62 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
may object to the use of sawdust, on account 
of its absorbent properties, which acting on 
the horse’s hoofs may tend to render them 
dry and brittle, and utterly impair the func¬ 
tion of the same. 
Should this be the case, we have only to 
stuff the hoofs with moist clay, or even 
wash them a little oftener, and the evil, if it 
exists, can be remedied. 
One half the stable keepers in Ne w-England 
and elsewhere, have during the past year, 
been sorely puzzled to provide sufficient bed¬ 
ding; and unless some better and cheaper 
material turns up, we would advise the in¬ 
terested to try sawdust. Perhaps the addi¬ 
tion of a few shavings might be advantage¬ 
ous ; but, try sawdust. —Am. Veterinary Jour. 
“ THE BEASTS THAT PERISH." 
We mean, good reader, those old cows 
and oxen—yours perchance—destined to die 
of cold and starvation, somewhere between 
the 10th of March and the 10th of April, 
1856, “ poor and very ill favored, and lean 
fleshed,” such as Pharoah dreamed of, but 
“ never saw in all the land of Egypt for bad¬ 
ness.” We are neither a Prophet, nor the 
son of a Prophet; but judging by the past, 
we have a distinct foreseeing of what will 
surely come to pass, as to these said lean 
kine. 
In the first place they will do what they 
did, in Pharoah’s dream; they will eat up 
the fat kine. That’s their mission and then- 
revenge. Whatever of profit your generous 
milkers and well fatted oxen may have 
yielded, will surely be swallowed up in this 
most unthrifty trade of murrain hides. It is 
a trade that can not by possibility be made to 
pay expenses. Even the farmer who dis¬ 
charged his overseer, because the result of 
his year’s management show a falling off in 
this source of income, we have reason to be¬ 
lieve made no gain by such sagacious policy. 
Apart from any consideration of profit, 
surely no man, much less one who calls 
himself a Christian, will distinctly anticipate 
and realise, the misery, and slow pining 
wretchedness of the helpless brutes he has 
charge of, without taking prompt and effi¬ 
cient measures to guard against it. It is for 
this reason, we call attention to the matter 
now. Now is the time to prevent it, because 
now it can be readily done. There is no 
difficulty about it, if taken in time. 
Overlook your stock and your means of 
support, and determine what proportion you 
have the amplest provision for, through the 
winter and spring. All supernumeraries, 
either sell to your neighbor who may want, 
or begin at once to fatten for the butcher, 
and get rid of before Christmas. 
For those that remain, have not only good 
and sufficient food, but houses or sheds, and 
dry beds. Food is not sufficient without 
protection from the weather. High feeding 
will compensate in a measure for exposure, 
but it is very wasteful management. Every 
animal should have at least the protection of 
a shed, closed on three sides. Cattle win¬ 
ter better perhaps in such sheds than in 
closer houses, but only because of the diffi¬ 
culty of ventilating the latter. The warmer 
an animal can be kept, the more economical¬ 
ly can he be fed, other things being equal; 
but clean wholesome air is as necessary as 
food. The master should go to bed on a 
stormy night, with the comfortable reflectiou 
that every beast dependant upon him, is as 
comfortable as himself. Such management 
will break up the whole trade in murrain 
hides, but it will be a profitable loss, and 
one that the farming community can well 
afford.—American Farmer. 
A SIMPLE WAY TO GROW MUSHROONS. 
It is a wonder there are not more mush- 
roons grown artificially than there are. They 
are not much trouble, and every body likes 
them. We notice in Mr. A. M. Strong’s gar 
dener, George Wigance, has turned his early 
hot beds into a good use, which is, that he 
spawned them, and has now a fine lot of 
mushroons showing themselves. The fol¬ 
lowing is the method pursued : Some time 
in August, after the melons or cucumbers 
die off, the soil is nicely leveled down, and 
compressed by treading or otherwise, as 
closely as possible. For this the soil should 
be moist, but not wet. It is now ready for 
spawning, a material obtained generally 
through seedsmen, but which can be made 
at home, containing the germs, or as it is 
familiarly termed, the spawn of the mush¬ 
room It is usually in the shape of brick, 
and before using requires to be broken up in 
pieces about one inch square. Holes are 
then made in the soil six or nine inches apart 
and one of these pieces placed in each hole, 
with from one to two inches of soil over 
them. It is again leveled and pressed with 
the back of a spade, and a pretty good soak¬ 
ing of water given. The lights are then 
placed on, and well covered, with some ma¬ 
terial to exclude the heat, to assist which it 
is necessary to keep this covering occasion¬ 
ally sprinkled with water in very hot sun¬ 
shine. No air should be given during the 
day, but a little should be left on at night. 
No water should be given at any time after, 
except when the bed is getting quite dry. 
The more uniformly moist the bed can be 
kept, without too frequent application, the 
better will be the result. 
The principal difficulty to be encountered, 
when grown as mentioned above, is, that 
during the latter days of summer the sun is 
often very hot, and without considerable 
care the inside would be apt to get at much 
too high a temperature. Perhaps for the 
uninitiated it would be better to make one in 
the open air, for which it is necessary to pre¬ 
pare a considerable quantity of short horse- 
manure, the less straw with it the better. 
Previous to using, this has to be turned two 
or three times, to get rid of the first violent 
fermentation. It is then to be built up into 
a heap nearly triangular, any desired length, 
with its base some four feet wide. It re¬ 
quires to be pressed together as closely as 
possible. In about a week, more or less ac¬ 
cording to the state of the manure, requiring 
only to be just warm, it should be spawned 
as mentioned above, and a coating of two 
inches of soil, (loamy is best,) spread evenly 
over the whole surface and well pressed 
down with the spade, using a little water to 
well plaster the same into a compact mass. 
Sprinkle over a thin coat of straw, thicker 
when frosts commence, and the work is 
done. If built in a cellar, it would furnish 
mushroons for several months.—E. S., in 
Country Gentleman. 
WILLOW CULTURE, 
Mr. M. D. Earnest, writing under date of 
Macedonia Depot, Summit County, Ohio, to 
the Ohio Farmer says: Last April I bought 
of Geo. .1. Colby of Vt., 50,000 willow cut¬ 
tings. We got through striking them the 
15th of May, and now many of the sprouts 
are six feet long, and all will average about 
four feet. They will pay well this year, if 
there should be sale for the cuttings. My 
ground was only plowed, for the wet weath¬ 
er commenced before I knew that I should 
obtain any cuttings, but we were particular 
to put the cuttings clear through the sod, into 
the soil below, and only a few of them failed 
to grow. The best time to prepare the 
ground is in the fall, for most of the land, 
that is suitable for the willow, is too wet to 
till in the spring, early enough. It takes 
about three days’ work to stick an|acre with 
the cuttings, it should be done early in the 
spring, before other work commences, so 
that it can be done well without costing too 
much per acre. 
From what I know of the willow trade and 
the cultivation of the willow, there is no 
doubt, in my mind, that farmers will find it 
very lucrative to grow them. Most every 
farmer has some land on which nothing but 
trash grows, which is just the land for the 
willow. 
Buckwheat Porridge. —Take a quart of 
rich milk, and after boiling it hard, stir in as 
much buckwheat meal as will make it of the 
consistency of thick mush, adding one tea¬ 
spoonful of salt and a table-spoonful of fresh 
butter. In five minutes after it is thick enough 
take it from the fire. If the milk is boiling 
hard and continues to boil while the meal is 
being stirred in, very little more cooking will 
be required. It should be placed on the 
table hot, and eaten with butter and sugar, or 
with molasses and butter. This is some¬ 
times called a five minute pudding ; it is ex¬ 
cellent for children as a plain dessert, or for 
supper. Some add a seasoning of ginger or 
grated nutmeg before sending it to the table. 
Pudding Unique. —A quarter of a pound of 
raw potatoes, scraped ; a quarter pound of 
raw carrots, scraped; a quarter pound of 
currants, and the same quantity each of suet, 
chopped fine, and flour; a little salt and all¬ 
spice. Mix all these well together, and 
make it the consistence of a pudding for 
boiling, by stirring in molasses ; about two 
tablespoonfuls will be enough, or it may re¬ 
quire rather more. This should be put into 
a greased pudding mold, and boiled two 
hours. It may be served up either with or 
without sweet sauce. 
No man has a thorough taste of prosperi¬ 
ty, to whom adversity never happened. 
