20 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
distances from each other; the two front teats 
especially should be well apart, and the direc¬ 
tion of all four should be outward. When full 
of milk, the udder should be greatly enlarged 
in size, and, when newly emptied, shrink in a 
corresponding degree, and the skin gather into 
soft creases. The mammary glands, running- 
on each side of the belly, large throughout 
their whole course, and swelling into 1 arge puffs 
at or near their junction with the udder ; thigh 
veins also large and easily felt by the hand. 
Of all these shapes the more important are the 
long, finely-formed head; long, thin neck ; rump 
nearly on a line with the back-bone; broad 
quarters , long udder from back to front, and 
large veins underneath the belly, and down¬ 
wards, from the loins and thigh, to the udder. 
When seen in front, the body of a good milk 
cow should present the appearance of a blunted 
wedge, the apex of which is the breast and 
shoulder. Seen from behind, she should pre¬ 
sent a square well-spread shape. Seen sideways, 
she should be lengthy, but not lanky. 
--. 0 «- 
For the American Agriculturist. 
SPECIFIC MANURES. 
I was much pleased and I trust somewhat 
profited by an article which appeared in your 
paper of Nov. 3, 1853, headed “How to make 
home-made super-phosphate of lime.” Doubt¬ 
less, the clan of Super-phosphate manufacturers 
will not esteem it very highly, but be assured it 
will be appreciated by every intelligent cultiva¬ 
tor of the soil who reads it. Taking a hint from 
your remarks I consulted an elementery work 
on Chemistry, (Youmans’,) and went to work to 
see what I could do. I took a small quantity of 
bones and boiled them in strong lye about four 
hours; when they were reduced to a powder, 
and the lye boiled away so as to be nearly dry. 
Thus I intend to proceed with what bones I can 
get before planting time. With this pulverized 
bone I intend to mix gypsum to render it dry 
enough to be handled with ease when put on. 
Now, whether this will be as good as it would 
be if dissolved in the acid I am unable to say. 
What its value as a fertilizer is yet remains to 
be seen. One thing is certain, if it foils it is not 
money thrown away upon this or that Prof.’s 
concentrated compopnd. 
I would not by any means undervalue science 
as an aid to the farmer, but would try my own 
resources first. 
I consider it poor husbandry to neglect the 
means within my reach for the manufacture of 
manure, and then buy it at a high price. 
>S. Tenney. 
East Raymond, Cumb. Co., Me. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
NEW FARMS LATELY DISCOVERED. 
Lawyers ascertained a long time ago, that 
landholders owned far down below the surface; 
but formers never suspected, that their deeds 
gave them a right to more than six inches of 
the surface. Scarcely any have thought of look¬ 
ing deeper than this, except the diggers for gold 
and water. The sub-soil plow is revealing to 
agriculturists treasures before unknown. Dis¬ 
coveries in the earth are keeping pace with those 
in the sky, and a new earth is opening to the 
cultivator, as a new heaven is to the astronomer. 
In the soil is a great source of phosphate of 
lime, which few farmers have hit upon ; I mean 
in that part of the farm which lies more than 
six inches below the surface. There since the 
Deluge has lain undisturbed this fertilizer in a 
hard compact mass. Roots of the grains and 
grasses cannot penetrate it. There it is and 
has been for thousands of years, insoluble, ex¬ 
cept when roots apply themselves to it. 
Not one farmer in twenty ever plows deeper 
than six inches. The roots cannot get at the 
mine below for it is too hard. As beneficial as 
the sub-soil plow has proved to be where used, 
not one farmer in five hundred uses one through¬ 
out the Empire State. You may ask them why 
this is so and they will answer, our grandfathers 
never used them, and they generally had great 
crops, and we think it better to follow their ex¬ 
amples, than to be carried away by the silly 
fashions of the present day. 
Elihu Cross. 
Potter Hill, Pens. Co., H.Y. 
-—- 
For the American Agriculturist. 
CANADA THISTLE-DIFFERENT VARIETIES. 
In the 24th No. of the last volume, you ask for 
an article or two from Western New-York, as to 
the best means of destroying the Canada This¬ 
tle. As I do not belong to that section, I am 
not called on for a word. I will, however, allude 
to a mistake in some sections of the United 
States, as to what plant is really the Canada This¬ 
tle. 
I have heard several different plants called the 
Canada Thistle, which are so dissimilar in external 
appearances and habits, that I doubt their be¬ 
longing to the same order; certainly r they do not 
belong to the same species. In the State of 
Maine the plant called “ Canada Thistle” has 
creeping roots, which are exceedingly tenacious 
of life in every bit cut or broken off. They 
strike deeper, and therefore are more difficult to 
kill by digging, and more to be dreaded than the 
well-known couch grass. The seed, too, is much 
more troublesome, as no cultivator, however 
careful, can prevent the winds taking it from a 
negligent neighbor’s land, and gratuitously 
sowing sufficient in a single year to stock the 
largest forms of the most guarded farmers. This 
variety also luxuriates in a clayey soil, and if a 
chance plant were well neglected for a few years, 
it would be found to have entirely rooted sev¬ 
eral acres. This under-ground habit, or mole 
life, is no small obstacle to be overcome before 
one can effectually “ stop their breath.” They 
have a spine at every angle of stalk or leaf, and 
so numerous, that one must have a tiny finger 
indeed, to be able to touch any part without 
getting a sting from at least one thorn. But for 
all these bad qualities they have some good 
ones, for when in bloom they are highly fragrant, 
and give off in large amount, a very pleasant 
spicy odor, perfuming the air a long distance 
around. If cut and well cured when the blos¬ 
soms are just opening, horses will eat them with 
much avidity. The seed, too, is the choice food 
of some of our most beautiful feathered song¬ 
sters. 
In Maryland, there is a plant called the Ca¬ 
nada Thistle, that is dissimilar from the above 
in almost every respect, so much so, that only 
one of them can properly be called the Canada 
Thistle. In this section there is a third plant 
bearing the name of Canada Thistle, which is 
different from either. 
As to the destruction of these plants, I doubt 
whether it would be necessary to use the same 
means to kill those of Maryland, that would be 
requisite to exterminate those in Maine. They 
may be killed by mowing them off’ before they 
blossom, each time they spring up, for a couple 
of years. I have tried this plan and succeeded. 
I have also dug them up so as to kill them. This 
is more laborious, but leaves the soil in good 
order for a crop. 
Would it not be well for every person who 
speaks of a plant that has a local name, to des¬ 
cribe some of its characteristics, so that people 
of other sections might compare the description 
with those of their own locality, and so save 
mistakes which are now frequent, and often lead 
to serious inconveniences. 
I see no reason why the variety of thistle 
growing in the State of Maine, should be called 
Canada Thistle any more than Maine or New- 
England Thistle, for I have heard many of the 
“oldest inhabitants” say, that they found the 
thistle in Maine when it was an entire wilder¬ 
ness from the sea shore to the Canadas, proving 
to me clearly, that the Thistle was as indigenous 
to Maine as Canada. J. II. D. 
Morristown, March , 1854. 
- 9 - 
Guano on Cotton. —Mr. Braham, of Coss 
County, Geo., gives in the Lawrencevillc Herald, 
the following account of an experiment of 
guano on cotton: 
The land on which I used the guano, is what 
in this section of the country we call Hickory 
Orchard land, the principal growth being thick 
bark Hickorjq with some post Oak and Pine ; 
the color of the soil, dark red, with very little 
sand. The quantity used was rather less than 
a sack, which was finely pulverized before using. 
About three weeks before planting, I had the 
land listed three feet distance with a large shovel 
plow, and as deep as a good mule could pull it. 
The guano was applied immediately, in the 
ratio of about 250 pounds per acre, and a high 
ridge thrown on it with turning plows. Tt was 
planted on the 18th of April, as was also the 
balance of the patch (8 acres,) and cultivated in 
the same manner as the rest of the crop—and 
now for the result. 
“As soon as my crop generally began to show 
blooms, I counted on the first row, where I had 
used guano, 40 blooms, and at the same time 
counted the blooms on the adjoining row, 
where no manure had been used, and found 9 — 
and now for the seed cotton. 
1st picking. 2d. 
3d. 
4th. 
Total. 
Guano row - 12 lbs. 27 lbs. 
20 lbs. 
17 lbs. 
76 lbs. 
U nmanured row, 3 12 
8X 
12 X 
36 
Difference in favor of guano, 
;., T .. - 
- - 
40 lbs. 
“ I attended the picking 
and wei 
ghing 
myself, 
and am sure that the above is correct. 
“ The rows are 178 yards long, and you will 
see by calculation that 28 will make an acre, 
and 
76 lbs. multiplied by 28 make - 2,128 lbs. 
36 “ “ ' “ .... 1,008 
Difference per acre, .... 1,120 lbs. 
RAISING FOREST TREES FROM SEEDS. 
One of our subscribers requests us to furnish 
instruction for raising Chestnut, Walnut, and 
Locust trees from seeds. This is a subject of 
much importance to settlers in prairie countries, 
and even in many other parts of the country, it 
would be well if farmers would plant a few 
acres of their grounds with forest trees for the 
prospective wants of their children, if not for 
their own benefit. In some parts of the State 
there is already quite a scarcity of timber for 
fencing and building purposes, as well as for fuel, 
and good woodland is worth more per acre than 
that under cultivation. 
The first thing demanded on the part of those 
intending to plant forest seeds, is to select such 
kinds of trees as are best adapted to their soil. 
Much labor has been wasted by neglecting this 
precaution; and all the instructions we have 
seen in books and papers in regard to this busi¬ 
ness have been defective on this point. It has 
been stated, for instance, that chestnuts can be 
raised with the greatest ease from seed; and 
many formers have been induced to try the ex¬ 
periment, but have very generally foiled because 
their soil was not of the right kind. 
A deep sandy and dry soil is requisite for the 
successful growth of the chestnut; and it is in 
vain to attempt to make it thrive on soils of an 
opposite character, as we know from repeated 
experiments. The Black Walnut and Butter¬ 
nut thrive best in a deep, rich, clayey, and gra¬ 
velly loam, or what is commonly known as 
deep limestone soils. The same kind of soil is 
best suited for the Sugar Maple, but this tree 
will flourish on a greater variety of soils, and 
requires less depth than the walnut. 
