AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
357 
Fattening Qualities of Slieep.— 
Experiments instituted by Mr. J. B. Lawes, of England, 
to determine the relative aptitude to fatten, of different 
breeds of sheep, resulted as follows: To make 100 lbs. 
of live weight, the Sussex breed consumed 297% lbs. of 
oil-cake, 285% lbs. of clover, and 3,835% lbs. of Sweed- 
ish turnips ; the Hampshires, 291% lbs. of oil-cake, 261% 
lbs. of clover, and 3,966 lbs. of turnips; Cross-bred weth¬ 
ers, 264% lbs. of oil-cake, 251% lbs. of clover, and 3,725* 
lbs. of turnips; Cross-bred ewes, 263% lbs. of oil-cake, 
250% lbs. of clover, and 3,671 lbs. of turnips; Leicester, 
263% lbs. of oil-cake, 251% lbs. of clover, and 3,761 lbs. 
of turnips ; and Cotswolds, 253% lbs. of oil-cake, 216% 
lbs. of clover, and 3,557 lbs. of turnips. 
More Goo<l South ©owns.-Ion. E. 
Cornell, Prest. N. Y. State Agricultural Society, has re¬ 
ceived in excellent condition nine very fine South-down 
yearling bucks and fifteen ewes purchased by him at the 
final sale of Jonas Webb’s flock. We are glad to notice 
that Mr. Cornell proposes to let the bucks. This oppor¬ 
tunity to improve their flocks should not be lost by breeders. 
Increasing Weight of Wool.—E. T. 
Hardy, Floyd Co., Iowa. The weight of wool will not 
be increased by exposing sheep to the full severity of 
Winter. Its growth depends largely upon the good con¬ 
dition of the animal. If poorly fed, the scanty nourish¬ 
ment, after sustaining life, will leave little surplus to be 
appropriated for wool. Shelter during excessive cold, 
diminishes the amount of food needed to supply animal 
heat, and more food therefore goes to producing wool. 
Buckwlieat Straw unfit for Sled¬ 
ding.— W. A. Floyd, Orange Co., N. Y., writes to the 
American Agriculturist that buckwheat straw used as 
bedding for animals causes an eruption upon the skin, 
which though not especially dangerous causes great irri¬ 
tation and discomfort. Rye or oat straw is every way 
better. [This may be so, but we have thought the preju¬ 
dice against buckwheat flour and straw, as being produc¬ 
tive of skin diseases, to be a mere fancy.— Ed.] 
Cut Straw for Bedding. —L. D. Weber, 
Luzerne Co., Pa. It would hardly pay to cut straw by 
hand for bedding a large number of cattle. Where a 
horse-power cutter is used, it may be advantageous. The 
cut straw is mnch more readily mixed with manure and 
rotted, and the soiled parts of the bedding are more easily 
removed without waste. Four to six inches in length is 
sufficiently fine for bedding. 
G rain for Young Animals. —C. T. 
Wilson, Cayuga Co., N. Y. A small amount of grain 
. fed to young animals in Winter yvill improve their growth 
and strength. It is not best to make them fat by over¬ 
feeding ; give only enough to keep them thriving. More 
animals are stunted by insufficient food while young, than 
are injured by too early graining. 
Value of tlie Mi Ilk Crop. —It is esti¬ 
mated that the entire milk crop of the United States, for 
the year 1860, reached $160,000,000. New-York State 
produces as much milk as all the New-England States, 
together with New-Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. 
Earge Cattle.— W. B. E. Davis, North Ber- 
■ wick, Me., challenges the West to beat a yoke of oxen 
owned by Capt. Francis Hurd. They were 7 years old 
last Spring. They stand respectively 5 ft. 4% inches, and 
5 ft. 10 inches high, girt 9 ft. 1 inch and 9 ft. 4 inches, and 
are 9 ft. 6 inches in length. June 1st, 1864, they weighed 
6964 lbs.; Sept. 3d, 1862, they had increased to 8330 lbs., 
one weighing 4120, the other 4210 lbs. 
An YJgly C Jistomacr. —C. R. Tyler, of Per¬ 
ry Co., Wis., sends to the office of the American Agricul¬ 
turist the tanneu skin of one of the aborigines of that 
State, a rattlesnake, 5 ft. four inches long, weighing when 
killed, 6 lbs. Its rattles, 14 in number, indicate it to have 
been an old settler, and an ugly customer to meet. 
Enormous Yield of IBnclcwlicat.— 
Andrew S. Nash, Westport, Conn., sends to the office of 
the American Agriculturist , a sample of buckwheat which 
yielded at the rateofViZIk busheis per acre. It should be 
stated however that the product of only a single stalk 
with its branches, was ascertained, amounting to 2S50 
kernels. From this anybody can cipher out the above 
yield per acre, on paper, provided three pecks were sown, 
and each seed gave a corresponding yield. When any 
one succeeds in ciphering it out with the plow and thresh¬ 
er, we shall be glad to tell how it was done. 
Icc-SIonses in Cellars. —T. E. Bennett, 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. Ice may be kept as well in the cel¬ 
lar as in any other place, if care be taken to exclude air 
and provide for drainage. Lay scantling upon the cellar 
bottom in one corner, and build up a double walled box 
of the dimensions required. Lay a foot of straw upon the 
bottom and six inches of sawdust or spent tan-bark upon 
this. Fill in the sides with the same material, and place 
it between each layer of ice. Finish at the top with an 
extra layer of straw or sawdust. 
Bnslscl of Grain in Maine.—W. B. E. 
Davis, North Berwick, writes that in Maine, the statute 
bushel of corn is 56 lbs., barley 56, oats 30, potatoes 60 lbs. 
Clnster Gats.— A. C. Balliet, Venango Co., 
Pa. The specimen is curious, but is probably only a 
sport, and not a fixed variety. Such anomalies may 
sometimes produce a similar succession, but the ten¬ 
dency will be to return to the normal condition. There 
is a pleasure in experimenting in this line, even though 
no permanent good comes of it. 
Use for IS!tier Ptimpkins.— Specimens 
of very bitter pumpkins were sent to the Agriculturist 
office a few years ago and we spoke of them as being of 
little account. N. H. Lyons, Susquehannah Co., Pa., 
writes us that they are a good substitute for hops. He 
cuts them into rings and dries them, after which a piece 
is boiled in water and the liquid used precisely as one 
would hops for yeast. He lost his seed by planting too 
near other pumpkins. 
Sorgliiun in California.—' The culture 
and manufacture of Sorghum in California this year has 
been very successful. Fields of from five to thirty acres 
have been grown, and preparations are being made to 
cultivate on a large scale next season. 
BO Barrels of gorghum Syrup per 
Bay.—The Prairie Farmer describes a manufactory at 
Loda, Ill., where the above amount of syrup is turned 
out. The mill was erected to accommodate farmers who 
agreed to deliver 800 acres of cane to be manufactured. 
Two large grinding mills and a set of evaporators are 
kept at work night and day, using up about 10 acres of 
cane in 24 hours. The evaporation is done by steam 
which also furnishes the grinding power. The syrup is 
of fine flavor, but rather dark colored, as help can not be 
had to strip the cane before crushing. The refining pro¬ 
cess is expected to remove the coloring matter. 
Uses of tJie Holler.— “ James.” For 
making and keeping a lawn in fine condition, the roller 
is indispensable. For farm purposes, it is very useful 
in the Spring, to press back roots of grain and clover that 
have been thrown up by the frost; to level down ant¬ 
hills ; to press into the earth small stones and bones that 
would otherwise dull the mower’s scythe; to crush clods 
of dirt, and bring the soil into close contact with newly- 
sown seed ; and to give grass a firmer and finer texture. 
Keeping’ Onions in Winter. —H. War¬ 
ner, Essex Co., Mass. Onions for winter keeping should 
be stored in a dry, cool place. A little frost does not in¬ 
jure them if kept covered and not handled until thawed 
out. An upper floor is generally better for the purpose 
than a cellar, which is apt to be too damp. 
Sowing Beets with Carrots.— Rev. J. 
Fletcher, of Hartford Co., Conn., whose readings of the 
American Agriculturist bave'led him to experiments of 
various kinds, lias settled upon the plan of sowing alter¬ 
nate rows of beets and carrots, putting in Altringham car¬ 
rots errly in.lhe Spring, 5 feet apart, and sowing white 
sugar beets between the rows about the 25th of May. He 
manures heavily, plows deeply, and trench plow's by run¬ 
ning a light one-horse plow in the bottom of each furrow. 
He thinks a much greater crop can be thus .raised than 
when on separate plots. 
Tansy Tea, will Keep off Bugs 
from the vines of squashes, pumpkins, cucumbers and 
melons; so says Mr. J. W. Staples, of Orange County 
N. Y. He informs the American Agriculturist that he 
has tried it repeatedly and always with perfect success. 
He steeps the tansy plants in a kettle to a strong tea, 
and then sprinkles it over the vines with a brush. The 
bugs curl up and drop off, and cease to trouble the vines. 
A second or third dose is applied after a rain, or when a 
new crop of bugs comes out. A tubfull of the tea can be 
prepared at one time, and kept on hand for use as wanted. 
Keeping Ants from Trees.-W. Clark, 
Fulton Co., O. We know no better way to prevent ants 
ascending trees, than to surround the trunks with sheets 
of strong paper covered with gas tar. This substance re¬ 
mains sticky a long time, and would prove a hard road 
to travel for insects. It should not be applied directly 
to the bark—young trees have been injured by it. 
Girdling Trees.—“ J. S. jr.,” Chester Co M 
Pa., inquires if the roots of trees can be killed by girdling 
the trunks at any particular season of the year, so that 
young sprouts will not start the following Spring. They 
would probably decay soonest by girdling in mid-summer 
when the tree is in full leaf. 
Evergreens for Shelter Hedges.— 
O. II. Wadsworth, Moultrie Co., Ill. Evergreen trees 
are best for screens because they retain their foliage in 
Winter, and thus break the force, of the wind. They 
should be set in double rows, the outer or most exposed 
one of pines and spruces, the inner of hemlock and arbor 
vitas. In a few years they will form an almost impervi¬ 
ous wall about the enclosure. 
Evergreen Tree Seeds.— C. R. Griffin, 
Riley Co., Kansas. Seeds of White Pine, and other ev¬ 
ergreen trees can be had of J. M. Thorburn & Co., this 
city. They are usually planted in Spring, and will doubt¬ 
less flourish in Kansas; they grow almost everywhere. 
It is well to put the seeds in boxes of moist earth during 
the Winter, or at least to get them into the ground very 
early in Spring. 
CMckasaw Plum.— S. Kinsey, Mont¬ 
gomery Co., Ohio. This is a wild variety not worth 
cultivating, now that our list of choice plums is so large. 
It makes a good stock on which to bud other sorts, at 
the South, but is not perfectly hardy at the North. 
Cheap Apples.— One of the Portland (Me.) 
journals says that a merchant of that city has contracted 
for 1,000 barrels of good Baldwin apples to be aelivered 
at $1 per barrel. 
Origin of the Montgomery Grape. 
—J. A. Montgomery, writes to the AmeHcan Agricultur¬ 
ist, in relation to the origin of the so-called Montgomery 
grape, that he procured it from a German living in Ly¬ 
coming Co., Pa., who could give no definite account of 
its origin or true name, but who prob.ably brought it from 
Europe with other .varieties. Mr. M. sent some of the 
vines to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from which the present 
stock has been procured by different parties. It is not hardy.. 
Grape-Growing near Cincinnati.— 
A correspondent of the Genesee Farmer says that within 
20 miles of Cincinnati over 2,000 acres are now cultivated 
in vineyards, mostly of the Catawba variety. 
White Seedling- Grape.— F. Kindley, 
Wabash Co., Ind. Grapes received in fair condition, and 
we judge them worthy of propagation, as a sweet, vinous 
grape, with little pulp. The vine is doubtless a seedling. 
Michigan Seedling- Grape.— Samples 
received from N. R. Haskell, Monroe Co., Mich., were 
submitted to the Agriculturist Fruit Growers’ Meeting, 
. and pronounced to be Catawbas which a favored position 
or a more vigorous vine had ripened earlier than some 
Immature Catawbas sent at the same time. 
Earliness of the lEehccca Grape.— 
“ John.” With us, it ripens between the Delaware and 
Diana, yet improves by hanging long on the vine. It is 
too tender and too slow of growth, to suit this fast age. 
Pears—Winkiield, not Wakclicld.— 
Two correspondents take to task the type-setters and 
proof-readers, and indirectly the editors, of the American 
Agriculturist, for “ignorantly or carelessly always print¬ 
ing the name of a pear, Vicar of Winkfield, instead of 
Vicar of Wakefield .” The pear in question was obtained 
from the woods of Clion, France, by a Curate living 
near, and was there called Le Cure, (Vicar.) It was soon 
after introduced into Winkfield, (not Wakefield,) Eng¬ 
land, and being disseminated thence, it received the 
name Vicar of Winkfield. Our printers and proof-readers 
are v.ght. This variety is a good bearer, and has been in 
good repute, but there are plenty of better kinds. 
Cranberries in Winter. — “ Novice.” 
Cranberries should be kept flooded if practicable during 
Winter, otherwise the frost heaves out the roots, and in¬ 
jures the bearing the following season. We know of no 
upland variety that gives as certain returns as those 
taken from swamps, sometimes called upland. 
Wintering- Stocks; and Wall Flow¬ 
ers.—C. N. Doane, Queens Co., N. Y. ft will not be 
enough to cut these down and cover the roots with leaves 
or additional soil. They must be so kept as not to be fro¬ 
zen. The only really safe place is a pit, house or cellar. 
