34 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[January, 
Poultry Exhibitions for January, Etc. 
VERMONT. 
Champlain Valley Poultry Ass’nBurlington.. .Dec. 30-Jan. 1 
Wide Awake Poultry Club.St. JobnsburyDec. 30-Jan. 1 
Vermont State Poultry Ass’n....Rutland.Jan. 6- 9 
MASSACHUSETTS. 
Cent' al Mass. Poultry Ass’n.Worcester.Jan. 20-23 
Middlesex Poultry Ass’n.Lowell.Dec. 29-Jan. 2 
Southern Mass. Poultry Ass’n....Fall River.Jan. 13-17 
RHODE ISLAND. 
Rhode Island Poultry Ass’n.,_Providence.Feb. 411 
CONNECTICUT. 
Meriden Poultry Club.Meriden.Jan. 6- 8 
NEW YORK. 
Cortlan ' Co. Ass’n.Cortland.Ja . 20-23 
Empire State Poultry Ass’ >.Syracuse.Jan. 29-Feb. 5 
Eastern N. Y. Fanciers’ Ass’n. ...Albany.Jan. 20-27 
PENNSYLVANIA. 
Central Poultry Ass’n.Pottsfield.Jan. 6-10 
Huntington Poultry Ass'n.Huntington.Jan. 12-15 
Lancaster Poultry Ass'n.Lancaster.Jan. 2- 4 
Lehigh Valley Ass’n.Allentown....Dec. 30-Jan. 3 
Luzern Pet Stock Ass’n.Wilkesbarre..Dec. 3i-Jan.2 
INDIANA. 
Northern Indiana Poultry Ass’n.Fort Wayne.Jan. 27-30 
State Poultry Ass’n.Indianapolis.Ja :. 8-15 
ILLINOIS. 
Western Poultry Club.Bloomington.Jan. 16-23 
IOWA. 
Council Bluffs District Ass n.Council Bluffs....Jan. 20-23 
CANADA. 
Montreal Pet Stock Ass'n.Montreal.Feb. 4- 6 
St.Johns Po ltry Ass'n.St. Johns, N.B_Jan. 20-22 
A Most Interesting and Important Article 
is given on page 13. If one half the confident expecta¬ 
tions of the U. S. Fish Commission is realized, untold 
millions will be speedily added to the food production of 
our country, at trifling cost. Not only lakes and streams, 
but the pools of bog-meadows and sloughs will be the 
best food-producing portions of the country. The gen¬ 
tlemen conducting the U. S. Fish Commission, while en¬ 
thusiastic, are not the men likely to indulge in ground¬ 
less theories. They have accomplished great things in 
other directions, and we are much inclined to put confi¬ 
dence in their promises for the Carp. Read the article. 
A House for 30 Ducks,- “C. H. 'W.,” Yarmouth, 
Me. Ducks are very dirty birds in a house and need to 
-have considerable room. A flock of thirty will require a 
house 12 x 12 feet, which should be so made that it can be 
easily cleaned out. Nest places should be provided on 
the ground, hidden by a frame around three sides. 
Tlie Breed for Market Pigs. — “Rose Farm,” 
N. J. It is a matter of dispute, ami always will be, which 
are the best breeds of pigs for special uses. The Berk¬ 
shire is black but comely, and perhaps the most profitable 
pig of all the breeds for pork at any ngc. The Essex is 
also black, and some think that the best, but it has the 
objection of having too much fat. Some will have only 
white pigs and the Suffolk is generally considered the 
best of the small white breeds; the small Yorkshire is a 
more modern variety, and perhaps owes some of its good 
qualities to a Suffolk cross. If so, it would be fair to call 
the Suffolk abetter kind than the Yorkshire. But there 
are some who think differently, and no one can say con¬ 
fidently that this or that is the best except from his own 
point of view and as a matter of opinion. The small 
-white breeds have become so much crossed and mixed, 
that at the English exhibitions they are no longer classed 
•distinctively but collectively as “small white breeds.” 
Poultry Disease. — “Minnie C.” sends no name 
or address. We do not usually answer such letters, but 
in this case of a little girl, we make an exception to our 
■rule. The disease is doubtless the prevalent “cholera,” 
so called; it is a disease of the liver and intestines, a 
typhoid or intestinal fever, which ends in gangrene. The 
fowls sit about, turn yellow about the head, void green 
or yellow matter and do not eat. There is no cure; the 
disease is very infectious and the best way is to kill every 
sick fowl as soon as it is discovered. Remove the well 
birds to a fresh place, that is clean, dry, and airy, and feed 
them on boiled wheat with a small tablespoon ful of 
fine, dry lime stirred in the mess for each dozen fowls. 
Dr. Dawes’ Wheat Crop for 1879.— The 
following interesting figures are condensed from a com- 
.munication by Dr. J. B. Lawes of Rothamsted, England, 
to the “North British Agriculturist.” Within his mem¬ 
ory England has never before had such a bad wheat crop 
as that of 1879, certainly not since 1816. Dr. Lawes is one 
of the most eminent of agricultural experimenters, his re¬ 
sults beingof peculiar value from theiraccuracy in all the 
details and the length of time over which the experiments 
have extended. He has grown the same kind of crop on 
the same piece of ground, and same condition as to fertil¬ 
izing, and some with no manure for 36 years. The tables, 
which it is not necessary to reproduce, show that the con¬ 
tinuously untnanured plots the present year gave only 4% 
bushels per acre of wheat, while the average for the past 
10 years on the same plots, was 11 bushels; and 14% 
bushels per acre, for the 17 years just preceding the last 
ten years. A gradual decrease is to be expected, but not 
the falling off which occurred in 1879. The plot receiv¬ 
ing 14 tons to the acre of farm-yard manure annually, 
gave only 16 bushels for the last year, against 34 per acre 
as the average for the preceding 27 years. Of the three 
artificially manured plots one gave 1614 bushels, or about 
half the average; the second, more highly manured, gave 
20X bushels, likewise a half average. The last and most 
highly fertilized plot, gave 22 bushels per acre, also about 
a half average. In 1863, the average of the three artifi¬ 
cially manured plots was 55 bushels. In 1879, the very 
same plots and fertilizers, had an average of 19>4 bushels, 
and each bushel weighed 9 pounds less than in 1863. 
Dr. Lawes concludes by stating, “We have here a 
striking illustration of how great is the influence on the 
results of the farmer’s efforts, of circumstances entirely 
beyond his control, after he has employed all the re¬ 
sources at his command to obtain a good crop.” 
Sowing Forest-tree Seeds.— “W. J. A. B.,” 
Kans. We hope to give an article on this subject, before 
the season is at hind for sowing. Just now, the point of 
greatest importance is, to preserve the seeds, so that they 
may germinate when sown. If many seeds, the chestnut 
for example, are left exposed’ to the air, they become 
so dry that they can not he restored—killed in fact. All 
the seeds you name are best preserved in damp sand, and 
any others about which you are in doubt, should be 
treated in the same manner. While the sand should be 
“damp,” it must not b ewel. Sand as it is freshly dug from 
the bank, is usually in the proper condition. Enough 
should be used to keep the seeds well separated, so that 
they may not be in masses together, but equally distrib¬ 
uted. An equal bulk is usually enough, but no harm can 
come from using more. The mixed sand and seeds must 
be kept in a cold place. In a warm one, the seeds would 
soon germinate and be lost. Most seeds will not be in¬ 
jured by freezing, and some benefited. They should be 
looked at occasionally, to see that the sand does not get 
entirely dry; if quite dry, enough water should be added 
to make it as moist as at first. Towards spring, some 
kinds may begin to germinate, and must be sown at 
once; indeed, early sowing is best for all. Keep the seeds 
during winter where rats and mice can not get at them. 
Salt for Black Knot.- “D. D. S.,” Malden, 
Ulster Co., N. Y., asks if salt will cure black knot on 
plum trees. From the nature of the knot, which is de¬ 
scribed in full on page 22 , we do not see how salt can be 
made to reach the real trouble, which is at work long be¬ 
fore it appears as the knot. The only way is, to cut off 
the affected branches, and burn them. Cut several inches 
below the knot, as the threads run down some distance. 
A Cow witli Sore Eyes. — “L K.,” Glen City, 
Pa. When a cow is troubled with inflamed eyes, a 
cough and inflammation of the udder, with stringy milk, 
it indicates fever with disturbance of the lungs and circula¬ 
tion. The treatment should consist of a dose of 12 ounces 
Epsom Salts, repeated the third day, and after that 4 
drams of Saltpetre, given daily; with warm bran slops, 
and good nursing, until the fever completely disappears. 
Electricity in Bee Keeping.— HerrFreiwirth, 
a bee keeper, and correspondent of the Deutsche Presse, 
has recently perfected an apparatus for quieting bees by 
electricity, by which they become as lifeless creatures, 
and remain so for from ten minutes to a few hours, the 
duration of the effect depending upon the strength of the 
current. He has used the machine for hiving the bees, 
and for working among them while they are in the hive, 
and finds that electricity does not injure the bees at all, 
but renders them, in an instant, as easy to handle as so 
much lifeless matter. We hope that some of our bee 
keepers, who have devised so many improvements in the 
apiary, will test the matter ; if all that we have quoted is 
true, it will be of great value. Many would keep bees, 
if it were not for the dread of stings ; this use of electric¬ 
ity would practically remove this obstacle. 
Tlie Apple Deaf Fungus was figured and de¬ 
scribed last month, p. 468, and we have since then re¬ 
ceived several interesting letters concerning it. Mr. 
“P. P. H.,” Union, Munroe Co., W. Va., writes; “I 
have observed this Fungus for several years, and, of 
course, read the article with interest. We had a young 
Crab-apple tree transplanted to our yard, but the early 
frosts deprived us of its beautiful bloom ; and the sickly, 
blotched foliage, made it a pitiable object among roses 
and other shrubs. We often discussed its removal, but 
the desire to see it covered with its unrivaled blossoms, 
led us to exercise patience. Two small Red Cedars 
were brought and placed near the Crab-apple, and these 
were soon covered with the ‘Cedar Apple.’ — It would 
seem from this that the spores were communicated from 
the Crab-apple tree. You say, by destroying the Cedar 
fungus, that upon the apple may be eradicated. Would 
it not be better to begin with the ‘ cluster cup,’ the first 
stage of its existence?”—It would be better, if practic¬ 
able. It is a much easier matter to collect the Cedar ap¬ 
ples than the leaves of the apple trees ; besides, if the 
leaves are picked off in early spring, it would injure the 
tree.—“ T. C. W.,” Manhattan, Kansas, sends specimens 
of the fungus on the leaves and twigs of a wild Crab- 
apple tree, and says; “ The tree grows thriftily, and 
looks prettily in the spring, but after a while this fun¬ 
gus comes on it so badly, that many of the leaves curl 
up and drop off, and whenever it attacks the twigs, all 
above the fungus dies .... There are Red Cedars all around, 
and plenty of Cedar apples.”—We should, as this Crab- 
apple tree is near an orchard, cut it down, and the Cedar 
trees, if near by, should be looked after. 
Xli rougli a Brick. —In September last, page 349, 
an engraving was given of a potato perforated by the 
root-stock of Quack or Couch-Grass (Trificum repens). It 
is stated in the article that another and more slender 
grass, the Mexican Drop-Seed (Muhlenbergia Mexicana ), 
has similar, though more slender, root-stocks, which in 
their onward growlh through the soil, penetrate any soft 
obstacle they may meet. Since the perforated potato 
was published, a friend gave us a specimen in which this 
root-stock had made its way through a brick I “Seeing 
through a brick” is a wonderful performance sometimes 
shown to “ greenhorns,” but we long ago showed the 
Boys and Girls how it was done. There is nothing wonder¬ 
ful about the passage of the root-stock through this hard 
substance, when we find that there was a hole through 
the brick. The brick was an imperfect one; probably 
a small twig or straw was in the clay, which, burning 
out, left a hole through which the grass found its way. 
A Nurseryman’s Society.— “L. B. S.” There 
is such a Society ; we think it is not confined to nursery¬ 
men, but includes those engaged in the sale of seeds 
and plants of all kinds, and has for its objects, as we 
understand them, the better acquaintance of those en¬ 
gaged in kindred pursuits, and such mutual understand¬ 
ing as shall help one another and protect one another 
from the various frauds practised upon such dealers. 
The officers for 1879-80 are: President, T. S. Hubbard, 
Fredonia, N. Y.; Yice-Pres’t, J. T. Lovett, Little Silver, 
N. J.; Sec., D. Wilmot Scott, Galena, Ill.; Treas., A. K. 
Whitney, Franklin Grove, Ill.; Exec. Com., with the 
Pres’tandSec., S.W. Hoover, Dayton, O.; Franklin Davis, 
Baltmore, Md.; Geo. B. Thomas, Westchester, Pa. We 
do not know the conditions of membership, but presume 
that any nurseryman, seedsman, or florist, in good stand¬ 
ing, will be welcomed to the Society. The next meeting 
will be held at Chicago, Ill., June 16-18, 1880. 
Do Snakes Swallow their Young ?—Several, 
years ago, at the request of an eminent naturalist, we 
asked for experience upon the above question. And 
abundant evidence was given to show that some snakes 
do take their young into their bodies. After this, it was 
asked if this was done by venomous snakes. On this 
point, “ W. F. M.,” Arispie, Kans., writes: “ that while 
he and his boy during the past season killed 19 Rattle 
Snakes, without fiuding any young within, but one of his 
neighbors killed a ‘Rattler’ containing 13. and another 
killed one containing 4 young snakes, which, so soon as 
liberated, by coiling up, rattling, and striking out at per¬ 
sons, showed their venomous ‘ Rattle Snake ’ nature.” 
Seed Corn.— If any one’s last crop of corn was not 
of as good quality as desirable, and a neighbor or distant 
friend has some better sort, make it a business to get 
some of it for seed, now , and have it ready when the day 
of planting comes. In selecting, note the time of ripen¬ 
ing, size and number of ears on stalk, size of stalk, 
quality of the grain, and all other important points. 
To Prevent Powder-Post.— The honey-combed, 
powder-covered, worm-eaten, and therefore worthless 
state, which hickory timber will many times assume if 
not properly cared for, is caused by the lame of the Lyctus 
slrialus , an insect that deposits its eggs in the soft outer 
wood of the dead tree, mostly during the months of May 
and June. If the trees arc cut at a season when the soft 
wood becomes dry and hard before the time for the insect 
to make its appearance, there is no danger from this pest. 
Hickory cut in the winter season will generally be free 
from attacks, but to make sure, it is best to remove the 
bark, and even split the timber that it may become thor- 
oughly seasoned. Keep it in a dry place. 
Illinois Agricultural Institute.— The Agri¬ 
cultural Department of the Industrial University, Cham¬ 
paign, HI., will hold its annual course of public Lectnres 
and Discussions during the last week of Janua. y. Greater 
facilities for gaining information pertaining to the farm 
will be given than in the past, and a much larger attend¬ 
ance is anticipated. For farmers who have a longer time 
at their disposal a course has been especially arranged to 
extend from January 7th to March 23d, during which 
time daily lectures and other instructions will be given 
on practical farm matters. — [It is a matter of taste to be 
sure — but we think it not good taste for an institution 
called an “University” to send out its circulars Vi relink 1] 
