1804] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
285 
ing paper is left. The first is made into cordage or 
coarse cloth ; the paste is used or may be used for 
food, being mingled with flour for making bread. 
The paper pulp is of a pure white and makes a beautiful 
quality of paper. The manufacture has progressed 
to its present state of perfection gradually, as at first the 
entire plant was used to make a coarse paper. Now on 
account of the other products, a paper of great excellence 
is made at a very lgw cost. In August of last year the 
Imperial paper mill in Austria was prepared to use 100,000 
lbs. of husks per week, and to purchase 50,000,000 lbs. 
after harvest. This manufacture is likely to increase, 
and no other country affords so fine a field for it as our own. 
Concrete Setting- ibr Fence Posts. 
There is constant inquiry for some -means of setting 
fence posts so that they will not heave by the frost. 
The following is sug¬ 
gested as offering "at an 
expense of a few cents 
per post, an effective way. 
A hole is dug about as 
large as a flour barrel, but 
wider at the bottom than 
at the top, on two sides 
at least. The post is set 
upon a stone laid in the 
bottom and the hole is 
filled up rapidly with con¬ 
crete made of good hy¬ 
draulic cement, mixed 
with half as much again 
shajp sand or gravel as 
would be used in making 
builders’ mortar; and dur¬ 
ing the filling, as many clean stones, large and small, are 
thrown in as can be buried in the mortar. Posts thus set 
will be firm as rocks, and will not decay belowground. 
Rreservimg- Timber, Posts, etc.— 
“ Subscriber,” of Iowa, asks, What is the process called 
“ Kyanizing” f It is the impregnation of timber with 
corrosive sublimate (chloride of Mercury). The name 
is also loosely given to impregnating timber with other 
metallic salts. “ Burnetizing ” is filling the pores of wood 
with chloride of zinc, which is by far a cheaper salt. 
Blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) is also extensively 
used. It is better to use green or unseasoned than dry 
wood, and softer kinds of wood are more easily impreg¬ 
nated than the close, heavy kinds, like oak. Wood of 
rather open pores, elm,-poplar, Scotch fir, larch, and even 
beech, may be thoroughly impregnated by setting it on 
end, covering the top end with an air-tight cap, connected 
by a tube with a tank containing the liquor set some 
30 or 40 feet higher. The pressure forces the sap out at 
the other end, and when the liquid appears, the process is 
ended. The wood is also placed in air-tight cases, and 
the air exhausted by an engine, and the liquid then ad¬ 
mitted, which is forced by the pressure into the pores 
which have Been emptied of the air. They use about 100 
parts of water, to 1 of blue vitriol or 1J of chloride of zinc. 
I.Ice on Cattle.— “Logan.” A judicious 
use of mercurial ointment will destroy lice on calves an 1 
all neat cattle ; mix it with 3 or 4 times as much lai d and 
apply a mass as large as a hickory nut behind the horns 
and along the back. It is dangerous used carelessly. 
Snaring Woodcliuclcs.— A. R. Taylor 
gives his method of catching woodchucks : A slip.-noose 
about 4 inches across is made of fine copper wire ; the 
wire extends about six inches beyond the loop and is 
fastened to a stake by a 
piece of strong cord. If 
the wire is fastened to 
the stake, the animal will 
twist it off; as he always 
bites at the wire near his 
neck, there is no danger 
of parting the string. The 
wire noose is placed at the mouth of the hole and 
catches the animal as he comes out. If the snare is 
P' j'.ed aside, it is too small and must be made larger, 
ar.i i£rthe hole is very large, it must be partially closed 
bv a stone or piece of turf. The engraved diagram 
snows the stake, twine and wire noose. 
Washing Machine, the fleeces coming out beautifully 
clean, and in excellent order for sale or for carding. 
A Queer Freak ofa Rear.— Those who 
have paid any attention to the structure of plants, are 
aware that all their parts are considered as root, stem, or 
leaf, modified to serve particular ends. The flower is 
really a cluster of leaves 
adapted to a particular pur¬ 
pose, and the fruit is some¬ 
times a modified, fleshy leaf; 
sometimes, as in the straw¬ 
berry, the soft and pulpy end 
of the stem ; and again, as is 
shown in the fig, (page 295,) 
it is a hollow, fleshy stem, 
with the remains of a vast 
collection of flowers. In the 
pear and apple, both the end 
of the stem and the calyx or 
leafy portion of the flower, 
become soft and juicy to 
form the fruit, and the points 
of the calyx usually remain 
at the top of the fruit, or at 
the end opposite the stem. 
Mr. I. Buchanan recently 
called our attention to some curious pears produced from 
a second crop of blossoms in his grounds at -Astoria. 
There was a cluster of three, all curiously malformed. 
We have figured two of these of the natural size, the 
older and larger one is much like fig. 1, and both show 
the curious ap¬ 
pearance of one 
fruit proceeding 
out of another. 
The sepals, or 
part of the calyx, 
are much enlarg- ,, 
ed, and stand I 
around the se¬ 
condary fir u, i t, 
while from the 
apex of this there 
is a small projec¬ 
tion indicating an 
attempt to pro¬ 
duce a third. A 
dissection failed 
to show clearly 
the nature of these supernumerary fruits. The smallest 
specimen, fig. 2. has the parts of the calyx converted 
into small but well developed leaves, like the ordinary 
> of the tree, showing that the calyx is really modi¬ 
fied leaves and that this is an attempt at what is called 
“ retrograde metamorphosis.” 
Planting Quincunx.— This is a desirable 
method of setting trees, in which the trees in one row are 
opposite the intervals of those in the next one. “ V. G. 
P.,” finds the following the easiest way to obtain the 
exact distances. First lay out the first row, A to D, and 
mark the places for the trees at the proper distances. 
This can be done quickly by means of a cord of the right 
length, with a pointed stake of hard wood at each end. 
Setting one stake at A, the other will mark B, then the 
first stake can be carried over to C, and so on. Now to 
get the places for the next row, set one stake at B, and 
strike a semi-circle with the other and continue doing-so 
from every place marked for a tree in the first row. The 
point where these, semi-oiroles cross will indicate the 
places for the second row, and by using these points as 
pivots, the places in the third row wilt be found. The 
diagram will enable one to understand the manner of 
working. The dots represent the places for the trees. 
Wool Washing.—“ What deduction ought 
to be made for unwashed wool ?” This question we are 
glad to see is being discussed a good deal among farmers. 
It is better for the farmers not to wash the wool on the 
sheep's back. Wtien wool is unwashed, dishonest farmers 
can cheat more easily than if it is washed clean No 
doubt the deduction of one-third is far too much on an 
average, and covers loss to the buyer even in very bad 
lots. What is a just deduction ? A subscriber in Alary- 
land washes his fleeces with great success in Doty's 
Rosin Production in MLicliigan.— 
J. D. Sturtevant, of Muskegon Co., writes : “ This sea¬ 
son has been so dry that the farmers on our oak openings 
were obliged to resort to some other business besides 
farming for a living. Some two or three have experi¬ 
mented in rosin from the common white pine. The 
White Turpentine is saved as you propose on page 265 
(Sept. No.), and simply boiled down, thereby losing all, 
the oil or spirits of turppfjting, but ?avit}g tjjc rojf/t, a 
sample of which I send for your table. They think they 
can make money at it at one-half present prices, ($40 to 
$50 per bbl.) There are several going into the business 
on a larger scale another spring.”—The sample is light 
colored, clear and free from specks, a very nice article. 
Faying oat ©vals.—It is often desirable 
to make an oval bed, and it is impossible to do it correct¬ 
ly by the eye. G. G. Crowley, strikes two circles, as 
shown in the diagram, which may be done by means of 
two sticks and a string. Then set the sticks upon the 
string as far apart as from 
b to c, place one point be¬ 
low d, which may be 
found by moving it until 
the other point will touch 
e, e, and complete the 
oval. The figure may be 
lengthened by placing the 
circles further apart. 
This is, however, not a regular oval, but parts of four 
circles. A true oval, which is the same at each end, is 
mathematically an ellipse. Such a figure is most con¬ 
veniently laid out by marking out a straight line exactly 
where the long diameter of the oval should be, and set¬ 
ting two stakes, c, d, fig. : 
apart as you wish to ha 
the length of the oval. Th 
pass a cord around bo 
stakes and draw it out 
about the width you wi 
the oval to be, and tie 
Then with a pointed stl 
at r, fig. 2, held within the cord as represented, draw the 
curve which will result from moving the stick, e, around, 
keeping the cord taut all the time. A very little shifting 
of the stakes, c and d, and a slight variation of the length 
of the cord will enable one to change the shape of the 
oval from a very long narrow ellipse to nearly a circle. 
RSnnts to I»e Named. — Several persons 
have sent leaves only, which can not be identified with 
any certainty. Wm. Hall, Vernon Co., Wis., sends 
Echinocystis lobata, noticed in Sept. Basket....Kate S. 
Wright; Ampelopsis quinquefolia, or Virginia Creeper, 
grown in shade....A. J. L., Randolph Co., Ind., the 
shrub is the Shrubby St. Johns wort, Hypericum prolijicum, 
and worth cultivating....L. B. P., Weston, Vt. The shrub 
is not the Jersey Tea, but the Bush Honeysuckle, Dier- 
villa trifida, closely related to the Weigela, from China, 
now much cultivated ; the creeping thing is Potentilla 
argentea, the Silvery Cinque-foil, very common in barren 
soils — M. R, A., Celastrus scandens, figured in August 
Agriculturist -H. J. Ackerman : No. 1, is Golden Co¬ 
reopsis, Coreopsis tinctoria. and No. 2, is Feverfew, Fy 
rethrum Parthenium , bolh common in gardens... .Lizzie 
W., West Charleston, O., Queen of the Prairie, Spiraea 
lohata, a fine native species worth removing to the garden. 
W. Ford, Rutland Co., Vt., and AI. R. Dale, Daleville, 
Pa., Adlumia cirrhosa , a beautiful climber, called Climb¬ 
ing Fumitory and Alleghany Vine....A. R. Gale, Fill¬ 
more Co., Alinn.; Gentiana crinita, the Fringed Gentian, 
a beautiful lale bloomer, in low grounds. 
A Convenient Help in Tree IPIant- 
Iug.—An account of a very simple contrivance for se¬ 
curing straight rows in orchard planting, was published 
in the Agriculturist for April, 1859. This article and the 
figure has been used by several journals without any 
credit, and we lake this occasion to reclaim it, as well as 
to bring it to the attention of recent subscribers. The 
apparatus is simply a board about 8 feet long, with an 
sfugur hole near each end, and an opening from one side 
to the center, large enough to receive the tree. The dia¬ 
gram shows the shape. Besides this, a number of wood¬ 
en pins will be required. Mark out the ground and put 
a stake in the exact place where each tree is to stand. 
Put the board down, with the center opening over the 
V* 
stake, and drive two pins into the ground through the 
holes near the ends of Hie board. The board is now lifted 
off, leaving the pins in the earth, and the hole is dug for 
tire tree. After the hole is made, replace the board 
on the pins, and the center opening will give the exact 
place occupied by the marking stake, and consequently 
the place to set the trunk of the tree, which may be in¬ 
troduced through the side opening in the board, and held 
there while the hole is being filled. 
Grafting Grapes.— S. C. Frey, Clark Co., 
O., grafted his Isabella vines last autumn, with Dela¬ 
wares, according to the directions given in the Septem¬ 
ber Agriculturist of last year. Mr. F. is so well pleased 
