the- 
risk of loss of the superphosphate, and at the same time 
will supply the crop in season for its wants. 
To Use Night-Soil.- “F. A.” Night soil can 
best be utilized by mixing with earth and spreading it 
over the fields. If the mixture is thrown into a heap 
and exposed as little as possible to the air, it may be 
kept for some mouths without loss, and may be Used 
with good results in the hill as a fertilizer for corn. 
Water from a Syphon.— “ II.,” Doe Run, Pa. 
A syphon will draw water from a depth of 24 or 25 feet, 
and a foot or two more with a very smooth pipe. Theo¬ 
retically it should draw water from a depth of 33 feet 
at the sea level, but the friction of the water in a 1 >ng 
pipe tends to reduce considerably its power. 
Dominique-Leghorns.—“ L. A.,” Flemkigton, 
N. J. We are aware that this variety of fowl has been 
admitted to the American standard of excellence in 1876 
only ; but this does not make it a breed. It is to be con¬ 
sidered a cross or a sport, having the plumage of the first 
and the comb and ear lobes of the second. If the plu¬ 
mage is the most important, it is a variety of Dominique ; 
if the comb and ear lobe are of more account than the 
plumage, it is a Leghorn, but it is a mongrel, and not an 
established breed; at least so we consider it, and shall 
hold to our opinion until the matter is settled by some 
established poultry authority. The name itself sup¬ 
ports onr view, because it can not be truly a Dominiquc- 
Leghorn without being a cross, as the name implies., 
