on 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aran,. 
Smoking out Lice. 
Good feed and warm shelter are the best gen¬ 
eral preventives of lice on cattle, yet they are 
occasionally introduced among well regulated 
herds by the purchase of additional animals; 
then they must be extirpated. Oil or grease of 
any kind, liberally applied to the affected parts 
is usually recommended- Some use a decoction 
of tobacco. The application of these is some¬ 
what troublesome and disagreeable, and to ob¬ 
viate this, a subscriber, J. A. Whipple, of Prov¬ 
idence Co., It. I., has contrived and communi¬ 
cated to the American Agriculturist a simple ap¬ 
paratus for smoking them out with tobacco, 
which he states he has proved effectual. A 
small conical copper box with brazed joints, 
(tin solder would melt) is screwed to the noz¬ 
zle of a common pair of bellows. The mova¬ 
ble cover, and also a false bottom in the box, 
are pierced with small holes, enough to about 
equal the orifice of the nozzle. The box is 
nearly filled with tobacco, the lower end lighted, 
and the bellows attached. By working it gently, 
and holding the apparatus close to the animal, 
he can be perfectly fumigated in a few minutes, 
killing every louse. The tobacco can be conve¬ 
niently lighted by heating a small bit of iron 
red hot, and placing it in the bottom of the box 
before introducing the tobacco. The fumiga¬ 
tion will need to be repeated a few times, at 
intervals of four or five days, as the nits are not 
destroyed by the smoke. A box containing a 
half pint is sufficient to go over a dozen head of 
cattle; and it can be done in about as many 
minutes. Poultry can be treated in the same 
way, and the lice also routed from their roosts 
and nesting places. [This appears plausible, at 
first, but we have doubts as to the success of 
driving out insects by simply driving tobacco 
smoke among the hair.— Ed.] 
A Swine Pasture. 
The practice of good farmers differs in regard 
to the pasturage of swine according to their 
varying circumstances. In the East, where the 
country is most densely populated, and pastur¬ 
age is scarce, the prevailing custom is to keep 
pigs in the pen for the greater part of the year. 
The best farmers consider the pig too valuable 
a laborer in manure making, to allow him to 
waste his energies in roaming the fields. Breed¬ 
ing swine, both males and sows are allowed a 
little license in green pastures, but the rest of 
the herd, from the age of two months until they 
are slaughtered, are kept in close pens, and fat¬ 
tened as rapidly as possible. Under this system, 
pigs from ten months to a year old are made to 
weigh about three hundred pounds each, and to 
manufacture about ten dollars’ worth of manure. 
This system is undoubtedly the best, where all 
the pasture is needed for cows and sheep, and 
where large quantities of manure are needed 
for the hoed crops. 
In the West and South, where land is cheaper, 
good farmers rely mainly upon pasturage to 
keep their swine growing through the summer. 
In the newer settlements they run almost wild 
in the woods, and derive a large part of their 
living from mast. Manure is little prized, and 
the only value of the pig is his llesh, when 
slaughtered. Without committing ourselves at 
all to this method of making pork, it is conced¬ 
ed, that under certain circumstances it is de¬ 
sirable to have swine get their own living. 
What sort of a pasture shall be prepared for 
them ? A correspondent wants to know if rye 
is the best article for them. Kye is only reliable 
for a few' months, and if sown at all, should 
be sown in connection with clover and grass 
seed, to make a permanent pasture. M. W. 
Phillips, a large planter of Mississsippi, has dis¬ 
carded rye, and now sows a mixture of clover, 
oats, and barley. There is unquestionably a 
good foundation for the proverb: “ living like 
pigs in clover,” and whatever seeds are sown, 
clover should have a prominent place among 
them. It furnishes a larger amount of leaves, 
than any of the grasses, and is greedily eaten 
by swine. They are not very particular as to 
the kind of green food they have, and a farmer 
may consult his own convenience as to the 
kind of grain, or grass he stocks his pasture 
with. Variety is better than any one kind. 
After the pasture is stocked, it would be bet¬ 
ter not to feed with swine the first year, unless 
their noses are jeweled to keep them from root¬ 
ing. It should not be fed closely. A frequent 
change from one field to another is desirable, 
both for the thrift of the plants, and of the 
animals. Pigs to be fattened, should be taken 
out of the pasture as early as the first of Sep¬ 
tember, and kept in close pens. They can then 
be kept very economically upon corn cut by 
the roots, for two months, and finished off in 
November with old corn, or meal. 
Where a regular rotation is pursued, the last 
year of a field of grass may be devoted to the 
swine pasture. As the field is to be taken up 
in the Fall for wheat, rye, or some other grain, it 
will be of little consequence if the turf be de¬ 
stroyed by the rooting of the swine. 
The Opening Work of the Season—Good 
Plans and Resolutions. 
Every fanner and gardener should begin the 
season’s work with new plans and resolutions. 
He should, first of all, feel a hearty interest in 
his calling. Some engage in their business as if 
it were a mere drudgery, a thing they hated to 
do, but did so from sheer necessity. With what 
a heavy step and lack-lustre eye they go to their 
daily employment! Life has little poetry for 
them, little present enjoyment, and little hope 
for the future. Nobody envies such men. 
Away with such feelings, friends, and begin 
this happy April work with new zest and alac¬ 
rity. Resolve on getting the most pleasure and 
usefulness this Summer can possibly yield. 
Look out upon those handsome and fertile 
acres which Providence has committed to your 
care. They are under your entire control. If 
you neglect them, they will produce but a scan¬ 
ty harvest. By your industry and skill they will 
soon spring with young crops, on which the eye 
can rest with delight all Summer, and in the 
Autumn they will fill your bams with plenty. 
And you, horticulturist, the lawn and garden 
wait your call and the touch of your hand. At 
your coming they will wake to beauty and fer¬ 
tility ; they will reward you all the long season 
with shade and fragrance, and fruit and flowers. 
What more delightful pursuit! 
Do you think so? Then follow up such 
thoughts with good plans and resolutions. As¬ 
suredly, every man’s work should proceed ac¬ 
cording to a plan, or else his business will be 
only half done j ud poorly done. It should be 
definitely settled, early in the Spring, that this 
field should have this kind of treatment and 
crop, and that the other should be managed so 
and so. This and that farm building need cer¬ 
tain repairs, and they shall have them. I must 
sell such and such of my stock, and h y such 
and such. Jane must go to Miss-s High 
School, to afford her better advantages for com¬ 
pleting her education. The lumber wagon must 
no longer serve as a family carriage, because I 
can afford a better, and self-respect and comfort 
require that I should have one.Such and 
such other things, Providence favoring, shall be 
the result of this season’s endeavors, says the 
farmer. 
So the gardener: the small piece of ground 
committed to me shall not lie idle. In the fruit 
and vegetable department, I will, this year, at¬ 
tempt some things new, but will hold fast to the 
old that are known to be good. My neighbors 
shall not out-do me in the line of salads, cucum¬ 
bers, melons, strawberries, raspberries and 
dwarf pears. My grapes shall have the best of 
care. The famous Delaware, about which the 
whole country is debating, has already yielded 
me a few delicious clusters; this year, if care 
can avail anything, it shall do more. The Con¬ 
cord, Diana, and Rebecca have wintered well; 
and I mean that they shall summer well. 
Among the newer sorts, I shall venture only 
upon the Crevelling and the Cuyahoga. 
In the ornamental line, my lawn shall have 
the first care. Nothing rewards my labor so 
well as this. My shade trees need a little trim¬ 
ming to keep them in good shape; and my 
hedges must not be forgotten. In May and 
June I must enlarge my collection of evergreens. 
The flower-garden must, by no means, be neg¬ 
lected. The crocuses, now peeping up, will be 
followed by hyacinths and tulips and other 
flowers in long succession. And I must add a 
little to their number. A few novelties among 
the dahlias must be had, also the newer glad¬ 
ioli. Then, there are Japan lilies, scarlet gera¬ 
niums, petunias, verbenas, pyrethrums, perpetu¬ 
al roses, and the like. My neighbor Smith, a 
zealous amateur, recommends the Tritoma 
Uvaria, the Farfugium grande, the double zin¬ 
nias, and the Gazaria splendens, as among the 
finest novelties, and I must have them. 
So soliloquizes our gardener, but we need not 
listen to him any longer. We shall be satisfied 
if he and the farmer become inspired with new 
zeal in their callings, on the opening of this 
Spring’s campaign, and if their zeal is crystal- 
ized into well formed plans and resolutions. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
A Tool House Wanted. 
“ Where’s that log chain ?” asked Joe Tubbs 
of his boy Bill, as they were getting the team 
ready to draw a load of wood. 
“I say, Bill, have you swallowed that chain ? 
Never can find any thing when you want it. 
Why didn’t you put it up in its place ?” 
Bill looked astonished, as if he had not heard 
the same thing about some misplaced tool, every 
week of his life, and said very meekly: “ I didn’t 
know it had any place in particular, thought I 
left it on the cart, where you generally leave it.” 
The fact is, Tubbs was a sloven, and never 
could lay his hand on any thing he wanted—and 
lie added to this sin, a cross-grained, fretful tem¬ 
per, that worried every body with whom he 
came in contact. The plows were as often left 
in the furrow as elsewhere, and lay out over 
Winter; the cart and wagon stood under the 
old apple tree, by the road side; the chains, 
yoke, and nose baskets, sometimes brought up 
in the stable, sometimes under the shed, again in 
the corn crib, but oftencr were left with the cart; 
