1880 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
179 
Bad Cement.-"J. Q.” A cemented cistern should 
he left for a week or 10 days for the cement to set and 
harden, before the water is let in. If the bottom leaks 
after that, the cement must have been of poor quality. 
It would be well to empty the cistern, and give it a coat 
of clear cement, without any sand with it. 
Like Produces Like.— Some years ago, we 
planted a number of hills with small potatoes, and by tho 
aide of them, au equal number with large ones. Both 
rows received the same attention; and on digging, the 
large “ seed ” gave SX times as many pounds as the smaU 
ones. Do not try to save the large potatoes, by planting 
the small ones: there is good reason why it does not pay. 
To measure Corn In Bulk.— “J. P. D.,” 
Point of Rocks, Md. To measure corn in bulk, find the 
number of cubic feet by multiplying the length, width, 
and depth of the crib, or wagon box. IX cubic feet will 
make nearly a heaped bushel of ears, which is equal to 
half a bushel of shelled corn. A heaped bushel has 2,750 
•cubic inches, a cubic foot and a half contains 2,592 inches, 
hut a bushel of ears will make a little more than half a 
bushel of corn, and the excess in this will about balance 
the deficiency in the measure. 
An Experiment Station in New Jersey. 
—One of the last acts of the N. J. Legislature was to pro¬ 
vide by law for an Agricultural Experiment Station, and 
in no State is one more likely to prove useful. Should 
the Governor approve of the bill, good work will be done. 
“Trimming Up” Evergreens.— A corres¬ 
pondent in Troy, N. Y., writes: “ On the place which I 
have purchased there are many large evergreens, and the 
foliage around the house is so dense that I wish to trim 
up some of them. When is the proper time to do it ?”— 
There is no day in the whole year which is proper for 
-doing that which ought not to he done, and trimming up 
an evergreen tree is one of those things. A Hemlock, 
Spruce, or Fir, with its lower branches upon the ground 
forming a pyramid of green, is a beautiful object. The 
same tree with its lower branches cut away, and its naked 
trunk exposed, is a forlorn object that has no more 
beauty than a hay-cock upon a bean-pole. Our corres¬ 
pondent should first make a careful examination to sec 
if his object can not be accomplished by the removal al¬ 
together of some of the trees ; this wouid be far better 
than to mutilate them. We have no doubt that to 
“ trim up ” several of the trees would give to the place a 
■very different aspect, and one that will be very unpleasant. 
Letters tkat are not Answered.— When 
•one like *‘B. F. T.,” Huntingdon Co., Pa., fills several 
pages with questions, covering not only the whole rou¬ 
tine of farm management, but also asking advice as to 
•whether he had better keep school in winter, or keep on 
the farm during that season, he cannot expect an answer. 
■Occasionally a correspondent, like this one, quite misun¬ 
derstands the duties of an editor. When one comes across 
-some difficulty in his farm work, is in doubt whether it 
would be better to follow this or that course, and wishes 
advice in the matter, it is very proper for him to state his 
case and ask our advice. But when a novice in farming 
asks a long string of questions to which a year’s experi¬ 
ence on a farm would teach him the answers, he must 
not expect us to write a treatise on general farming for 
his benefit. Take the letter in question. We see but little 
that is not sufficiently met by our “ Notes about Work,” 
take the season throngh, and on several of the topics 
there have been special articles. More than this, our 
•correspondent wishes us to tell him what it would cost 
per head to transport cattle from his place to market. 
We could write to the master at his depot and ascertain, 
but it will be much easier for him to apply in person. 
Commission Merchants.— It is rarely the case 
that one who raises fruits and vegetables, is also the one 
who sells them to the consumer, and it i6 an absolute 
necessity, especially with produce raised a long distance 
from the place of sale, that there should be parties who 
make it their business to sell it. The raising of fruits 
and garden truck is easy enough, the proper selling of 
the produce is not so easy, and the success of the grower, 
depends largely upon the seller. There is probably no 
business in which there are such ample chances for dis¬ 
agreement, and dissatisfaction, as that of the produce 
commission dealer. When all is managed with the strictest 
integrity, guided by the best judgment, the “ returns” 
may fail to be satisfactory to the grower, who changes 
his commission man, only to fare still worse with the 
new one. Among growers, the commission men have’a 
bad name, yet there are in that business men just as 
upright, and as honorable, as are to be found in any 
pursuit. Then again, there are others who would be 
■described as “ on the contriary quite the rewerse.” The 
business is one which offers peculiar inducements to 
swindlers and sharpers. It can he carried on, for a while 
at least, with very little capital. The articles come to 
them on credit, and are sold for cash. Many a grower 
knows to his cost, that there are bogus commission 
dealers. To those who write us about this or that per¬ 
son who wish their consignments, we must give the ad¬ 
vice not to ship a single package to one who can not re¬ 
fer to well known persons as to their business standing. 
As the peach season approaches, the peach districts are 
infested by persons representing themselves to be com¬ 
mission merchants, and offering great inducements to 
peach growers to consign to them. As a general thing, 
these fellows have no location, and if they do any busi¬ 
ness, it is as squatters somewhere on the sidewalk. We 
can only say to enquirers, that by taking proper pains, 
they can find commission merchants of good repute. 
When dealings are commenced with one, do not change 
upon any slight provocation. It is a part of the business 
to have disappointments, and no human foresight cau 
prevent losses on perishable articles, if they reach the 
market when it is already glutted. 
Horticulture in Nebraska.— Nebraska carried 
off the prize from all other States for her fruit several 
years ago, and she deserved it. The State has always 
taken an active interest in fruit-culture, and it now keeps 
it up, as we see by the programme of a meeting of the 
State Hort. Society held at Lincoln in January last. Lib¬ 
eral premiums were offered for winter apples and pears, 
and also for flowers, and a number of interesting ad¬ 
dresses were given. The State is divided into six fruit 
districts, aud reports were made from each. The 
prominence of Nebraska as a fruit-growing State is large¬ 
ly due to the efforts of this Society, and the success of 
the Society is largely due to the a»tive interest of its 
President, Gov. R. W. Furnas. 
Plowing.—The character of the soil; the crop to be 
grown, and the kind, and amount of manure to be ap¬ 
plied, are all factors which determine whether the plow¬ 
ing is to be deep or shallow. Light soil needs shallow 
plowing, and heavy soil with much vegetable matter, 
does best when plowed deep. 
A Million Stamps.— ”L. C. R.” The story 
started in England, 10 or more years ago, and has been 
now and then revived in this country, that if some young 
lady can collect a million cancelled postage stamps, she 
can come into the possession of a large fortune. Then 
the version was, that stamps would be purchased in lots 
of a million each. There is no foundation for either ver¬ 
sion. Our correspondent does not believe it, but would 
like to be able to give a reason for discrediting the idea. 
That postage stamps which have been used are of no pos¬ 
sible use, save as paper stock, and as such, are worth 
only about 3 cts. per pound, should be sufficient. 
The Adulteration of Butter.— The occurrence 
of any more salt in butter than is necessary for its pres¬ 
ervation is to be regarded as an adulteration. We do not 
know if examinations have been made in this country of 
over-salting for the sake of increasing the weight, hut in 
poor grades of butter in London over 10 per cent of salt 
was detected, and the same sample contained a large 
quantity of water, so that the amount of real butte^ pres¬ 
ent was but 60 per cent. 
The Apple-Tree Borer.— Even where the Borer 
is common but comparatively few understand its history, 
and we are not surprised that inquiries should come from 
California where it has heretofore been rare, if not quite 
unknown. California fruit-growers, who have so long 
been free from the pests so destructive to their eastern 
brethren, are, as their State gets older, becoming more 
and more annoyed by insect pests. The perfect insect of 
the Apple-tree Borer is one of the long-'norned beetles; 
it is about three-quarters of an inch long, and has a pair 
of feelers more than half as long as itself; its body is 
brown, with two broad, nearly white stripes, hence it is 
called the Two-striped Superda (Superda bivittata). The 
beetle is seldom seen, as it is dormant by day but flies 
and works at night. The insects begin to appear this 
month, and next month the female lays her eggs on the 
bark near the ground. The young grubs soon bore 
through the hark, and enter the tree, where they live 
upon the sap wood, just beneath the hark, forming a 
cell or excavation the size of half a dollar. It lives, eats 
and grows here for about a year; then, having stronger 
jaws it in the second summer bores upwards towards the 
center of the tree, making a hole 3 or 4 inches long, 
which it then curves outward until its upper end reaches 
the bark again and, at the beginning of the third winter, 
it makes a bed and rests, in the next spring becoming a 
pupa, and soon after changing to a beetle which bores an 
exactly round hole through the hark at the upper end of 
its gallery, and comes out into the world to lay eggs to 
produce more borers. This is tho life history of the in¬ 
sect. Any “ remedy ” must, he of a kind to keep the 
young borer out, or to kill it after it is in. Soap is found 
to keep off the parent, insect. The base of the tree is 
kept clear of weeds and the lower part of the trunk is 
rubbed with soap; the application is repeated during 
June if washed off by rains. Young orchards are to be 
examined late in July or early in August. Weeds, trash, 
and about an inch of soil are removed from around the 
base of the tree. The bark is carefully examined, if 
chips are found, or the bark looks dead and dark, cut in¬ 
to it with a sharp knife and cut the borer out. If the 
insect has bored upwards, it is to bo followed by a wire, 
a piece of whale-bone, or a twig, and killed. 
(Basket Items continued on page 203., • 
Fences and Fencing. 
We are greatly obliged to our readers who have 
responded to the request for reports of their expe¬ 
rience in the use of barbed-wire fencing, and though 
we can present only a very small portion of the 
communications received, they are highly esteemed, 
as they supply the information we much desire, in 
getting at the wants of the country. We solicit 
still further contributions from those of our read¬ 
ers having experience in the use of such fences,— 
those not directly or indirectly interested in their 
manufacture or sale. 
A large number of suggestions, plans, etc., for 
metal posts have come to hand, and are on file 
for reference, and reply as we can find time. The 
great rise in iron and 6teel took away much of the 
interest in this branch of the subject; but since 
our last issue there has been a decline of 20 to 30 
per cent in the price of iron. The decline is like¬ 
ly to continue from the causes previously referred 
to, aud this subject will, in consequence, have an in¬ 
creasing interest, and new devices and inventions 
will be in order. In the present issue we make 
room for extracts from correspondent’s letters, 
taking them almost at random from our letter files. 
Barbed Fences—What Correspondents Say. 
R. Noyes,of Coles Co., Ill., writes: “_I have 
no direct or indirect interest in any fence, except 
that I want to use the cheapest and best. Six 
years ago I put up 40 rods of barbed wire fence 
and each year have added to it, and like it so well 
that this year I am selling off (good) and burning 
up (decayed) both rails and board fence, because I 
think it better and cheaper to build wire fence 
than to repair the old, although I am making and 
selling new wooden rails on the place. As to posts, 
I find that a few good posts answer, with young trees 
set in the row so that when the posts are gone it 
leaves your fence an ornament instead of an eye 
sore. Then it is so cheap. Two wires will turn 
the worst large stock ; three for calves and sheep, 
and five for hogs. The railroads use nothing else 
here ; and as a man and a boy can put up half a 
mile in a day, after the. posts are set, it saves labor. 
‘ Travelers ’ do not steal it for kindling or seat 
boards, nor travel across your land. As to its being 
1 barbarous,’ 1 have never known an animal really 
hurt with it,.and if they are scratched they will not 
try it again. The only place 1 have found it would 
not do was around small lots where numbers of cat¬ 
tle are kept; they will hook each other through it.” 
L. B. Goodwin, of Rock Island County, Ill., 
writes....“ My own fence has only one barbed wire 
above two boards, and has turned stock thoroughly 
for two years. When I had a board in place of this 
wire, we often had the fence broken (mostly by 
colts rubbing against it), which never has happened 
since the wire was put on. There is a great deal of 
barbed wire fence in this neighborhood, and the 
quantity is increasing. Cattle are * free common¬ 
ers ’ here, and there is a large area of open prairie, 
where 300 or 400 head of cattle and horses run 
through the summer, and I have yet to hear of any 
break in any barbed fence, unless the cattle were 
stampeded. I know of several instances where 
horses have been seriously hurt by running against 
the barbs. One of my neighbors had to sew up 10 
gashes on a valuable mare of his which ran against 
the wire and became frightened, and dashed from 
side to side of the narrow lane which led to his 
pasture, some cuts reaching the bone. Another 
case was where a horse in rolling got entangled in 
the wire, and was so badly hurt that its owner shot 
it. I had a pair of colts which were cut slightly, 
