72 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
“ Giant Wheat.” 
The above sketch we have engraved for the 
Agriculturist from one appearing in a foreign jour¬ 
nal. This is claimed to be an accurate represen¬ 
tation of a new variety of wheat, of which al¬ 
most incredible accounts are given. Thinking 
that there must be at least something in the 
affair, we senator a quantity, and have obtained 
two bushels, at an enormous expense, which we 
have put up in small parcels, and placed in our 
free seed distribution, No. 140, so that those of 
our readers desiring to try it, can obtain enough 
for a beginning, without cost. The berry is very 
large, and gives promise of being an acquisition. 
We read accounts of its having produced over 
70 bushels per acre. A single grain is said to 
have produced 72 heads, containing 6,480 ker¬ 
nels, or 90 grains to the head. It can be rapid¬ 
ly multiplied, and the parcels we send out over 
the country,' with careful culture, will yield a 
large amount of seed for another year, if found 
valuable. It is a winter wheat, and, of course, 
can not be sown until Autumn. 
Painting Buildings. 
This topic has appropriately occupied the at¬ 
tention of several “ Farmers Clubs ” the present 
winter. For the first coat or “ priming,” there 
appears to be nothing better than the old meth¬ 
od of using white lead in oil. A thin mixture 
fdls the pores of the wood better than a thick 
one. For a second coat, if three are used, a mix¬ 
ture of white lead and zinc is good. For the 
final coat, whether it be the second or third one, 
we prefer the zinc paint for white. Though 
costing more per pound, it goes further, and is 
on the whole quite as cheap as lead, while it 
retains its clear white color much better than 
lead, which is tarnished by sulphurous gasses 
arising from the manure around barns and sta¬ 
bles, and from the sink drain and other sources 
around the house. There is always enough of 
sulphuretted hydrogen in the air to gradually 
darken any surface paint containing lead. 
-- —■ - —--*■- 
Remarks on “Bone Spavin”. 
the stable after a period of rest; any existing 
lameness will thus be more readily perceived. 
Spavin is quite frequently shown by enlarge¬ 
ments upon the joint, resulting from the liga¬ 
ments which bind the joint together having 
been hardened into bone; and from a deposit of 
bony matter. If this deposit be directly upor 
the side of the joint, so that the tendons by 
which the leg is moved, must play over the 
swelling, there will be lameness. It often oc¬ 
curs, however, that the enlargement comes be¬ 
low the joint, when it may not greatly interfere 
with free motion of the limb, nor detract much 
from the value of the horse, although all such 
difficulties are blemishes, and lessen the market 
value. Bony deposits of the same character 
may be formed on the hind leg, quite distant 
from the joint, and also upon the fore leg, in 
which cases, though ofthe same nature as spavin, 
the disease is called splint. 
All these difficulties result from abuse of the 
animal by overtasking, particularly while young, 
before the ligaments and other parts of the 
structure of the joints have hardened sufficiently 
to resist the strain put upon them. Withpi-oper 
usage they need never occur. 
Harsh remedies for this disease, as burning, 
punching, etc., formerly so much in vogue, are 
now giving way to more rational treatment. A 
permanent cure for confirmed spavin need not 
be looked for. Where no perceptible lameness 
exists, and the growth of the excrescence is not 
increasing, let it alone, for by “ tinkering,” the 
blemish may become a permanent injury. In 
the commencement of the disease, the animal 
should have entire rest and good feed, for months 
if necessary. While inflammation exists, May- 
hew recommends the application of poultices 
(flaxseed), and to rub the part well with a mix¬ 
ture of belladona and opium, equal parts of 
each, rubbed down with water; or to rub the 
enlargement with equal parts of chloroform 
and camphorated oil. After the pain has sub¬ 
sided and the heat has been reduced, an appli¬ 
cation of one part Iodide of lead mixed with 
eight parts of simple ointment is recommended, 
to reduce any enlargement, or at least to pre¬ 
vent further bony deposit. 
yet to hear of one who has perused it with¬ 
out receiving much useful information. We 
are having a second edition printed, which will 
be ready by the time this paper goes to press. 
Any one at all interested in onion culture will 
find the work highly valuable. A copy is sent 
post-paid to any address on receipt of 21 cents. 
We shall also add it to our extra premiums for 
March. See last page— Publisher.'] 
Editors Humbugged !* 
Editors commonly have the credit of being 
sharp fellows—they have friction enough to give 
them a keen edge. But even they get taken in 
now and then. Example: —For some time past 
we have been receiving letters from cotempo¬ 
raries in different parts of the country, asking us 
to collect or inquire after bills at an “ advertising 
agency,” nominally located in Wall-street. We 
have called or sent to the specified place several 
times, but can seldom find anybody in, and when 
any one is there, it is a boy, who has a ready 
answer, generally to this effect: “One of the 
firm is absent on business at Chicago, and the 
other is sick at home.”-The parties are very 
shy, but after considerable inquiry and investi¬ 
gation, the matter appears to stand about thus : 
One of those benevolent, “ retired clergymen,” 
whom we have taken occasion to show up, and 
who is professing to be very sincere in his efforts 
to relieve suffering humanity, is carrying on his 
operations under a variety of names. Under one 
name, he is dispensing medicines in Williams- 
burgh; under another name he is doing the same 
thing in Brooklyn; under another name, he is 
teaching women in New-York, an art which 
will “ afford them an easy livelihood;” and how 
many other enterprises he carries on we can not 
definitely say, though we have reason to believe 
flie same man is at the head of at least half a 
dozen, all under different names. Under a still 
different name, or firm, he has an “advertising 
agency,” through which he sends out to the 
country papers a variety of advertisements of all 
his other swindling enterprises, under their va¬ 
rious names, and in their different locations. 
At first, as an “ advertising agent ” he paid for a 
few advertisements, to lull suspicion and get 
credit. Since then, he has sent out a large num¬ 
ber all over the country, with fair promises to 
settle up in due time after the publishing of the 
business cards. Having thus published his va¬ 
rious enterprises to the amount of many thou¬ 
sands of dollars, both himself and his fictitious 
part ner, are conveniently absent whenever called 
for. - We have good reasons for withholding 
names at present; but have said enough to show 
how the thing is carried on. Our cotempora¬ 
ries may draw their own conclusions. 
Publishers can hardly be too careful in ac¬ 
cepting “ promises to pay ” from unknown “ ad¬ 
vertising agents.” Such men as S. M. Petten- 
gill & Co., and John Hooper & Co., can be re¬ 
lied upon for honesty and promptness. 
* Many Lottery Schemes, and various other swindling 
Circulars, etc., not r.eoding hurried attention, have been 
received, and being crowded for room, we omit the usual 
chapter on humbugs this month. 
When inflammation of the lining membrane 
ofthe horse’s hock joint is caused by a strain, a 
severe blow, or a shock, unless it he relieved, 
ulceration will follow, the oily fluid contained in 
the joint will be absorbed, the cartilaginous 
(gristly) linings turn to bone and grow together, 
and the joint will be more or less injured ac¬ 
cording to the extent of the disease. This form 
of spavin may produce no external swelling, 
and is then not easily detected. Unless the dis¬ 
ease be sufficiently extended to cause perma¬ 
nent lameness, a horse after a few moments’ driv¬ 
ing, and becoming “ warmed up ” will travel 
almost with his natural gait. A close observer 
may detect a slight variation from the proper 
motion of the leg, particularly the failure to 
slightly turn the hoof outward, but this is all 
the external indication. A purchaser should in¬ 
sist on examining the horse when first led from 
Large Cattle. 
According to the Boston Journal, the largest 
cow ever brought to the Brighton market, was 
sold there a short time since. She weighed, 
when alive, 2,650 pounds, and when dressed, 
1,850 pounds. She was raised at Westmore¬ 
land, N. II., by Josiali Bennett, and was six 
years old. She was small, however, compared 
with the “ Haxton Steer ” sold in New-York in 
January, 1860, for $850. He was raised and fed 
by Mr. Elnatlian Haxton, of Dutchess Co., 
N. Y.; weighed alive 3,452 pounds, and 2,319 
pounds in the dressed quarters, which was 674 
pounds of beef to the 100 pounds live weight. 
He weighed 167 pounds, net, more than the cel¬ 
ebrated Washington ox, killed some years since, 
which was previously cited as the largest ox ever 
killed in Ncw-York,— Ed. Amer. Agriculturist.] 
