324 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November 
'JT© ^Stimulate tlie How ©4' VI illk.—A 
prescription, said to be popular among physicians in Ger¬ 
many, is Hufeland’s formula, viz.: i drachm fennel seed, 
% drachm dried orange peel, three drachms sw&carbonate 
of magnesia, 2 drachms of white sugar. The whole to be 
mixed in powder, and a teaspoonful taken three times a 
day. This is for the human subject, and is said to pro¬ 
duce surprising results.-: Query.— Why would not a 
larger dose affect milch cows favorably ? The chief vir¬ 
tue is supposed to lie in the fennel seed ; and an experi¬ 
ment with this alone might be tried. 
Calted. Bag in Cows. —Young Farmer. 
Boil a large handful of poke or garget root in two gallons of 
water, and after skimming out the roots, when boiled, use 
one third of ttie water in a mess with bran. Three mess¬ 
es will generally relieve the most obstinate cases. 
Water for Swine. —“Subscriber,” Rock¬ 
ville Center, Ill. Swine should always have free access 
to pure water, or at any rate it should be furnished 
to them daily, whatever may be the feed ; nothing can 
supply its place for quenching the thirst of animals. 
Feeiling Glees in tlie Homsc. — Y. Frank, 
Jefferson Co., Ky. Bees, when shut in the house and fed, 
will not often do more than fill the combs they may have 
empty. They can not be induced to build much comb, 
without an opportunity to fly out frequently. 
Tanning Skins witla tlie Mail*. —Geo. 
W. Goodwin, Litchfield Co., Ct. The following di¬ 
rections, republished from a previous volume of the 
Arnerican Agriculturist, have been found good : Stretch 
the skin tightly and smoothly upon a board, hair side 
down, and tack it by the edges to its place. Scrape off 
the loose flesh and fat with a blunt knife, and work in 
chalk freely, with plenty of hard rubbing. When the 
chalk begins to powder and fall off, remove the skin from 
the board, rub in plenty of finely powdered alum, wrap up 
closely, and keep in a dry place for a few days. By 
this means it will be made pliable, and will retain the hair. 
16,’at Mining" ISecipe.—Dr. Kellerman of N. 
Y., gives the Agriculturist readers iris method of expel¬ 
ling rats. “ Cut clean fine sponge in pieces of pea size, fry 
well in hog’s lard and expose in infested places about 
the houses, barns, granaries, gardens, etc., at night, keep¬ 
ing cats and dogs shut up. The rats eat it greedily, but 
do not as readily digest it, the gastric juice, and especi¬ 
ally water, if accessible for them to drink, swells the 
sponge, and a noise in ratdom is the result. The dose 
proves fatal in most cases.” We have seen the same 
thing recommended previously, but have never proved it. 
It may do, and is easily tried. 
Wniosas and XeraBaisi.—D. White, Bergen 
Co., N. J., in a letter to the American Agriculturist, says, it 
is a well known fact in his section of country, that 
when lousy cattle are pastured upon land infested with 
wild onions, the lice speedily disappear, and asks whether 
feeding onions to lousy cattle will be beneficial. Culti¬ 
vated onions will probably have the same effect' as wild 
ones, though there is some doubt as to the efficacy of 
either. It is easily decided by experiment. A better 
way is, to keep stables free from vermin at the first. 
Manure lb»• Fruit Trees.—S. H. We 
doubt if there is any such thing as “ a specific manure” 
for trees. The best, perhaps, is well rotted manure, or 
a compost of muck, treated with lime, or with unleached 
ashes. Dig out the muck in Fall or Winter, and mix 
it with ashes at the rate of five b'ushels of ashes to one 
wagon load of muck. Let it lie, shoveling the mass to¬ 
gether occasionally ; it will be fit for use in Spring. This 
will contain nearly all the elements necessary to healthy 
growth of fruit trees. 
flSostlczcr Fear. —R. G. This is a first-rate 
Summer pear ; wood is a dark olive, leaves large, fruit 
medium size, fair, very juicy, aromatic. Ripens about 
Sept. 1. Does well on the quince stock for several years, 
but after that its rampant growth becomes top-heavy. 
“ Largest Apple Ti*ee iai America. 9 ’ 
Kentucky must try again or yield the palm to Pennsyl¬ 
vania. The Kentucky tree, described on page ‘260 (Sept. 
Agriculturist), is 15 feet around. Lewis Kohler writes 
us that on the farm of Peter Kohler, Lehigh County Pa., 
tnere is an apple tree which, by actual measurement just 
matte, is 17;j feet in circumference, one foot above the 
ground. At nearly 7 feet high it is 15?^ feet around. It 
forks at the hight of 7 feet, one branch measuring 11 feet 
2 Indies, and the other 0 feet 7 inches in circumference. 
The tree is 54 feet high, ami the branches extond 36 feet 
each way from the trunk. An old inhabitant, of the age 
of 93 years, says the tree is over 100 years old. It still 
bears every other year, the crop last year being about 40 
bushels of sweet apples. Can any one excel this ? 
Planting Trees Baear SSsaBnops,—“W.,” 
of Bergen Co., N. J., inquires whether apple trees will 
grow when set near the ktumps of others which have de¬ 
cayed, or in the places which they occupied. The only 
objection to the practice is, that the old tree may have im¬ 
poverished tlie soil; otherwise we know nothing to make 
it unsafe. The difficulty can be easily remedied by thor¬ 
ough manuring. 
Xransplanting Laurel ( Kalmia ).—Mrs. 
T. Wilson, Winona Co., Minn., writes, that laurel abounds 
in northwestern Pennsylvania, and she thinks it might 
well be introduced into Minnesota. In answer to her 
several inquiries: Small plants may either be transplanted 
in Autumn, at any time before tlie ground freezes, or in 
early Spring. Those growing singly, not shaded by other 
trees, will bear moving best. Take them up with a ball 
of native soil, if possible, securing it in contact with the 
fibrous roots, by binding on canvas or matting, or even 
common coarse muslin. Several plants may be bound 
together. Put into any good soil, setting no deeper than 
they grew originally. With moderate care they can be 
moved successfully. 
Keeping" CHi-sapcs.—G. M. Usher, Richmond 
Co.,N. Y., gives the following method of keeping grapes, 
by which he has preserved them until March: Gather 
them after the first frost, take out the defective berries, 
and lay them in boxes on cotton, each bunch separate 
from the others. Several layers^may be placed in a box, 
with cotton between. Then bury tlie boxes in the ground 
(Mr. Usher places his in a potato pit.) When a box is 
opened, the fruit must be used soon, or it will spoil. 
Asa Apple am a smallUnecketl ISotftle. 
— Upon our table is an apple 2 inches in diameter, in a 
glass bottle with only a Jk inch neck. It was received 
from Mr. Thorp, of Flushing. Tiie branch was thrust 
into the bottle soon after dowel ing, and the apple grew 
inside. Tlie glass was nearly transparent and admit¬ 
ted light and air enough to perfect the apple. To pre¬ 
serve it from decay we filled the bottle with weak 
alcohol which has turned tlie skin dark ; otherwise the 
apple is sound and perfect. We have frequently seen 
cucumbers thus grown to fill up large bottles. 
Seet8.Hiia.gg—Interesting Knscovery.— 
In producing new varieties of double pinks, much patience 
and perseverance have been required. The best growers 
have been able to secure not more than 20 or 30 double 
flowering plants from a thousand seedlings. According to 
the Journal of the Paris Horticultural Society, a noted 
Italian cultivator, Signor Rigamonti, has discovered that 
on looking over a bed of seedling pinks, those plants which 
will turn out double will be found to have three leaves in 
a ring, while all the others will have but two. These 
three-leaved plants can therefore be selected and culti¬ 
vated, and all the rest .thrown away, which reduces the 
labor of propagation to one fiftieth or fortieth part of that 
formerly required. Signor R. found a similar marking of 
double flowers in the Primula sinensis. This discovery, 
if confirmed, will be of great value to cultivators, and tend 
to a rapid and economical multiplication of beautiful 
double varieties of these charming plants, and probably 
lead to the discovery of similar or other characteristics in 
other plants. 
Flowerings X&awtlaorns.—G. S. There 
are at least three varieties, the double white, double pink, 
and single scarlet. All of them are desirable shrubs of the 
larger size. The double sorts have the appearance of 
wreaths of miniature roses. The only drawback that we 
know of, is their liability to become infested with insects. 
Oataaese Chrysanthemums. — Elsie. 
Many varieties are in flower about Nov. 1st. Go to any 
good green-house, and you will find them in a blaze of 
bloom. They are a very desirable class of plants, easily 
managed, and blossom for a long time. Some of the best 
named plants, to ouf knowledge, are the following, for a 
dozen: Lartay, rosy lilac. La (litana, blush white. 
Brunette, red. Solfaterre, yellow. Mignonette, orange. 
Lais, purple. La Fiancee, white. Piquillo, dark crim¬ 
son or purple. Louise Meillcr, creamy white, extra form. 
Rose Pompon, rose colored. Sacramento, orange yellow. 
Grand Sultan, carmine maroon. 
The Best Noisette !2©se„—D. K., Vienna. 
This will depend on circumstances. If you mean for 
culture in a green-house, we should say one thing ; and if 
in the open air, we should say another. Supposing that 
you intend the latter, we should recommend two, instead 
of one, viz.: Aimee Vibert, and Caroline Marinesse. The 
first is pure white, blooms all Summer long, 3ven up to 
hard frosts. The latter is like unto it, only that the pet¬ 
als are slightly suffused with pink. It is flatter, and less 
cupped than Vibert. They are botli hardier than any 
others in our collection, going through the Winter very 
well, if protected with a few inches of soil or litter. 
Pre serving" Hr ape Cuttings.—“Jolm.” 
Cut the canes in convenient lengths, leaving three buds on 
each ; select a dry spot in the garden, take off about one 
foot of soil, lay in the cuttings and cover them with afoot 
or more of earth, rounding off the heap firmly, so as to 
shed rain. In a wet place, the buds would be spoiled. 
Some persons take them into a cool part of the cellar, 
and bury them in sand or common earth. 
Counterfeiting Apples. - Yankees 
Outdone,—Hitherto,when it has been desired to express 
the highest degree of financial acuteness, we have refer¬ 
red to the Yankee who sold wooden nutmegs, or to the 
one who turned his refuse shoe-pegs to account by sharp¬ 
ening the other end and selling them for oats ; or finally 
to the seller of “ Suffield indigo,” i.e. blue colored cakes 
of starch. But Johnny Bull is now a little ahead. Mr. 
W. L. Scott, in a recent lecture before the “ London So¬ 
ciety of Arts,” says the fruit dealers in England are sel¬ 
ling painted imitations of the American Newtown Pippins; 
stale oranges are colored up bright and new with saffron ; 
melons and cucumbers, when rusty, are brightened with 
acetate of copper (verdigris) ; while they are sending to 
our country, Cayenne pepper manufactured from old ship 
bread which is first soaked in a solution of genuine pep 
per, then dried, and colored if needed, then ground fine 
with a little lime, and put up in boxes labeled with th« 
royal arms and marked “ pure.” 
Spontaneous CoBsahustion of ±?B a- 
naui'C.— A subscriber inquires if there is any danger of 
spontaneous combustion in manure and straw under a barn 
if it be not frequently stirred. We have heard of no such 
instance. Oily materials with straw might take fire. (See 
page 259. September Agriculturist.) Manure is injured 
by “ fire-fanging ” as it is called, that is, if allowed to heat 
to dryness in a heap. 
Maaaure fiVoiBB Xa Hamcries.—G. E. Pul on, 
Monroe Co., Pa„ (whom we remember as an old fellow 
student in the Yale College Agricultural Laboratory,) 
writes that he obtains an excellent manure by composting 
together the refuse from hides and lime from vats, with the 
spent tan bark. By placing them in alternate layers and 
allowing the heap to remain a year or two, the whole is 
reduced to a fine mass for spreading. It lias at least one 
advantage over yard manure, in that it contains no seeds 
of weeds or noxious plants.-The hide clippings 
must furnish a very good fertilizer, the good qualities of 
which are mostly retained by the tan bark, if not subject¬ 
ed to the washing of rains. 
Keeping Turnips S>VesSa.—Take up oil 
or before November 1st. Cut off the leaves about an 
incli above the roots, carry the latter into the cellar or pit, 
cover with straw, and then throw on six inches of dirt. 
These will keep sound until February. After this, Sw-ed- 
ish turnips will answer until Spring. They may be pitted 
in a dry place out of doors, covered with three inches ol 
straw and one foot, or a foot and a Half of earth. When 
opened they will be as sound and nice as when first dug 
Sample ®f<5i>ats>.—G.W. Goodwin, Litchfield 
Co., Conn. The sample of oats which you forwarded to 
be named, are of the Black Poland variety, an excellent 
sort, in high esteem with those who have raised them 
We have none of the rye for whicli you ask. 
Crops In Do wa Injured.—J. Alexander, 
Linn Co., Iowa, writes, that the wheat crop of that State, 
a large part of which was stacked out, was much injured 
by recent heavy rains ; also that mucli damage was done 
to corn, which was beaten down. 
Large “Wheat “Wield In "Wisconsin! , 
—The Sheboygan Zeitung (WJs.) states, that Mr. ICar- 
pe, of Plymouth, threshed 225 bushels of winter whea* 
from 4 y, acres. This is 50 bushels per acre, and Mr. K 
claims the championship, until some one else in Wiscon 
sin, or other Northern State, can make a larger show 
Tlie American Agriculturist likes to record such fin* 
crops, but always prefers to tell how they are obtained— 
on what kind of soil, with what kind of treatment, and 
what tlie variety of wheat sown. 
Grain iu Chicago—Railroads.—Tliero 
is better reason for calling Chicago “ Grainopolis," than 
