1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
167 
fertilizer, after having been used as a deodorizer in an 
earth-closet. In one of our southern cities (New Orleans) 
charcoal is used exclusively as a substitute for earth, and 
the deposits from the closets find ready sale through a 
Fertilizing Company of that city. Charcoal applied di¬ 
rectly to the garden would be of little use, except me¬ 
chanically, on a stiff soil. Its proper employment would 
be as an absorbent in the compost-heap. 
The Tea as an Ornamental Shruh. 
—Mrs. P. M. Edinondston kindly sends ns from North 
Carolina some tea nuts, and states that she highly prizes 
the shrub as an ornament to her garden. It grows 10 
feet high with her, and is an evergreen, which has en¬ 
dured the severe cold of the past winter without injury. 
With protection, it would be hardy further north. Mrs. 
E. prepares from the leaves tea of satisfactory quality. 
Vegetables and Fruits.— “ G. IV. L.,” 
Dacosta, N. J., offers the following as defining the differ¬ 
ence between vegetables and fruits: “Fruits are the 
production of plants which live through the winter, 
vegetables are grown from seed planted annually. ”— 
Under this classification melons would be vegetables and 
asparagus a fruit 1 
Tame !>eer.— “H. G. P.,” Weehawken, N. 
J. We cannot answer your question ; but had you signed 
your name, as every man who writes a letter should, we 
should have taken pleasure in referring you to one who 
could give you the information you seek. 
Pomes'i’amate.—Mrs. J. C: Agard, Tolland 
Co., Conn., has a dwarf pomegranate, leaves of which 
turn yellow and drop off. If she will put her plant in the 
cellar during the winter, it will start into growth when 
brought out in the spring. 
JFatfftesiimg’ tDlaiekesas.—“ P. H.,” Bur¬ 
lington Co., N. J., gives the following account of an ex¬ 
periment in fattening fowls : Weight of 25 chickens be¬ 
fore fattening, 85*4 lbs. After feeding 12 days, weight, 
93 lbs.; weight when dressed, 9214 lbs. The food given 
was 414 pecks of corn, 1J4 pecks cracked corn, and 
nothing but pure water to drink. 
Osier.*.—M. Leroy, Hancock Co., Ill. The 
profitableness of the osier crop will depend upon facility 
for marketing. Good canes meet with a ready sale in 
New York. They are always sold with the bark removed. 
There are several willow-peeling machines, but we do 
not know the names of the makers. We have no statis¬ 
tics to show the profitableness of the crop. 
I*ear.Trce iai a, <jJar«&en.—“ E. D. W.,” 
Cheshire, Conn., says : “ There is a large pear-tree in my 
flower-garden. In spading up the garden, five years ago, 
many of the tree-roots were broken off. These now 
sprout up, and with the flowers I have numerous little 
trees. It becomes worse each year.”-We are afraid 
that our correspondent must give up either his pear-tree 
or his flowers. If any one will suggest a remedy in his 
case; we shall be glad to publish it. 
Brusliisig- Peas,—C. W. Judd, Mass., pro¬ 
poses to suspend the brush from poles supported above 
rows upon crotched sticks. He thinks that this will pre¬ 
sent the spray of the brush to the young plant more per¬ 
fectly than the usual maimer of setting the brush. The 
objection to this plan is the difficulty of keeping the 
brush from being moved about by the winds. Where 
white birch is plenty, most excellent pea-brush can be 
obtained, and one can hardly invent any thing better. 
ILiir^-e 3>mc‘3s’s —Mr. Wm. Crozier, 
Northport, L. I., sends in a Rouen duck's egg which 
measures 9?4 inches in its circumference, lengthwise, 
and 7% the other way, and weighs 6 oz. Who beats that? 
Windmills, — A subscriber from Illinois 
writes: “ I see that Col. Waring gets his corn ground at 
a windmill; now the thing I would like to know is, can 
a windmill be used to grind corn? Is it strong enough? 
And how many feet must it be in diameter to be three 
horse-power strong?’’—This not only can be done, but 
has been done for centuries. In many parts of Europe, 
where there is no water power, previous to the introduc¬ 
tion of the steam-engine, no other means of grinding 
were known, and windmills are still in use. The mills 
■still standing on the Island ofRhode Island,have five arms, 
from 26 to 30 feet long, carrying a frame-work some 5 
feet 9 inches to 6 feet wide, set angling to the wind. 
When it is desired to work, canvas sails are unfurled, and 
made to cover the frame-work. In light winds the whole 
sail is used, and in very high winds only a small part. 
Tbe shaft to which the sail-arms are attached is fastened 
t® the hood of the building, which, by a cog-wheel ar¬ 
rangement, can be turned, so as to make the sails face 
toward any point of the compass from which the wind 
may be blowing. The modern self-regulating mills have 
their sails arranged to occupy the entire area of the cir¬ 
cle, and they are kept face to the wind by large vanes, 
working like a weather-cock. The sails are made of 
wood, arranged like window-blinds, so as not to offer too 
much resistance to a gale. These sails, furthermore, ad¬ 
just themselves to the force of the wind, sometimes pre¬ 
senting more and sometimes less surface. Probably such 
a mill as this, to give three horse-power in an ordinary 
wind, should be about 20 or 25 feet in diameter. 
I*oailti*y Mamirc.— Mr. Geo. Hoover, of 
Stark Co., Ohio, has about fifteen bushels of poultry ma¬ 
nure, and asks how he shall apply it to corn.—The best 
way will be to mix it with twice its bulk, or more, of dry 
earth, or dry coal-ashes, turning the heap several times 
to mix it thoroughly. Then give it a good wetting in 
every part, make it into a compact conical heap, and 
cover it with 2 or 3 inches of fresh earth. It will soon 
ferment, and the manure will disappear, diffusing itself 
throughout the mass. This compost may be used in the 
hill, but should not be allowed to touch the seed, lest it 
cause it to rot. 
litiyisig- MaMiire.—A correspondent asks: 
“ What can I afford to pay for manure; I live half-a-mile 
from town ?”—The answer to this question depends en¬ 
tirely upon circumstances; on the amount of grain fed 
to the animals making the manure, on the work they are 
doing, on the amount of litter that has been used in 
making it, or its degree of fermentation, or the condition 
of the laud to which it is applied, and on the value of the 
crops that are to be grown by it. It may be worth from 
$1 to §25 per cord, according to the circumstances named 
above. There is no safe rule, except the local custom. 
The price of manure is regulated by the farmers who buy 
it. As a general proposition it may be stated, that it is 
a good purchase at its market price, for farmers will not 
habitually pay more than they find profitable. The writer 
has purchased this spring forty cords of manure at $8 per 
cord, delivered, made by artillery horses, receiving 
twelve quarts of grain and doing very little work. The 
tobacco farmers on the Connecticut River pay $15 per 
cord for manure of the same quality, and haul it five 
miles or more. 
.Jersey or Alalermey.— “M. K. G.” asks 
the difference between Jersey cattle and Alderney cattle. 
So far as the animals in this country are concerned, there 
is not necessarily any difference—that is, Jersey cattle 
are called Alderneys, but the same name also applies to 
cattle from the Island of Guernsey, which are very dif¬ 
ferent from those from Jersey. We know of but one 
animal in the country from the Island of Alderney, and 
she looks like a Jersey. 
Ptfig'iaS-sosB.—Henry Anderson, of Jamaica, 
L. I., has a nice light loam, about 4 feet deep, with a 
sandy subsoil under it. He can get plenty of night-soil, 
and asks advice as to the propriety of using it, and the 
best mode of application. The land is very poor. If 
there is either grass or grain on the land, the best plan 
will be to apply the manure broadcast, at the rate of from 
ten to twenty loads to the acre. If the manure is to be 
used for hoed crops, a night-soil bank should be made 
by throwing up a ridge of earth about two feet high, in¬ 
closing a space—say ten feet square. Fill this half-full 
of night-soil, and then throw in earth enough to absorb 
all the moisture. After standing a couple of weeks, the 
mixture will be entirely inoffensive, and may be used 
like auy other manure, in a hill or otherwise. There is 
no better manure for any crop than human excrement. 
Setlisi"' mas* iai SESjaimes-.— A milkman 
in Paterson asks if there is any method of treating milk 
in summer to prevent its souring—say within 24 hours, 
and at the same time not to injure its quality. We know 
of no method except thatof cooling the milk immediately 
after it is drawn, and setting it either in a very cool milk- 
room, or in vats of ice-water. 
Cotton Seed vs. Splatter.—“J.H.M.,” of 
Tennessee, says he can buy cotton-seed at $9.00 per ton, 
and Virginia plaster costs $3.00 per ton, and asks which 
is the cheaper manure? These articles are so unlike in 
their action, that we cannot compare the two. We 
should use both, especially if the cotton-seed can first be 
used for food and afterward for manure. 
IF^s!l^-lF;lilIowa!ag•.—A correspondent in 
Conn, writes “ I have been much interested in what 
‘Walks and’ ilks ’ says about fall-fallowing. I had sup¬ 
posed that i 1-fallowing made the land poorer.” Fal¬ 
lowing not only destroys weeds, but develops the latent 
plant-food in the soil. If the crops are all removed from 
the land, and no manure is returned, fallowing is an 
Impoverishing process. But if the crops are fed out 
on the farm, and the manure returned, fallowing will 
make the land permanently richer and more productive. 
Are CSaestcr While too 
Coarse 1 — Mr. R. S. Himnan, of Conn., writes: 
“ ‘ Walks and Talks,’ says that the Chester Whites he has 
seen, ‘are altogether too coarse.’ I have some Chester 
Whites that were obtained from Chester Co., Pa., which 
are believed to be pure bred, and some of my neighbors 
object to them because they are too fine. They are re¬ 
markably easy to fatten, and spring pigs weigh at nine 
months old about 250 to 275 lbs.” Have they not got a 
dash of Suffolk blood in them ? 
IPlsints for IkocJt-worli.—In an article 
on rock-work given last March, we promised to enumer¬ 
ate some of the plants suited to planting upon it. We 
name some of the most readily obtained. Plants of a 
trailing habit are particularly useful upon rock-work. 
Among them are the Ivies, several species of Clematis, 
Ampelopsis Vcitchii, Money-wort, Vinca (Myrtle), espe¬ 
cially the variegated. Among our native plants are Liver- 
leaf ( Bepatica ), Wood and Rue Anemone, Columbine, 
Harebell ( Campanula rotund ifolia), Corydcdis glauca , 
Dutchman's Breeches, or Squirrel Corn, Moss Pink, 
Bloodroot, Two-leaved Solomon's Seal, Bird’s-foot Vio¬ 
let, Prickly Pear. If we were to turn to the nursery cata¬ 
logues a very long list could be made out. Most of the 
Sedums and Houseleeks are excellent for rock-work. 
The beautiful Sedum Sieboldii, both plain and varie¬ 
gated, makes a fine show if placed so that its pendant 
branches can hang over the edge of a rock. Some things 
may be raised from seeds, such as Arabia alpina, Aubre- 
tia deltoidea, Alyssum saxatile, Iberis sempervirens, 
Tunica Saxifraga, Saponaria ocymoidcs, Cerastium to- 
mentosum, Calandrinia umbellate, Campanula Carpatica, 
Myosotis, several species, Audrosace, etc. If it be de¬ 
sirable to make a show with annuals, before the peren¬ 
nials become established, Portulacas, Dwarf Tropteo- 
lums, etc., may be used. 
Sows Easing' tlieir Young'.—A New- 
York subscriber of the American Agriculturist has a 
“ very fine sow that had a litter of 14 pigs, which she ate 
all up a few hours after they were born; ” and he asks us 
what he can do to prevent her eating up her next litter? 
We answer, make her fat, and then kill the brute. But, 
are you sure she did eat the pigs alive ? We have seen 
sows eat up their own dead pigs, and have had sows eat 
up other sows’ little pigs, but never happened to have 
a sow that ate her own live pigs. A number of remedies 
are suggested for this evil, such as making the sow drunk, 
or giving her succulent food, or bran, or oil-cake, to pre¬ 
vent costiveness, for a week or ten days before she is ex¬ 
pected to come in. The latter is certainly good practice, 
whether it will or will not prevent the evil. Perhaps, 
giving her plenty to eat, would also modify her unnat¬ 
ural craving for animal food. A sow that could eat 
up 14 little pigs in an hour, weighing a lb. each, could not 
have had her stomach greatly distended with food before 
she commenced her meal. The best remedy, however, is 
the butcher’s knife. A breed that produces such sows 
ought not to be propagated. 
Flan of ii vrsi a t ecJ.— N. R. 
Pierce, of Iowa, writes: “I want Mr. Joseph Harris to 
inform me through the Agriculturist the best style of 
hog-pen for a farmer keeping some 75 hogs.”—In his 
book on the Pig, Mr. II. has given several plans of pig¬ 
pens, and among them a plan of his own piggeries, which 
are cheap and simple, and well adapted to his wants; 
but probably some of our Western breeders can furnish 
a plan better suited to the requirements of a Western pig- 
breeder, and we should be glad to hear from them. 
3*lowiug' iindn 1 Clover vs. Feeding 
it Off. —An Indiana farmer thinks there must be some 
mistake about our assertion that animals do not remove 
more than 5 per cent «f the ingredients of food most 
valuable for manure. We cannot give our data for the 
assertion, because it is based on Lawes & Gilbert’s ex¬ 
periments, the results of which, on this point, are not 
yet published. And we presume the investigation, 
though commenced over twenty years ago, is not fully 
completed. From private information kindly furnished 
us by Mr. Lawes, however, we think it will be found that 
these figures will r. )t vary far from the truth. Even if as 
much as 10 per cent of nitrogen is removed from the 
food, it seems a great waste to plow under a good crop of 
clover hay. But our correspondent must determine the 
question for himself. 
