314; 
AMERICAN ACxRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
bers of tlie vegetable kingdom, though of only ^micro¬ 
scopic size. . These plants are multiplied by little germs, 
so to speak, of exceeding fineness, each grain of which 
is capable of performing the office of ft seed and multi¬ 
plying the kind of fungus. These reproductive grains, 
or spores, are so minute as to readily escape observation, 
and one may sow enough with bis seed-wheat to stock 
his field with the pest, without noticing their presence. 
The most common method of introducing either of these 
fungi is with the seed, and it is a safe precaution, to 
destroy .such spores as may be adhering to the wheat to 
be sown One method is, to give the seed two or three 
successive washings in strong brine, and to dry with air- 
slaked lime. Another is, to make a strong solution of 
Blue Vitriol, or Blue-stone, (Sulphate of Copper), about 
2 lbs. to tire gallon of water. Sprinkle the wheat with 
this, stirring so as to coat every grain completely with 
the liquid, and then spread it where it will dry quickly. 
Boiled Assg-aisj Cattle.—“J. C. T.,” 
Mercer Co., Pa. The only herd of polled Angus Cattle 
we know of in .the United States, is that of Mr. George 
Grant, of Victoria, Kansas. 
Slay as&d Grain Caps.—“A Young 
Farmer,” Hart, Mich. The best hay caps we have used 
were squares of 40 inches wide sheeting of the coarsest 
and heaviest kind. Oiling is not advisable. It tends to 
rot the cloth, instead of preserving it, and causes it to 
crack where it is folded. The unbleached cloth will turn 
a steady rain for 24 hour's, if the cap is not permitted to 
have a hollow in the top. 
Size of Concrete Walls.— “S.,” St. 
Charles, Mich. The basement walls for a three-story 
concrete house, should be 16 inches thick, the upper walls 
may be 12 inches. 
l>ist<Miiper in Horses.—“L. Z.,” Otis, 
Iud. The disease known as distemper, is one to which 
all horses, at some time or other, are subject, but gener¬ 
ally while they are young. It is an eruptive fever in 
character, something like the measles' in the human race. 
Its chief symptom is a swelling of the soft parts between 
the brandies of the lower jaw, and the salivary glands, 
sometimes forming abscesses, accompanied witli some 
fever, and soreness of the throat. It is best treated by 
good nursing, and no medicine ; giving them oatmeal or 
linseed-meal gruel as the only food or drink, and, if the 
fever is high, two or three drams of Saltpeter may be dis¬ 
solved in the gruel once a day. The disease is properly 
called “ strangles.” If the swellings appear so large as 
to threaten suffocation, they may be opened with a lancet, 
or treated with the ointment of Cantharides or Spanish 
flies. Law’s “ Farmers’ Veterinary Adviser” is an ex¬ 
cellent book on diseases of horses and cattle. 
(•Saddler’s Wax.— “Vandalia.” Saddler’s 
wax is made by melting common black pitch witli enough 
tallow to soften it, so that it will work easily. Shoe¬ 
makers’ wax is made in the same manner. 
Clovers.—T. Lee, British Columbia. The 
specimen appears to be only a vigorous form of the Red 
Clover —Trifolium pratense. Some varieties appear to 
be only biennial, while other forms are perennials of j 
short duration, lasting three or four years, much depend¬ 
ing upon whether it is allowed to go to seed or not. If 
you are anxious to repay the favor you think you have 
received, do a good-natured thing to the next person 
who needs it, and keep the account running_“F. 
W. C.,” Mars Bluff, S. C. Buffalo Clover, Trifolium 
refiexum, a native species, which is an annual, or, at 
most, biennial. Its agricultural value not tested. 
SSIue Grass ssol :i Curse.—Some months 
ago we gave an item from a correspondent in Wash. Ter. 
who wished to know' how to get rid of Blue Grass, which 
he regarded as a great curse. As this grass is usually 
welcomed and valued, we supposed he must be mistaken 
in the identity of the plant, and called something be¬ 
sides Poa pratensis by that name. Since then we receiv¬ 
ed a specimen from Fred. F. Lane, living in another part 
of the territory, which shows the species generally known 
as Blue Grass to be abundant there, but Mr. L. looks 
upon it “ as far removed from a curse.” 
Nitrate of on Potatoes. —“G. 
E.,” in the “N. E. Farmer,” says on the advice of this 
journal, he bought 300 lbs. nitrate of soda for potatoes, 
an ounce to the hill. He says: “We furrowed deep, 
dropped the nitrate, covered it, and then dropped and 
covered the potatoes. Result—about one-fifth of the po¬ 
tatoes never came up, and many that did looked as if 
they had a hard struggle for life.”—The conclusion 
jumped at is not warranted. If the nitrate was suffici¬ 
ently spread and covered with two inches or more of soil, 
it could not injure the potatoes, and the effect must be 
good, judging from very large and wide extended expe¬ 
rience. If dropped in a mass, and slightly covered, it 
may have had a slightly injurious effect. Wet weather, 
or deep planting, or both, may have been the trouble in' 
this case, if the nitrate was not placed, in a mass, too 
near the seed. It is always well to take into account all 
the circumstances, in arriving at conclusions. 
We Could’nt Atteud. —Mr. and Mrs. M. 
kindly sent us an invitation to attend a “Barn Party” 
to be held at a farm with a very pretty name. But as 
town, county, and even State were omitted, we could 
neither attend nor send our “ regrets.” 
Pleasure and BBassiraess, are combined 
in a rather unusual manner by a nursery firm in Tennes¬ 
see, who invited their friends to participate “in the fes¬ 
tivities of an old-fashioned Fourth of July Revival” at 
their nurseries on the 4th. The barbacue was promised 
to be the best that “the country could afford,” while 
there was music, and of course speeches, and remarka¬ 
ble speeches, too, “from speakers who are always origi¬ 
nal and never dull, in short, a literal feast of reason and 
flow of soul a remark which, if we mistake not, has 
been made once or twice before. But more than that, 
there was “an interesting horticultural exhibition 
thrown in.” Certainly a most taking programme. 
“ Gardener,” and Many ©tli<*rs.- 
We have frequently stated that we do not reply to pure¬ 
ly personal questions—such as are of no interest to any 
other person—in the paper ; we have also tried to make 
the fact generally known, if repetition will do it, that we 
do not notice letters that lack the name of the writer. 
"We again present these two points not only to “ Garden¬ 
er,” but to many others, who expect us to occupy space 
with answers that would be of use to themselves only— 
and to many more who, for some reason, think an editor 
will waste his time with nameless correspondence. Had 
“ Gardener ” enclosed a Postal Card with his name upon 
it, he would have had an answer the next day. 
Tlae Texas State ff'air.— The Capital 
State Fan-Association is to be commended, as it sent out 
its announcement in April to the effect that the third 
Annual Fair will be held at Austin, Travis Co., on the 
2nd Tuesday in October, and continue for five days. E. 
C. Bartholomew, Austin, Tex., is Secretary, from whom 
premium lists and information may be obtained. 
A Question* of Irrigation*.—“ J. P. 
L.,” La Platte Co., Col. The proper condition of mois¬ 
ture in a soil for plowing, is when it will easily fall apart 
when pressed into a ball in the hand. If it sticks, or is 
pasty, the soil is too wet. If there is little time to plow 
in the spring after frost has disappeared, we would sug¬ 
gest that the ground be thoroughly irrigated in the fall 
or in spring, when it can be plowed early and be ready to 
sow very quickly when the time comes. Many such 
questions as these are considered in a new work on irri¬ 
gation, entitled “ Irrigation for the Farm, Garden, and 
Orchard,” by Henry Stewart, and published by the 
Orange Judd Co., price $1.50. 
Tlie Best Time to Cut Timber for 
Kails.—“J. W. W.,” Gilmore Mills, Ya. We would 
prefer to cut timber for fence posts and rails, or boards, 
in August; then let the trees lie until the foliage has 
dried, by which time the timber will have lost the most 
of the sap, and split or saw up the logs before the tim¬ 
ber becomes frozen. 
Boats wisSfi. Suiootlx Sides.—“H. H. 
B.,” Chappaqua, N. Y. Instead of making the sides of 
a boat with lapped streaks, the streaks may be jointed 
either by beveling the edges to make a joint, or by rab¬ 
beting them. In either case the sides would be smooth. 
In making the ends of lap-streaks, the edges of the 
boards are beveled off so as to bring the ends smoothly 
together on the stem and stern. A boat 12 ft. long and 3 
ft. beam may be about 18 or 23 inches wide at the stern. 
Tiirm Esigisies.—“ C. H. S., 5 ’ Fond duLac 
Co., Wis. It would not only be convenient but profita¬ 
ble for two neighbors to own a portable-farm steam en¬ 
gine for thrashing and grinding. An engine could do 
the work of four or five farmers, and the expense might 
be thus divided between them. Co-operation of this 
kind might be easily carried out very extensively amongst 
neighbors, who could, in this way, jointly own male live 
stockforbreedingpurposes, reapers, thrashing-machines, 
feed-mills, and other costly machinery. 
The American Pomolos'ical Soci¬ 
ety.— Every fruit grower should recollect, and arrange 
to be present at the Sixteenth Meeting of the Society at 
Baltimore, on Wednesday, Sent. 12th. Thos. P. James, 
Cambridge, Mass., is Treasurer. Sending him $4 consti¬ 
tutes one a member, and entitles him to the volume of 
Proceedings. Fruit for exhibition is to be sent to the 
Society, care of Wm. B. Sands, Baltimore, Md. 
The Scieutalics.— The Society which re¬ 
joices in its full name of “The American Association 
for tne Advancement of Science”—a name which its 
members rarely use without some how abbreviating it— 
will hold its 26th meeting at Nashville, Tenn., on the 
29th of the present month, (Aug.) The most important 
office, that of Permanent Secretary, is filled by F. W. 
Putnam, of Salem, Mass., who gives all needed informa¬ 
tion, etc. These meetings are usually most enjoyable, 
and there is not so strict an attention to business as to 
prevent the doing of proper justice to the various enter¬ 
tainments and excursions made and provided. 
r JTrow’s New YorLc City directory. 
—Directories belong to a style of literature, not much 
valued for evening reading, yet very useful at times. 
The Directory of a city like Now York forms an ample 
volume, and to issue a yearly edition, completely revised, 
and including all the additions and changes, requires a 
small army of helpers, while the one who directs them 
must exercise no little generalship. The volume ror 
the present year is now the 91st issue, and though every 
now and then competing directories are started, the 
shortness of their lives shows that the citizens of New 
York are too well satisfied with the accuracy and use¬ 
fulness of Trow’s to want any other. 
Not Exactly a Clover.— “E. A. A.,” 
Ciiambersville, Ark. The specimen is Medicago denticu- 
lata. The Medicks are nearly related to the Clovers, but 
differ, among other things, in having a twisted pod. 
Luccrn, or Alfalfa, is a perennial species of Medicago 
(M. sativd). Yonrs'is an annual, and is highly esteemed 
iu California, where it is extensively naturalized, and 
goes by the name of “ Burr Clover.” 
Mignonette and Bees. —“E. D. K.,” 
Texas. Mignonette is classed as one of the honey-yield¬ 
ing plants, but experienced bee-keepers are doubtful if 
any such plants may be grown with profit solely for the 
purpose of supplying honey. White clover, which yields 
the finest of all, and buckwheat, which yields so-abun- 
dantly, are cultivated for other uses, and tlie honey ob¬ 
tained from them is clear gain ; but it becomes another 
matter when land and labor are devoted to a plant from 
which the sole return will be honey. The seeds of 
Mignonettes and the other plants named, may be had at 
wholesale of any of our importing seed houses. Prickly 
Comfrey seed has not as yet been offered by our dealers 
—only the sets or root-cuttings. 
1’lae Wisconsin Horticultural So¬ 
ciety.—A neat volume, sent by the 'Secretary,' F. W. 
Case, contains the doings of last year and of the annual 
meeting in Feb., 1ST7. A noticeable feature of this report 
is the number of contributions by ladies, no less than 
eight of the papers read at the annual meeting being by 
them. While some of the papers and discussions are of 
local interest, others are useful to horticulturists gener¬ 
ally, and we congratulate the Society upon tlie healthful 
activity to which this volume bears witness. 
Rcduciioit of Bone with Acid or 
Soda.—“ O. W. F.,” Worcester Co., Mass. When bone 
is treated with sulphuric acid, (oil of vitriol,) the phos¬ 
phate of lime of the bone is changed into a superphos¬ 
phate, which is a combination of lime with twice as 
much soluble phosphoric acid as in the simple phosphate. 
When soda is used to reduce the bone, the equivalent of 
phosphoric acid in the bone phosphate is not changed. 
The superphosphate is more active, but not so lasting as 
the simple bone phosphate. 
S!*eej» Growing for S*rofit. —A Read¬ 
er, Chicago. The localities which have proved most • 
favorable for sheep raising, are doubtless in that region 
covered by Western Kansas, particularly in the Arkansas 
Valley and Southern Nebraska, where the valley of the 
Platte offers an excellent field for shepherds. Sheep 
keeping is rapidly increasing in the localities mentioned. 
Stewart’s Shepherd’s Manual, price $1.50, contains full 
instructions and information on the choosing, rearing, 
and management of sheep. 
Milking Tubes.—In giving an engraving 
of Pilling’s Milking Tubes in the American Agriculturist 
of November, the slide was shown with tlie broad pa'rt 
downwards. In using these tubes, the broad part, which, 
is a sliding shield, to prevent the tube from being insert¬ 
ed too far. should have the broad flange upwards. There 
is then nothing to hinder the easy and safe insertion of 
the tube into the teat. These tubes are very useful in 
case of garget of the udder, when milking is difficult or 
impossible without them. 
