35-4 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
“Full Blood ” and “'I'l»orou"li« 
i>red.”—“R.” There is no difference between these two 
terms as they are generally used; each means an animal 
b. longing to a pure and distinct breed. In reality, there 
is no such thing amongst our domestic animals as a pure¬ 
ly bred race, unless it be perhaps the Devon race of cat¬ 
tle. All the others have either been built up within a 
comparatively short time, or they are of mixed blood. 
The only pure races are the wild buffaloes, deer, etc. 
Weakness in Figs.—“ W. V. C.,” Troy, 
Ind. Fat sows are very apt to drop weak pigs. Pigs 
farrowed by such a sow, when they come weak, are rarely 
raised successfully. It is best to breed from sows that 
are not so much disposed to make fat; and choose only 
those that may be kept in a more moderate condition. 
For weakly, new-born pigs, there is nothing better, as a 
stimulant, than some warm water and gin, given with a 
teaspoon. After having this, they may be put to the teat, 
and as soon as they suck, they will be past danger for a 
time. To give a sow in pig a mixture of rosin, sulphur, 
saltpeter, copperas, madder, black antimony, assafcetida, 
and arsenic, might easily do mischief to the pigs. 
.4 Stable for $25.-“ R. H.,” Monticello, 
Ill. It is hardly possible to make a building that can .be 
used as a cow-stable, liay barn, and corn-crib, for $25, 
unless under some peculiar circumstances the material 
■can be procured without money. A building 16 x 24, of 
the roughest kind, will require more than $25 woithof 
lumber or other material. 
The Foreign Ileal Market. — We 
have already stated our opinion about the probable con¬ 
tinuance of the export trade in meat—viz., that, it is 
merely a sort of safety valve by which the pressure of 
adverse markets may be relieved, and prices kept up to a 
certain standard; this standard being toe price here, 
•which is equivalent to the price in England with ex¬ 
penses deducted from it. This view of the business has 
been shown by events to be a correct one. The deple¬ 
tion of the supply by shipment has raised the market 
price here, until exportation will no longer pay, and it is 
now falling off. The effect Will be to throw an additional 
■quantity on our market and to depress prices. Then 
shipments will begin again. This sort of “seesaw” 
character will necessarily belong to the business until 
our product is largely increased, which will probably 
happen in three or four years, when the trade may take 
on a permanent character. It is a matter of certainty, 
therefore, that the supply of beef can never more de¬ 
press our market below a remunerative rate, however 
large it may become. 
How to Improve a. Worn Out 
Field.—“T. H. R.,” Defiance, Ohio. A field that has 
been worn out by growing corn, could hardly be made fit 
for corn again by growing a crop of rye to plow under. 
To sow tlie field to rye this fall, and then to clover in the 
spring, and let it remain in clover for two or three years, 
•would be more likely to improve its condition. 
of si Noted. Horse.— The well 
•known trotting mare, “ Lady Thorne,” died on July 1st, 
at the Fashion Stud Farm, Trenton, N. J. This mare 
was Very successful on the course, until an accident hap¬ 
pened to her at Rochester, in 1870, which caused her 
withdrawal. She ran 61 races, winning 51 of them, and 
$61,125 in money. She leaves but two descendants, one, 
•Genera) Washington, which is a very promising bay colt, 
and a two-year-old filly. 
Preservation of Green Fodder.— 
4 ‘ Subscriber,” Handel, Iowa. A very full account of the 
ensilage of corn-fodder, which was referred to in October, 
1873, was given in the American Agriculturist of June, 
1875, witli several illustrations explaining the process. 
This number can be had by sending 15 cents. 
Rye as a Soiling- Crop.—“ W. A. C.,” 
Wilmington, N. C. Rye is an excellent soiling crop. It 
may be sown at intervals from September until the mid¬ 
dle of November, in the North, or later in the South. It 
•should be cut when headed out and in the milk. It may 
be mown and cured as hay, if thought proper, when it 
makes excellent dry dodder, but should be cut into chaff 
before being fed. 
Hoeing the Wheat Crop.— Nothing is 
more certain than that the wheat crop would be as much 
"benefited by cultivation as corn or roots. By and by we 
•shall find it necessary to sow wheat in drills, and to cul¬ 
tivate the space between the drills. Some time ago wo 
■described a cultivator specially designed for the wheat 
•crop, known as the Travis wheat hoe, the invention of A. 
B. Travis, of Bronsed, Mich. The past season this hoe 
has been tried: in the field by some large wheat growers 
*d Michigan, and one of those parties reports, that“al- 
though ground was hard and dry, yet the machine worked 
admirably. The hoes were kept between tlie drills of 
wheat by the attendant without any difficulty. Wheat 
can be hoed with horses as readily as corn, and as first as 
it can be drilled, the implement having the same number 
of hoes as a drill, and when hoed it looks as much im¬ 
proved as a corn-field when dressed out with a cultivator. 
It does not destroy any larger percentage of the plants 
than a cultivator does in cultivating corn. Any person 
who can manage a plow well can manage a wheat-hoe. 
The work was witaessed by several of the largest farmers, 
one of whom was Powell Kellam, of Addison, who lias 
240 acres of wheat, and all pronounced it well done and a 
success. It prepares the soil nicely for the clover seed. 
We have been in the habit of -harrowing our wheat, but 
hoeing is far preferable, because more effective.” 
Feeding- Cotton-Seed“ J. F. M.,” 
Marion Co., Fla. Cotton-seed in the husk is not a whole¬ 
some food for cattle. The hard, woody bask is indigesti¬ 
ble and irritable to tlie intestines, causing diarrhoea, or 
impaction of the rumen. The seed itself lias a costive 
effect, and even when freed from the husk, should be fed 
with caution. The husk may easily be separated from 
the kernel by KaUnweiler’s Cotton-Seed Huller, recently 
described in the American AgricuUurisl. This machine 
also breaks the kernels, and leaves them in very good 
condition tobc.fed. 
Plow ffer Sod Fanil.— 1 “ W. A. C.” The 
adamant plows, made by the New York Plow Company, 
Beekman St., N. Y., are excellent for plowing sod upon 
heavy land, or for any sort of plowing, as the mold-board 
will not clog in any soil. The metal is very hard, arid 
has a bright polished surface. This plow was described 
and illustrated in theAmei-ican Agriculturist for April,1877. 
Difficulty in Pigging.—“ W. T. G.,” 
Stevensville, Pa. The recently published book on “Swine 
Husbandry,” by F. L. Coburn, is the most useful practi¬ 
cal work on the subject.. It is the hook for the pig keeper 
whose business is making pork. It has little about the 
history and origin of swine, and other matters useful to 
few persons, but much about breeding, feeding, and car¬ 
ing for them, which is usefnl to every one who keeps a 
pig. The operation of removing pigs from a sow by 
means of the knife, is not a practicable one; the pigs 
may be saved, but the sow will be lost, and a litter of 
pigs without a mother is undesirable property. 
A Persistent Weed—DSnd-weed.— 
“ A. G. C.,” sends from Hunterdon Co , N. J., for name 
and information, a specimen of the European Bind-weed, 
Convolvulus arvensis. This is a perennial, small-flowered 
Morning-glory, which climbs upon other plants to tlie 
hightof about two feet, with halberd-shaped leaves, and 
pale-reddish flowers about half an inch across. In Eng¬ 
land this is regarded as one of the most difficult of all 
weeds to exterminate; it has abundant underground 
stems of which, when broken, every fragment will form 
a new plant. This is very much smaller than any of our 
native Bind-weeds, or Wild Morning-Glories, one of 
which is, in some localities, quite troublesome. If farm¬ 
ers and people generally, noticed plants more closely, and 
would detect at once an introduced weed, and on its first 
appearance, much future troublejwould lie avoided. 'Tn- 
fortunately it is not until a plant gets well spread am, .s- 
tahiished, and its troublesome diameter calls attention 
to it, thatits presence is noticed, and then it is only to 
be exterminated through long and difficnlt labor. For¬ 
tunately this plant is not widely naturalized, and occurs 
only near tlie coast, but wherever it is found it should be 
taken in hand at once, and not allowed to spread. It is 
an innocent looking, and even attractive little plant; but 
when it comes it comes to stay. Look out for it! 
Tlie “Traveller's Official Rail¬ 
way Guide,” the information in which is furnished 
directly by tlie railway companies themselves, is a large 
volume filled with time-tables and other railroad matters, 
which comes to our office regularly, and which, as we 
have occasion to refer to it frequently, we find very use¬ 
ful. It is issued by the National Railway Publication 
Co., Philadelphia. 
Dressing? fVr Sore Teats on Cows. 
—“F. O. P.,” Topeka, Kan. A good dressing for sore 
teats, is to apply clean, fresh lard with a few drops of 
turpentine stirred into it. The teats should be washed 
with warm water and soap previously. Grease tlie teats, 
and wipe them off before aiid after milking. 
Pork-Making In Georgia.—We have 
on former occasions referred to tbe'rcmarkable efficiency 
of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of 
Georgia, Doct. Thomas P. Janes, and we have before us 
another manifestation of his usefulness. Impressed by 
the fact that the Suite falls'fer short of producing suffi¬ 
cient pork for home consumption, and that 100,000,000 
pounds of hog-products are annually purchased from 
abroad to supply the deficiency, the Commissioner first 
thoroughly investigated tlie present status of hog-raising 
in tlie State, learned as far as possible the reason of the 
deficiency, the faults in the present management, the 
kinds of food most profitable, and various other points. 
Tlie results of liis investigations, with much useful in¬ 
struction, are embodied in a neat pamphlet of 100 pages, 
for the use of the farmers of tlie State.—Well done Georgia. 
Tlie St. Louis Fsili* has become one of 
the largest and most important Exhibitions in tlie coun¬ 
try, and as we can not give the full data in our regular 
Fair List, we do so here. The Industrial portion will 
open on Monday, Sept. 10th. The Live Stock and Fruit, 
and Floral Departments, on Monday, Oct. 1st, and all de¬ 
partments close on Saturday, Oct. 6th. The grounds of 
the Association comprise 83 acres, and include a Zoologi¬ 
cal Garden of much interest; various improvements 
have been added this year, among which is a “ Depart¬ 
ment of Public Comfort,” similar to the one found so 
useful at the Centennial. Of course “ that noble animal, 
the horse," will not be overlooked. 
Selecting Seed Corn.—It has been fre¬ 
quently advised that before corn is cut up, one should go 
through the field and pick out those stalks which have 
borne two ears, and select these ears for future seed. 
This is very well if the two ears are perfect ones, but we 
have found it very rarely happens when one stalk bears 
two ears, that both ears are large, well filled out, and suf¬ 
ficiently good to be kept for seed. It is not wise, we 
think, to choose in this case the one good ear, and reject 
the poorer one, simply because the good ear is a twin. 
For there is a relationship between the two ears, and it 
is the whole plant, and not a part of its product only, 
that gives a character to that product. We would much 
rather take a long, sound, early ripened, heavy, plump, 
and well filled ear, although it be a single one, than one 
equally good, that has a poor nubbin on the same stalk. 
We do not know in the latter case whether or not the pro¬ 
duce of the twin ear may revert to the poorer sort to 
which it is so closely related; while on the contrary, the 
single good ear would almost certainly produce good 
plants with equally good produce. We are content with 
one good ear to a stalk. If we could only secure that, 
we could safely expect over 100 bushels of shelled corn 
per acre, for with hills placed even 4x3 feet apart, and 
three stalks to a hill, we could then have 10,890 ears, 
which, if as good as the best we raise, would yield one 
bushel of corn to every 100 ears, and make 108 bushels 
per acre. When we reach this yield we ought to be sat¬ 
isfied. Therefore we would rather endeavor to procure 
one good ear to each stalk, without fail, and not, In trying 
to get two ears, run the risk of getting two bad ones. 
Thumps In Young- Pigs.—“W. B.,” 
Columbus, Ga., sends the following method of treating 
young pigs for “ thumps,” which he has found success¬ 
ful. One pig of a litter four weeks old, was attacked first. 
Subsequently another of the same litter was similarly 
affected. As I killed a young pig in trying to force medi¬ 
cine down its throat, I thought it prudent to try another 
way. I begin to feed my sucking pigs at three weeks 
old, and as one, or two, won’t eat alone, I gave the whole 
litter a dose each, (in as little food as possible, to insure 
their getting all the medicine), of castor oil, once a day 
for a week, with a dose of copperas every third day, and 
a little sulphur once or twice. In a week, the two sick 
pigs were entirely cured, and the whole litter improved 
by the treatment. If dust in the pen and yards is pre¬ 
vented, there will not be many cases of thumps. 
Citric Acid. —“ D. H.,” Chicago, Ill. The 
manufacture of Citric Acid is carried on in England and 
in this country by manufacturing chemists, who make 
other chemical products. We have no means of knowing 
how profitable it is, nor have we any knowledge of a 
manufactory of this alone. The juice of lemons, limes, 
and citrons, is concentrated by evaporation, in the coun¬ 
tries where the fruit grows, and sent abroad in casks to 
the manufacturers of the acid. We can only give an out¬ 
line of the process, referring you to Mnspratt’s, or some 
other work on chemical manufactures, for details. We 
may remark that one entirely unused to chemical pro¬ 
cesses, would be very unlikely to meet with success, and 
that one undertaking a manufacture of this kind, should 
have a general knowledge of chemistry, in order to be 
able to overcome the difficulties lie would be very sure to 
meet with. It would be much cheaper to engage a skilled 
foreman at the start. To make citric acid, the lime juice 
is first treated with prepared chalk, until it is neutralized, 
which is known by the ceasing of effervescence, when 
more chalk is added. The chalk, carbonate of lime, la 
decomposed; the carbonic acid escapes, and tlie lime, 
united with the citric acid, falls to the bottom as citrate 
of lime, which is not" soluble, in water. The citrate of 
