AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
37 
ANECDOTES OF POULTRY. 
In the autumn of 1853 I had a small brood 
of Spanish Chickens. The mother hen left 
them when very young, and roosted with the 
other fowls. Thus deserted, a Cochin Cock 
took to them, brooding them under his wings 
with the greatest care, both by night and by 
day. 
A Black Hen turned White. —I had a black 
hen without a colored or white feather about 
her. She laid very well; sat twice during the 
summer, and brought up one lot of eleven 
chickens. She was kept up in the stall of a 
stable until the chickens were near three months 
old. She then began to lose her feathers, and 
when the new feathers came, half of them were 
perfectly white; her bill and feet, which had 
been dark-colored, became also white. She re¬ 
sumed laying, and brought up chickens. I 
then parted with her to a friend in the country, 
who now informs me that she has changed her 
coat, and is perfectly white. I cannot myself 
account for such a change, unless it was with 
being kept, up so long with the chickens that 
she was deprived of procuring the proper food 
for coloring the feathers.—A. W. Z., in Poul¬ 
try Chronicle.. 
SELF-REGULATING WINDMILL. 
Daniel Halliday, a mechanic in an obscure 
country village, Ellington, Connecticut, has 
done what the world of mechanics have sought 
for in vain for centuries. He has invented and 
put in successful operation a windmill with 
self-furling sails. The mill built by him has 
five feet wings, that is, the diameter of the 
wind wheel is ten feet, and it has been in opera¬ 
tion for six months without a hand being 
touched to it to regulate the sails. It run fif- 
fieen days at one time without stopping day or 
night, and it has stood through some hard 
gales; the beauty of the improvement is, that 
it docs stand still when the wind rages hardest, 
with the edge of the wings to the wind, and as 
it lulls, they gradually resume their position for 
a gentle breeze. It is so contrived that 
nothing but a squall of great severity falling 
upon it without a moment’s warning can pro¬ 
duce damage. 
The mill mentioned has drawn water from a 
well twenty-eight feet deep, one hundred dis¬ 
tance, and forced it into a small reservoir in the 
upper part of the barn, sufficient for all farm 
purposes, garden irrigation, and “ lots to spare.” 
The cost of such a mill will be $50, and the 
pumps and pipes about $25. It is elevated on 
a single oak post a foot square, the turn circle 
being supported by iron braces. The wings 
are made of one longitudinal iron bar, through 
which run small rods ; upon these rods, narrow 
boards half an inch thick are fitted, holes being 
bored through from edge to edge, and screwed 
together by nuts on the ends of the rods. This 
makes strong light sails, but as will be seen fix¬ 
tures not to be furled or clewed up; but they 
are thrown up edge to the wind by a very in¬ 
genious and simple arrangement of the ma¬ 
chinery, which obviates the great objection to 
windmills for farm use; the necessity of con¬ 
stant supervision of the sails to suit the strength 
of the wind. 
Wind is undoubtedly the cheapest power 
that a farmer can use, and, notwithstanding its 
inconstancy, if this improvement operates as 
' well as it bids fair to in the single mill erected, 
it will be applied to many valuables uses. By 
windmills swamps may be drained and upland 
irrigated. What an advantage would be the 
latter in such a drouth as prevails now in many 
parts of the country, beside the great amount 
of fertilizing matter in water at all times. The 
windmill could be used too for all grinding of 
grain for farm use, driving the washing-machine 
and churn, pumping the water from the well or 
spring—often one of the hardest kinds of labor 
about the house. Liquid manure, and the solid 
excrement made of liquid, could be sent a field 
through leading pipes by the same power. 
We earnestly hope for the success of this 
improvement—that it will not only be an orna¬ 
ment but a thing of usefulness to many Ameri¬ 
can farmers.— N. T. Tribune. 
OYSTER-SHELL LIME. 
While spending a few hours on Staten Is¬ 
land lately, we saw a simple and efficient mode 
of making oyster-shell lime, which we record 
for the benefit of such of our readers as have 
the opportunity to put it in practice. 
Mr. Dunning (for it is upon this gentleman’s 
place the thine is done) builds up with rough 
stone walls, a circular kiln about five feet in di¬ 
ameter—-just as you would stone up a well. A 
spot is selected on a side hill, where the slope 
of the ground is such that with a slight excava- 
cation the base of the kiln is exposed on the 
lower side. Here a small opening—a rude arch¬ 
way of 18 or 20 inches wide and a little more 
in height—is left as a sort of furnace—to be 
filled with fagots, brush, and stumps of trees, 
and like rubbish, to be had on most every coun¬ 
try place — over this furnace a few bars of iron 
are built into the wall, to hold up the first layer 
of oyster-shells. 
In filling the kiln, a layer of oyster-shells 
and a thin layer or sprinkling of the screenings 
of anthracite coal are put alternately till the 
kiln is filled to the top—making in all a depth 
of some 4 to 6 feet. The fire is lighted among 
the faggots and rough wood below, and gradu¬ 
ally spreads through the whole kiln, burning 
the oyster-shells into excellent lime. When we 
say that oyster-shells make the purest and best 
lime for all horticultural purposes, and especi¬ 
ally for fruit trees, and in most of our Atlantic 
towns they are wholly wasted, and though so 
easily burned in this way in these simple kilns, 
(which once made will last for a dozen years,) 
we think we offer a hint, which many subscri¬ 
bers will lose no time in profiting by. — Horti¬ 
culturist. 
-- 
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 
What the schoolmaster is to the child, so is 
science to Agriculture, and those know it best, 
and profit most from it, who give it most of 
their attention. In the language of Judge 
Cheever, it has taught us the elements constitut¬ 
ing a fertile soil, and those of a barren one. It 
has taught us the elements found in all the fer¬ 
tilizing agents of manures within our reach, 
whether of mineral, vegetable or animal forma¬ 
tion. Hence we arc shown what admixtures 
of soil to make to supply with one the deficiencies 
of the other. It has taught us what manures 
to apply to stertility to produce fertility. It 
has taught us the elements constituting the 
plants of our agricultural crops. Hence we 
may determine what crop we may expect most 
successfully to place upon any given soil, and 
what manures are best suited to its growth. 
Science has also taught us the elements consti¬ 
tuting the different parts of our domestic ani¬ 
mals, from which useful suggestions are ob¬ 
tained for feeding them according to the end to 
be attained. For instance it is found that our 
Indian corn contains elements calculated to fat- 
len the animal, but not those that strengthen 
the muscles so much as those found in our oats. 
The one, therefore, should be fed for one pur¬ 
pose, and the other for another. This principle 
has been tested in practice through the agency 
of the State Agricultural Societies. A pair of 
oxen of about equal weight and equal vigor, 
were put at hard work, and one fed upon corn 
and the other upon oats, of equal weight, daily, 
for two or three months, and each with a full 
supply of hay. It was found that the one fed 
on oats soon got the mastery at the draught 
over his mate, and maintained it so long as he 
was so fed. The feed was then reversed for the 
same length of time. The corn-fed ox when 
put upon oats immediately recovered his power, 
and obtained the mastery over his late superior, 
and maintained it to the end. Science and ex¬ 
periment have here established a fact of vast 
importance to the farmer in feeding their labor¬ 
ing animals. Still, with hundreds of such ex¬ 
periments and such results before us, there are 
thousands of farmers who yet regard agricultu¬ 
ral science as a humbug.— Dollar Newspaper. 
-- 
Valuable Statistics on Agriculture. — It 
is, I believe, authentic, (coming from one of the 
oldest, best and most respectable farmers in 
Delaware, and one whose word can be relied 
on,) that the first Timothy and Clover seed 
sown in the United States was sown in Dela¬ 
ware, on the banks of the Brandywine, in the 
year 1790, and that in the year 1775 a field of 
some 20 acres was sown in Garlice for hay and 
pasture, the seed being brought from Germany 
and sold in this country for $17 per bushel, and 
that all grass hay made (at that date) was from 
a natural blue or green grass grown on the 
marshes or upland meadows which were fertil¬ 
ized by irrigation. Also a lot of marsh was 
bought, at that early date, for which was paid 
$150 per acre, the same lot was sold a short 
time ago for $40 per acre. 
The butchers of that date would not buy a 
bullock that was not fed on marshes, so great 
was the prejudice of artificial feeding.-— Dela¬ 
ware County Republican. 
- •••- 
A Substitute for Potatoes. —As the potato 
crop is even more than usually unpromising this 
season, the question of a substitute for this in¬ 
valuable article of daily food becomes of the 
greatest interest. We observed a paragraph in 
the newspaper a short time since, proposing the 
use of the beet. Being lovers of that nutri¬ 
tious and healthy root, we have tried the expe¬ 
riment, and with every prospect of success. 
Perhaps we are not so fond of potatoes as many 
who seem to think them indispenable; but to 
our taste the beet will afford all the gratification, 
while it furnishes equal nutriment with the po¬ 
tato. The experiment to which we refer is the 
baking of the beet in the same manner as 
many people bake their potatoes, in the peel— 
a mode of cooking which we never knew 
adopted with the beet and which we very confi¬ 
dently recommend.— Providence Post. 
Mule Trade of Bourbon County, Ky.— 
Bourbon County, Kentucky, is famous for rais¬ 
ing mules. This trade commenced about thirty 
years ago; since then there has been a steady 
increase: In 1843, according to the Assessor’s 
Books, there were in the County 1,932 mules, 
valued at $41,343, or an average of $21 31, per 
head. In 1854, 7,436 valued at $562,800, or 
$75 70 per head. The demand keeps pace with 
the supply, and sales are readily made. Few 
are kept on the Kentucky farms for use. The 
principal markets are the Southern States, 
where they are used on cotton and sugar plan¬ 
tations. In Virginia they are used on the farm 
and road. Baltimore furnishes a large market 
for the smaller animals, where they are shipped 
to the West Indies, to pack coffee from the 
mountain plantations. One dealer in Baltimore, 
purchases annually 1000; and another in Rich¬ 
mond, Va., about double that number, one 
farmer in Bourbon county seils him every year 
between 500 and 800. We gather these facts 
from the Citizen, published at Paris, Ky. — Ohio 
Farmer. 
Large Eggs.— Mr. D. T. King, of Waterville, 
Oneida county, N. Y., has sent us a hen’s egg 
that measures 6 3-4 inches by 8£ inches in cir¬ 
cumference — weight, 4J oz. Mr. King writes : 
“ Doubtless the hen was anticipating the end of 
the world, being laid at the time of the great 
eclipse of the sun, on the 26th of May, and was 
endeavoring to fulfill the scripture injunction, 
what one has to do to do with all his might.” 
We thought that we had three pretty large 
eggs, but we own beat by a very little. Ours 
measure, an average of 7 3-4 by 6J, and all laid 
by one hen. — Northern Farmer. 
