AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
361 
the specification—not endorsing or condemning 
it. 
For 10 pills, mix together powdered Jesuit's 
hark, (is this Peruvian bark ?) 5 grains; pow¬ 
dered ginger and rhubarb, each five grains; 
sulphate of zinc (white vitriol,) one-fifth of a 
grain, and water 4 grains. 
CHINESE YAMS. 
We wish the owners of some of our East In¬ 
dia ships, would direct their captains to bring 
home the best kinds of yams from the north of 
China, with a view of introducing them into 
cultivation in this country. We have no doubt 
they would succeed well. The climate of 
Shanghai, we understand, is about the same as 
that of Baltimore, Md., while others say it is 
fully as cold as that of New-York. We do not 
suppose that any yam will be found as palata¬ 
ble as the northern or the ssveet potato; though 
as tastes differ greatly, some might prefer it to 
either of these varieties. In case of the rot ex¬ 
tending in the potato, and also for cattle feeding, 
yams would be found highly beneficial and use¬ 
ful. 
-• • •- 
SPAYING. 
Spaying cows is as simple as spaying pigs. 
The operation consists in cutting into her flank, 
and then destroying the ovaries of the womb by 
the introduction of the hand. It requires some 
skill to do this properly. One of the best opera¬ 
tors we ever saw, was a German, who could 
neither read nor write, and in almost every thing 
else was rather stupid and awkward. 
*-•••- 
Liquid Glue. —Several exchanges state that 
there is a recipe selling about the country for 
five dollars, purporting to be a new French 
method of making liquid glue. It is said that 
it does not gelatinize or putrefy, and can be 
used while cold for all ordinary purposes of 
glue, in making or mending furniture, books, 
broken vessels that are not exposed to water, 
&c. We are a little doubtful as to its value, but 
not having time to test it, we give it for what 
it is worth. If any one tries it, or has tried 
it carefully, will he please give us the result. 
In a wide-mouthed bottle, dissolve 8 oz. of 
best glue in a half pint of water, and heat till 
dissolved. Then add slowly, constantly stirring, 
oz. of strong aquafortis (nitric acid.) Keep 
it well corked, and it will be ready for use. 
DBOPS IN INDIANA. 
Annapolis, August 3d. 
Here, in Western Indiana, as far as I have as¬ 
certained, the crops of wheat, oats and barley, 
were tolerably good, but the corn is suffering 
greatly from the drouth, there having been no 
rain of consequence for nearly two weeks. 
Peaches will be very scarce, and apples less 
plentiful than usual. Elias W. Siler. 
Striking Cuttings. —The following are a half 
a dozen general rules relative- to the selection 
and preparation of slips or cuttings. 1st. Let 
all slips be cut off as near a joint as possible 
without injuring it. 2d. For autumn or win¬ 
ter make choice of well ripened firm wood. 3d. 
In spring or summer half ripened young shoots 
are best, as they strike quicker than old wood. 
4th. All succulents, such as Cactuses, Gera¬ 
niums, &c., should remain a few days to dry, 
until their wounds are closed up, before they 
are potted. 5th. Never allow cuttings to re¬ 
main in water; if they cannot be planted imme¬ 
diately lay the ends in moist sand. 6th. In 
winter or summer always let a few of the leaves 
remain on evergreens. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
-*©• - 
For the American Agriculturist. 
CROPS IN DUTCHESS COUNTY, N. Y. 
Schutz-Villb, Clinton Township, Aug. 5th, 1854. 
The weather in this section is very dry, there 
having been but little rain since May. The 
drouth is still greater in Milan and Pine Plains, 
in consequence of which farmers are greatly in 
want of pasture. I have seen some fields en¬ 
tirely scorched up. There was not more than 
half a crop of oats in this neighborhood, and 
some pieces were not gathered at all. Mea¬ 
dows were tolerably good — wet land very. 
Corn will not yield more than half a crop. Po¬ 
tatoes promise poorly. Wheat quite poor. Rye 
was generally considered an extra crop. For 
two weeks past, there has been little sprinkles 
of rain, and an appearance of wet weather. 
Farmers live in hopes that corn and potatoes 
will yet improve, if we have favorable weather. 
Streams are quite low, and millers can rest once 
a day. E. S. Traver. 
- •©• - 
Hemp. —A letter from Kentucky, addressed 
to a house in this city, states the prospect for 
the. hemp crop in that State is by no means 
promising. The writer is a manufacturer, and 
of course his opinion can proceed from no inter¬ 
ested motives. In addition to this we learn, 
from a gentleman just arrived from Ken¬ 
tucky, that the section he visited, embracing 
the counties of Fayette, Woodward, Jessamine, 
Bourbon, Franklin and Jefferson, the crops 
look remarkably bad, and the opinion is preva¬ 
lent that the yield will be light. Other coun¬ 
ties—Boyle, Mercer, &c., from which he receiv¬ 
ed information, are in the same situation. We 
are influenced by no consideration other than 
that of giving the statement (an important one 
at this time) publicity, especially as it emanates 
from disinterested and reliable sources.— St. 
Louis Republican, August 1. 
- MM - 
Hominy. —In point of economy, as human 
food, one bushel of beans or hominy is equal to 
ten of potatoes. Hominy, too is a dish almost 
as universally liked as potatoes, and at the South 
about as freely eaten, while at the North it is 
seldom seen. In fact, it is an unknown food, 
except to a few persons in cities. By hominy, 
we do not mean a sort of coarse meal, but 
grains of white corn, from which the bull and 
chit, or eye, has been removed, by moistening 
and pounding in a wooden mortar, leaving the 
grains almost whole, and composed of little else 
but starch. It has often been said that not one 
cook in ten knows how to boil a potato. We 
may add another cipher when speaking of the 
very simple process of cooking hominy. We 
give the formula from our own experience ajid 
instructions received in a land where “ hog and 
hominy” are well understood. Wash slightly 
in cold water, and soak twelve hours in tepid, 
soft water; then boil slowly from three to six 
hours, in the same water, with plenty more 
added from time to time, with great care to pre¬ 
vent burning. 
Do not salt while cooking, as that or hard 
water will harden the corn. So it will peas or 
beans, green or dry, and rice also. When done, 
add butter and salt; or a better way is to let 
each season to suit the taste. It may be eaten 
with meat in lieu of vegetables, or with sugar 
or syrup. It is good hot or cold, and the more 
frequently it is warmed over, like the old-fash¬ 
ioned pot of 
“ Bean-porridge hot, or bean-porridge cold, 
Bean-porridge best nine days old.” 
So is hominy—it is good always, and very 
wholesome, and, like tomatoes, only requires to 
be eaten once or twice to fix the taste in its fa¬ 
vor.— Journal of Health. 
-* •«- 
An Excellent Example op Munificence. — 
Jesse Ketchum, of Buffalo, has made a wise and 
munificent disposition of God’s gifts by devot¬ 
ing five acres of land and a suitable building, as 
a park or retreat for Sabbath and public school 
children. It was opened on Saturday to two or 
three hundred happy children, for whom Mr. 
Ketchum had provided a bountiful repast, con¬ 
sisting of cake, fruit, confectionary, &e., &c. 
In addition to the land and building, Mr. Ketch¬ 
um has given $8,000 to adorn the grounds.— 
Albany Register. 
-- 
Cost of tiie Mammoth Cave. —Col. Crogan, 
to whose family it belongs, was a resident of 
Louisville. He went to Europe some 20 years 
ago, and found himself frequently questioned of 
the wonders of the Mammoth Cave—a place he 
had never visited, and of which he had heard 
but little at home, though living within ninety 
miles of it. He went there on his return, and 
the idea struck him to purchase it, and make it 
a family inheritance. In fifteen minutes bar¬ 
gaining, he bought it for $10,000, and shortly 
after he was offered $100,000 for his purchase. 
In his will he tied it up in such a way that it 
must remain in his family for two generations, 
thus appending its celebrity to his name. 
There are nineteen hundred acres in the estate, 
though the cave probably runs under the pro¬ 
perty of a great number of other land owners. 
For fear of those who might dig down and es¬ 
tablish an entrance to the cave on their own 
property, (a man’s farm extending up to the 
zenith and down to the nadir,) great vigilance is 
exercised to prevent such subterranean surveys 
and measurements as would enable one to sink 
a shaft with any certainty. The cave extends 
ten or twelve miles in several directions, and 
there is probably many a back-woodsman sif¬ 
ting in his hut within ten miles of the Cave, 
quite unconscious that the most fashionable 
ladies and gentlemen of Europe and America 
are walking without leave under his potatoes 
and corn. 
---- 
When Newspapers Please. —The London 
Leader —one of the most piquant journals thaf, 
reach us from across the great “ herring-pond” — 
thus felicitously explains the secret of newspa¬ 
per popularity: “ It may be very wise to see 
both sides of a question, and to be more anxious 
about what can be said for you; hut the fact 
is, that the object of most men in buying a 
newspaper is, to enjoy the statement of their 
own inarticulate notions in the shape of artisti- 
cal development and expression. A reader 
never so thoroughly enjoys a paper as when he 
can say, “ That is exactly what I have said my¬ 
self;” and he always tries to buy that paper 
which can give to his own opinions an air of 
the greatest point and wisdom. It is looking 
into a mirror which tells him, not the superii 
cial aspect, so inadequate to the expression of 
his real beauty and dignity, but that inner 
truth which is a more perfect portrait of the 
whole man ; a mirror which makes Simpson see 
with his own eyes the Socrates that he feels 
himself to be. For this reason it is to be taken 
that the papers which are purchased represent 
the opinions of their purchasers. 
- 1 ®«-—— 
Not Ashamed of their Trades.— Hon. W. 
W. Pepper, one of the Circuit Judges of Ten¬ 
nessee, was formerly a blacksmith; and “for 
the fun of it,” he lately made, with his own 
hands, an iron fire-shovel, which he presented 
to the Governor, Hon. Andrew Johnson. In re¬ 
turn, Governor Johnson, who was formerly a 
tailor, cut and made with his own hands a coat, 
and presented it to the Judge. The correspond¬ 
ence which passed between these distinguished 
and worthy American mechanics, is published 
in the Tennessee papers. Such men not only 
