1880.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
457 
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Fattening Turkeys.— “ J. B. J. P.” South Dur¬ 
ham, Que., asks, “ What do you think is the best and 
quickest way of fattening turkeys ? I mean to fatten up 
a couple of hundreds this fall for the English market.”— 
Our own experience, on a small scale, indicates cooping 
closely in open slat coops, well roofed, set up from the 
ground so that the dung will drop through, and feeding 
especially corn meal, but changing for a single meal now 
and then to buckwheat, barley, wheat, etc. Use pow 
dered charcoal occasionally, and follow the plan of soft 
feed by day and a good feed of hard grain at night. 
Convention of Agricultural Chemists.— 
A meeting of Agricultural Chemists was called at Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., July 28th, by Hon. J. T. Henderson, Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture of Georgia. Upwards of twenty 
of the leading Agricultural Chemists were present; their 
attention was principally devoted to the consideration 
of the best methods of analyzing Commercial Manures. 
An adjourned meeting of the Convention was held at 
Boston, Aug. 27th, in connection with the Association 
for the Advancement of Science, at which, methods for 
the determination of Potash, Ammonia, and Phosphoric 
Acid were provisionally adopted for a year. This move¬ 
ment of the Agricultural Chemists will probably result in 
the establishment of a sub-section of Agricultural Chem¬ 
istry in the Association for the Advancement of Science, 
and a thoroughly organized body of earnest co-workers 
in the important field of Agricultural Chemistry. 
The Mississippi Valley Horticultural 
Society.— Judging from the number that took part in 
the first exhibition of this new Society, and the wide 
range of country represented, it would seem that it is 
a national rather than a sectional institution. Fruit 
growers and fruit were there from the many States, from 
New York to California, and the Show was all that the 
most hopeful could have anticipated. It is a pleasure to 
record the opening of a new Horticultural Society, with 
so much promise as this one has of future success. 
The N. Y. Horticultural Society.— The 
autumn show of this Society was held on Sept. 22-24th 
at Metropolitan Concert Hall, and was perhaps the most 
successful ever held by this Society. Mr. Win. Bonnet 
won the grand prize for the best 50 stove and greenhouse 
plants. As usual the Parsons and Sons Co., of the Kis- 
sena Nurseries, Flushing, L I., took the first prize in 
Evergreens. John Jones, of Madison, N J . made a fine 
display of cut Roses. The show of Ferns was very fine, 
and the chief prizes were taken by Mr.Henshaw, gardener 
to Mrs. John C. Green, and Mr. F. Roenbeck. Bayonne, 
N. J. The prize for Gladioli was awarded to Dr. F. M 
Hexamer. New Castle. Mrs. M. J. Morgan made a fine 
show of Orchids. Messrs. Hallock and Thorpe, of 
Queens, L. I., exhibited a large collection of Double and 
Single Pelargoniums, never before exhibited in New 
York. The best Cut-flower prize was taken by Peter 
Henderson, of 35 Cortlandt St., N. Y. W T . C. Wilson & 
Co., of N, Y., had a large and characteristically good dis¬ 
play of Plants, Flowers, and Floral Designs. Woolson 
& Co., Passaic. N J., exhibited a large and choice col¬ 
lection of Hardy Herbaceous Perennials. Among special 
exhibits the display of Aquatics from Mr. E. D. Sturte- 
vant. Bordentown, N. J., was the most interesting, con¬ 
sisting chiefly of Nymphxa Devonsiia, N. rubra , N. cceru- 
lea , N. dentata. and the Egyptian Lilies. Among the 
principal prize takers in fruits were J. II. Rickett, New¬ 
burgh,‘N. Y., T. S. Force, also of Newburgh, and C. J. 
Copley, Staten Island. In the Vegetable Department. 
Messrs. B K. Bliss & Sons, 34 Barclay St.,N.Y., Wm. Ball, 
Spuyten Duyvil, and F. G. Hexamer, New Castle, were 
among the successful competitors. The fruit and vege¬ 
tables were not as abundant as one would have expected. 
Building an Ice-House. -This is the season 
for constructing a house for storing ice. The absence of a 
plan with full directions, cost, etc., makes this an excep¬ 
tion to Nov. numbers of former years. We have nothing 
new to offer. Those who desire to build, and are not al 
ready informed on this important matter, may be glad to 
know that back numbers containing plans forice houses, 
will be sent for 15 cents each. The last plan published— 
a cheap house to hold about 30 tons— was given in Septem¬ 
ber last. Some of the other numbers, containing fully 
illustrated articles are: Oct. 1870. Nov. 1871, Oct. 1874. 
Dec. 1875, Dec. 1877, Nov. 1878, Dec. 1879. The chief 
rules in constructing the ice boxes are : to have a good 
non conducting cover to the ice, perfect drainage with 
air-tight foundations, and ventilated at top. Store the 
ice in dry. cold weather, and have it packed closely, 
and the mass as solid as possible. 
Pansies Destroyed by a Cirnh.—“ R. T. H.,” 
Summerside, P. E. I., writes that a small, dark, slate- 
colored grub, with fine, black stripes on back, and light- 
colored beneath, about half an inch long, has eaten the 
leaves of his pansies, and caused the stalks to dry up. 
Hand-picking and other remedies availed nothing. We 
suggest “ London Purple” as a safe remedy. It should 
be dissolved in water and applied as for “ potato bugs.” 
Dead Trees.—” M. Z.,” Nazareth. O., writes: “For 
several years we have been in the habit of sprinkling 
the grass in our apple orchard with liquid manure, taken 
from a sink near the manure pile. A few of the trees, 
now about forty years old, have died. I am told water¬ 
ing with manure is the cause. Is this so?”—No—if it 
has done the grass good it has certainly not hurt the 
trees. The difficulty is probably that you have borers 
in the orchard, and other trees will be attacked. The 
apple borer may be found beneath the bark at the Bin- 
face of the ground, and killed by pricking with an awl, 
or cutting out with the knife, but most successfully 
fought by making a little mound of ashes or lime around 
the collars of the trees in the spring, which prevents the 
beetles laying their eggs there. 
A Western Swindle— perhaps not confined to 
the West—by an adroit use of a scientific instrument, is 
detailed in our "Humbug Column.” It can not fail to 
interest every reader, either old or young. 
Blight of Fruit Trees.— Prof. T. J. Burrill, of 
the Illinois Industrial University, read a paper on “An¬ 
thrax of Forest Trees ” before the Association for the 
Advancement of Science, in which he gave the results of 
some experiments which he had made with pear blight 
and fire blight of apple trees. He considers them iden¬ 
tical in origin, and the result a living organism —a small 
fungus of the genus Bacillus, growing in the living bark. 
So minute is this fungus that a very high magnifying pow¬ 
er of the microscope is necessary to see it. The method 
of experiment was to cut off small portions of bark of dis¬ 
eased trees, and insert them beneath the bark of healthy 
ones, as in the process of budding. Sixty-three per 
cent of all the pear trees inoculated became diseased. Of 
pear trees receiving virus from blighting apple trees, 73 
per cent became affected. When the process was re¬ 
versed, a much smaller per cent of trees were inoculated. 
The most conspicuous change Prof. Burrill finds in the 
tissue of the affected parts is the almost total disap¬ 
pearance of starch from the cells. This would lead one 
to think that the disease is a fermentation caused by a 
minute fungus, closely related to those which induce 
fermentation under ordinary circumstances. 
Colt with Chronic Cough.— “C. L. T.,” 
Poolesvillc, Md. You should have consulted a good 
Veterinary Surgeon long ago. There is something seri¬ 
ously wrong when a four-year old colt coughs for two or 
three years. He probably has some asthmatic difficulty 
which he will very likely not outgrow. 
Cleaning:Oil Barrels. —“J.S.,” Harrison Co.,0., 
writes: “Among the numerous plans for cleaning oil 
barrels, none seem to me to be as effectual as the way 1 
cleaned one two years ago. That was by pouring into 
the barrel, at the bung, a pailful of strong lye, boiling 
hot, then rinsing thoroughly, so that the lye reached 
every part of the inside of the barrel. The barrel was 
then soaked a couple of days by being filled with clear 
water, when it was ready for use. I never detected the 
slightest odor of the oil in the cider or vinegar that has 
been drawn from this renovated oil barrel.” 
