1876 .] 
195 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Crude Petroleum for Paint.—“D. 
O. B.,” Boston. Having used crude petroleum for cover¬ 
ing the woodwork of tools, as well as for coating the 
boards and roof of a hay shed, with great advantage, we 
have recommended its use for such purposes as these. 
We have seen numerous buildings coated with this oil, 
and know several others who have used it with success. 
We cannot therefore understand the reason of your non¬ 
success, unless it be that something else than the crude 
oil was used. If you are satisfied that the oil in your case 
“ will not dry in 40,000 years,” there is certainly some 
mistake. As a further test, we recently had an experi¬ 
ment made in which, after three days, the oil was dry, 
and a coat of ordinary paint was laid over it, with an 
equally good effect as from the use of any other priming 
material. The color loft upon boards by crude petroleum 
is a sort of brown, which is, although of a muddy appear¬ 
ance, not at all disagreeable. 
How to Feed Rye.—“W. II. C.,” White 
Co., Ga. If the rye is fed green, it is only necessary to 
mow it, and give it to the horses and mules as other 
green feed is given. If fed when ripe and dry, the beard 
will not hurt horses or mules, but if fed to sheep or cows 
the sharp beards sometimes will pack in the honey-comb 
recesses or the leaves (many plies) of the stomachs, and 
cause mischief. It is best therefore not to feed rye or 
other bearded straw to ruminants. 
Cure of ISog- (Cholera.—“A. H. B.,” 
Brownsville, Tenn., sends the following remedy for hog 
cholera, viz., to give one tablespoouful of soda in some 
meal each day, until relieved. To this we would add the 
suggestion that if this fails of effect, half a tablespoon¬ 
ful of sulphite of soda might be given in a similar man¬ 
ner, daily. Hog cholera is the effect of a blood poison, 
and an effective antiseptic would be useful. 
fora Fertilizer.—“£.C.,” 
Somerset Co., Pa. There is no question that night-soil, 
as we term the contents of privies, is valuable. The term 
was applied, because the emptying of the cesspools in 
England is done in the night, and the name was intro¬ 
duced here. Very little night-soil is wasted in Europe, 
except in the larger cities, where it runs oft' by the sew¬ 
ers. Where cesspools are used, the “ soil ” is dipped out 
with long-handled scoops into tight barrows, and car¬ 
ried to a heap, where it is mixed with coal-ashes and 
straw, and is finally loaded into tight cart or wagon 
bodies, and taken to market gardens for manure. It 
is generally used for the onion crop, or upon farms for 
the root crops. As to its relative value as compared with 
livery-stable manure, we would rather take the latter 
at $1.25 per four-horse load, than the first for nothing, 
on account of the difficulty of handling it, or of procuring 
men who are willing to work with it in a country town. 
Catarrh in Siicep.— “ C. J.,” Rockbridge 
Co., Ya. When a sheep’s nose is gummed up with mu¬ 
cus, it is a symptom of cold or some other affection of 
the breathing passages, and not of “grub in the head.” 
The proper remedy is to see that the sheep are not too 
warm in their sheds, and that their yards are not damp. 
Also to sponge their noses with vinegar and water, 
squeezing considerable of it up their nostrils, and then 
freely tar their noses with common pine tar. 
Wliicli is tlae Rest Potato Fertili¬ 
zer ?—“ G. W. B., Phoenix, R. I. For potatoes, super¬ 
phosphate of lime from bones, and potash, are both valua¬ 
ble fertilizers, but they are very different from each 
other in composition, and cannot be compared together. 
Wood ashes contain potash and some phosphates, and 
are very useful for potatoes, producing a very sound 
and clean crop. Superphosphate of lime also produces 
sound and clean tubers. 250 lbs. of superphosphate, or 
50 to 100 bushels of wood ashes, or 400 lbs. of best quali¬ 
ty German potash salts, free from magnesia, may be used 
for an acre. Soda ash is of little value as a fertilizer. 
.Jersey Cows in Iowa.-“J. C. McL.,” 
Plymouth, Iowa. The Jersey cow will thrive very well 
in Iowa, there are many herds in that state. A good bull 
calf may often be purchased for $50. 
mutilating' Trees.—The Legislature of 
New York enacted, in 1S75, as follows : “It shall be un¬ 
lawful for any person or persons whatsoever, in this state, 
to hitch any horse or other animal to, or leave the same 
standing near enough to injure any fruit or forest tree 
that has been transplanted or used as a shade or orna¬ 
mental tree around any school house, church, or public 
building, or along any public highway.” The penalty is 
a fine, not exceeding $10—and costs. 
Cost of "rotvitig Corii in Virginia. 
“ G. G. P.,” White Sulphur Springs, W. Ya., gives the 
following items of the cost of producing and harvesting 
corn in Virginia. Labor is valued at $1 per day, 50c. for 
a boy, and the same for a horse. The items are as follows: 
Plowing.per acre. .$2.00 
Grubbing and harrowing.87 
Planting with machine.20 
Seed corn.09 
Working, cleaning and thinning.2.16 
Cutting .. 67 
Shucking...1-45)6 
Bringing in corn and cribbing...63 
Bringing in fodder and stacking. .59)6 
Expenses per acre....$S.87 
Insurance on Farm Property.— 
Statistics, compiled from the books of 10 Insurance Com¬ 
panies, show that these have paid, during the year end¬ 
ing Oct. 1st, 1875, losses on farm property in the State of 
New York alone, to the amount of $471,871.24, a great in¬ 
crease over former years. The inference is, that farm 
buildings and other property, which have been taken at 
low rates of insurance, are very risky. The increase of 
fires is attributed to the use of kerosene, carelessness 
with matches, and the unusual number of tramps. This 
sum represents the amount of insurance that has been 
paid, and not the actual losses, which would be much 
greater, as farmers are seldom fully insured. 
Sweet Potatoes, Seed and Plants. 
—Much mischief is sometimes made by types ; it rarely 
happens among our advertisements, though in a recent 
case the types got out of place in an annoying manner, 
and made Mr. W. W. Rathbone, of Marietta, Ohio, say 
that he sold seed sweet potatoes at $3, instead of $6, a 
barrel. Mr. R. has 25 acres in sweet potatoes, and offers 
both seeds and plants of all the leading varieties. 
JLily of the Valley. —It has been found 
that, while the roots, or “ pips,” imported from Germany, 
produce the regular, old-fashioned Lily of the Yalley 
flowers, that those from Holland are of a different strain, 
if not variety ; in these the flower-stem is much taller, 
the flowers smaller, and while the lower bells are well 
opened, those at the top are only half developed and 
greenish. A recent Gardener’s Chronicle (Loudon) figures 
both kinds as received from Mr. Herbert, of Richmond. 
May not this explain why so many of our florists meet 
with unsatisfactory results in forcing this plant 1 It is 
worth considering. 
Mixing' Fisli Chbisisro witli Super- 
pliosjslaatc.—“ G. W. B.,” Phoenix, R. I. It would 
probably be better to mix fish guano, if it is dry, at $14 a 
ton, with reduced bones, than night soil at $2.50 a load. 
The night soil contains much water, and its nitrogen is 
not so largely in the form of ammonia as that of the fish 
guano. It would do very well to dry the bones after 
treatment with the acid with sifted coal-ashes. Only so 
much as will reduce it to a dry powder should be used. 
Clean, pure sand, free from lime, or charcoal powder, 
would be preferable to the ashes, which may contain 
a little lime, which is injurious to the superphosphate. 
Tlae Cause of Bitter Milk.—“J. L. 
L. M.,” Berks Co., Pa. When a cow nears her period of 
calving, the quality of the milk undergoes a change, and 
it is frequently hitter. There is no help for it but to let 
the cow go dry. But sometimes there are other causes 
for the change, and a pinch of saltpeter or a spoonful of 
salt put into each pail of milk may remove the bitterness. 
Sometimes the cow may be out of health, and the blood 
is charged with bile. Then the eyes appear yellow and 
the milk is of a yellowish-green tinge, and the bile may 
cause the milk to taste bitter. If such is the case, a 
dose of salts (8 ounces) with an ounce of ginger given to 
the cow may remove the trouble. 
Whitewash for Poultry-Mouses. 
—‘'Reader.” The most readily made whitewash is a 
simple mixture of two pecks of lime to half-a-barrcl of 
water. The water should be added very gradually to the 
lime. If too much water is used in slacking the lime, the 
wash will he gritty and lumpy. This should be used 
when fresh made. 
Agriculture, Horticulture, Arbor¬ 
iculture, and Botany at Harvard Uni¬ 
versity. —Very few have an idea of the scope of Har¬ 
vard. It is a university in the true sense of the word, 
and has in all its departments nearly 1,200 students. 
Aside from the academical, law, medical, and other de¬ 
partments, it has of late years developed strongly in the 
direction of those branches kindred to agriculture. We 
learn from the reports of these departments embodied in 
the genera] annual report of President Elliott, that the 
classes in Botany at the Botanic garden, under Prof. 
Goodale, with Prof. Gray at hand to encourage, have 
been well attended by students of both sexes, mainly 
teachers. The Botanic garden is constantly increasing in 
value under Prof. C. S. Sargent, the director. The Bus¬ 
sey Institution is the agricultural department of Harvard, 
and Prof. F. Storer is its Dean ; the Bulletins of the In¬ 
stitution, distributed to those interested in scientific ag¬ 
riculture (and they would be of no use to others), have 
taken high rank with similar publications. Prof. S. 
holds strong ground against “ manual labor ” in an agri¬ 
cultural school, and says that until the opinion that this 
is necessary “ has been outgrown, as it lias been in Eu¬ 
rope, we can hardly look for any very rapid progress in 
scientific agriculture in America.” 
In the “Arnold Arboretum,” which is upon the Bussey 
grounds, and under the direction of Prof. Sargent, much 
preparatory work has been done towards making it what 
its liberal donor intended, the great arboretum of Amer¬ 
ica. The Bussey is the only place in the country where 
instruction may be had in the lower forms of plants, the 
minute fungi, algie, etc. These specialties are under the 
able superintendence of Prof. W. E. Farlow. Chemistry, 
engineering, geology, zoology, and ail oilier studies which 
bear upon agriculture are fully provided for at Harvard. 
Periods of Ciestation and. Incuba¬ 
tion. —“ M. G.,” Worcester, Mass. The periods of 
gestation and incubation of the most common of our 
domestic animals are as follows: 
Average. 
Known limits. 
Mare. 
Cow. 
.280 ” 
260 to 300 
Ewe. 
.150 “ 
144 to 153 
Goat.. 
.150 “ 
unknown 
Sow. 
.122 “ 
101 to 123 
Dog. 
. 63 “ 
50 to 67 
Rabbit. 
. 30 “ 
tinknotyt 
Turkey.. 
. 30 “ 
26 to 32 
Hen. 
. 21 “ 
18 to 24 
Swan. 
. 35 “ 
35 to 42 
Goose.. 
. 30 “ 
28 to 34 
Duck. 
. 28 “ 
24 to 30 
Pea hen_ ... 
. £8 “ 
27 to 20 
Pigeon. 
. 16 “ 
15 to 17 
Family Cows. — In choosing a cow for 
family use, most people would look for a large production 
of rich milk as the first consideration, and beauty as a 
secondary one, but an animal in which both beauty and 
usefulness are combined, is the most desirable. Thus, a 
handsome, pure bred Jersey cow, or even a high grade 
cow of this blood, makes the choicest family cow, and 
many such exist which are heavy milkers and butter 
makers, and at the same time possess all the desirable 
and fashionable marks and color. A good cow may be of 
any color, for the milking properties do not depend upon 
the color of the hair. In the herd of Mr. Thomas Fitch, 
of New London, Conn., there are many choice cows 
which have been bred especially for their milking quali¬ 
ties, and few herds, if any, in the country surpass this 
for beauty. 
Vsiloae of Refuse Salt.—■“ Richmond,” 
Ya. The refuse salt from fish barrels and that from tan¬ 
neries, where it lias been gathered from salted hides, is 
worth but little more than the common coarse salt, used 
as a fertilizer. There is some little ammonia resulting 
front the animal matter absorbed by the salt or adhering 
to it, but that is of very little account. Ten cents per 
bushel would he a fair price for it. The most profitable 
manner of using it, would be to compost it with swamp 
muck, ditch mud, sods, and other vegetable matter, along 
with' coarse manure. • 
Kerosene for Tice.—“ L.,” Yadkinsville, 
N. C. Kerosene oil should not bo used unmixed as a 
remedy for lice. To use a gill per day, for four successive 
days, upon one cow, would be injurious, although it is 
not probable that it would be immediately fatal. Kero¬ 
sene, properly applied, is a good remedy for lice, but to 
use it recklessly is dangerous. It should be mixed with 
four times as much lard, and rubbed in well on the places 
where the lice gather, chiefly along the spine. In your 
case the oil may have been absorbed through the skin, and 
caused the death of the cow. 
Manuring Corn. —“ M. H. L.,” Yadkin 
Co., N. C. In applying manure for corn in the furrow, it 
is necessary to be guided by the supply at hand. An ordi¬ 
nary forkfull shaken along the drill, over one yard in 
length, will use up about ten tons per acre, and this 
makes a very fair dressing, although we have used twice 
this quantity without thinking we had too much. To 
use it in the drill in this way, makes the manure cover 
more ground than scattering it broadcast. 
Water in SSIllc.—“ C. T. S.,” New York. 
No addition of water is needed to enable milk to be 
transported safely for any distance, either in cold or warm 
weather. In warm weather the milk should be cooled 
before it is sent on its journey, and this is sometimes 
done by putting a piece of ice into the can, as' being the 
most convenient. This, however, is an adulteration, and 
should not be practised. If the cans are kept for a time 
in a cool spring house, the milk will be sufficiently cooled. 
