AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
83 
leaven the whole lump, infused so much of its 
elevating influence, as to raise the rural neigh¬ 
borhood in which she lived, far above what it 
was, and far above any around it. 
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For the American Agriculturist. 
SQUASHES. 
GOOD VARIETIES FOR CULTIVATION—NOTES OF EX¬ 
PERIENCE—KEEPING OFF INSECTS, AC. 
In your paper of April 27, 1853, was an arti¬ 
cle on Squashes, by the Rev. W. Clift, which I 
read with much pleasure; and, as at its close, 
the writer very generously offered to give a 
sample of the seed of the Acorn variety to any 
who might wish them, I took the liberty to 
write for some, and in return received a very 
polite letter, enclosing a few seeds of four varie¬ 
ties, the Stonington-Marrow, Cop, Custard, and 
Acorn; for which, as I have not yet had an op¬ 
portunity to thank him in person, he will please 
now accept my thanks. At your request, I will 
now give you a brief history of my success with 
the seeds. 
At the time they came, I had no ground which 
I could properly prepare for them, excepting in 
my garden. I planted them on the side next 
the turf, and as far apart as I could, though 
aware that I ran the risk of their mixing. The 
Marrow, Cop, and Custard, were quite near the 
grass, into which I choose to have a part of the 
vines run, that they might not overspread the 
garden. The seed of the Stonington Marrow sent 
out 3 or 4 vines, which bore two specimens only 
of its kind; they attained a good size, however, 
being 10 and 12 inches in their shortest diame¬ 
ter; color, greyish green. I am not certain 
that they fully ripened. 
The Custard vines grew 4 very fine specimens, 
quite uniform in shape and color, varying a lit¬ 
tle in size. The outside of the fruit of a cream 
color, the inside a light orange; very sweet, 
fine grained, excellent for pies. 
The Cop seed threw out more and ranker 
vines, and was more prolific than either of the 
preceding, but less uniform in size, shape, and 
ripening. Some of them were nippled, others 
the reverse. Some were long, some nearly 
spherical, and others as flat as the old yellow 
field pumpkin. The flesh was very rich, of a 
deep orange color, but rot so fine grained as the 
Custard. 
The Acorn is deserving of more notice. 1 
put the seeds in a row of three or four hills on 
the opposite side of the garden. Near them on 
one side, were two rows of pole beans ; on the 
other, some 12 feet distant, was an arbor ten feet 
high, intended for grapes; the slats about one 
foot apart. The vines conducted themselves in 
a way I was not prepared for. Some of them 
started for the bean poles, raising their ends 
when within two or three feet, at an angle of 45 
degrees, to clasp the poles, (now covered with 
bean vines,) around which they clung, and hung 
their fruit. The fruit from these vines did not 
ripen well, but those branching out from the 
other side of the hills, steered directly for the 
arbor, climbed to its top, in defiance of grape 
vines, and blossomed, letting their fruit down | 
between the slats. These ripened better than the 
others. It was almost wonderful to see how 
these vines; instead of creeping, had climbed to 
an elevation never intended for such heavy fruit, 
and that, too, right in the face of the moral of 
what has been considered a fable hitherto, 
namely, the story of the philosopher who 
thought it would be a better arrangement if the 
oak and the pumpkin vine would exchange 
fruits. As they grew till their weight might be 
reckoned by pounds instead of ounces, it seemed 
as if the vines must break, but they did not, 
and the squashes hung safely till gathered. 
_ I consider this the most valuable of the four 
kinds, though none of them will keep as well as 
the common Crook-neck Winter Squash. I 
have raised these for years, and by selecting 
seeds from the longest keepers, I have been able 
to keep them more than a year, and twice I have 
exhibited specimens of the previous year’s 
growth, which were neither wiltedlnor shrunken, 
at our annual agricultural fairs in October. 
In your paper of March 8, on the first page, 
there are three figures of the Acorn Squash. 
The fruit from the seed sent me by Mr. Clift, 
was quite uniform in shape, and size also, as far 
as it ripened, and most nearly the 3d figure; every 
squash having the peculiar resemblance to the 
black oak acorn while in its cup, which I pre¬ 
sume gives it its name. From my experience of 
this last season, I should value them as follows: 
1st. The Acorn for richness and sweetness. 
2d. The Cop for richness, or body, and fruitful¬ 
ness, but it is more fibrous, and not quite so 
sweet, as the Acorn. 3d. The Custard, very 
fine grained and very siv eet, but lacks body, and 
is almost entirely without fibre. 
I should not cultivate the Stonington Marrow 
if I could get the others. In this estimate, I 
speak of them only as suited for pies. Those 
who like boiled or baked squash, may rate them 
differently. I shall try the first three named 
kinds this season under more favorable circum¬ 
stances, though I expect hybrids in return. 
One thing more—I am satisfied from experi¬ 
ments already made, that any cultivator who 
will take the trouble to select seeds from the 
best specimens, which ripen well, and keep 
longest, will eventually raise such fruit as will 
keep the whole year. The same principle will 
hold good with most vegetables. Nothing will 
repay the trouble more surely, than care in se¬ 
lecting and improving seed. 
As it may be of use to some, I will tell you 
how I preserved my young vines from insects. 
I have sprinkled the plants when infested with 
the little striped bug, with a solution of tobacco, 
have dusted them with snuff and wood-ashes, 
all of which undoubtedly did some good; but 
the only entirely efficacious thing I tried, ivas a 
plentiful supply of the simple super-phosphate 
of lime. I put a little guano to some hills, but 
it killed wherever it touched the plant. I in¬ 
tend trying the super-phosphate this season on 
any vegetables I may raise which suffer from 
insects. Another year I may have more to say. 
If I had not made this communication so long, I 
should like to say how highly I approve of your 
paper under its present management; but it 
needs not my commendation. Success to it. 
Yours truly, D. B. 
Middletown , CtApril 4. 
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For the American Agriculturist. 
THE BLACK SPANISH FOWL. 
A “ Fancier” asks your readers if we have 
the Spanish fowl among us ? and further asks 
for the points of the true fowl. 
I have recently imported several varieties of 
domestic poultry, one of which is the “ pure 
Black Spanish,” selected from the henery of 
Tiiojias II. Fox, Esq., of London, also an im¬ 
portation direct from the Minorca Isles of Spain. 
Mr. Fox’s Spanish birds are one of the most 
celebrated stocks in England, having taken 
seventeen prizes during the last year. Her Ma¬ 
jesty, the Queen, is a celebrated fancier, and 
would make no mean selection. The birds 
which she purchased of Mr. Fox are the same 
blood and brood to mine. 
The color of this fowl is of a glossy black, and 
the feathers of the legs, thighs, and belly, are 
particularly decided in their hue, and of a vel¬ 
vety aspect. It has a white cheek, which ex¬ 
tends to the comb above the eye. The wattles 
and comb are extraordinarily large, single, and of 
a very high color. The feet and legs are of a 
leaden color, except the soles of the feet, which 
are of a dirty fleshy hue. 
The Black Spanish in England, that lacks any 
of these qualities, can be bought for • a half 
crown, especially if the whole cheek be not 
white, in a full grown bird. But the pure birds, 
with all of the above characteristics, sell as high 
as from $50 to $100 each. The father of mine 
was sold for $210 by Mr. Fox. 
The hens are layers of the first order, and 
give'the largest and best flavored eggs. And as 
table birds, they hold a place in the very first 
rank. S. W. Jewett. 
Middlcbury , Vt., April 8, 1854. 
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For Alio American Agriculturist. 
gTHB “BLINDS” ON HORSES.’ 
In passing through this city, I have seen 
many fine horses, some of which must be getting 
blind from the cruelty of their drivers; not by 
whipping or starving, but from the manner in 
which blinders, so termed, are used. No horse 
can have good eye-sight after wearing these un¬ 
necessary appendages for a length of time, as I 
have seen them, so closely drawn together in 
front as to rub or chafe the eye-lids. It is hurt¬ 
ful to have them, worn as they usually are, 
thrown out an inch or so from the eye. If they 
must be worn, it would be much better to set 
them out, at an angle of forty-five degrees or 
more, from a right line with the side of the 
face. It would, however, be still better if they 
were not worn at all. 
A horse will soon get so accustomed to all he 
can see, as not to be any more easily frightened 
without them than he is with them, by the 
sense of hearing. He is too valuable an animal 
for us to be careless of his health and comfort, 
too noble a gift to be so misused as to lessen his 
own innate worth, to say nothing of his com¬ 
mercial value. 
I have charged this as a cruelty coming from 
the drivers, because they can easily remedy the 
matter. It is not my intention to assert, that 
the wrong in this matter is so by the choice of 
these men. It would be as much as saying that 
they, as a class, are destitute of all the kindly 
feelings of humanity. 
These remarks are not intended to apply to 
the city more than to the country, for these 
cruelties are practised in the latter place quite 
as much as in the former. 
A Country Farmer. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
INQUIRIES ABOUT MAKING SUPER-PHOS¬ 
PHATE. 
I am a young farmer, living in the Great Val¬ 
ley of Virginia, about 70 miles south of Win¬ 
chester, and 25 miles north of Staunton. Our 
lands lie upon great beds of limestone, with 
belts of slate running through it. Clay is the 
prevailing basis of our soils. The lands are 
naturally productive, and best adapted to grass 
and wheat; and they have not been worn down 
as much as the greater portion of those of East 
Virginia. Still there is great room for improve¬ 
ment, both in the quality of our lands, and in 
the prevailing system of farming. 
I am satisfied that our soil is deficient in the 
;■phosphates , as you might infer from the single 
fact that they have been constantly grazed for 
a century, without any adequate return being 
made for the material which entered into the 
frames of the cattle. We must have bone ma¬ 
nure; but whether it will he best for vs to 
bring it from the north, or manufacture it at 
home, is the question I would be glad to have 
solved by you and your correspondents. There 
is now a railroad (the Central) completed to 
Staunton from Richmond, with a branch from 
Alexandria, and in two or three years we will 
have one (the Manassas Gap) to this place from 
Alexandria. 
In the first place, then, it must be ascertained 
what bone dust would cost us here, if pur¬ 
chased say, in New-York or Philadelphia. In 
the next place, can we manufacture it at home 
so as to enable us to get a sufficient quantity at 
a lower price than we could import it for ? We 
have flour mills and water-power in abundance, 
but I wish to ascertain (1) the cost of the neces¬ 
sary machinery for crushing the bones, (2,) the 
probability of a retired, farming community 
like ours, without large towns, being able to 
furnish a sufficiency of bones to justify the 
