1864] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
167 
have been very prevalent in his neighborhood, the 
present season. He lost about sixty chickens from 
this disease, although he tried the remedies .proposed 
and said to be infallible. Investigation and definite 
knowledge on the cause, prevention and cure of this dis¬ 
order, are yet wanted. 
“Succor” for tSie FliiclicMS—43»pcs. 
We give the following letter without attempting an 
amendment, holding that "sense is betler nor larnin." 
Squire Bunker must look out for his laurels : “ As it is 
a rainny day and I can’t do nothing about farm work, I 
thought I would sit down and write to you. I see in 
your March paper some people don’t know how to cure 
Gapes in chickens,- and you want to know if any one 
can give a positive unfailing remedy, well I will tel you 
how near I come to that sort of thing, I come within one 
of it, and I think thats neer enough to make a calcula¬ 
tion from, that is, after 20 years expearence. I have raised, 
or my wife and me together have raised, from fifty to five 
hundred a year, and never had but one to die with the 
gapes. I have had 15 or 20 gaping of a cold wet morn¬ 
ing as tho they had something in thair throats that would 
choake them to deth in 5 minits, and in fifteen minits 
more they all would be as smart as crickets. Well I’le 
just tell you how its done and if you chuse to tel every 
boddy els—I dont care. Well I take for 15 or 20 chick¬ 
ens about a soser ful of corn meal and one of cayenne 
pepper, that is 1 teaspoonful of the pepper, and watter 
enough to mix and give it to them and if it dont cure 
them in les than no time just let me know, and give me 
the particulars, that is, what kinde of chickens they air, 
and how you manage them, and I think I can save you 
and your chickens ; that is if you take my advice. Now 
Mr. editor some of your folks may wan’t to know, and you 
can tell them that I live a way out west a-bout the mid¬ 
dle of Succordom and a-bout a good stones throw south 
of latitude 40 and a half days travil west of longitude 12, 
I am a Pennsylvanian by birth but a naturalised succor; 
I am keeping a account of my poltry this year and intend 
to beat them down-easters all hollow and you may just 
tel them so. But it has quit rainen and I must be look¬ 
ing about out of doors.—Your friend, 
A natuhlised Succor.” 
Cure for ®apcs.— Stephen H. Feekes, 
writes to the Agriculturist. “ To cure gapes in young 
. chickens, put them in an empty flour barrel; take a piece 
of gunny bag or coarse cloth of any kind, and make a bag 
of it, large enough to hold a quart or two, fill it half full 
of dry ashes. Hold it in the barrel and shake it'hntil the 
air in the barrel is filled with the dust. Repeat it two or 
three times in an hour, and when the dust is settled let 
them go to the old hen and if she don’t thank you I will.” 
Scalding' Borers.—Dr. Pitcher, .of Hy- 
annis, Mass., uses a syringe with a bent tube, with which 
he throws hot water into the holes and scalds the borers. 
He successfully treated 22 trees in this way. 
Simple Protection for dal»l>age 
Plants.—“ B. B. D.,” writes to the Agriculturist. 
Since my boyhood, I have protected young cabbage 
plants from worms, simply by surrounding the stems 
closely with small flat stones or chips on pieces of shin¬ 
gles. Almost or quffe invariably the worm comes to the 
surface, near the stem it intends to attack; and if it 
meets an obstacle there, it fails ; for it usually eats off 
the stem above the'Surface, if any where. I never saw 
this remedy practised by others, except at my suggestion ; 
but I regard it as very effectual. Small stones which 
will fit closely enough around the plant, are often to be 
found on the spot.” 
Pumpkin Seeds for Worms.- G. W. 
G., New Hartford Centre, Conn. These are used by 
physicians to remove tape worms from the human sys¬ 
tem. Two ounces of the seeds from which the skin has 
been removed are beaten in a mortar with an equal weight 
of sugar and a half a pint of water, to form a milky fluid. 
This is taken at a dose, after.fasting. If it does not oper¬ 
ate in about two hours, a dose of castor oil is to be taken. 
ISsiising - Trees for Fuel. —A writer in 
tire Wisconsin Farmer is of opinion that raising trees 
for fuel will ere long be a necessity in that State. Dur¬ 
ing the past winter owing to deep snows a very scanty 
supply was taken to the cities and villages from the lo¬ 
calities whence it can now be supplied, and prices rose 
one hundred per cent. As no near supply of coal exists, 
and the forests are rapidly disappearing, he considers the 
past winter a warning of what may be expected, if meas¬ 
ures be not soon taken to procure a supply. The subject 
is worthy serious attention. 
Fall Pippin in Northern Illinois. 
“B. B.D.,” writes to the American Agriculturist: “At 
one of the meetings of the Fruit Growers’ Society, I 
heard part of a discussion on the early decay of recently 
planted orchards. Incidentally, it was affirmed, without 
qualification, that the Fall Pippin was perfectly hardy. 
It may be so in that and many other regions; but it is 
quite otherwise in Northern Illinois. I have, in the last 
twenty years, pretty carefully tested more than one hun¬ 
dred and fifty varieties of apples—by far too many—and 
the Fall Pippin was found among the most tender of 
them all. From a considerable number .of trees, I nev¬ 
er gathered a bushel. Not one good tree of this sort 
remains, and most are wholly dead, i speak from per- 
, sonal knowledge only of my own trees, and those in the 
same vicinity—about 20 miles northwest from Chicago.” 
The 'Winter's Work on Fruit Trees. 
—We extract from our letters some notes on the destruc¬ 
tive effects of cold at the West. In St. Joseph’s Co., 
Mich., the peach trees are severely injured and no crop 
expected—“G. C.,” Hamilton Co., writes : Bartletts 
not a single leaf or blossom bud alive. Peach and quince 
branches would make good kindling wood. New Ro¬ 
chelle Blackberry killed to ground; Doolittle uninjured. 
Tree ILsikels.— E. Tatnall, Jr., of the Bran¬ 
dywine Nnrseries, Wilmington, Del., sends specimens of 
very neat labels. Mr. T. has a small printing press, and 
occupies leisure time in printing in clear type upon or¬ 
dinary wooden tags the names of the fruits he expects 
to send out. He doubts if it would pay to have them 
printed, but he sends them as hints towards improvement 
in this direction.“ Amateur” marks his trees by cut¬ 
ting the initial letter, or such letters as will designate the 
variety, with a sharp knife into the smooth bark, with¬ 
out removing any of it. The mark shows but little at 
first, but is plainer as the tree grows, and lasts many years. 
Trsrmsiplaiitiisg' N'mt-heai’sng' Trees. 
—A correspondent writes that he has success with the 
walnut, hickory and other trees having a long tap-root, 
by cutting this about a foot below the surface a year be¬ 
fore transplanting. This causes numerous fibrous roots 
to be thrown out, and the tree may afterwards be remov¬ 
ed with but little risk of injury. 
To Clean. Carrot Seed.—H. Knell, Jo 
Davies Co., Ill., answers to a question in the April No. of 
the American Agriculturist: “I wish to state that in 
Germany, we treated carrot seed in the following way : 
After the seed is gathered, it is putin an airy place to get 
thoroughly dry. It remains there until time can be 
spared in winter to pack it in bags ; it is then dried 
in or over a baker’s oven; after this it is beaten with a 
threshing flail for a few minutes, which not only loosens 
the outer skin, but also the little spines attached to the 
seed. Then by running through a fanning mill you get 
cleaner seed than can be procured by any other method.” 
Mow to Slaow Sra-awlMiE-i-y 
©tlier Tlaots in Fruit.—The neatest and best 
way we know of to exhibit strawberry and other plants 
in full fruit or flower, in a fresh, growing condition, with¬ 
out the least injury to the plants, is the following: Have 
a short section of a stove-pipe made, 6 to 12 inches long, 
and 8 to 20 inches in diameter. Set this over the plant, 
and with a billet of wood drive it into the soil, until its 
upper edge is even with the surface. Then dig away 
the soil around and below, and slip a board under. The 
whole plant, with soil undisturbed, can thus be lifted and 
carried anywhere, and whenever desired be returned to 
the ground with no loss of vitality or vigor, if kept water¬ 
ed while out. When designed for exhibition upon a 
table, it is well to previously fit a board into the bottom 
of the cylinder, with tvso or three screw holes around the 
rim. Then on lifting the plant, pare-out a little of the 
bottom soil, slip in the board and fasten it with the 
screws. The size, and height of the sheet iron cylinder 
will depend upon the size of the plant, and the amount of 
root necessary to be preserved. The expense is but 
trifling, and the cylinder made of Russian sheet iron, and 
set upon a plate or dish is as neat as a flower pot. 
Varieties of Asparagus.— E. Merritt, 
Dutchess Co., N„Y. There is abundant evidence that 
varieties of asparagus are not perpetuated by seed with 
any certainty, but that the sorts which have received dis¬ 
tinctive names are due to peculiarities of soil and culture. 
Seeds of large kinds, other things being equal, will 
doubtless produce better plants than seeds from poor sorts. 
Fatty for Green Mouses.— The Prairie 
Farmer says, that putty made with one third white lead 
instead of all whiting, will last at least three times as 
long as that of ordinary quality, which is not usually 
durable under the severe exposure of a green-house 
IBiaclc Knot Ini 9*]mini Trees.—“J.,” 
Ogdensburgh, N. Y. The question of its origin was set¬ 
tled over 40 years ago when it was shown to be a fungus. 
The observations have been repeated since, and are giv¬ 
en in the April Agriculturist of 1863. There is no doubt 
that insects use this soft growth in which they depos¬ 
it their eggs, but it certainly is not caused in this way. 
Neln-amka Phims.-'A Subscriber,” in 
Otoe Co., Nebraska, cautions us against believing ! all that 
is said about the wild plums of that State, noticed in Jan¬ 
uary “ Basket.” He says that there are good wild plums, 
but that nothing is yet known of them in cultivation, and 
he supposes that they are praised to create a demand and 
thus get up a hardy-plum-tree speculation. We have 
given both sides ol the Nebraska plum story, and await 
further developments.—Cions may come by mail in a tin 
box, with sand or in slightly dampened moss covered with 
oiled silk and strong paper. 
Fxtcrminiiting' the White B>ai»y. 
—N. Thomas, Portage Co., Ohio. Where this abounds, 
the only way to exterminate it is to plow up the 
meadow and plant some hoed crop. Pasturing with 
sheep will abate the nuisance in a measure. Some con¬ 
sider them valuable when made into hay, but we doubt it. 
Cultivation of IIuckleheiTies.— 
Erastus. All the varieties would doubtless grow in Ohio. 
We know of no attempts to cultivate them. Here is a 
good field for experimenters. 
Baker’s Fruit Jars.— “Young House¬ 
keeper.” These fruit jars have a cover made either of 
metal or glass, the 5 'finer being preferable. A thin ring 
of India rubber is p: ced between the cover and the top 
of the jar, and an ir- n clamp is placed over projections 
on the sides and in contact with the top to hold it firmly 
in place. We know no better kind at the same price. 
Sicilian Fowls.—O. H. Peck, Middlesex 
Co., Mass., thus describes fowls purchased by him under 
the above name, which he can not find mentioned in 
works on poultry. They have slightly feathered yellow 
legs, a medium sized top-knot, with a small brilliant red 
rose comb. He would like to know their origin. 
Wind Power Saw Wanted.—Oliver 
Washburn, Huron Co., O., desires to find a good sawing 
machine driven by a wind-mill. Manufacturers of such 
an article, if it is made, should advertise. 
BByeimg IBivections Wanted. —H 
Scholer, (no address,) wants some reliable receipts for 
domestic dyeing. In these high price times they would 
be very welcome. The weight of the stuff that is to be 
dyed, and the amount of dyeing material, and the exact 
method of application should be stated. 
§ct>nring; Knives.— A subscriber to the 
American Agriculturist writes that the ashes of hard coal 
unmixed with any from wood, are a better article than 
Bath brick for scouring knives, forks, etc. 
Animals in "Vinegar.— “Subscriber,” 
Kokomo, Ind. The particles which look like “ very tiny 
white worms ” are not portions of the “ mother” but ate 
really small animals which breed and find their proper 
home in good vinegar. They are popularly known as vine¬ 
gar eels, and are called by naturalists Anguillicula aceti 
Farm Implements in tine IT. States. 
It is estimated by J. J. Thomas, that there are now fifty 
millions of capital invested in farm implements, in this 
country. This looks as though the people had several 
jobs of work on hand, which they meant to do. 
An Old Farm Song- W r anted.— Ros¬ 
well Atkins, Hartford Co., Conn., wishes to find a copy of 
an old song entitled “ The Rolling Stone ” ; the chorus of 
it was “ Oh ! stick to your farming or suffer a loss ; 
a stone that is rolling can gather no moss.” 
Severe on Fare Ivory.— An exchange 
says, maliciously: “You carry a beautiful cane—it cost 
$3.50; $1.50 extra on account of its beautiful pure Ivory 
head. Your wife has a costly fan, with a pure ivory 
handle. In your pocket is a pure ivory-handled penknife, 
very pretty and fine. On your table is a set of knives 
and forks, with pure ivory handles, a 1 a little expense 
they have cost for being pure ivory. 'e rings in which 
are the reins of your costly double harne are pure ivory. 
The handles of beautiful parasols are of ure ivory—and 
so on with many articles useful and ornamental. But it 
happens that this ‘puie ivory’ is manufactured from the 
shin b.ones of the dead horses of the U. S. Arm" ” 
