1863.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
293 
Containing a great variety of Items , including many 
good Hints and Suggestions which we give in small type 
and condensed form for want of space elsewhere. 
THE READER’S ATTENTION, is 
invited to the business notices in this paper. Sundry 
General Premiums are offered on pages 313-14, and 320, 
which are worth looking after. The offer of the remain¬ 
ing numbers of this year free will be a special stimulus to 
new subscribers, and assist in making up premium clubs. 
WAR MAPS.— All who wish a large, com¬ 
plete map of Virginia and the adjacent parts of Mary¬ 
land and Pennsylvania, the present seat of the war in 
the East, will do well to avail themselves of the offers on 
page 320. Every person sending one or more new sub¬ 
scriptions, with his own, can have a map for each. The 
Agriculturist for November 1861 contained very complete 
maps of Kentucky, and Missouri, and a considerable 
portion qf Tennessee. That number most of our readers 
have now. Those who have not can receive a post-paid 
copy for 10 cents. The map of the Southern States 
offered on page 320 will be very useful. The map of the 
United States is also a really fine one. 
Those who have reported the 
Crops through the Summer, at no little trouble, and 
often at some considerable expense, deserve the highest 
thanks of all our readers, and of the country ; they have 
ours most assuredly. These reports give more reliable in¬ 
formation in regard to the crops of the country, than 
was ever before gathered at this early date in the season. 
—One Request more. In the reports for Sept. 10, we fear 
some did not note the change in the headings of columns 
D—G—M—O, where the number of bushels per acre 
was asked for. We shall be glad to hear at once on this 
topic. It will be interesting to know what is the average 
number of bushels per acre indifferent parts of the coun¬ 
try. The duplicate blanks on hand might be filled up 
under these'columns, where any mistake was made. 
The Pumpkin and Goiird Exhibi¬ 
tion, comes off next month. (See announcement else¬ 
where.) All who have large, extraordinary, or otherwise 
interesting specimens of Pumpkins, Squashes, Gourds, 
etc.., are invited to exhibit them ; but please give us early 
notice of what is coming, that we may provide room. Of 
course no one will leave us to pay expenses for the car¬ 
riage of specimens—as the exhibition is free to all. A 
competent disinterested committee will award the premi¬ 
ums, and decide all questions of prizes according to the 
terms of the offer. 
When to Sow Spring: Wheat.— A 
Farmer in Iowa, says lit connection with his crop reports 
that his experience tells him that if the importance of 
early sowing of Spring wheat could be impressed upon 
the public generally, the increase in the crop would be 
worth millions of dollars. The very next report we take 
up is from N. Y. State, and on the same point says: 
“ Early sown Spring wheat will hardly pay for harvesting, 
while late sown has mostly escaped, and is much better— 
some going over 26 bushels per acre.” 
C:mtion—Wheat.— Several subscribers at 
the West inform us that the “Mammoth Wheat,” and the 
“ Hallett’s” Pedigree Wheat,” distributed from the Amer¬ 
ican Agriculturist office, is being extensively advertised 
for sale at high prices. We hardly see how this can be, 
as we only sent out small parcels to individuals, and 
Mr. Hallett informed us the present year that he had not 
had orders from America to any amount. There may be a 
little for sale, by responsible parties, but it will be well 
to look out for speculators. One of the parties advertis¬ 
ing is not on our books, and could not have had the 
Free Homesteads in Iowa.— We learn 
from Iowa papers ,that there are about 40,000 acres of 
Government lands in Humboldt County, 50,000 acres in 
the vicinity of Fort Dodge, and 4,000,000 acres near Sioux 
City, “ as choice as any in the State.” Those near Fort 
Dodge are “ railroad ” lands, being adjacent to the Du¬ 
buque and Sioux City railroad. All Government lands 
are open for free settlers under the Homestead Act. 
What of tlie Steam Flow ?— On the 
26th of June, the owners of the several steam-plows in 
England, brought out their implements in full force at 
Farningham, 24 miles southeast of London, and devoted 
three days to extended field trials under the auspices of 
the Royal Agricultural Society, then holding its great 
Show at Battersea Park, London. Wc spent some time 
at Farningham, carefully watching the operations oi the 
different plows, with reference to the feasibility of their 
introduction into this country. The conclusion we came 
to was, that while these plows are adapted to some of the 
heavier lands of England, where human labor is cheap, 
but horse labor dear, they have too much rigging, and re¬ 
quire too many attendants to allow of their general intro¬ 
duction into the Eastern and Middle States. A skillful 
man,with $6000 to $12000 capital, would most probably find 
it profitable to procure one or two of them, and make a 
business of plowing for others on the Western prairies. 
Some gentlemen of our acquaintance are sanguine that 
there is in this country a new steam plow, nearly finished, 
which will prove a complete success. It is to be thor¬ 
oughly tested before being brought before the public. 
Screw Stump-Blaster.— Not recollecting 
any other, we use this name for a simple but ingenious 
implement we saw in Dr. Rau’s collection at Hohenheim 
Agr. College, Germany. In removing large stumps, and 
splitting tough, knotty logs, it would be more frequent¬ 
ly desirable to use gunpowder, but for the difficulty of 
putting a firm tamping over the powder, and the trouble of 
using fuse or a priming rod. The apparatus referred to is 
simply an iron screw, with a deep thread, and a small 
hole lengthwise through its center. The auger hole be¬ 
ing bored in the wood, the powder is placed in the bot¬ 
tom and the screw, which is larger than the hole, is worked 
down upon it by means of a loose lever in its outer end. 
The center aperture is then filled witli priming powder for 
firing. The thread holds even stronger than stone or 
brick tamping, and the same screw may be used for any 
number of logs or stumps. Any blacksmith might get up 
such a screw. There was one either at the International 
Exhibition, or at the Battersea Park Show, in London, but 
we believe this implement is not patented in this country. 
Brains Stopped l»y Boots.— A Shaker 
Friend has left for exhibition at the office of the American 
Agriculturist , a remarkable specimen of root growth 
which caused no little damage. It is a portion of the 
roots of a maple tree, which stood in a meadow, near a 
stone drain. It is a compact mass of roots about two 
feet long and a foot wide, which had matted them¬ 
selves about the stones of the drain and effectually pre¬ 
vented the passage of water, thus causing an overflow 
and greatly injuring several acres of grass. This occur¬ 
rence suggests tiie necessity of removing trees from the 
line of drains, or in some way preventing their roots from 
thus causing obstruction. An important statement often 
insisted upon in these columns is also corroborated ; viz., 
that, other conditions being favorable, an open porous soil 
is most conducive to growth. The roots speedily found 
their way among the interstices of the drains, and fatten¬ 
ing upon the deposit from the water, developed into sur¬ 
prising growth. A tree with plenty of such fibrous roots, 
would have a corresponding vigor of trunk and branch. 
Sale of Devons.-On September 10th, R. 
Lindsley Esq., of Meriden, Conn., held an auction sale of 
pure Devon cattle. E. H. Hyde, of Stafford, Conn., 
bought “Majestic” (imported), “Nelly Bly,” “Nelly 
Bly 2d,” and “Fancy 5th” (two years old); also year¬ 
ling bull “ Prince John 2nd.” Hon. John Wentworth, 
of Chicago, bought “ Fairy 2d ” and calf, also two bull 
calves, one out of “ Nelly Bly 2d,” the other out of 
“Empress Eugene 2d.” Levi Yale, of Meriden, Conn., 
purchased “ Nelly Bly 5th.” Mr. Buffum, of Newport, 
R. I., purchased a bull calf out of “ Chance.” Mr. L., 
intended to sell all his Devon stock, but so few buyers 
were present, further sales were postponed one month. 
Cuvcalios in Apples. —At a recent meet¬ 
ing of fruit growers, held at the American Agriculturist 
Rooms, Dr. Trimble, of Newark, N. J., exhibited curcu- 
lios obtained by putting wormy apples which fell in June, 
into barrels of earth, and covering with millinet. The 
curculios hatched out in great numbers, and were retain¬ 
ed by the covering. We have at our office a bottle of 
them alive and active ; we feed them with pieces of 
pears which they appear to enjoy. This proves con¬ 
clusively that when plums are scarce, as they were where 
these apples grew, the curculio will take to other fruit. 
Dr. T., who has made this insect a study for years, says 
they do not spend the winter in the ground, but in the 
rough bark of trees, or other hiding places. 
Scalding; Beaches to Feel Them.— 
W. Hunt, N. Y. City, informs the Agriculturist, that he 
has tried scalding peaches the same as tomatoes, to loosen 
the skin, and finds it an admirable plan for peaches that 
are fully' ripe. Put them in a pan, pour boiling water 
over, and let them stand a minute, but not long enough 
to cook beyond skin deep. Tiie skins will then cleave 
off readily without waste, as we have proved by trial. 
Bistnnce Apart of Apple Trees.— 
“Inquirer.” You will find a discussion of this subject in 
the Nursery Catalogue of Messrs. Stephen Hoyt& Sons, 
of New Canaan, Conn., which is furnished free to all ap¬ 
plicants, we suppose. They advise 18 feet apart when the 
orchard is the chief thing; and 36 to 40 feet, if crops be the 
principal object, and fruit a secondary one. Their rea¬ 
sons for this advice are plausible. 
Stan (lards and Bwarfs—Tl»c Bif- 
ference.—D. Millikin, Butler Co., O. Standard trees 
are those which have undergone no change of species. 
They may be grafted or budded at pleasure, but retain 
the name of standard, though frequently dwarfed a little 
in habit. Proper dwarfs are those in which the species is 
changed by grafting or budding one sort upon a weaker 
or smaller growing stock of another species, as for exam¬ 
ple, the pear upon quince, apple upon paradise stock, 
etc. If you bud or graft the shag-bark walnut (called 
hickory nut,) upon the pig nut hickory, you neither make 
it a dwarf nor bring it early into bearing, as one variety is 
about as robust as the other. 
Trimming’ Tomatoes.— A. A. Horton, of 
Fon du Lac Co., Wis., writes to the Agriculturist that, 
“trimming tomatoes not only improves their quality but 
hastens their maturity several days.” This depends upon 
the amount of cutting in. Without a fair supply of leaves 
no plant can mature its fruit well. The outer branches 
of tomatoes, and of vines generally, on which the green 
fruit can not mature before frost, may welt be clipped off. 
Striking Grape Cutting'S.— E. W., of 
Hammonton, N. J., set 140 grape cuttings last season and 
lost but 6 of them. He followed the directions of a Ger¬ 
man gardener, pruning the vines in Winter, and on the 10th 
of March he put the cuttings in a pail of mud and 
water for a week. They were then set in prepared trenches 
and started vigorously upon the approach of warm weath¬ 
er. The cuttings were put one half their length in the 
mud, and only a single eye was left above the surface. 
Grapes from Seed.— N. S. Thornton, 
Randolph Co., Ind. Grapes from seed vary quite as 
much as apples. It is seldom that more than one out of 
a hundred seedlings is worth raising. The business is 
therefore best left to amateurs and professional growers, 
buying of them roots of sucli kinds as are wanted. A good 
kind obtained, can be increased by cuttings and layers. 
The Camellia as a House Plant.— 
“Sophy.” Your ill luck is not the first; the buds are 
very apt to wither and drop. To help you, here is a lit¬ 
tle advice. First, see to it that your soil is made up of 
turfy, spongy, fibrous soil from the woods. Have the 
pots well drained. Keep the plants in a cool room at 
first, say from 40° to 50°. When the buds are well devel¬ 
oped, keep the soil wet; the saucers should never become 
entirely dry. When the buds begin to expand, bring the 
pots into the parlor or living-room, and give more heat. 
Sprinkle the foliage and keep the ground moist. In Feb¬ 
ruary and March, you may expect a fine show of blooms. 
Diminish the water as soon as the flowers begin to fade. 
Removing Strawberry Leaves.— 
“ O. W.” The old spotted leaves seen on strawberry 
plants after the fruiting season, are those which have per¬ 
formed their office and will ere long decay. There is no 
need of removing them, as they will soon fall off of them¬ 
selves, and they are useful as a mulch ; the more of 
them on the ground the better. 
Exterminating White Bnisy.—“ W. 
N. P., of Hyde Park, Vt., asks what to do with this pest 
“ after it has got a start,” and if the seeds can be killed in 
manure. It should not be allowed to “ get a start ” any¬ 
where, as many farmers in western New-York, can re¬ 
gretfully testify. Constant cutting or pulling before a 
single plant blooms, in field, fence corner, or road, will in 
time worry it out, and this should be done—always done 
with this and other pests. Thorough composting and fer¬ 
menting of manure will destroj the vitality of all seeds. 
Book on Carpentry.—“ C. L. L.,” Clay 
Co., Ind. We know of no poplar book on carpenter 
work adapted to general use. There are some expensive 
books on Architecture, suitable for professional master- 
buildeis, or those following the business. Native tact, 
and practice with common tools, will suffice for all ordi¬ 
nary operations ; beyond these, as in the erection of build¬ 
ings, it is cheaper to employ an experienced mechanic. 
Stove Cement.— A very good cement for 
stopping cracks in stoves or pipes is said to be made by 
mixing iron filings white lead, and linseed oil together, 
to the consistence of putty. Apply to the joint or crack, 
and leave for a day or two before heating up the stove. 
