148 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
for timothy, nitrate of soda is said by those who 
have used it, and contrasted its effects with 
those of other mineral and vegetable manures, 
to be superior to any article now known.— B. in 
Germantown Telegraph. 
HOW TO DETERMINE THE HEIGHT A COLT 
WILL ATTAIN WHEN FULL GROWN. 
Mr. Jas. R. Martin, of Lexington, Kentucky, 
gives out the following upon this point: 
I can tell you how any man may know within 
half an inch, the height a colt will attain to 
when lull grown. The rule may not hold good 
in every instance, but nine out of ten it will. 
When the colt gets to be three weeks old, or as 
soon as it is perfectly straightened in its limbs, 
measure from the edge of the hair on the hoofs 
to the middle of the first joint, and for every 
inch, it will grow to the height of a hand of four 
inches when its growth is matured. Thus if 
this distance be found sixteen inches, it will 
make a horse sixteen hands high. By this 
means a man may know something what sort of 
a horse, with proper care, he is to expect from 
his colt. Three years ago I bought two very 
shabby looking colts for twenty dollars each, 
and sold them recently for three hundred dol¬ 
lars. So much for knowing how to guess pro¬ 
perly at a colt. 
Well, Mr. James R. Martin has “his say’’ as 
above. We say, give us a decent breed to start 
with, and the future height will depend altogether 
upon what care and feed the animal receives. 
Another suggestion to be always kept in mind, 
is, that height is not the only essential good 
quality for a horse, though it may be for a 
Shanghai. 
—-»-o »- 
For the American Agriculturist. 
TWO FARMERS CONTRASTED. 
As you have so far broken the rule which 
barred you from publishing articles not strictly 
agricultural as to give place to occasional jot 
tings, I thought perhaps your readers might be 
interested in a couple of incidents that fell under 
my notice the last year. Although small in 
themselves, they convey a lesson of much im¬ 
port, and as the best coloring could not give 
them the least beauty, I shall content myself by 
giving the facts just as they occurred, hoping 
that while the example of the one may be con¬ 
demned, that the other may be properly appre¬ 
ciated. 
Having business with the agricultural portion 
of the citizens of one of our Middle States last 
autumn, I had good opportunity to note many 
almost curiosities that came under my observa¬ 
tion in various ways. I found some sections 
where the tillers represented so many different 
nations of the East, and so many different lan¬ 
guages were spoken, that I sometimes required 
more than one interpreter to accompany me. 
In one of my business excursions I called on 
one of these tillers of the soil for a few moments, 
and having completed my business, was about 
leaving when a bright-eyed little boy came skip¬ 
ping along, holding in one of his hands a large, 
fair apple, which was partly red colored. The 
animated sparkle of his eye, and the intelligent 
appearance of his countenance completely cap¬ 
tivated me, and I felt an interest in him from 
that moment. Said he: 
“Pa, see what a pretty apple I have found, 
half red and half green, and it is sweet, and I 
want to know what makes this apple sweet?” 
“’Cause it growed so,” said the father gruffly. 
“ Well, pa, ail t’other apples that have red on 
them are sour, and w'hy isn’t this sour too?” 
“’Cause didn’t grow so,” more gruffly than be¬ 
fore. “ Well, pa, do tell me what makes apples 
sweet?” “’Cause they grow so I tell you;" 
(this was said sternly and in a very emphatic 
manner, accompanied with a menacing gesture;) 
“ and if you don’t stop asking your foolish ques¬ 
tions I willwArp you again—I should think that 
I had whipped you enough to whip all the fool¬ 
ish questions out of you, but you don’t know how 
to say any thing but ask questions. Now hold 
your tongue and be off.” The little boy said as 
he turned to obey, “ Pa, I’ll try not ask more 
questions.” This was in a subdued tone, and 
his face was suffused with tears, while the elas¬ 
ticity and ardor of his movements were visibly 
damped. I loitered a moment to see what 
might follow, when the father turned to me and 
said, “ that boy is almost spilt by going over to 
my neighbor Small’s, who has a couple boys 
about his age, and Mr. Small wants my John 
to come over sometimes and lam with his boys. 
He’s alters telling them something when he’s at 
work about felosephy as he calls it, and I wish 
he’d keep it to himself, for boys oughtn’t to 
know too much, and if he don’t quit telling my 
John so much stuff, I shall keep him at home, I 
shall.” 
As I had previously finished my business, 
and seeing but little chance to help little John, 
1 resolved to learn what kind of a neighbor Mr. 
Small was. I soon after called and found him 
to be a farmer and true gentleman. Every 
thing showed that he was as near master of his 
profession as any in our country. Every tool 
had a place, and was in its place, too, and so ar¬ 
ranged as to be come-at-able when wanted with¬ 
out any needless waste of time, while the gen¬ 
eral appearance of his farm showed that they 
had been used when needed. I soon had an 
opportunity to see the two hoys that John’s 
father had spoken of, as two active little lads 
joined us, and the father introduced them as 
his sons. There was none of that shyness we 
often see in country lads, nor of the wayward¬ 
ness that we sometimes observe in city lads, but 
a sort of manliness that makes one feel ac¬ 
quainted from the first sound of their voice. 
They were true types of their father. The el¬ 
der held in his hand an ear of corn partly red, 
and when a pause in our conversation ensued 
he said to his father: “Pa, may I ask a ques¬ 
tion?” “Yes,” said Mr. Small, “if it is not a 
long one.” “ Well, you see this ear of corn has 
some red kernals in it, and Bub and I cannot 
agree how it could come since there was none 
planted in our field that was red.” I begged 
Mr. Small to let me hear what explanation his 
son would give, as he was about to speak. Mr. 
Small said that he doubted the ability of either 
to give the true cause, but that each should 
state his views since he had no recollection of 
ever explaining to them the reason for such oc¬ 
currences; so turning to the elder he said: 
“Edwin, let me hear what you have to say, and 
then Bub shal^ have his turn at an explanation.” 
We had reached a beautiful eminence as Edwin 
commenced and said: “You remember, pa, to 
have told us that unless the pollen of the an¬ 
thers (which grow on the upper end of the 
cornstalks) should fall or be carried by the wind 
to the silks or pistils of the ear-shoot, there 
would be no corn on the cob. Now if the pollen 
can be carried by the wind as well as by the 
hand, as you showed us, there is no reason why 
the wind should not blow the pollen from Mr. 
P.’s corn to ours, although it is near a half mile 
off, and the wind blowed from his corn-field to¬ 
ward ours, too, from the time it was silked un¬ 
til it was full in milk, and I told Bub that this 
was the most likely way that it came that we 
have red corn in ours this year.” “Now, Bub, 
for your turn,” said Mr. Small. “Well, pa,” 
said he, “I have changed my mind some since 
brother has been talking, as it has put me in 
mind of what I read in the Agriculturist. The 
paper said that it was very difficult to raise pure 
seed of any kind, for there were so many bees 
and other winged insects that were all the while 
going from one flower to another, and carrying 
the pollen on their bodies, thus mixing melons, 
cucumbers, squashes, corn, as well as all other 
such plants and vegetables, so that it must be 
very difficult to raise any pure variety. I can 
only wonder now how we find them so pure as 
they are, but there is something else where I 
am more puzzled, and that is to find out how it 
is that so small a speck of a fine yellowish pow- 1 
der can impart an influence to a yellow variety 
of corn that shall make red kernals grow on the 
same cob, when the juice that supports both the 
red and the yellow corn comes through the 
same source to the ear; can you explain father, 
for I find nothing in any book that tells me?” 
“Well,my sons, you have between you spun 
out a long story, and have reasoned or quoted 
correctly, too ; but how to answer the question 
Bub put, will take more time than I now have, 
but we must all study, and when we have time 
we will see whether there is any satisfactory 
reasons given in any of our books.” 
I heard much more such conversation, that 
was not only interesting, but instructive, so 
much so, that I determined to pay another visit. 
Should this prove acceptable, I will try to give 
you the history of the other call at some future 
time. J. 
Morristown , N. J. 
GERMAN AGRICULTURE-USEFUL HINTS. 
Eacii German has his house, his orchard, his 
road-side trees, so laden with fruit, that if he 
did not carefully prop up and tie together, and 
in many places hold the boughs together with 
wooden clamps, they would be torn asunder by 
their own weight. He has his plot for corn, man¬ 
gold wurtzel, for hay, for potatoes, for hemp, &c. 
He is his own master, and he, therefore, and 
every branch of his family, have the strongest 
motive for constant exertion. You see the effect 
of this in his industry and his economy. 
In Germany nothing is lost. The produce of 
the trees and cows is carried to market; much 
fruit is dried for winter use. You see it lying 
in the sun to dry. You see strings of them 
hanging from their chamber windows in the 
sun. The cows are kept up for the greater part 
of the year, and every thing is collected for 
them. Every little nook, where the grass 
grows by roadside, and brook, is carefully cut 
with the sickle, and carried home on the heads 
of the women and children in baskets, or tied 
in large cloths. Nothing of any kind that can 
possibly be made of any use, is lost; weeds, 
nettles, nay, the very goose grass which covers 
waste places, is cut an taken for the cows. You 
see the little children standing in the streets of 
the villages, in the streams which generally run 
down them, busy washing these weeds before 
they are given to the cattle. 
* They carefully collect the leaves of the marsh, 
grass, carefully cut their potato tops for them, 
and even if other things fail, gather green leaves 
from the woodlands. One cannot help thinking 
continually of the enormous waste of such 
things with us—of the vast quantities of grass 
on banks, by roadsides, in the openings of plan¬ 
tations, in lanes, in church-yards, where grass 
from year to year springs and dies, but which, 
if carefully cut, would maintain many thousand 
cows for the poor. 
To pursue still farther this subject of German 
economy. The very cuttings of the vines are 
dried and preserved for winter fodder. The 
tops and refuse of hemp serve as bedding for 
the cows; nay, even the rough stalks of the 
poppies, after the heads have been gathered for 
oil, are saved, and all these are converted into 
manure for the land. When these are not suffi¬ 
cient, the children are sent into the woods to 
gather moss, and all our readers familiar with 
Germany will remember to have seen them 
coming homeward with large bundles of this on 
their heads. In autumn, the fallen leaves are 
gathered and stacked for the same purpose. 
The fir cones, which with us lie and rot in the 
woods, are carefully collected and sold for light¬ 
ing fires. 
In short, the economy and care of the Ger¬ 
man peasants are an example to all Europe. 
They have for years, nay ages, been doing that, 
as it i egards agricultural management, to which 
the British public is but just now opening its 
eyes. Time, also, is as carefully economized as 
every thing else. They are early risers, as may 
well be conceived, when the children, many of 
