196 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Thin out Grapes and pinch off side shoots 
. ORCHARD. 
Mulch trees which have been set out this 
Spring, watering them in dry weather ; keep 
grass and weeds from growing about their 
roots. 
Thin out the fruit especially from young 
trees, which often set more than they can 
properly mature, this is particularly the case 
with the dwarf pear the first season after 
transplanting. Two of our own, planted out 
a year ago last Spring, both set abundance 
of fruit, all of which save three pears were 
taken from one, while the other was allowed 
to mature about one dozen. The fruit on 
the former was much larger and finer than 
that of the latter; while the trees now show 
a marked difference, the one taxed above its 
powers making very little growth while the 
other is very thrifty. 
Pruning may be done m. 1 , give particu¬ 
lar attention to the trimming of young trees, 
shaping them so that a saw will never after 
be needed to cut off large branches. 
Look out for catterpillars and destroy them 
as soon as they appear by pinching, or rub¬ 
bing their nests with rags dipped in a strong 
solution of whale-oil soap ; the rags may be 
tied to the end of a pole. 
Search for borers about the roots of Peach 
trees, and watch the approach of the curcu- 
lio on your Plum trees. Spread a sheet under 
the trees each morning, and jar them sud¬ 
denly with the hand, after which gather the 
insects and burn them, a coating of fine salt 
scattered under the tree is thought to be a 
preventive. 
Cut black spots or wart-like excresences 
from Plum trees, paring smooth if the 
branches on which they appear are too large 
to cut off.—E d. 
Effect of Guano—Large Crop of Grass. 
—Mr. John Gardner, of Staten Island, cut 
on the 20th of May, from less than one- 
fourth of an acre, 815 lbs. of thoroughly 
cured hay. The surface mown was an old 
lawn, laid down for many years in grass, is 
very much shaded, at least one-half of it 
being covered with trees of dense foliage. 
The grass was dressed with less than 100 
lbs. of Peruvian Guano, on the $2th of April, 
just after the snow had left the ground, (no 
other manure of any description being used.) 
The grass was cut on Monday and exposed 
in the swath or spread till Saturday, through 
three of the most sunny, drying days we 
have had this season. We think the Guano 
paid for itself in this first crop, yet there 
may be at least three more for this season, 
and its effects will unquestionably be felt 
through another year.— [Ed. 
The United States Camels.— Thirty of 
these animals, procured by a government ap¬ 
propriation, to test their adaptability to this 
country, were landed, May 13, at Indianola, 
Texas, from the U. S. Store Ship Supply. 
They were accompanied by one Armenian 
interpreter, two Turks, and three Arabs. It 
is the intention of the government to try 
them as land transports on the western 
ains and prairies. 
MANURE ABSORBENTS. 
The last load of manure is at length cleared 
from the yard, the stables, the hovels, and 
the barn cellars. It is doing its appointed 
work in the field, hurrying up the potatoes, 
tasseling the corn, maturing the fruit, and 
thickening the grass. All these places are 
now to be filled with absorbents. The drop¬ 
pings of your cattle should not be allowed to 
fall for a single day upon the empty yard. 
This is a vital point in good husbandry, and 
is too often overlooked. It is a busy season, 
the crops need hoeing, haying is coming, 
and too often the carting of dirt into the 
yard, goes over to August or September. 
The hot months, when evaporation goes on 
most rapidly, is the time when absorbents 
are most essential. The summer sun will 
steal away your manure if you do not lock 
it up immediately, in some carbonaceous 
matter. This, fortunately, is abundant on 
most farms, and should be immediately 
looked up and put in its proper place. Every 
thing in the shape of vegetable matter, dry 
or decaying, is a good article for this pur¬ 
pose. Old swamp hay, corn stalks, sea¬ 
weed, &c., should be thrown into the yard 
and stables for the cattle to lie on. 
At the foot of the hill there is a low spot, 
that has been receiving the wash of the high¬ 
way for many years. Quite likely the loam 
is two or three feet deep, furnishing a large 
quantity of dirt. Then, in the lower part 
of the meadow, there is a swale that needs 
ditching, in order to destroy the sour grasses, 
that now thrive in the wet soil. Put the 
ditch straight through it, and kill two birds 
with one stone. Then the swamp where 
you cut bog hay, and pull moss to caulk the 
cider press, and to pack nursery trees, would 
be benefitted by ditching. The muck is 
there in great abundance,and the yard needs 
it. 
There is also a peat bog upon your premi¬ 
ses, quite likely covered with the swamp 
whortleberry, and the sweet pepper bush, 
which ought to have been invaded years ago. 
The peat quite likely is five or six feet deep, 
and contains all the elements of the crops 
you wish to grow another year. Again, in 
the forest, whence you draw your supplies 
of fuel, there are hollows, partially covered 
with water in the winter, into which large 
quantities of leaves have beenwashing every 
year for centuries. These are very valuable 
deposits. The water is already gone from 
them. Gather up the decayed and spongy 
material, and drop it in the yard to absorb 
your manure. This, remember, is the foun¬ 
dation of your next year’s operations upon 
the farm, and must not be neglected.— [Ed. 
Lucerne. —On page 177, of last month’s 
issue, we noticed some experiments made 
by Mr. Cleu, (not Clou), of Hyde Park, N. Y. 
To-day, (May 27,) Mr. C. called with a 
handful of the grass cut from the field where 
of the ordinary hight. The specimens be¬ 
fore us average 29 inches in length. This is 
certainly a large growth, considering the 
lateness of the present season. 
The leaves resemble clover. The stalks 
are green and succulent at the base, and 
taste to us very like the pods of peas. Mr. 
Cleu is highly pleased with the result of his 
experiments, especially that his crop has en 
tirely resisted the severe cold of the last 
winter. He cuts it this week. 
NOW FOR THOSE HAY CAPS. 
We think we were the first to suggest the 
use of hay-caps several years ago, and we 
have written something on the subject a 
number of times since. But whoever was 
the originator, we are sure the things them¬ 
selves are good, and this is the month to 
make them, if the work was neglected dur¬ 
ing the comparative leisure of winter. If 
the coming haying be anything like the last, 
they will more than pay cost this year, 
while with care they will last eight or ten 
seasons, if not longer. A dozen caps will 
often save a ton of hay in good order,which 
would otherwise be nearly spoiled, and the 
same caps may be used several times during 
one year, both for hay and grain. 
Buy a piece of brown cotton, five or six 
quarters wide, and stretch it upon stakes, or 
better, upon the side of a board or post-and- 
rail fence. With a common painter’s brush 
apply a coat of common linseed oil, mixed 
with about one-fourth its bulk of spirits of 
turpentine well stirred in, while both are 
warm. Let it hang until dry, and it will be 
ready for use. A composition has been re¬ 
commended made by boiling together one 
gallon of linseed oil and two pounds of bees¬ 
wax, and stirring in a quart of Japan varnish 
when cold. This appears to be an excellent 
preparation, and is probably preferable to 
simple oil and turpentine, though more trou¬ 
blesome to prepare at first. 
When the cloth is dry, cut it into squares, 
and attach a small eyelet or loop to the four 
corners of each square, and put them aside 
for use. 
When the hay is cut down, and there is a 
prospect of a shower, or of a heavy dew, 
throw it hastily into cocks, or even rude 
heaps, spread over one of these caps, pinning 
down each corner with a pointed stick put 
through the loops. Some recommend sew¬ 
ing small stones in bags and fastening them 
permanently to each corner of the cap, so 
that it can be thrown quickly over the hay, 
without stopping to pin it down. This is 
preferable on one account—the weights will 
keep the cloth stretched when the heap set¬ 
tles. The main objection is that the covers 
would frequently be lifted off by the wind 
unless the weights were quite heavy, in 
which case the caps would be troublesome 
to carry about or pack away. We suggest 
instead of sticks or fixed weights, to make 
up a lot of separate weights, and to attach to 
each of these a small hook made by bending 
a wire. These could be carried in a basket, 
and hooked into the cap as wanted. Prepar¬ 
ed in any of these ways, we are satisfied that 
hay caps are a cheap, economical thing, that 
should be provided by every farmer. They 
are convenient not only for hay-cocks, but 
for throwing ,over grain shooks, heaps of 
fruit, &c. It is well to have one or two of 
large size, to cover loads of hay or grain 
