1877.] 
AMERICAN AGrRIC [JLT URIST. 
295 
stable or yard all night. It ia certain that there are 
few odors more diffusive than this one we so depre¬ 
cate in milk. One may perceive it in the cow’s 
breath. Her very hide reeks of it, and the milk 
shares it impartially with all the other secretions. 
One man may make a good part of his breakfast 
of an onion or shallot salad, or eat a dozen of the 
bulbs as we do radishes, and yet by noon no one 
can perceive the flavor in his breath, while that of 
another person may be redolent for a day or two. I 
presume it is so with cows. That is, that one ani¬ 
mal will throw off the odor much quicker than 
another. I used to keep bees in Hartford County, 
and when the onions were in bloom, the breath of 
the hives would be perceived several rods off. It 
was the very essence of an onion eater’s breath. 
Yet we never perceived any ill-flavor in the honey, 
and I believe in onion districts the honey that is 
gathered from that crop, is considered superior to 
most mixed honey. May we not gather 
A Lesson in Domestic Economy from (he Bees? 
Honey when it is brought to the hive and stored, 
is in a very liquid condition. In this state the cells 
can not be properly filled with it, and the bees 
would not seal up the cells if filled. They regulate 
the temperature and ventilation of the hive with 
the greatest accuracy, maintaining a high tempera¬ 
ture, and at the same time keeping a current of air 
in constant circulation all through among the 
combs. The result is the excess of water is driven 
off from the newly gathered honey, which is greatly 
reduced in bulk, and with it goes the last vestige 
of the onion flavor. 
I have known milk to be scalded as soon as 
drawn, with a view to drive off this odOr, but with 
only partial success. It would be impossible to 
evaporate the milk at as low a temperature as the 
bees make use of, but they can not maintain a high 
one, because it would melt their wax, which is 
sometimes done in spite of their most energetic 
wing-fanning for ventilation. We may easily sub¬ 
ject milk to a temperature of 150° Fah., or perhaps 
considerably higher without changing it, and giving 
it any boiled flavor, and I have no doubt that this 
would, in the course of an hour or so, effectually 
dissipate the flavor of the onions. Our old friend, 
Gail Borden, of condensed-milk and meat-extract 
fame, must have made experiments in this general 
direction. He employed a temperature of about 
150°, I believe, in connection with as perfect a vacu¬ 
um as he could secure by a powerful air-pump; and 
the air and steam which was thrown out from the 
discharge pipe of his air-pump, was loaded with a 
noisome stench of corrupt animal matter, mingled 
with the odors of the barn-yard. I learn also at the 
office of the Company in New York, that the flavor 
of onions is never perceptible in milk condensed on 
the Borden principle. The indications therefore are 
obvious, that subjecting milk to a moderately high 
temperature, and stirring it to promote rapid evap¬ 
oration, will probably drive off the garlic flavor. 
Talks on Farm Crops.—No. 8. 
By the Author of “ Wallas and Talks on the Farm," 
“ Harris on the Pig," etc. 
“ We do not see,” write Elder Brothers, of Bea¬ 
ver Co., Pa., “why you speak so disrespectfully of 
the corn crop. It is one of the best crops that is 
grown in this country—far ahead of oats. Fifty 
bushels of shelled com per acre is much better than 
thirty bushels of oats, and then an acre of fodder 
is as good feed as an acre of hay. Corn is a rank 
feeder, and the ground cannot be too rich—no dan¬ 
ger of its going down. After the corn, sow barley 
or wheat. If we could leave oats out altogether, it 
would suit us. But they seem a necessary evil.” 
I cannot imagine what I have said that could be 
considered disrespectful to our grand American ce¬ 
real, Indian Corn. I have a most sincere and pro¬ 
found admiration for the crop. 
“They probably allude,” said the Doctor, “to 
what you said, (May No. of the American Agricultur¬ 
ist), as to using artificial manures on corn. You said, 
if you used them at all, it should be ‘ on crops which 
command a relatively higher price than corn.’” 
“ That is still my opinion,” said I, “ but possibly 
it is an erroneous one. We greatly need a series of 
careful experiments, embracing a whole rotation, 
say corn, barley, wheat, clover, etc. I am inclined 
to think it would be found more profitable to ap¬ 
ply the artificial manures to the barley, or wheat, 
than to the corn.” 
It seems clear to me that, in using artificial ma¬ 
nures, we should apply them, (ls<,) to those crops 
which require the most labor per acre ; (2d,) to those 
crops which command the highest relative price. 
This question of price is too often overlooked, 
and yet a moment’s reflection will show that with 
wheat at $2 per bushel, an application of 200 lbs. 
of superphosphate, and 300 lbs. of nitrate of soda 
per acre, might be very profitable, while at $1 per 
bushel, it would scarcely pay. And so with Indian 
com, it is impossible, from the very nature of 
things, that artificial manures can ever be cheap 
enough to make their application profitable to corn 
in sections where it sells for less than 40c. a bushel. 
In such sections, farmers must look to the plant- 
food lying dormant in the soil, rather than to arti¬ 
ficial manures.—“ But suppose,” said the Doctor, 
“ they have land containing very little available or 
dormant plant-food.”—“In such a case,” said I, 
“ they cannot afford to raise corn for 30c. a bushel, 
unless they can get manure for little or nothing.” 
Now I cannot see how these remarks can be con¬ 
sidered in any way disrespectful to Indian com. It 
is the crop of crops for cheap, rich land; and if we 
at the East are to compete with the West in pro¬ 
ducing cheap corn. I can see only two ways which 
promise success : (1.) We must drain our low, rich, 
alluvial land, and bring it into cultivation. (2.) 
We must make more manure on the farm. To do 
this, we may have to buy artificial manures, but if 
so, I doubt whether it will be found the most prof¬ 
itable to apply them directly to the com crop. 
On my own farm, I am making much more ma¬ 
nure than the Deacon, or the Squire. I do it prin¬ 
cipally by buying bran, malt-sprouts, and other 
food for stock, and by feeding out all the grass, 
clover, hay, corn, corn-stalks, straw, oats, and peas, 
and mangel-wurzel and other roots that are grown 
on the farm. And now, when we have got the ma¬ 
nure, what shall we do with it ? 
I do not propose to answer this question now, 
but I think you will find that most farmers who 
succeed in making their land rich, have a tendency 
to raise crops which bring a higher price than corn, 
or they keep improved stock that requires for its 
most rapid growth, more or less green food the 
year round. In other words, such farmers will 
raise mangel-wurzel, cabbages, turnips, rape, etc. 
They will raise corn, too, and raise large crops of 
com, but they will, in connection with it, either be¬ 
fore or after, raise other crops which directly or in¬ 
directly pay a higher profit. 
In fact, before they finish their letter, Messrs. 
Elder Brothers allude to the very point I have in 
my mind. They say: “ We have no roots this sea¬ 
son, as we have been busy building a bam, and it 
seemed impossible to find time to plant any. You 
know everything comes in a rush, and we were 
afraid we would spoil some crop. How to do with¬ 
out roots this winter is a problem to be solved. We 
want to turn the Cotswold ram to the ewes in Au¬ 
gust. Can the lambs be raised without roots. The 
ram is a thorough-bred Cotswold, and got us good 
lambs last season. We do not feed him, but he 
keeps in good stock order, and weighs about 180 
lbs. Can these heavy sheep be raised on grass 
alone ? We cannot do it. ” 
This is right to the point. These heavy English 
mutton sheep are not raised in England on grass 
alone. After they have got their growth, they will 
keep fat on grass. But with sheep, as with other 
stock, early maturity and rapid growth when young, 
say 150 lbs. at 12 months old, require, as a rule, 
either remarkably rich grass or some extra feed 
in the shape of roots, bran, malt-sprouts or grain. 
And we want sheep and cattle that require, and 
will pay for, rich grass and extra feed. There are 
money and manure in the business. The English 
want fat sheep, and we want rich manure. We can 
afford perhaps to put a heavy dressing of good 
barnyard manure on to a piece of land for com. 
Cultivate the land thoroughly. Plow it in the fall, 
after the corn is off, and again in the spring, once 
or twice, and then sow it to mangel-wurzel, and for 
this crop, in this se ition, we may be able to use ar¬ 
tificial manure to good advantage and decided profit. 
“ I thought,” said the Doctor, “ you were never 
coming to the point. You think, then, that we 
cannot afford to use artificial manure for corn ; but 
that we can afford to apply our barnyard manure to 
this crop, and then follow the com with mangel- 
wurzel, which, witii the aid of a little artificial ma¬ 
nure, will utilize the manure left in the soil.” 
I do not give this as my settled opinion. We aro 
feeling our way. There are many things to be taken 
into consideration. As yet, it is the convenience of 
tillage operations, rather than the dictates of chem¬ 
istry, that controls our system of rotation. 
Last year, after my corn was cut, and while it was 
standing in stooks on the land, we plowed between 
the rows of stooks. It is this early fall-plowing, 
while the ground is dry and hard, that does the 
most good. The land was rather stiff, and it was 
so dry and hard that we put 3 horses on the plow. 
“ But with three horses abreast,” said the Squire, 
“I do not see how you could do much plowing be¬ 
tween the rows of stooks.” 
We can plow just as close to the stooks as with 
two horses. The rows of corn arc Si feet apart, and 
we put five rows into a stook, so that the rows of 
stooks are 171feet apart. 
We commense plowing at A, turning the furrow 
: G B : G F: towards the row of stooks, 
8.8-8 ar *d. when wc get to the top 
: : : of the field at B, turned 
g g g “ haw,” and came back 
: : from G to I>, turning, of 
£ g g course, the furrow towards 
; ; ; the other row of stooks. 
S h S P rocecded in this way 
; ; until all the land was plowed 
g ■* g g between these two rows of 
• • stooks. Then commence at 
:B A .11 E- E, and plow to F, and back 
from Q to H, and so on until the field is finished. 
There was a strip, from®A, II. , to B, G, about 
four or five feet wide, that was not plowed. This 
was left until the corn was husked, and when 
husking, the bundles of corn 6talks were placed in 
stooks on the plowed land, and this allowed us to 
plow the land on which the rows cf corn stood. 
We commenced at B, and threw back the previous 
furrow to A, and then from II to G. In this way 
all the land was plowed. It makes a great many 
“ dead furrows,” but these are useful in carrying 
off the surface water in winter and spring. The 
land looks rough, but it lies up high and dry. If 
there is time, it may be plowed again just before 
winter sets in. 
The only objection to this plan is, that it makes 
the land uneven, but by careful plowing and culti¬ 
vating in the spring, it can be made level. And 
this repeated plowing, and cultivating, and har¬ 
rowing, and rolling, is precisely what this rather 
heavy land requires, to prepare it for mangels—or 
in fact for oats, barley, or any other spring crop. 
I aca convinced that we shall find it to our in¬ 
terest to work our land more and more in the fall— 
and the earlier the better. Our springs are short, 
and we are in a hurry to get in the seed ; the land 
is wet, and if plowed in this condition, we do more 
harm than good. If we wait until it gets diy, it is 
apt to turn up lumpy, and much harrowing, cul¬ 
tivating, and rolling is required, to get it in any¬ 
thing like good condition. And as everything is 
crowding us, we are often obliged to put in the 
crop with some of the land so hard that, unless we 
have an unusually wet spring, the seed is a long 
time in coming up, and the crops are “spotty.” 
An d it is these poor spots which pull (’own the 
“ average yield ” to such a low figure. I have in 
my own barley field to-day portions that will prob¬ 
ably give 50 bushels per acre, and spots, where the 
yield will not be 10 bushels. And yet ihese latter 
spots are naturally the strongest and richest land 
in the field. If in the right mechanical condition, 
they would yield a heavier cron than the lighter 
and more easily worked parts of Ihe field. 
This work must be done in the fall. T do not say 
