930 
[August, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Draining —Can be done in any land where there is 
a fall of one foot in a hundred. More is desirable, but 
this will answer if you have a good outlet. 
Salt on Wheat— Is recommended by a Wisconsin 
subscriber. He says two bushels to the acre inci eases 
the yield twenty per cent. Doubtless, on many soils. 
Separating Chess from Wheat.— C. D. Bel¬ 
lows, Vermillion Co., Ill. Much of the chess seed can be 
separated by a good fanning mill. A. very effectual way 
to get rid of this and other foul seeds, is, to cover the giain 
just before sowing, with strong brine, which will float 
the weed seeds, while the wheat sinks. The worthless 
stutfcan then be skimmed off and burned. 
Alsike or Swedish Clover has been raised as a 
farm crop by Mr. S. B. Parsons, in Queens Co., N. Y. 
He speaks highly of it; says it stood the Winter well, 
grows nearly as high as the common red, and produces 
abundance of pinkish white flowers, from which it is 
claimed bees can extract the honey. The Incarnata or 
French clover was entirely killed by the Winter. 
Bee Poison in Buckwheat. —S. W. Jewell 
writes in the Ohio Farmer, that the medicinal principle 
upon which the irritating properties of buckwheat depend, 
is the Apis venenum or bee poison, and is one of the 
sources from which the bee obtains its supply. He says 
the irritable habits of the honey bee during the flowering 
of buckwheat corroborates the above statement. He 
prescribes carbonate of soda to be used in raising the bat¬ 
ter for “ flap-jacks,” as a preventive of the eruption some¬ 
times caused by using buckwheat cakes freely. 
First ITIilk Poisonous.— The Maine Farmer 
says a gentleman lost a fine sow in consequence of giv¬ 
ing her the first milk of a cow after calving. The editor 
experimented twice, by feeding it to pregnant sows, and 
each time the mother cast her pigs dead. A neighbor 
nearly lost a sow from the same cause. Of course, the 
first milk is not injurious to the young animal for which it 
was intended—on the contrary it is just what is needed. 
Milking Machines Injurious.— So says the 
Dairy Farmer, and so says the American Agriculturist. 
Every thing in the process should be soothing and gentle, 
instead of the harsh jerking motion of a “ milk pump.” 
We have seen a good many milking machines—perhaps 
not all that have been proposed—and we have yet to find 
one we should be willing to have used. 
Tulips from Seed.— “ Subscriber”, Jerseyville, 
Ill. It is a slow, troublesome process to obtain tulips from 
seed, and even then they may be poor sorts. If disposed 
to try the experiment, the seed should be sown in August, 
in boxes of earth, and put in a frame or otherwise protect¬ 
ed during Winter. It is usually better to purchase the 
bulbs, or roots which are readily obtained from a seeds¬ 
man or professional cultivator. 
Wild Flowers from California. —From No. 8 
of a lot of wild flower seeds received from J. Child, of Cali¬ 
fornia, we obtained some pretty flowers,resembling Cuphea 
viscosissima, or sticky Cuphea. Sown May 1st, and flow¬ 
ered last of June. Flowers, bell-shaped, purple and yel¬ 
low ; plant 6 inches high. Mr. Child writes that it grows 
wild, 3 inches high, and likes a rich and shady location. 
We can find no botanical description of it. It is worthy 
of introduction into the flower garden, and we shall be 
obliged to Mr. Child if he will secure us a larger parcel 
of seed, for cultivation and trial next year. 
Acroelinlum Roseum, or New Rose-colored Ev¬ 
erlasting Flower .—We have in bloom plants from seed 
presented to us by B. K. Bliss, the well known florist of 
Springfield, Mass., and are highly pleased with them. Mr. 
B. thus describes them : Nat. Ord. Composite. Native 
of Australia ; half hardy annual; one foot high ; flower 
bright rose, from July to September. A very fine plant 
for the border, producing many stems from the same root, 
each terminated by an everlasting like flower of a bright 
rose color, resembling that of the Ithodanthe Manglesii, 
but much larger ; of easy cultivation in any friable gar¬ 
den soil. If the flowers are removed when they begin to 
fade, the plant will continue blooming until October. Sow 
for early blooming, in gentle heat in March, nurse in pots, 
and plant out in May. Sow in open ground in May, 
in a rich garden soil. 
Colliusla Bi-color.— Mrs. C. Myers, Chenango 
Co., N. Y., sent us a few unnamed seeds, received from 
Germany last year. We planted them May 1st, and on 
blooming July 2d, they proved to be the Collinsia bi-color, 
winch was, we think, originally from California. It is a 
reiy pretty annual, grows 12 to 18 inches high, of com¬ 
pact habit, and bears beautiful flowers, somewhat resem¬ 
bling the snap-dragon in form, and about half its size. 
The petals are white and reddish violet, different shades, 
it Is worthy of general introduction. 
Convolvulus Tri-color.— (Dwarf Morning Glo¬ 
ry.) —Seeds received from Geo. Fechtig, Washington Co., 
Md., last Spring, we sowed May 1st, and obtained beauti¬ 
ful flowers the last of June, the petalshaving blue corolla, 
yellow calyx, and white center. There is a variety 
entirely white. This is one of the finest annuals, fur¬ 
nishing a large amount of blossoms in succession. Its 
dwarf habit (15 to 18 inches,) adapts it well for a bed 
plant, as it requires no trellis to run upon. The blue 
color is very showy. Seeds can be had at most seed stores. 
Tufted Vetch, or Tare,— ( Vicia cr&cca). —This 
is the name of a plant we have raised from seed received 
from Mrs. Beckley, of Madison, O. She calls it “ cassia 
vine.” Sown middle of April, flowered June 20. Grows 
2 to 3 feet high, and branching, requiring low trellis or 
other support; 12 to 24 leaflets on long stems, with two to 
five tendrils at the end. The flower stems, 3 to 4 inches 
long, bear 20 to 30 flowers on each, on one side, beautiful 
blue and purple. This is a fine flowering annual, easily 
grown. Used as a low screen, this plant, with its profu¬ 
sion of blue flowers, makes a pretty show. Several va¬ 
rieties of the vetch, (especially the sativa,) are extensive¬ 
ly grown in Europe for fodder, and used similarly to clo¬ 
ver. A few varieties are found wild in this country. 
To Grow Garge Fruit.— A French Amateur 
says: “If you want to have big pears or other fruit, just 
work (graft) on them the point of an adjoining shoot. If 
you want big gourds, bore a little gimblet hole in their 
rind when a few weeks old, and push in a long piece of 
cotton wick with the loose end in a pan of water. The 
cotton will suck up the water, the gourd will sunk the 
cotton, and by the time the fruit is ripe, you will have the 
hugest specimen that ever was seen. [If it grows.—E d.] 
Iiow Branching Trees for Fralries.— J. T. 
Moxley, Sheboygan Co., Wis. No doubt your success 
with apples was mainly owing to your having the trees 
branch low. They may be raised in this way, in nursery 
rows 5 feet apart and IX feet distant in the row, or even 
closer if desirable, transplanting to the orchard two years 
from the bud. 
Hornets and Wasps Serviceable.— David 
E. Cox, Lincoln Co. N. C., writes that hornets and wasps 
are very serviceable in destroying insects which injure 
vegetation, and that they should therefore not be molested, 
but encouraged. He says that they rapidly cleared a 
pear tree on his premises of the aphides which infested 
it; also that a neighbor of his had a crop of tobacco 
saved from worms, which were destroyed by hornets. It 
is true that hornets and wasps prey upon insects, for the 
sake of the vegetable juices they contain, but they are 
also sometimes troublesome by attacking fruits, and their 
venemous stings make them unpleasant neighbors. Per¬ 
haps, however, they are more beneficial than injurious ; 
if so, let them be preserved. Here is an interesting ques¬ 
tion for the investigation of young entomologists. 
Toads Eating Bees. —Mr. J. Wakeman tells the 
Editor of the Rural New-Yorker that toads do eat bees, 
and is willing to take oath that he opened a toad destroy¬ 
ing bees about his hives, and found 52 whole bees in his 
stomach ! None of these rascals are to stay about his 
hives. Mr. Quinby at one time informed us that toads 
would eat bees, but he believed they took only the drones. 
To Destroy “ Manroot.”—( Convolvulus Pandu- 
ratus). —Peter Hillebaum, Drake Co., 0. Dig them up, 
or plow them under, and cultivate the ground thoroughly 
with corn, or potatoes, or some other root crop. This 
treatment continued long enough, will eradicate any 
weed. Of course heavy manuring will be needed where 
several successive hoed crops are taken from a field. 
Origin of Morgan Horses.— R. A. Gray, Jack- 
son Co., Oregon. The breed of Morgan horses de¬ 
scended from a horse called the Justin Morgan, named 
from his owner, who lived in Randolph, Vt. The pedi¬ 
gree of this horse is not known. It is supposed, however, 
by good judges, that he came from across of the Arabian, 
or thorough-bred, with the common stock. 
Weather Proof Nails.—A writer in the “Field 
Notes ” recommends nails prepared in the following man¬ 
ner, for fastening roof boards, weather boards, and other 
places where it is difficult to make a nail hold: Take 
ten-penny malleable nails, and place the head in a vise ; 
with a pair of pincers seize the nail near the point, twist 
it half way round, making the twist somewhat elongated. 
In driving, the nail becomes a screw, and neither sun nor 
hammer can draw it. Common cold cut nails can be 
made malleable by heating them to redness and cool¬ 
ing off slowly. 
Cement Pipe Chimneys.— Passing a cement 
tile manufactory the other day, we observed they used the 
hollow pipes, set one upon the other, for a chimney. This 
is suggestive at least Perhaps we may yet have chim¬ 
neys ready made in sections for setting up, as ar. article 
of merchandise ; and possibly cement pipes may take the 
place of iron stove-pipes in those parts of a house where 
it is desired to retain the heat, rather than to have it given 
out into a room. 
Maple Sugar. —Very fine white sample received 
from W. H. Platt, Somerset iCo., Pal—We shall be 
pleased to learn the process of making sue an article. 
Hair as a Fertilizer.— James Wrigley, Worces¬ 
ter Co., Mass. Hair, from its composition, must be a 
good manure, as it contains much nitrogen. We do not 
know what is the best solvent. Mixed with lime, and 
subjected to the heat of a compost heap it will to decom¬ 
posed. We have known it applied directly to the soil 
where it produced good results ; it gradually decays by 
the combined influence of air, warmth and moisture. 
Immense Beceipts of Grain at CliicagdS'— 
The receipts of the various kinds of grain at Chicago, 
during the first six months of this year, amounted to 
nearly nineteen million bushels! or accurately 18,777,471 
bushels. These figures are obtained by reducing the flour 
to its equivalent of wheat, and including corn, oats, bar¬ 
ley, and rye. The receipts of wheat alone, including the 
flour, amounted to over 8,000,000 bushels ; corn, 9,433,364. 
The total receipts in 1860, for the same period, were 
13,091,437 bushels ; and in 1859 only 5,629,793 bushels. 
Tlie New Tax on Tea. —There is at the time of 
this writing not a little alarm on the part of some people, 
because Congress is discussing the propriety of laying a 
duty of 15 cents per pound on tea. The majority of fam¬ 
ilies do not consume over 10 lbs. of tea a year, on which 
this extra charge of 15 cents per lb. amounts to one dollar 
and a half —not a large contribution for the defence of a 
government that secures us all we have. 
Tlie Children Should Sing. —No accomplish¬ 
ment gives more real pleasure iri the household than sing¬ 
ing. It is a solace in trouble, a dejight in leisure, and a 
powerful stimulant of the better nature. E very publica¬ 
tion that furnishes good music, is a benefaction to the 
country and deserves appreciation and support. The la¬ 
test musical work for children, is the “ Golden Chain,” by 
Wm. B. Bradbury, with whose music the readers of the 
Agriculturist are already somewhat acquainted. Most 
of the pieces are new, and many of them very choice. 
Price, 15c., or $12 per hundred. 
A Neat Book Mark is manufactured by Wallace 
& Sons. It is a strap of brass two inches long, with a hand 
on one end and a foot on the other. The ends are bent 
together so as to be slipped on to a leaf in a book. We 
are indebted to Jno. Mix of Hew Haven Co. Ct. fo! & card 
of them, which we are turning to practical use. 
--* <— — o—---- 
The Prospects for Farmers. 
Wliile most departments of business are great¬ 
ly depressed by tlie disturbances of the country, 
farmers have little to fear. Several causes have 
conspired to keep the prices of agricultural 
products at a low figure thus far, notwithstand¬ 
ing the large demand upon us from abroad for 
breadstuffs. The chief cause, however, has 
been the lack of a suitable currency. The de¬ 
preciation of the Stocks of the revolted States 
has nearly destroyed the value of the bank bills 
of some of the Western States, and gold and 
silver, or specie paying bills, are just beginning 
to be diffused. The new Treasury Notes about 
being issued by the General Government, will 
add largely to our circulating currency—in other 
words, “money will soon be plentier,” and 
prices must necessarily go up. 
The unexpected good weather in England and 
on the Continent, during June, led to a tempo¬ 
rary less demand for wheat and corn, and our 
market fell off for a time; but from all accounts 
—even those most recently received—there 
must still be a large deficiency, and the demand 
upon this country will be continued. The mar-, 
ket is even now rapidly recovering from the re-, 
cent decline. Our own harvests are progressing 
favorably, and though the yield is fair, there is 
not likely to be a large surplus to keep prices at 
a very low figure. The course of’the New-. 
York markets, for a month past, will be given 
in our Market Review, at the does of the paper 
