274 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
locusts are either boiled or dried in the sun, and com¬ 
pressed into halls which are used by fishermen for bait 
in the sardine and pilchard fishery. These fish eagerly 
devour this bait, which, when it is broken up and scat¬ 
tered over the water, attracts them in great numbers. 
May it not he possible to utilize our locusts in this man¬ 
ner both for our lake and sea fisheries ? 
To Pi-cveiit Scours in a Colt.—“G. 
A. F.,” Walworth Co., Wis. As soon as the looseness 
appears in the colt, give the mother one ounce of pre¬ 
pared chalk in her feed every night for a few days, and 
give the colt a little, mixed with a few pinches of salt in 
the hand to lick. If this does not act, the colt should he 
given a few teaspoonf uls of the following mixture daily, 
viz.: one ounce prepared chalk, half a pint of pepper¬ 
mint water, a teaspoonful of ground ginger; to be shaken 
before giving it. 
Tlie Value ©4‘ a, Tiiulier Planta¬ 
tion.—An illustration of the profit of judicious plant¬ 
ings of timber is afforded by a recent sale in Scotland. 
This was of the growing timber upon 8il0 acres of other¬ 
wise worthless rocky land, which was planted 50 years 
ago with firs and larches. After repeated thinnings, 
which produced large sums of money, the rest of the 
timber has recently been sold standing for $80,000. The 
whole income for the 50 years is said to he equal to that 
from the best arable land in the neighborhood. 
Tiie Ueatla of ILouis Tan JfSosatte. 
—One of the most eminent of European horticulturists 
was Louis Van Houtte, who died at Ghent, Belgium, on 
May 9th, last, at the age of 66. lie began his career as 
a collector of new plants in South America and Africa, 
and later founded at Ghent the celebrated nurseries 
which bear his name, and which are known for their ex¬ 
tent and excellence to horticulturists in all parts of the 
world. He began, about 22 years ago, the Flore des 
Serves et des Jardins d l'Europe," the most splendidly il¬ 
lustrated horticultural journal in the world, the 2,261 
colored plates which the volumes contain being drawn, 
printed, and colored in his own establishment. The ex¬ 
tent of his operations may be judged by the fact that his 
funeral was attended by over 200 of his employes. Many 
of the finest plants of our greenhouses and gardens en¬ 
tered commerce through his establishment, and his for¬ 
eign relations, including numerous correspondents in 
this country, were extensive. 
Exports of Produce from New 
York in 1870 as compared with 1875.— 
The following shows the exports of leading articles of 
agricultural produce from New York for the first five 
months of this year as compared with the same period 
of 18T5: 
1876. 
1875. 
Flour, bbls. 
.. 827,958 
754,206 
Wheat, bush . 
6,415.808 
Corn, hush. 
.. 5.057,056 
5,297.150 
Pork. bbls. and tierces. 
75,428 
83.782 
Beef, bbis. and tierces. 
51,461 
43,685 
Bacon, hundred weights_ 
.. 894,793 
900,940 
Butter, do. do. . .. 
8.904 
17,223 
Cheese, do. do. 
.. 208,610 
186,928 
Lard, do. do. 
.. 578,891 
680.785 
Tallow, do. do. 
.. 205,065 
181,229 
Manufactured Tobacco, lbs... 
. 3,091,075 
2,712,<107 
Value of a5te Wool-suds of Wool¬ 
en iWills. —As an instance of the economy with which 
woolen factories are operated, may be cited the process 
by which the grease from the woo’, is sa.ved and utilized. 
The water from the scouring vats, which formerly was 
run into brooks and streams, and whicti so polluted the 
water as to kill the fish, and give rise to hitter complaints 
from these persons who were compelled to use the 
streams, is now caught in cisterns, and treated with sul¬ 
phuric acid. This causes the grease to rise to the sur¬ 
face in a mass a foot or more in thickness, which is then 
collected, and by further treatment is made to yield a 
valuable lubricator for machinery, olic acid, and stearine. 
Some English millowners now realize $5,030 yearly from 
this previously offensive waste. 
To Raise Use Water of a Spring-. 
—“ C. A. B.,” Forest Lake, Pa. There is no way to bring 
water from a spring to a house up a grade of 30 feet, ex¬ 
cept by using some mechanical power. In this case a 
suction pump would not answer the purpose. 
Will l*eiiltry Keeping Pay ?—“ L. 
H. E.,” St. Joseph, Mo. This depends greatly upon the 
person who engages in it. We have known a man to 
succeed very well, and make money at the business, and 
his successor to make a bad failure, although ho had the 
same opportunities. A hen, properly cared for, can be 
made to yield a clear profit of one dollar a year, and if a 
man can do that with 200 hens, he can do tire same with 
2,000 if he has room enough. One acre for each 100 
fowls, and four cocks to the 100 hens is a sufficient al¬ 
lowance. A beginner should commence with 50 or 100, 
and early In the spring is the best time. He should 
choose no hens more than two years old, and one year 
old would be better. 
Speeding young Calves without 
milk.—“ J. H. L.,” Carroll Co., Md. Calves may be 
raised without milk by feeding them the following sub¬ 
stitute, viz.: take one pound each of sifted oatmeal, 
wheat shorts, and linseed-meal; boil these in two gallons 
of water, in which a handful of clover hay has been pre¬ 
viously boiled for an hour. Add four ounces of sugar, 
one ounce of salt and a teaspoonful of prepared chalk. 
After these have been boiled for an hour or two, strain 
the liquor and set it away to cool. Give one-fourth of 
this slightly warmed twice a day, and gradually increase 
the quantity as the calf grows older, until it has a gallon 
at each feed. As soon as it will eat, some finely chopped 
hay sprinkled with oat-meal and linseed-meal may he 
given to it. 
To Remove a Tsana ©!-.— 1 “ J. R. T.,” 
Norwich, Conn. If it is positively known that a bunch 
upon an animal is a fatty tumor, there is no trouble in 
removing it. If there is a doubt about it, it may bo de¬ 
cided by handling the tumor. If it is hard, and when 
pressed, retains the impression of the finger, and can bo 
moved about beneath the skin, it may be removed by 
opening the skin and simply turning it out, as it is not 
adherent to the muscles. If the swelling is soft, and 
when pressed, returns to its shape again, the probability 
is that it contains pus or fluid matter which will escape 
when the tumor is opened. The wound in either case 
should be kept open for a time before it is allowed to heal. 
Musag-as-ia-w €3a-ass. —“L. M.,” Clearfield 
Co., Pa. Hungarian grass, or “ German millet” may ho 
sown in July. Half a bushel of seed shou'd be sown if 
fodder and not seed is desired, as thick sowing produces 
a fine and softer herbage than thin sowing. The crop 
should be cut as soon as the blossoms appear, as it is 
then in the best condition for hay. It withstands dry 
hot weather very well. Unless the soil is good, or is fer¬ 
tilized, a heavy crop cannot be grown. A fair crop is 
two tons of hay per acre, but double that quantity is 
sometimes yielded. 
The Frice of Wool. —“E. C. L.,” Kan¬ 
sas City, Mo. It is impossible to intelligently even 
guess, much less predict accurately as to the future of the 
wool market. Prices are now lower than they have been 
since 1861, although not quite so low as then. The man¬ 
ufacturers are stocked with goods, and are buying wool 
very slowly to meet only their present light wants. Those 
who can afford to hold their wool, and choose that course, 
will realize any benefit that may accrue from a possible 
advance in price. As wool loses nothing but interest by 
keeping, and to keep the market bare of supplies will 
tend to harden values, it might be a prudent course for 
those who look for higher prices to hold their wool for 
an advance. 
Read tlie Advertisements.—“ C. N. 
C.,” Richmond, Va. Much trouble in writing and re¬ 
plying to communications would be avoided if our read¬ 
ers would look over the advertising pages before they 
write for information on various matters. To a farmer 
or other person who wishes to learn about thiDgs in com¬ 
mon use, these columns contain much interesting infor¬ 
mation. Your enquiry about Chemical Fertilizers would 
have found a reply on page 229 of the Juno American 
Agriculturist. A list of prices of fertilizers is given ev¬ 
ery month, and any of the articles mentioned can he 
procured in small quantities, and of the best quality, at 
the prices quoted. 
Defaced Kosc-I.eavos. —“T. R.,” Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., sends us rose and other leaves, from which 
semicircular pieces have been cut with almost mathe¬ 
matical accuracy. He can find neither “ bug, slug, or 
beetle ” on his plants, and thinks the mischief must he 
done at night. Not at all, the work is done at broad day¬ 
light, and very quickly too, by a Leaf-cutter Bee (Mega- 
chyle), which uses the pieces to build her nest in a hollow 
stem, under a board, or in some such sheltered place, It is 
estimated that a single insect will use about 1,000 pieces 
in making her nest. Unless the bee cau he caught at 
work, or traced to her nest, and killed, wo doubt if the 
cutting can bo prevented. 
Tlie Eass'lista ©i* Morse Beam.— The 
Mass. Ploughman , in a recent useful article upon the cul¬ 
tivation of leguminous plants, calls attention to the val¬ 
ue of the English, Horse, or Broad Bean, as it is various¬ 
ly called, and thinks that it is not much cultivated be¬ 
cause changes take place slowly, and that ‘‘it will prob¬ 
ably be many years before it is as much grown here as in 
Europe.”—Our friends cannot have tried to cultivate this 
kind of bean, or they would have discovered that it can 
never be a profitable crop with us, unless our climate 
should change greatly. It succeeds well in the cooler 
and moister climate of England, and in other parts of 
Europe. With us, no matter how early it may he plant¬ 
ed, the hot weather comes on and checks its growtli be¬ 
fore the beans can perfect themselves, and the crop has 
been, with us, in several experiments, practically a fail¬ 
ure. Then the plant-lice seem to have a special fond¬ 
ness for it; we think we have never seen any other 
plant so thoroughly covered by them. 
Box-ISldlei* or Asli-leavetl Maple.— 
“A. W.,” Wichita, lias. The seeds of this ripen about 
the same time as those of the Sugar Maple, i. e. in Oc¬ 
tober. Much disappointment arises in growing this tree 
from seeds, from the want of knowledge of one fact: its 
flowers are dioecious, i. e., the male and female in differ¬ 
ent trees. The pistillate or female tree forms its keys, or 
seeds, to all outward appearance perfect, whether fertil¬ 
ized or not, and a tree will hang full of seeds, not one of 
which will grow. In collecting the seeds, examine care¬ 
fully. Under the best circumstances not more than about 
a half will be found perfect.. If the swollen portion at 
the base of the wing or key is found to be empty, the 
seeds are useless ; if, when cut open, they are found filled 
—or Half of them are—with a kernel or embryo, they may 
be gathered. Keep them through the winter mixed with 
merely damp sand, in a cool place, and sow in spring as 
early as the soil can he worked. No seeds of trees that 
transplant readily, should he sown in place. Sow these 
an inch deep, in drills 15 inches apart. What may be the 
commercial value of the trees in your neighborhood, we 
can not tell you. The tree is by some regarded as giving 
more good fuel in the same time, than any other tree ; its 
sap will make sugar about as well as that of the Sugar 
Maple ; the wood is valuable for furniture and similar 
uses, and it is an excellent ornamental tree. Take it al¬ 
together, it is one of the most valuable where quick re¬ 
turns are desired. 
Agricultural FaSesats.— The inventive 
genius of American mechanics, is well shown in the 
multitudes of patents granted each year. The total num¬ 
ber of patents issued up to the present time, amounts to 
nearly 17?,000. Many of these are useless and dead, but 
the majority are of value, and a few of them have not only 
revolutionized the world socially, economically, and po¬ 
litically, but have multiplied our wealth a thousandfold. 
As regards agriculture, the efforts of inventive mechanics 
have been of the greatest value, for curiously enough it is 
rarely that a farmer invents any tiling that eases his own 
labor. He can not, therefore, complain with any justice 
that he should be called upon to pay something for the 
use of what he cannot now do without; nor that a me¬ 
chanic, to whom millions of farmers owe much of their 
comfort and wealth, should be enriched through the tax 
which the patent laws secure to him for the use of his 
inventions. The various patents issued, which relate 
more or less to agricultural operations, are enumerated 
as follows : Beehives 645; brooms and brushes 750; 
carriages 1,495 ; churns 1,391 ; clothes driers and wring¬ 
ers 0S4; grain cutters and binders 135; grist mills 371; 
fodder cutters 401; sugar mills 343, and stoves 2,400. 
Tlie Taiigsliau Fowls.—All that was 
stated in reference to these birds last month, was quoted 
from an English journal, hut wo have numerous inquiries 
as to price, etc. So far as we are aware, none have yet 
been brought to this country. 
What is Niter-Cake ?—“ E. D. C.,” 
Poolesville, Mo. Niter-cake coutaius mo nitrogen, it is a 
waste product left after the extraction of nitric acid from 
nitrate of soda, and consists chiefly of sulphate of soda 
and common salt, or an impure “ Glauber’s salt.” As a 
fertilizer it is of no special value. 
Prize Essay ©ai Berkshire Swine. 
—We have received from tlie Secretary of tlie American 
Berkshire Swine Association, a copy of the Premium 
Essay, by A. B. Allen, Esq., ou the Origin, Breeding, and 
Management of Berkshire Swine, which will appear in 
tlie forthcoming first volume, of tlie Berkshire Record. 
The essay is very good as far as it goes, but unfortunately 
tlie author stops short at 1S41, ijnd at the last importation 
of Berkshires made by him in that year; and as he states 
that these animals have been bred out, tiie impression 
might bo conveyed to the uninitiated reader, that the 
present stock of Berkshires are much inferior to those lie 
bred in that early period of their history. As the modern 
Berkshire has been much improved since 1841, and as tlie 
best known breeders of the present day have come into 
notice since 35 years ago, the essay might well have been 
entitled the Ancient History of tlie Berkshires. The 
personal recollections of tlie author are interesting, but 
throw little light upon the modern history of the breed. 
