1860] 
105 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
White Chinese Geese. 
The White Chinese goose was brought into no¬ 
tice a few years ago in England, by a Mr. Whita¬ 
ker, who speaks of it in the following words: 
“ The White Chinese goose is of a pure, spotless 
white, more swan-like than the brown variety, 
with a bright orange-colored bill, having a large 
orange-colored knob at its base. It breeds three 
or four times in a season, and its period of incu¬ 
bation extends to five weeks. They are prolific 
layers, but their eggs are small for the size of the 
bird, being not more than half the size of those of 
the common goose. The Spring goslings are 
easily reared, and are of fair average quality for 
the table. The disparity in size between the 
sexes is considerable, not unfrequently amount¬ 
ing to over one third of their relative weights.” 
This variety, of which our sketch is a good rep¬ 
resentation, is invariably more beautiful, and su¬ 
perior in every respect to its brown relatives. Its 
color, as its name indicates, is a pure white, 
which, contrasted with its yellow or orange-col¬ 
ored bill and legs, gives quite a pleasing effect, 
and it certainly deserves to rank in the first class 
of ornamental poultry. 
They are beautiful birds either in or out of the 
water ; the neck being long, slender, and grace¬ 
fully arched when swimming. They are larger 
and less erect than the Brown Chinese, and ap¬ 
parently more terrestrial in their habits ; the knob 
at the base of the bill is not only greater in pro¬ 
portion, but of a different shape. If they were only 
a variety of the Chinese kind, it is a question 
whether the bill would not retain its original jet¬ 
ty black, whatever change occurred in the feet 
and legs, instead of assuming a brilliant orange 
hue. If they were albinoes, the bill would be 
flesh-colored, and the eyes pink, not blue. 
Their movements on the water are very grace¬ 
ful, and their appearance is more like the swan 
than the goose. A quiet lake or pond is more to 
their taste, and more conducive to the fecundity 
of the eggs, than a swift, running stream. It is 
delightful to see a flock of them on a fine day in 
Spring, lashing the water, diving, skipping, and 
rolling over through mere sport, and playing all 
sorts of antics. The gander is inclined to liber¬ 
tine wanderings, without, however, neglecting to 
pay proper attention at home. If there is anoth¬ 
er on the premises, there will be war at once, and 
one of the two should be disposed of. They are 
if possible, more noisy than their dusky cousins ; 
in the night, the least footfall in their vicinity will 
call forth their clamor. Any fowl_stealer would 
be stunned with their din before he could cap¬ 
ture them alive, and the family must be deaf in¬ 
deed not to be aroused on the alarm thus given. 
In point of longevity, they are said to be far 
from equaling the common domestic goose. 
Economically considered, they must, we think, 
yield precedence to the larger, better shaped, 
and better flavored Bremen. C. N. Bement. 
Farming as a Whole does Pay. 
“ One swallow does ' not make a Summer,” 
and a single case of success, in tilling the soal, 
does not prove that farming pays. The average 
condition of our farming population is, doubtless, 
the best evidence of the reward of husbandry. 
At the last census, there were in the State of 
Connecticut about 22,000 farms, generally occu¬ 
pied by their owners, who cultivated, on an aver¬ 
age, about eighty acres each. The value of 
these farms, with the tools and stock, was es¬ 
timated at about eighty-two millions of dollars. 
This is an average of thirty-seven hundred dol¬ 
lars to every farmer, invested in his business—to 
say nothing of the sums in bank stock, western 
lands, railroads, manufactories, and other enter¬ 
prises. The productions of these farms, consist¬ 
ing of hay, grain, roots, slaughtered animals, but¬ 
ter, cheese, home manufactures, etc., was es¬ 
timated at about eighteen millions of dollars. 
This would average to every owner of a farm, an 
income of over eight hundred dollars, exclusive 
of house rent, and fuel, and interest money. 
We doubt if any other class in the community, 
embracing so large a number of individuals, can 
show as much average wealth. Why should so 
many of our sons quit the plow for other more haz¬ 
ardous callings, when they have before them the 
moral certainty of success in cultivating the soil 1 
Plan of a Cheap, Convenient House. 
In pursuance of our design to present plans 
of dwellings suited to a variety of circumstances, 
we in this number introduce one of a cheap, con¬ 
venient house, contributed to the Agriculturist by 
Mr. J. S. Peers, of Madison Co., Ill. Accompany¬ 
ing the sketch he writes : A house may be very 
beautiful in its external appearance ; it may even 
“ fill the eye but if those who spend their lives 
inside, are daily compelled to walk two or 
three miles extra, on account of its ill arrange- 
ment, and the separation of the rooms, this fact 
L. Living Room and Parlor, 20x20 feet— K, Kitchen, 
18x18— B, Bedroom, 18x10— p, Pantry, 12x6— c, closet—s, 
stairs—?n, Front Porch—n, Piazza, 18x7. 
alone will counteract the beautiful external effect, 
and ‘leave a sting behind.’ The first consider¬ 
ations should be, comfort, convenience, and economy 
of labor. Therefore, the “Living Room ’ should 
be the largest and best in the house—the most 
cheerful and the most convenient. The plan I 
send speaks for itself. Here the living room 
opens directly into the kitchen, the stairs, and 
the family bed-room. [Remarks. —This plan is 
certainly convenient for a small family, at least 
it is arranged to “ save steps.” Fora small fam¬ 
ily, where the housewife attends constantly to 
the labors of the kitchen, and has little help, the 
plan may be as good as any that can be adopted. 
There are, however, objections that should be 
remedied, wherever practicable. There should 
be more closet room on the first floor—the “ run¬ 
ning after things,” up stairs or down, involves 
much labor. Tnis plan would be improved by 
having an opening from the kitchen to the family 
bed-room, so that the latter could be used as a 
sitting room, allowing the living room to be kept 
more as a parlor or spare room. The bedroom is 
large enough to be used as a nursery, or chil¬ 
dren’s room. One of the chimneys should be so 
placed that a stove-pipe could reach it from the 
bed-room. Whenever practicable, it is desira¬ 
ble to introduce between the kitchen and sitting 
room or parlor, a short hall, or closet, having a 
passage through the center, and drawers and 
shelves on either side. The two doors, one from 
the kitchen, and one from the other room, pre¬ 
vent a free passage of steam and gases from the 
kitchen. No chamber plan is given herewith. 
This can of course be arranged according to the 
size of the family, present or prospective.— Ed.J 
-- < - e«-- r—m - 
Scientific and Practical Talks About 
Manures—IV. 
(Continuedlfrom page 68.) 
Before taking up the mode of treating, and th# 
time and manner of applying manures to the soil 
we must devote a little more attention to theft 
composition and the probable value of the differ 
ent kinds of fertilizers. By a fertilizer, or ma¬ 
nure, we mean any substance which will direct¬ 
ly or indirectly supply food to increase the growtV 
of any plant. It has been stated that all plant? 
are chiefly made up of four volatile elements, 
which are dissipated or driven off in an invisible 
form, when the plant decays, or is" burned in the 
open air. These elements are Oxygen, Hydrogen, 
Nitrogen and Carbon. It has also been shown 
how these elements are obtained and applied, 
when we wish to increase the growth of a plant 
by giving it more food. 
So far we have spoken of all plants as being 
entirely, or essentially, made up of these four 
organic elements. But we must now take into 
consideration the non-volatile portion, viz.; that 
part which is left in the ashes when the plant is 
burned, or when it decays. The ashes not being 
volatile can not be driven off by heat, nor be car¬ 
ried into the air by evaporation or decay, and for 
the same reason they can not be supplied by the 
air, but must come from the soil. These ashes 
being made up of various mineral substances, as 
potash, soda, lime, magnesia, etc., we will for 
convenience call them the mineral elements of 
plants, and the substances used to supply them 
to plants may be called 
Mineral Manures.— When plants of various 
kinds are burned, there remains an amount of 
ashes equivalent to only about one part in every 
fifty, on the average. Some plants contain 
scarcely one part of ashes in the hundred, whila 
others yield much more than two parts in the 
hundred. In some cases, 100 lbs. of dried tobac¬ 
co leaves have furnished as many as 25 lbs. of 
ashes. But this is an unusual per centage ; about 
1 lb. of ashes to each 50 lbs. or 60 lbs. of most 
dried plants, may be taken as the average. 
Now comes up the important question : Are 
these ashes essential elements in the plants—do they 
form such a part of the substance of the plant as to 
be necessary to its construction or growth—can the 
plant not. exist in perfection without the presence of 
these ashes in definite fixed proportions ? Or, ara 
these ashes to be considered as superfluous mi- 
