8 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST 
[January, 
Hired Help in Winter.— The average farmer— 
that is, one with 150 acres devoted to mixed husbandry— 
if he has no large boys, can generally find employment 
for one hired hand through the winter. There are many 
things that he can do as well as in summer, if not better, 
as the getting out of timber, rails, the year’s fire-wood, 
and doing much shop-work, if he is handy with tools. In 
this way a man can be kept the year round and constant¬ 
ly on hand with very little more expense and much more 
comfort than to hire a new hand each spring. 
American and Englisli Agriculture as seen 
by English eyes. The average yield of wheat in Great 
Britain is 28 bushels per acre. Estimating rent, interest 
on capital, outlay for manure and labor, and the crop costs 
£8 per acre. “ The Western farmer who has £2 sterling 
invested in his soil and its equipments, his expenses per 
acre would be somewhat as follows Interest on capi¬ 
tal, 4s.; plowing, 10s,; seed, 6s.; reaping and binding, 
10s.; threshing and marketing, 2s.; total, £1,12s. The 
fourteen bushels (which is the average) of wheat will 
give a return of 42s., or a profit of 10s. per acre. “ Two 
years’ profit thus moderately estimated would purchase 
the fee-simple of much of the land in the Western States.” 
The American farmer under the circumstances has much 
the larger margin of profit. “ The American of a certain 
type has an instinctive aversion to the pursuit of an un¬ 
profitable calling; he has a wonderful capacity for ac¬ 
commodating himself to circumstances. If wheat-grow¬ 
ing does not pay he tries dairying or gardening, and 
failing that, will cut down lumber or split rails, keep a 
store or ‘ run a hotel,’ or even make politics his profes¬ 
sion.” The English writer claims no such smartness 
and versatility for his farmers, and does not expect it, as 
they are “ not to the manner born.” 
Pleuro-Pneumonia.- From the English agri¬ 
cultural papers we learn that this dreaded and destructive 
contagious disease is breaking out in various parts of 
Great Britain. One grazier in Surrey has lost 44 head, 
and the authorities have ordered the immediate slaughter 
of the rest of the herd. One farmer in North Strafford- 
sliire was fined £10 for removing the remainder of his 
cattle to an adjoining farm. “ Strong measures are be¬ 
ing adopted to stop the infection.” 
Variety of Food. —It is a well established fact, 
that a single kind of food is not enough for the best 
growth, health, and comfort of animals. Like ourselves, 
the stock which we keep, does relish a change of diet— 
thrives better with a change of pasture so to speak—and 
gives fuller returns for the trouble of providing the va¬ 
riety of foods. Coarse fodder should be mixed with that 
which is of a finer nature ; and the highly nitrogenous, 
fed with substances weak in nitrogen. Some farmers 
will feed their sheep corn one morning, and barley or 
oats the next, and thus keep up a continual surprise, 
hightened by a lick of salt now and then. It is the same 
love of change, which makes the colt, cow, and even the 
oldest horse feel glad when turned into a new field. 
Treatment of Frozen Plants.— In times of 
the severe cold, the more tender plants in the window 
will sometimes be chilled and frozen. Such plants should 
not be put near the stove, to be thawed out; but kept 
where the temperature is a trifle above the freezing point 
that the thawing may be gradual, and in the dark, that 
deleterious chemical changes may not take place. If 
severely touched with the frost, it is best to remove the 
frozen parts, that new stems may be forced out from the 
buds below. Water freely, and finally bring them to the 
ordinary temperature for house-plants ; 65 to TO degrees. 
Read tlie market Columns.— The reports of 
Commercial Matters are made by experienced men, and 
with great care. These columns furnish much valuable 
information in the amount of various agricultural pro¬ 
ducts, that have been bought and sold in the New York 
Market, and the comparisons with those of last year, are 
instructive. For example, under “ Current Wholesale 
Prices,” observe the advance in Potatoes, Timothy seed, 
Quinces, and especially in Apples. It will pay for all 
who have produce to sell, or to buy, to read the markets. 
Wood Ashes. —The value of ashes as a fertilizer, 
depends principally upon the Potash and Phosphoric 
Acid they contain. The percentage of these varies 
largely, in ashes from different woods, varying from 10 per 
cent to 24 per cent for the former, and 4 per cent to 12 per 
cent for the latter. This would give not far from four to 
five pounds of potash to a bushel of ordinary mixed un¬ 
leached ashes, which, reckoned at 4)4 cents per pound— 
the present market value of potash in the commercial fer¬ 
tilizers—would give the value of a bushel as from 18, to 
22*4 cents. With due allowance for the Phosphoric Acid 
and the Lime—the latter making up the largest part of the 
ashes—it may be seen that a bushel of unleached ashes, is 
worth from 25 to 30 cents at the present time. Ashes, to 
secure the best results, should be thoroughly mingled 
with the soil. In this way, the best physical, as well as 
chemical effects are obtained. It is self evident that 
crops requiring larger amounts of Potash, will be the 
most benefited by the application of ashes, as the root 
crops, cabbage, tobauco, etc. Forty to fifty bushels per 
acre, is a good application. 
An Extensive Country 7 . —Not many days ago a 
prominent English agriculturist called at our office on 
his way home from a two months’ run through some of 
our Western and North-western States. The feeling that 
was uppermost in his mind was the bigness of our coun¬ 
try, and the large scale upon which everything is done by 
the American farmers. To use a familiar expression, he 
thought there were “ millions in it,” in rich acres, in 
bushels of grain, in heads of cattle, and in dollars for 
those who are at the work. Uncle Sam has in that snug 
little farm of his over four hundred million acres of land. 
Root Pulp and Cut Straw.— As a matter of 
experience, it is found that the mixture of cut straw and 
root pulp, alternate layers of each, should stand for at 
least 24 hours before being fed, after which it becomes 
heated of itself, and the cattle eat it with great relish. 
There is nothing better for young and growing stock. 
Tlie Illinois Fat Stock Sliow.— The second 
annual exhibition of Fat Stock, held in the Exposition 
Building, in Chicago, was all that a large collection of the 
finest animals—horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, could 
make it. “ Taken as a whole, in point of entries, in ex¬ 
cellence and variety of the various classes, in the perfec¬ 
tion of fattening, and in the attendance from day to day, 
this second annual exhibition may be called a most pro¬ 
nounced success, and will, it is hoped, be continued from 
year to year, until it really becomes what, in the outset, 
was intended to make it—the great National Show of the 
Fat Stock of America,” During the show, a large speci¬ 
men of each breed: Hereford, Shorthorn, and Devon was 
slaughtered, with the following interesting results: 
Part of Animal. 
Hereford. 
Shorth'rn. 
Devon. 
Gross weight. 
1,963 
55 
106 
113 
178 
725 
592 
1,794 
47 
90 
97 
155 
611 
568 
1,614 
49 
95 
95 
145 
552 
503 
Head, ‘ r . ... 
Hide, “ . 
Gut, “ . 
Rough, “ . 
For<TQuarters, weight... 
Hind “ “ ... 
It will be seen that the Shorthorn has the greatest pro¬ 
portion of more valuable parts. A series of such com¬ 
parisons would be of great value to fatteners of stock. 
Parent anti Offspring.— “Which parent has 
most influence upon the offspring 1 ” This is a question 
which is coming up every day, and one that is almost 
impossible to answer. It is now well established that a 
thorough-bred animal, that is, one bred in the same line 
or strain of blood, and has thereby had its characteristics 
fixed, has the greater control over the characteristics of 
the offspring, be the parent male or female. A Shorthorn 
bred to a Native will have the Shorthorn points predomi¬ 
nant in the offspring. Other things being equal, the vigor 
of the parent, high constitutional development, or what 
we are pleased to call vitality , is claimed by breeders to 
have more or less weight in shaping the constitution of 
the offspring. It is claimed by some that certain func¬ 
tions and organs are determined by the male,while others 
are under the control of the female. Thus the external 
character—outward structure—is said to be due to the 
male, and the inward to the female—as, for example, a 
cross between a dog (male), and wolf (female), gives 
more external marks of the dog than when the sexes 
are reversed, but there is so little definitely known in 
this regard, that at the present time it can only be said 
that it is not satisfactorily established how far, and in 
what directions, each parent controls the offspring. 
Old and Young Stock for Fattening.— If 
one but takes the tronole to look over the reliable, re¬ 
corded experiments of the feeding of pigs, steers, and 
other stock, it will appear evident that it takes less food 
to produce the same increase in young, than old stock. 
Such being the case, beef and pork growers should make 
it a point to fatten their stock so soon as it is fully grown. 
The greatly superior quality of the meat, as well as its 
cheaper production, both encourage the practice. 
Horn Buttons are now mostly made of the hoofs 
of cattle, and not of the horns as formerly. Cattle hoofs 
sell at the present time, for about $50 per ton. The pro¬ 
ducts of neat stock are very numerous, and there is 
scarcely a particle of the whole creature thatgoes to waste. 
Pampas Grass Flumes have become a regular 
article of trade with the florists and seedsmen, and are 
among the popular articles for the winter decoration of 
rooms. The Pampas grass, Gynerium argenteum, is a 
native of South America, and requires winter protection 
in the Northern States; it succeeds admirably in the 
Southern States, and reaches its greatest perfection in Cal¬ 
ifornia, from which State the greatest supply is derived. 
C. A. Reed sent a sample a short time ago, showing how 
finely this grass developes its silvery plumes at Santa 
Barbara. This grass is dioecious, i. e. has its sexes in 
different plants; it is the pistillate plant which has the 
more showy plumes. In the climate of New York it may 
be preserved by placing a box or cask over it and filling 
that with leaves, placing on a cover to shed rain ; it is 
worth this slight trouble as a large clump of the foliage is 
a stately object, even should it fail to flower. 
{Basket Items continued on page 33.) 
Bee Notes for January. 
At this quiet season, so far as regards the operations 
of the apiary, it is proper for those who have not intro¬ 
duced the Italians into their hives, as well as those who- 
are about to commence bee-keeping, to consider the 
claims made for superiority of the Italians over the 
ordinary, or black bees. In the first place, the Italian 
bees are much more beautiful than the black, a point not 
to be overlooked in the choice of anything, even if all the 
other qualities are equal. They are more prolific ; the 
queens depositing more eggs than the native. The ex¬ 
pert bee-keeper can distinguish the Italian eggs by the 
compactness with which they are stored in the combs. 
The Italians are more hardy than the natives, venturing 
out in colder weather, and doing work while common 
bees remain at home. They, therefore, swarm earlier, 
an important factor in bee culture—the hives become 
populous early in the season, thus securing a large work¬ 
ing force by the time the flowers are ready for them. As 
a natural result from what has just been said, the Italians 
gather more honey than the natives. Again, they work 
upon plants that the blacks do not visit, which, of course, 
gives them a wider range for honey gathering. Cases 
are known where Italians were gathering white honey 
exclusively, while the common bees were working only 
on the Buckwheat. The Italians are notably fond of the 
Red Clover, and will gather much more honey from this 
plant than the natives, which derive but little from it. 
As they are more vigorous than the natives, they are 
better able to protect themselves, and to defend their 
stores, being more watchful and swift to discern the 
enemy. If harshly treated the Italian is worse to handle 
than the native. This naturally follows from its superior 
vigor and more active disposition, but when treated 
kindly, experience has shown them to be more docile, 
and more pleasant to manage than the others. The- 
honey-comb made by the Italians is more compact, and 
presents a finer appearance than ordinary comb, the 
difference being so marked that experts claim that they 
can tell the kind of bee that produced a given box of 
honey. Lastly, the Italians are much longer lived than 
ordinary bees. This has been proved in many cases, 
and is a strong characteristic in favor of the foreign bee. 
A Test Record for Dairy Cows. 
For some time past both the breeders and the 
purchasers of pure-bred, herd-book-recorded, dairy 
cows, have been convinced that something more is 
required to give substantial evidence of value than 
the bare pedigree of an animal entered in a Herd- 
Book. A few experts, who know the whole his¬ 
tory of the best animals, may have been able to 
judge of the possible merits of a particular animal 
by her pedigree, but to the large majority of pur¬ 
chasers, the recorded entries were of no more sig¬ 
nificance than the hieroglyphics which Texan cat¬ 
tle-men brand upon the flanks of their cows. Mys¬ 
tery is always impressive. And though some peo¬ 
ple like*to be mystified, the larger number of 
dairymen, who have kept pure-bred animals, have 
been greatly dissatisfied with the uncertainties of 
the Herd-Books. Recently some facts in connec¬ 
tion with the shipment to the West, and sale there 
of some cows recorded in the Jersey Cattle Club 
Register, have opened the eyes of the purchasers 
of pure-bred cattle, for they have been assured by 
the best authority that although a cow may have 
been recorded in the Register, and her pedigree 
may he perfect, yet she may possibly be “ a worth¬ 
less brute.” This shock to the confidence of per¬ 
sons who had a profound respect for “ a record,” 
has greatly helped the impression that something 
more is wanted to give the pedigree a meaning and 
a value ; and that this need is a record of perform¬ 
ances of the cows entered in the Herd-Book. It is 
proposed by some well-known and influential gen- 
