1861 .] 
AME RIC A N AG-111OU LT U RIS T. 
135 
Texan Millet probably differs little from the Hun¬ 
garian. A. L. Chase, Wayne Co., Mich., may safely sow 
one half bushel to the acre on the first of June. 
Early Potatoes. —F. Carter, New-Haven Co., 
Conn. The Dykeman, a round white potato, with skin 
slightly shaded with purple, is considered one of the best 
early varieties. 
Potatoes—Mercers and Buckeyes—Marl.— 
P. L. Turguand, Middlesex Co., N. J., asks which yields 
the best.——The reports are that the Buckeyes yield 
by far the most; but they are inferior potatoes, so far as 
we have seen them, and the Mercers are every way prefer¬ 
able, wherever they will glow well. The Green Sand 
Marl of the region southeast of you, has usually proved of 
great value to the potato crop. 
Eate Gathering of Corn. —Joel H. Abbott, of 
ill., in a letter dated March 6th, 1861, says : “The com 
crop is not all gathered yet in this section of the country, 
but if the present fair weather continues it will greatly 
aid in this respect.”—[It may be novel to Eastern read¬ 
ers, but we have seen farmers on some of the great corn 
growing prairies, moving off the shooks of corn grown 
the previous year to make way for planting the next 
crop.— Ed.] 
More Good Corn.— The Green Bay (Wis.) Ad¬ 
vocate, says that a field of Judge J. P. Amdt, of that 
city, yielded 120 bushels of good, sound, yellow corn, per 
acre. The field was planted on the 20th of May, in rows 
2>£ feet apart, the hills 2 feet apart. (Rather close planting.) 
Supporting Peas. —Wm. H. Ailes, Ottawa Co., 
Mich., recommends to plant peas in the following way : 
•Stretch a line along one side of the plot to be planted. On 
’this tie bits of cord about three feet apart, or a little more 
if the peas are of a tall variety. Directly under these, 
■stick small pegs to mark the center of the hills ; around 
these make circular trenches 4 inches deep, and 20 
inches in diameter ; drop the peas, and cover by making 
•smaller trenches within the larger, 9 inches in diameter, 
•drop 'die peas in this also, and cover. As the peas grow, 
they cling together by their tendrils, and need but a slight 
’support in the centre of the hill to hold them up. 
Cheese-Making Rules. —A correspondent of the 
Country Gentleman gives the following rules : 1st. Mul¬ 
tiply the number of pounds of milk by 11 ; point off two 
figures for decimals, and the product is pounds and deci¬ 
mals of a pound of cheese as it comes from the press. 
Example: how many pounds of cheese will 475 lbs. of 
milk produce. Answer. —475 multiplied by 11 equals 
5225 (or 52>£ lbs.).-2nd. For ascertaining the 
quantity of salt for cheese, multiply the number of pounds 
of milk by 3, and point off three places for decimals. 
The answer is in pounds and decimals of a pound. Or, 
if you divide the number of pounds of milk by 21, the quo¬ 
tient will be the number of ounces of salt to be used. [The 
■above are only approximate results. Milk differs in its 
•composition greatly ; and some will obtain much more 
•cheese than others from the same milk.—Ed. Am. Agr.l 
New Method of Curing Cheese.— X. A. W., in 
the Dairy Farmer says that some dairymen treat their 
cheese as follows, and find that it works admirably : 
When the cheese comes from the press it is oiled and 
bandaged; after this, sweet whey is heated and used daily 
in rubbing the cheese ; the whey must not be heated to a 
higher point than the hand can bear. He says that cheese 
treated in this way is not so apt to crack ; while it pre¬ 
sents a firmer and smoother rind when fit for market, than 
cheese treated with oil or whey butter. 
•Gapes in Chickens—Our Seeds.— Mrs. S. A. 
(Ferguson, Boon Co., Mo., referring to the various cures 
a-ecommended for gapes, says the best remedy is to kill all 
•the poultry on a place once in two years or less, and sub¬ 
stitute new and healthy supplies from other farms. She 
’Says she obtained the best radishes and beets, and the 
ifinest pinks, asters, and nasturtiums she ever saw, from 
:seed received through our seed distribution of 1860. 
To Prevent Hens Sitting.— M. L. T., Falmouth, 
iKy., recommends to keep the fowls in a coop three or 
• four days without food, after which they will be too hungry 
; o think of setting. 
Tan Bark Manure.— A. Hunter. New-Plymouth. 
Spent tan bark, applied in its raw state, is of little value 
for manure. It serves as a good absorbent, or bedding in 
the yards or stalls. A Virginia correspondent experiment¬ 
ed with it favorably, using two feet in thickness of tan 
bark, two inches lime, and so on, making a stack which 
he let remain two years, when it proved a good manure. 
Muck with Offai. —Subscriber, Middlesex Co., 
Mass., will find two cords of muck can advantageously 
be incorporated with each cord of slaughter-house ogqj, 
The compost will then be quite powerful, 
Bone Bust or Guauo for Oats.— P. L. Tur¬ 
guand, Middlesex Co., N. J. On your sandy loam, the 
chances are about equal in* the use of pure Peruvian 
guano, and bone sawdust, at the present price of the two 
fertilizers, though dry bone sawings at $27 to $30 per tun 
would probably pay better than guano at $60 to $65. Of 
guano apply 250 lbs. to 400 lbs., according to present rich¬ 
ness of the soil, or about twice as much bone sawdust. 
Lester & Bros., Tarrytown, N. Y., furnish good bone- 
dust, and it can be obtained pure of most reliable agricul 
tural stores. 
To Avoid Pea Weevil. —W. W. W., advises to 
keep seed peas oyer, one year, that the bugs may all eat 
their way out and disappear before the peas are planted. 
Simple Mole Trap. —Charles Ehemann traps 
moles with a deep earthen pot, which is placed in the 
ground, with the rim even with the lower edge of the bur¬ 
row, and covered with straw. The entrance to the bur¬ 
row on each side is stopped with a sod. The mole forces 
his way through, falls into the vessel, and is unable to 
crawl out. In this way he says he has caught three at a 
time.—A rather tedious process. 
Polyphemus Moth.— J. C. Fletcher, Fulton Co., 
Pa. The moth you sent, (received alive,) was not the 
Saturnia cynthia, but the Attacus polyphemus, quite a 
common moth, from a long bluish green caterpillar found 
on trees and bushes in August and September. 
Destroying Green Fly.— A German gardener, 
who had used soap and water with indifferent success, 
found that, by boiling quassia chips and adding the decoc¬ 
tion to the soap and water, the remedy was successful. 
Quassia is a wood remarkable for its intense bitterness 
and furnishes a decoction employed as an effectual fly 
poison. Would not some insects love quassia ? 
Wheat Insects. —A. Scott. There are many in¬ 
sects other than the Hessian Fly which injure wheat. The 
species you describe appears to be a kind of leaf-hopper. 
The true Hessian Fly is too well known, to admit any 
doubt of its destructive habits. 
Protecting Corn from Cut Worms and 
Crows. —J. C. B., in the “ Congregationalist” states 
that corn soaked forty eight hours in a solution of chloride 
of lime and copperas, one ounce of each for half a bushel 
of seed, seemed to forward its germination, and entirely 
protected it from the cut worms which were abundant in 
the field. A handful of ashes was dropped on each hill 
as soon as covered, and another applied at the first hoeing, 
and the crows did not molest it, though there were plenty 
in the neighborhood. 
Sulphur for Potato Bugs.— Samuel Hunter, 
Sullivan Co., N. Y., writes that he has seen potato bugs 
entirely driven from the vines by sprinkling them with 
sulphur. It is doubtful whether this would pay on a large 
scale, even if it were successful. 
Soot for Garden Fleas.—A. Felton, Clinton Co., 
Iowa, finds soot from the chimney or stove pipe, applied 
to cabbages when the dew is on, efficacious in keeping off 
insects. Also for driving the striped bug from cucumbers 
and squashes. [But it will not keep them away.—E d.) 
Preventing Sprouts around Fruit Trees. 
Geo. N. Smith, Suffolk Co., N. Y. The only way to pre¬ 
vent these, is to continue to cut them away close to the 
roots. Good nursery trees grown from seeds, seldom give 
any trouble this way, but suckers from other trees are 
often strongly inclined to send up other suckers or sprouts. 
Tobacco versus Rose Bugs. —“ Abby” writes 
that a friend protected a large collection of rose bushes 
from rose bugs, by freely syringing them with tobacco tea. 
Bast for Mats and Budding. —W., Franklin 
Co., Mo. Bark or bast from bass wood or linden trees in 
your latitude, will be nearly worthless, either for bud¬ 
ding, or manufacturing into mats. Experiments in north¬ 
ern New-York show the bast of no strength, hence value¬ 
less. Only that from extreme northern climates is used. 
It was formerly obtained from St. Petersburg, Russia, 
now mostly from Archangel. The trees are felled and 
peeled when the bark runs readily in Spring, the bark 
then soaked, and stripped as fine as desired. The inner 
portions are the finest, strongest, and best every way. 
Bleeding Vines.— T. P. Seely, Cass Co., Mich., 
alluding to the article on this topic in the March Agricul¬ 
turist , says, he removed a large branch late in the Spring, 
and found it impossible to stop the bleeding, until he 
burned the cut surface with the flame of a lamp. In less 
than one minute it had ceased to bleed. Searing with a 
hot iron answers the same purpose. 
Tar for Bleeding Grape Vines.— Ezra Sayre, 
Shelby Cp„ Mo., writes that he stopped tjie flow of sap 
from a wounded Isabella grape vine which was bleeding 
badly, by applying tar liberally and wrapping cotton 
cloth around the wound. 
Chinese Wistaria.— Mrs. E. C. Angel, Marion 
Co., Iowa. The wistaria is propagated by cuttings oi 
layers. It is a woody climber of great beauty. 
The Allen Raspberry.— Mr. Meehan, editor o. 
the Gardener’s Monthly, says that a neighbor of his had a 
plot of this raspberry under 100 feet square, from whicl 
he sold over $200 worth of fruit. The reports upon this 
variety differ greatly. Some speak of it in the highest 
terms, while others reject it entirely. 
Barked Trees.— C. G. Siewers, Hamilton Co., O., 
recommends to surround the trunks of wounded t red 
with a lump of clay half an inch thick, worked soft to thj 
consistence of putty. In this way he saved several fmr 
dwarf pear trees. A large apple tree partially stripped oi 
bark about two feet from the ground was successfullj 
treated thus : Stakes were driven close around the tree 
and kept in place by strips nailed on like hoops, and the 
space was filled with earth. The bark was rapidly re¬ 
placed by new growth. 
Osage Orange Hedges.— S„ Peoria Co., Ill., al¬ 
luding to the recommendation to set Osage Orange plants 
one foot apart for hedges, says they should be in double 
rows breaking joints, at that distance, or 6 to 8 inches 
apart in single rows. 
Warming an Orchard. —M. M. Baldridge, Niag¬ 
ara Co.,'writes that a farmer in the town of Newstead, 
saved a large crop of apples from destruction by the dis¬ 
astrous June frost which killed most of the fruit in 1859, 
by keeping up large fires in his orchard during the night. 
He was apprehensive of frost, from the coldness of the 
preceding day, and being well supplied with cheap refuse 
wood, resorted to the above expedient. This might answer 
in a few cases where wood is abundant, but would cost too 
much with wood at $4 to $7 per cord, as is the case in 
many sections where apples are extensively raised. 
Botanical Name of Cranberry.— S. Weishaupt, 
Knox Co., Tenn. The common running cranberry is the 
Oxyeoccus macrocarpus. 
Euphorbia Eeathyris.— Lewis H. Wendel, Nan¬ 
tucket Co., Mass. The seeds and leaves show your plant 
to be the above, sometimes called Caper Spurge, or Mole 
tree, from the idea that it is offensive to moles. 
Single Flowers made Rouble. —F. M. Dear¬ 
born, Iroquois Co., Ill. A change from single to double 
petals is brought about by high culture. Seeds from the 
most perfect flowers are saved and sown upon rich soil 
each season. It is usually several years before a fixed 
change is effected ; and even then there is a tendency to 
return to the original form, unless under good culture. 
Petunias.— C. Russell, writes that the petunia seed 
distributed from the Agriculturist office last season, 
produced the finest flowers he has seen, with all shades, 
from deep crimson to pure white, and that they were 
worth ten times the cost of the paper. 
Coal Oil for Rats.— A correspondent of the Ohio 
Field Notes, says he smeared with coal oil some portions 
of a Mowing Machine stored in a shed ; and as a conse¬ 
quence the rats, which had been very numerous previous¬ 
ly, all vacated the premises.—A correspondent of the 
American Agriculturist , referring to the above, says he 
don’t believe in it, for he had a gallon of the coal oil run 
out into his cellar, which fouled the air so much that it 
was almost impossible to live in the house for a week 
afterward; but the rats are quite as abundant as ever 
if not more so. 
To Destroy Muskrats.— J. C. Boone, Kulpsville. 
Feed with pieces of sweet apple containing strychnine. 
Agricultural Reports—Patent Office Seeds. 
—“ Subscriber,” Barnstable Co., Mass. The “ Reports ” 
and seeds can be obtained through your Representative 
in Congress. (We have a few of the “ Reports” for 1859, 
the latest yet published, for sale at 30 cents each, or 69 
cents, if sent by mail. They probably cost the Govern¬ 
ment $1.00 each. We bought them at the price asked. 
Coffee Pea. —Kate E. Sockman, Ohio Co., Va. We 
know no other name than the above for the pea. 
Corn Stalk Cutter.— D. M. M., Marion Co., Ind. 
The cutter and grinder used by W. in the article alluded 
to, was the “ Keystone," advertised on page 378, Decem¬ 
ber Agriculturist. It was the $35 size. 
Boots and Shoes are now being manufactured 
with a thick outer sole and a thin inner sole, both made of 
firm wood. Being a non-condu<?ting material, the wooden 
soles are calculated to keep the feet warm and dry. 
