AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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ot the tub with clean Ashton salt, and press the butter 
down level in the tub; sprinkle a little salt upon it, and 
lay a wet muslin cloth over it. It so remains until the 
nest churning, when the butter is packed in the same 
manner, without disturbing that first packed. When the 
tub is filled even to the top, cover the buttei with dry 
salt lav a cloth cut to fit the tub over the salt, and fasten 
down the cover. If the butter is good, a tub so packed, 
•ind kept in a cool sweet cellar, will keep well for a year. 
Blitter for Poultry.-— “ A. W. C.,” Bos¬ 
ton, Mass. Fine cut straw, or leaves from hemlock or 
pine boughs, would answer well for litter in poultry- 
liouses. Dry road dust, or sifted coal ashes, are as good 
as sand or dry earth, and there is no difficulty in laying 
up a supply in the fall while the weather is dry. 
Where do the Lice Come Prom ? 
J. A.,” Whiteside Co., Ill. Lice are produced from 
eggs, and if lice are found upon cattle, they have either 
been hatched from eggs laid upon the skin by a previous 
stock of vermin, or they have come from other cattle. An 
excellent remedy against lice is to rub along the spine, 
poll, brisket, and inside of the thighs, a mixture of four 
ounces < lard, one table-spoonful of sulphur, and one 
table-spoonful of kerosene oil. 
Worms in Horses. —“H. A. N.,” Saline 
Co., Kansas. The most effective treatment for the ex¬ 
pulsion of worms, from a horse, is to give each morning 
In the feed half a dram each of calomel and tartar emetic, 
for four days; the fifth day give a pint of linseed oil. 
If all the worms are not expelled, repeat in a week. 
Shall we use Lime? — “W. W. B.,” 
Buffalo, N. Y. Where barn-yard manure can be procured 
for 50 cents a ton, it is not worth while to go out of the 
wav to purchase lime at 50 cents a cubic yard. There is 
more value by far in a ton of manure, than in a yard of 
lime. When lime is used, it is reduced to a fine dry 
powder, by slacking with a little water, and is then 
spread evenly upon the plowed soil, and harrowed in. 
Farming in Colorado.—“ W. C. C.,” 
Herkimer, N. Y. If a person has determined to go to 
Colorado, the sooner he gets there the better. The sea¬ 
son opens early, and work begins in March. Every crop 
raised in the East can be produced there by irrigation. 
Particulars about lands, etc., may be learned from J. Max 
Green, of Greeley, Colorado, or of Jay H. Bonghton, of 
Fort Collins, which is not far from Greeley. 
Comparative weight of Pig’s 
Heads.—“J. A. R.,” New Market, Va. One cannot 
base a rule for the weight of any pig’s head upon the 
weight of one from a pig weighing 100 lbs. If such a 
pig’s head weighs 9 fts, it by no means follows that a pig 
weighing 200 lbs should 'have a head weighing 18 lbs. 
The head and other offal does not increase in the same 
ratio with the weight of the animal; the heavier the car¬ 
cass, the less is the comparative weight of the offal. 
Currants and Gooseberries in 
Kansas. —“ Mrs. L. B.” “ They ” who say these can 
net be grown in your State, probably did not try. They 
will do best with partial shade ; give a good dressing 
of decomposed stable manure every fall, forkdd in around 
the roots; keep the bushes heavily mulched during sum¬ 
mer, with three or four inches of straw, bog hay, or other 
litter. Every autumn cut back the new wood one-third 
to one-half, and thin out all branches that make the 
bush too much crowded.—Best Currants, Versailles and 
White Grape. Gooseberries, Houghton and Downing. 
The Y. Horticultural Society.— 
This new Society shows a great deal of activity, and is 
at once manifesting its usefulness. Regular Monthly 
Meetings and Exhibitions, at which prizes are to be a- 
warded. will be held at the Society’s rooms in West 33d 
St. The first of these was held on Feb. 6th, at which 
some very interesting plants were shown. Wm. Ben¬ 
nett. Flatbush, L. I., took the first premium for single 
Chinese Primroses. S. Henshaw, New Brighton, Staten 
Island, took the first premium for 12 best Camellia flow¬ 
ers. Certificates of Merit were awarded to Wm. C. Wil¬ 
son, Astoria, L. I., for an unnamed Fern from the Sand¬ 
wich Islands, grown in a basket, and drooping six feet or 
more. To Wm. Blount, Jersey City Hights, for a new 
dwarf White Pink, having flowers two inches across, 
and of fine form ; it is entirely distinct, being apparent¬ 
ly a hybrid between a white Monthly Carnation and the 
hardy garden Pink; it is perfectly hardy. Wm. Bennett 
received a certificate for a finely marked, crimson and 
white, seedling Camellia, named “Nellie.” Mr. Bennett 
added greatly to the interest of the Exhibition by a col¬ 
lection of rare hothouse plants, among which was a bas¬ 
ket in which were massed some two dozen plants of the 
new double Poinsettia, and another containing a similar 
number of Anthurium Scherzerianum , together with 
some new species of Aralia, stems and foliage of which 
might be compared in grace and beauty to the spray from 
a fountain. John Jones, Madison, N. J., was awarded a 
special premium for cut Roses, among which were some 
gorgeous flowers of “ Cornelia Cook,” a delicate straw- 
colored rose of enormous size and perfect form. At the 
next Monthly Meeting, March 6th, a lecture will be given 
by Augustus Boileau, on the training of fruit trees in the 
Espalier and other methods. Lectures or Essays are to 
become a feature of these meetings, a committee being 
elected to take the matter in charge. 
Caponizing- Poultry.—“ C. R.,” Chilli- 
cothe, Ohio. Instruments for making capons are sold by 
H. H. Stoddard, of Hartford, Conn. The method of 
operating is described fully in a little book published by 
the Orange Judd Company, entitled “An Egg Farm,” 
which is sold for 75 cents. 
Posts Reversed.—" J. S.,” Nova Scotia. 
If posts last longer placed top end down, (which we are 
not prepared to admit), it is not for the reason assigned, 
i. e., that water finds anymore difficulty in passing in one 
direction than in the other. There is nothing in the 
'structure of wood that corresponds to veins and arteries 
in animals ; an examination with a microscope would 
correct this popular idea. 
Imperial Egg Food. —“J. B. U.,” Ha¬ 
gerstown, Md. There is nothing injurious about the egg 
food referred to. It is a tonic and a stimulant, but unless 
the hens are well kept and well fed with warm food, they 
can not be made to produce eggs by this or any similar 
condiment. There must be something to stimulate. It 
is a good help to good food, but no substitute for it. 
Peanuts.—In 1875, there were imported into 
Marseilles, France, from Pondicherry, 180,000 bags of 
peanuts to be pressed for their oil. 
A Sick Calf.— “T. H.,” Washington, N. C. 
For dysentery in a calf, caused by exposure to cold, we 
would give warm drinks of oatmeal, with a teaspoonful 
of ground ginger stirred in each, and made quite sweet 
with white sugar. Alternating between these and the 
usual food, a teaspoonful each of prepared chalk and es¬ 
sence of peppermint may be given in a teacupful of wa¬ 
ter. Strong coffee would be hurtful rather than helpful. 
Lady Grape.— “B.,” Coffyville, Kansas. 
By “White Lady,” we presume you mean the “ Lady.” 
A fruit should never have two names where one will 
answer. All that can be said is, that it promises well, 
but has to stand the test of time. We do not recommend 
one nurseryman in preference to another. All the lead¬ 
ing grape growers have it. 
Immortelles, or what we call “Everlasting 
Flowers,” employ many persons in their cultivation in 
the south of France, while the manufacture of them— 
bleaching, dyeing, and making into bouquets, wreaths, 
crowns, etc., employs 1,500 persons in Paris. On fete 
days, such as All Saints and All Souls’ days, 25,000 
wreaths are used to decorate the tombs at Pere la Chaise. 
Cutting 1 Brush. —“ J. S.,” Nova Scotia. 
The best time to cut alder, birch, and other brush, is just 
when it has made its growth for the season. 
IVIillcing Tubes.— “J. G.,” White Plains, 
N. Y. For relieving cows with sore teats or caked udder, 
of their milk, the silver tubes made by Geo. P. Pilling, 
701 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, and recently described and 
illustrated in the American Agriculturist , may be used. 
The sot of four tubes cost $2.00 sent by mail. 
To Lse Wood Ashes.—“ W.” Scatter 
them evenly over the surface of the ground ; about a peck 
to a square rod is a good dressing of unleached ashes. If 
they are leached a bushel to the rod would not be too much. 
A Poinsettia has been raised in England, 
the bracts, or brightly colored leaves of which, formed a 
circle of 171 inches in diameter. 
Crops Without manure.— “G. F.,” 
Camden, N. J. Such crops as cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, 
and other garden vegetable, can not be raised profitably 
without stable manure. Guano and other fertilizers are 
useful occasionally, but to sncceed with these crops, a 
good basis must first be laid with rich manure. 
The Double Poinsettia. —Having been 
the first to describe and figure this plant, we have a pa¬ 
ternal interest in its welfare. The first specimen we 
have seen, except the dried one brought here by Mr. 
Roezl, was exhibited by Mr. George Such, at the Annual 
Meeting of the N. J. Horticultural Society, Febrnary 1st. 
Though a small cluster, trom a young plant, it sustains 
all we have said iu regard to its great value to florists. 
Evergreens in Pots.— Some ten years 
ago we called attention to the value of small conifers in 
room decoration, and exemplified it by planting two win¬ 
dow boxes with compact neat specimens of Retinisopo- 
ras, Hemlock, Golden Arbor Vitses and similar trees, 
which made a cool parlor cheerful all winter. Just now 
we find that the fashion is starting up in England, and 
it is so eminently sensible that it is likely to be popular. 
Being endorsed abroad, perhaps it will be taken up here. 
Crossing Poultry.— “Subscriber,” N. Y. 
The crossing of breeds must be done with judgment, 
else no good is likely to come of it. To cross the Houdan 
on the White Leghorn, for instance, can scarcely have 
any good result, as they are both non-sitters, and the 
cross can not be any improvement on either of them. 
Such a cross seems to be purposeless, and is therefore 
not a judicious one. There should be a distinct purpose 
aimed at in crossing. For instance, a hardy fowl, but a 
poor layer, might be crossed on a tender one that is pro¬ 
lific, with the prospect of getting a hardy cross that 
would be a moderately good layer. Occasionally fowls 
are improved by crossing, and then close breeding, as 
the Plymouth Rocks, which are a cross-bred race origin¬ 
ally ; but far oftener they are spoiled. A new breed 
that is of value, is produced but once in many years. 
Liunseus the Great Botanist, and 
naturalist generally, died Jan. 10th, 1778. The hundredth 
anniversary of this event will be celebrated at Stock¬ 
holm next year, by tne unveiling of a monument. 
Resurrection Plants. — “Mrs. S. J. 
McL.,” Ohio. The plants you send bits of are both 
known as “resurrection plants.” The one called “ Cali¬ 
fornia Moss ” is Lycopodium lepidophyllum, and is one of 
the club-mosses. The other comes from Asia, and is 
Anastatica Hierochuntina, also called the Rose of Jericho. 
Both plants are as dead as they possibly can be, and it 
makes no difference what “ treatment” you give them. 
Though dead, they will spread open when wet, and curl 
up on drying—a mechanical and not a vital process. 
Poultry lor Eggs ami marketing 
Eggs.— “ O. L. R.,” Dresden, Iowa. Houdans are non¬ 
sitters and prolific layers. Many eggs are shipped from 
the West to New York and other Eastern markets. E. & 
O. Ward, No. 279 Washington St., and Myers & Alley, 
83 Murray St., New York, Commission Agents, can 
handle any produce sent to them. 
Tomatoes from Bermuda. — The 
first arrival this year was on January 17th. There were 
only four boxes, but enough to begin the season with. 
There is now but a gap of a few weeks when fresh toma¬ 
toes may nBt be had from open air culture; of course 
those grown under glass may be had at any time. 
Sorrel Tree. —“Mrs. M. L.” The seeds of 
this, if you could get them, require more care than an 
amateur would be likely to give, and it would be a very 
long time before you could raise much of a shrub. The 
leading nurseries offer the tree at moderate prices. 
Grease iu the Heels. —“ J. T. N.,” Tracy 
City. When “grease,” or the watery eruption known 
by that name, breaks out persistently on a horse’s heels, 
it shows that the blood is diseased, and outward reme¬ 
dies are useless. A regular course of physic should be 
given. We would give first eight ounces of Epsom salts, 
with half an ounce of ginger, twice in a week, afterwards 
one ounce of hypo-sulphite of soda every night in the 
feed. Every morning a dram of sulphate of iron, with 
half an ounce of powdered gentian root maybe given. 
The feed should be hay and crushed oats, and no corn 
should be given until the disease is removed. 
A Cluster of Pears.— W. A. Barrister, 
Esq., Newburyport, Mass., sent us a photograph of a clus¬ 
ter of pears, in which the fruit is arranged at the end of 
a branch as compactly as grapes in a bunch. There were 
35 pears, and there might have been more had there been 
room to put them. They are of the old and good ama¬ 
teur variety Bezi de la Motte. 
Tumor iu a Heifer. —“ T. G. C.,” Bristol 
Co., Mass. A tumor growing in the uterine passage, can 
easily be examined by oiling the hand with linseed oil, 
and carefully inserting it. The shape and character of 
the tumor can then be discovered. If of a conveuient 
shape, it may perhaps be removed by passing a copper 
wire around it and twisting it a little every day, until the 
tumor is separated. If the exposed substance is the 
uterus, which is not likely, it can thus be discovered. 
