1880.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
369 
Gather the Leaves, —The leaves that fall from 
the trees in autumn may be turned to good account if 
they are gathered and used for litter in the stables. They 
furnish an excellent absorbent for liquid manure and are 
of themselves a valuable fertilizer, as they contain large 
per cents of potash, phosphoric acid and other essential 
elements of plant food. To gather the leaves rapidly a 
long-headed rake provided with stout teeth should be 
used, and the leaves loaded into a cart or wagon, and 
taken to a place where they may be kept dry and handy 
for use. Besides the direct value of the leaves, the rak¬ 
ing of them from the door-yard, for example, gives it a 
neat appearance, when it would otherwise look ill kept. 
Ventilator for Root Pit.— In pitting roots, 
openings should be left for the escape of the moisture 
that will rise from the heap of roots. If such openings 
are not provided the vapors will accumulate and decom¬ 
position will soon begin, and in a short time the roots 
will be rotten. A simple opening at the top of the pit, 
or at intervals along the ridge, if the heap is one of con¬ 
siderable size, is not sufficient. The ventilator should 
run down into the heap, even to the bottom. Such an 
one can he made by tying three or four short rails to¬ 
gether, and setting them in the ground before the roots 
are deposited. The rails should project a few inches 
above the top of the pit. after the covering of earth has 
been put in place. A layer of straw may be put over 
the top of the ventilator to keep rain from running in. 
Pear Seed, —“T. G.,” Cohden, Ill., asks how to 
preserve pear seed so that it will germinate in spring, 
stating that he tried keeping it in sand overwinter, but 
it failed to grow. As our correspondent does not state 
just how he kept the seeds in sand, we cannot suggest 
where the trouble is. If the pear seeds are mixed with 
sand that has s > little moisture that it will not stick to¬ 
gether when squeezed, and the seeds when mixed with 
it kept in a place where the temperature is uniform and 
cool, but not freezing cold, we think he will have no 
difficulty with their germination. 
A Precocious Calf.— ‘ J. T„” Baltimore, Md., 
•writes that he has a grade Jersey heifer calf, which has 
never seemed to care much for milk, but has a marked 
preference for grazing. The calf ruminated when but 
two days old a”d has continued to do so. the cud com¬ 
ing and going with all the regularity of an experienced 
cow. He asks: “is not thievery remarkable?”—It is, 
or perhaps we may say would be, with any breed but the 
Jersey These animals have been long bred to - be pre¬ 
cocious ; they come to maturity at a very early age, and 
this chewing the cud so young is but one manifestation 
of the general precocity of the breed. 
The Teeth,— “G. M. B.,”Sterling, Ill., referring, 
to something said in the “ Household,” on the care of 
the teeth, gives his own method, adopted by the advice 
of a skilled dentist. The teeth having been properly 
cleaned and the incrustations of tartar removed by a 
dentist, he every night thoroughly washes the teeth 
inside and out. by using a lather made from White 
Castile Soap, applied by means of a swap, made by tying 
a bit of fine, soft sponge to a stick of convenient length. 
Soap is an excellent application, and in most cases 
nothing more is required to keep the teeth in perfect 
order. Some of the best of the dentrifices sold at the 
shops, consist largely of powdered soap. 
••Slugs” on Pear and Cherry Trees.—The 
greenish, slimy, leech-like insect, often so common on 
fruit trees, especially on the cherry and pear, is general¬ 
ly called a “ slug.” It is, however, a proper larva, or 
grub of asm 11. shining black fly —Selaudria cerasi. The 
sprinkling of fine quicklime, or fine dust has been found 
effective. “J. A. B.,” writes from Philadelphia, that he 
finds White Hellebore, mixed with water, as advised for 
currant bushes, perfectly successful in killing the slug. 
There are two broods, a late one in September usually 
succeeds the one which comes in June. 
About a Hay Sweep. —An implement drawn by 
two horses to gather up a windrow of hay easily and 
rapidly has long been in use. Having several letters 
asking us to describe such a sweep, we reproduced in 
May last an engraving given in Thomas' "Farm Imple¬ 
ments.” We now learn from J. E. Potter, of Ottawa, 
M., that the Sweep in question conflicts with a patent 
which he holds. Mr. P. sends us a copy of the specifica¬ 
tions, from which it plainly appears that one can not 
construct a Hay Sweep according to the design of that 
given in May without infringing upon the patent. Of 
course, had we bad any idea that the Sweep had been 
patented, we should have had more regard for the rights 
of others than to publish it. but as the book referred to 
said nothing about a patent, we assumed that, like many 
other things it illustrates, the design was common prop¬ 
erty. We take all possible care to respect the rights of 
inventors and patentees, and we have too much regard 
for the interests of farmers to knowingly lead them to 
violate these rights. It is but just to say that Mr. Pot¬ 
ter, who holds the patent, takes a very fair view of this 
matter, as he sees that it was through inadvertance on 
our part that we gave the Sweep as unpatented. Farmers 
disposed to build a Sweep after this pattern are now in¬ 
formed that they have no right to do so without first cor¬ 
responding with Mr. Potter, whose address is given above. 
Tips for Children’s Shoes.— If a boy does 
not wear out the toes of his shoes, he must be a very 
quiet youngster and not have much “ go ” in him. Rag¬ 
ged shoes with the toes in sight are not pleasing to the 
sight of the parent, but we had rather see them than the 
well kept shoes of the boy who has not vim enough to 
play and wear out the toes. But we can now have both 
—lively boys and whole toes. At one time the use of 
copper tips to shoes were quite common, but boys never 
took to them kindly; perhaps they seemed too much the 
mark of the naughty boy. At any rate, this objection 
is removed by the Black Tips, advertised in our columns 
These will protect the toes as well as the metal ones, 
and being black, like the leather, are not conspicuous. 
Grapes from a Raisin Seed.— This time the 
vine grew at Huntsville, Alabama. Miss II. M. Lowery 
planted the raisin seed in the spring of1875,and in the sum¬ 
mer of 1880 Mr. Lowery brought us several of the 120 bunch¬ 
es it bore. Raisins are made from the European grape, 
and the sample brought us was asgentiinean American as 
the Concord. This is but one of many instances in which 
we have seen American grapes which the raiser sincerely 
believed to have come from a raisin seed. It is much 
easier to suppose that the raisin seed did not gemi nate, 
and that a seed which was in the soil did, than to believe 
that a European grape seed could produce such a widely 
different fruit as the one shown us. 
Tl»e Cactus. —“A. W.,” Phoenixville, Pa., asks 
how to cultivate “ the Cactus,” but as he adds that he has 
several varieties, lie no doubt means plants of the Cactus 
family. These plants flower, then make their growth, 
during which they need water like other plants. When 
the new growth is mature, the plants go into a state of 
rest, iu which they require little or no water, but the 
earth may become quite dry. When their season for 
blooming comes around again, the plants are given water 
gradually at first, and more as their buds swell, and they 
go through the same round of blooming, active growth, 
and rest as before. So far as those in general cultivation 
go, there are iwo classes, the winter and summer bloom¬ 
ers. Tlie Epiphyllums, or Crab's-claw Cactuses, are the 
chief winter bloomers, coming into flower in early win¬ 
ter, and consequently have their season of rest, or 
drouth, in summer. On the other hand, the large and 
brilliant flowering varieties of which the old Cereus S/ieci- 
osissimiis is a familiar example, can rest in a dry state any¬ 
where if not cold enough to freeze them, and are brought 
into bloom in summer. The larger number of the com¬ 
mon varieties belong to this class, and it is useless to 
try, as many do, to bring them into bloom in winter. 
Net-work Wire Fences. —Our readers have 
seen by articles given some months ago, what a wonder¬ 
ful variety there can be in Unices made merely of horizon¬ 
tal strands of wire stretched between posts. But the use 
of wire in fencing has by no means been exhausted in 
these styles. The Sedgwick Steel Wire Fence is upon a 
very different plan: this is a net work of wire, with 
diamond-shaped meshes, presenting really a coarse lace- 
work woven of steel wire. Formerly, like lace, this net¬ 
work was made by hand, but ttie invention of machinery 
for weaving it^has greatly reduced the price of the net¬ 
work, and increased its uniformity and excellence. Not 
only are fences made of the net-work, bnt gates are of the 
same material. A fence of this kind not only serves to 
keep in—or out— 1 e larger domestic animals, but the 
mesh is so small that dogs, pigs, and poultry find it an 
effective barrier. Besides its use as fencing, the net¬ 
work will serve other purposes, such as building arbors 
and trellises for vines, etc. The neat appearance of a 
net-work wire fence, as well as its utility, commends it. 
Tlie Cornell Experiment Station.— Cornell 
University has published a report of the agricultural ex¬ 
periments that have been made there, and we are in¬ 
formed that it may be had by remittin > 30c. —which 
covers the cost of publication and postage—to Prof. W. 
R. Lazenby, Ithaca, N. Y. 
Gathering; Pumpkins.— There are probably 
more ibcrties taken witli pumpkins than any other pro 
duct of the farm. It may be because they usually grow 
amongst the corn, and seem to have no place given them 
by themselves, that they have so few rights that the 
farmer, and especially the farm boy, is bound to respect. 
The pumpkin is a valuable product of the farm, and i* 
well worthy of careful harvesting and economical feed¬ 
ing. When the corn is cut, there is a large knife in the 
cutter’s hands, and a fine, smooth-faced pumpkin is a 
tempting object to slash into. Yes! a pumpkin is a fine 
object to sit down upon to rest, and then the knife is 
again used to make all sorts of scratches, gashes, etc., 
and the sitting frequently ends in tlie destruction of the 
seat. The pumpkins that escape the corn-knives are 
either left in the field through tlie hard frosts, or are 
drawn to a fence corner, where they are left in a pile, ex¬ 
posed to rant, snow and frost. When they are gathered, 
a fork is most frequently used, and every pumpkin re¬ 
ceives from one to half a dozen thrusts and other 
bruises, so that decay must soon set in and destroy what 
is loit. If pumpkins are worth growing, they deserve 
care in harvesting. If left alone when the corn is cut, 
and gathered before the frosts come, being put under 
cover without using a fork, the pumpkin crop will pay 
a far greater profit than it does now upon many farms. 
Canning Green Corn.— Each year we are asked 
to give directions for preserving green corn in cans, and 
each year we are obliged to say that we know of no suc¬ 
cessful method other than that practised at the canning 
factories. This requires tin cans and the use of the 
soldering iron; and only those who can solder can put 
up the corn. The points to be observed are these: The 
best and sweetest corn, in just the right state for the 
table, is picked and used at once. The canners use a 
bent knife to cut it rapidly from the cob, and some have 
a mac ine for the purpose. The corn is cut from the 
cobs, and packed closely.in the cans. The cobs are put 
into a boiler, covered with water, and boiled for about 
an hour. This liquid is used to fill the spaces among 
the kernels in the cans, enough being used to cover 
them, and, unless the corn is very sweet, a teaspoon¬ 
ful of white sugar is added. The caps of the cans are 
then soldered on, each cap having a small vent-hole 
pricked in its center. The cans being soldered, the next 
step is what the canners call “processing.’’ which is to 
boil the cans in water. A wash boiler, or any convenient 
kettle can be used; it should have at the bottom a rack 
made of strips of wood, on which to set the cans. The 
cans of corn are put in the “ processing ” kettle, with the 
vent-hole open, and are boiled briskly for two hours. 
They are then lifted out, one by one, using tongs made 
for the purpose, setting each down with a sharp rap, to 
knock down any corn that may be upon the inside of 
the cap. The cover is then pressed in as much as pos¬ 
sible, and the vent-hole stopped by a drop of solder. 
The cans are then returned to the kettle, and boiled for 
four hours longer. Operators differ as to the time of 
“processing,” some of them making it a secret, but 
from ti to 8 hours in all seems to be necessary for com. 
Horticulture in the Mississippi Valley.— 
A large number of the wide-awake horticulturist's liv¬ 
ing in the Valley of the Fataer of Waters, have formed 
a preliminary organization, with a view to complete the 
formation of a Horticultural Society on the 8th of the 
present month. In this month there will be held an 
exhibition at St. Louis. Mo., beginning on the 7th, and 
continuing for three days, at which numerous premiums 
are to be awarded, and these are so liberal that they can 
not fail to call forth one of the finest collections of 
fruits, flowers, etc., ever seen in this country. All, with¬ 
out regard to locality, are invited to contribute. Those 
who have never seen the fruits grown in this west¬ 
ern country, should take advantage of this exhibition, 
as it will give them new ideas of fruit culture, and im¬ 
press them with the wonderful possibilities of our wide 
country. Fruit for the exhibition may be forwarded to 
N. J. Coleman, St. Louis, Mo., care of St. Louis Fruit 
House. 703 South Third St. The Laclede Hotel, corner 
of 5th and Chestnut Streets, will be the headquarters of 
the Society, and make reduced terms to members. 
Salting Pickles.— The pickle factories buy the 
cucumbers from tlie growers, and salt them in large vats. 
Those who raise cucumbers at a distance from factories 
salt them in barrels. Barrels for the purpose must be 
tight and clean ; whiskey and alcohol barrels arc usually 
the best. Half a bushel of the best salt is required to the 
barrel, though some growers use less. A head is re¬ 
moved from the barrel, and a layer of cucumbers put in, 
with some salt sprinkled among them. A board follower 
is placed on the cucumbers, and water enough added to 
completely cover them. The next day. more cucumbers 
are put in. and so on until the barrel is full. If enough are 
picked in one day. the matter is very simple. Fill the 
barrel with cucumbers, sprinkling in the sal', and head 
up tight. Then fill the barrel with water through the 
bung-hole, and bung tip tight. Where there are not 
enough picked to fill a barrel, then they must be added 
to from day to day, taking care that those already in the 
barrel are kept covered with the brine, using stones as 
weights to keep the follower down upon them. 
