10 
AM ERIC AN AG-RIC ULTUR 1ST. 
t January, 
about 44 or 5 inches long, -whittled round and 
smooth, about J inch in diameter, gradually 
tapering a little, and brought to a somewhat 
blunt point. To the middle portion a short 
leather strap is attached for passing the middle 
finger through. A couple of notches in the 
wood prevent the strap from slipping. With 
strong leather, it is sufficient to simply make 
two holes through it aud thrust the pin through. 
The strap is passed over the finger, and the pin 
grasped in the hand, leaving the point out fa¬ 
cing the thumb. To use it, the point is thrust 
into the husk, the thumb pressed against the 
portion of the husk raised from the stalk, and 
the part thus loosened is torn oil'. The piu 
answers the purpose of a fifth finger and nail—• 
saving the natural nails, and much wearing of 
the finger and thumb. 
-- —=> - -— 
A Cheap Boiler. 
A subscriber of the Agriculturist , Moses Park, 
Walker Co., Ga., describes a cheap boiler, con¬ 
structed originally for evaporating syrup, which 
he considers quite convenient for cooking food 
for animals. It is simply an open box of 2 inch 
plank, 54 feet long and 21 inches wide, and 14 
inches deep, put together with 24 inch screws. 
For the bottom, a piece of thick sheet iron is 
put on with 1J inch screws, 2 inches apart. The 
screws are placed thus thickly to close the 
joints tight. The materials cost $8.50; the 
work can be done by almost any farmer. Be¬ 
sides being cheap and easily made, a boiler of 
this form presents a large surface to the fire, and 
is therefore economical of fuel. It can be set on 
brick work, and in the absence of other conve¬ 
niences, will well repay the expense in the ad¬ 
ditional value given to feed for swine and other 
stock. It is particularly valuable for evapora¬ 
ting syrup, where better app^i*? is not; cr-sily 
obtained.' 
- - •-<» - 
A Puff for Two Churns. 
If ail the contrivances invented for ckurqjpg, 
could be brought together, they would form a 
museum well worth visiting. There would be 
the dignified old fashioned upright dash churn, 
churns of barrel, box, and tub form, some with 
revolving dashers, some with stationary dashers, 
others with no dashers at all. Cranks, paddles, 
cog wheels, and gearing would abound. The 
butter mill 1 , constructed to grind milk as though 
it were paint, would divide attention with the 
goat-skin hag," which the Arab swings to and fro 
to extract butter from mare’s milk. It would 
seem that little ingenuity need bo expended in 
so simple a process as separating butter from 
cream, and that is perhaps one reason why so 
many churns have been invented'. The veriest 
tyro in mechanics can get up an arrangement 
that will “make the butter come,” and as there 
is no end to the ways in which it can be done, 
every man lias suited his own fancy, and yetac- 
. . bed the desir : r dt; so that we have 
before the public at least three hundred “ best 
churns over invented.” The number is contin¬ 
ually increasing, and it is amusing to hear the 
reasons given for the different arrangements. 
To-day a man calls upon us to make known to 
our readers the superlative excellences. of a 
churn consisting of an air-tight barrel, into 
which air is compressed with an air-pump, to 
increase the amount of oxygen to combine with 
the cream. Only yesterday another called to 
get before the public his churn, in which the air 
is pumped out of the barrel, to remove pressure, 
and hasten the bursting of the butter globules. 
As both of these parties want a puffi in the Agri¬ 
culturist , we hereby give a certificate that butter 
can be made in each of tlieir implements. The 
quantity and quality will depend upon the quan¬ 
tity and quality of the milk, and the care in the 
after processes of working and salting. The 
“ points ” of a good churn are simplicity, ease 
of working, means of thorough agitation of the 
cream, a form that admits of ready removal 
of its contpnts, and fipse jn cleaning. Many dif¬ 
ferent patterns combine these excellences, and 
we therefore recommend all such. 
-?->— — - *-■«> - 
Mowing Mapfcinp Invention fcy a Lady. 
It is stated in the Mew-Jersey Farmer, that 
Elizabeth M. Smiih, of Burlington, has invented 
an arrangement tc* b*3 applied to reaping or 
mowing machines, by which daqg@p fVqpi qppj- 
dents is greatly lessened. The most frequent 
and serious casualties in the use of these ma¬ 
chines, have occurred from the driver being 
thrown into contact with the knives while in 
motion; several cases of loss of limbs, and even 
of life in this manner, have been reported. By 
this invention, the knives are “ in gear ” only 
while the driver retains his seat—as soon as he 
leaves it, they cease to work. The end to he 
attained is certainly desirable, whether the 
above invention fully secures it, and is other¬ 
wise unobjectionable we do not know, not hav¬ 
ing seen the apparatus. 
A Hew Leather—Alligators Useful. 
Mot long since we noticed in a shop window 
in this City, a pair of hoots made from leather 
of singular appearance, haying a peculiar 
wrinkled and scaly look, somewhat as if a hide 
had been scored and hacked in every direction 
while removing it, and then tanned so as to show 
all the irregularities. Upon inquiry, we were 
told it was Alligator skin, properly tanned, and 
that besides being as pliable as calf skin, it is 
much more durable than ordinary leather, aud 
completely water-proof. 
We learn from the Shoe and Leather Report¬ 
er, that the Prince of Wales and several of his 
suite were much pleased with the new fabric, 
and ordered several pairs ofboots from it. The 
fashion being thus set by royal authority, we 
may expect a general onslaught of the reptiles 
to supply the demand. Perhaps some enter¬ 
prising Yankee may find it worth while to breed 
the animals for their hides. The blood might 
find a ready sale at the Patent Office, when the 
functionary who recommended it as a specific 
against insects, comes into power again, while 
Prof. Somebody would doubtless purchase the 
carcases to manipulate into progressed manure. 
Paper from Corn Husks and Leaves. 
It is announced in European journals that by 
a recent discovery, paper has been made of the 
leaves and husks of Indian Corn, equal, and in 
some respects superior to that made from rags. 
The inventor, Moritz Diamant, is a Jewish 
writing master, in Austria, where, it is stated, 
satisfactory experiments on a large scale have 
been made. If this he true, it is good news to 
the farmers of this country, and not less so to 
nowspaper gml book makers.' The price of pa¬ 
per, made from rags, has advanced so rapidly, 
from scarcity of the raw material, as to form a 
serious item in the expenses of the publisher 
American manufacturers will not he slow to 
avail themselves of any advantages this process 
may he found to offer, and as this is the first 
corn-growing, aud also the greatest hook and 
newspaper consuming country in the world, the 
success of the invention is a matter of the great¬ 
est interest. 
Street Scrapings for Manure. 
Not the least important source of manure is 
the road-side. Nearly all highways in the coun¬ 
try are “worked” annually in the following- 
way : Several furrows are run on each side of 
the wagon-track, and then the dirt is scraped or 
shoveled into the middle of the road, and round¬ 
ed oyer sp as to shed water. That this ordi¬ 
narily makes a good road, we would not ven¬ 
ture to affirpi. But we are very sure that this 
du ; t, so often plowed up and thrown back upon 
tlip track, is quite rich, especially on roads that 
are much traveled, and would make a good 
dressing- for anybody’s farm or garden. It con¬ 
tains the washings of the road where the drop¬ 
pings of horses aud cattle have been deposited 
during the year, and mixed with the soil. The 
turf also which is plowed up, is quite valuable 
in the composting yard. 
Possibly, the road commissioners would ob¬ 
ject to having this soil carried off: they have a 
legal right to object. But if the farmer should 
agree to return a load of good gravel or pound¬ 
ed stones, for every load of soil taken away, it 
would prevent all complaints. And this would 
be a good bargain for all parties concerned. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Liming Lands—sSome Hints given and 
more Wanted. 
The questions are often asked: what lands are 
benefited by the application of lime, how much 
should be used to the acre, and how often ? 
Undoubtedly, some lands are more benefited 
by its use than others. Such, for instance, are 
clayey soils, which contain large quantities of 
vegetable matter: tlie lime acts upon them ns a 
decomposer of organic substances, arid fits their 
elements to become food for growing plants. It 
renders stiff soils more friable, makes them more 
easily penetrable by the roots of plants, and 
more easy of culture. It exterminates sorrel 
and mosses. Ou wet, undrained land, it is of 
comparatively little use; aud indeed this is true 
of every kind of manure or stimulant. Drain¬ 
ing is the first requisite on such soils, without 
which all other applications are time and labor 
thrown gjvay. [We admit that draining or the 
removal of water is a prime requisite, yet when 
this is not done, liming is all the more import¬ 
ant for wet soils, to counteract as far as possi¬ 
ble the coldness and “sourness” of such 
land. — Ed.] 
In applying lime to cold and clayey land, it 
should he but partly slacked before using. If 
wholly slacked, it will not act powerfully upon 
the strong vegetable substances in the soil, nor 
neutralize the acids and noxious gases which 
abound in it. If partly slacked, it can be spread 
much more readily and evenly. [Unless 
the lime he thoroughly slacked to a fine- 
powder, it can not ho spread evenly, but will 
fall in lumps. Wo should say watcr-slakc it 
thoroughly, that it may be as finely pulverized 
as possible. —E d.] 
After witnessing the beneficial effects of a 
ingle application of lime, come farmers judge 
