312 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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Wew-Yorls, Wednesday, Jan. 24. 
Answer to Inquiries about Back Numbers, &c.— 
Back numbers from the beginning of the present volume 
can still be supplied at 4 cents per number. 
Volumes XI and XII can be supplied at $1 per volume 
unbound; or $1.50 per volume bound. 
The first ten volumes (new edition) can be furnished 
bound at $1.25 per volume, or the complete set of ten vol¬ 
umes for $10. Price ofthe first twelve volumes $13. 
No new edition of the volumes above the tenth will be 
issued, as the work is too large to admit of stereotyping. 
Mr. Judd is absent from the office most of 
the time at present. In answer to several 
calls for addresses from him we would say 
that, with the exception of two or three 
evenings, he is engaged till the 9th of Feb¬ 
ruary. After that time he will be able to 
give an occasional address in such country 
towns as are not too distant from the city ; 
and where arrangements are made to secure 
an audience, and meet necessary traveling 
expenses. 
Errata. —One or two typographical errors 
in our last number should be corrected. Dr. 
Kitchell, and not Dr. Ditchell, as printed, is 
superintendent of the New-Jersey Geologi¬ 
cal Survey. His address is Newark, N. J. 
The Albany meeting of the N. Y. State Ag¬ 
ricultural Society is to be on the 14th of 
February, instead of the 11th. Absence 
from the office prevented our usual exami¬ 
nation of the proofs and hence the error. 
FARMERS’ CLUB AT PLUCKEMINE, N. J. 
POISONOUS SOILS-DRAINING, ETC. 
We have much faith in the good that may 
be accomplished by local associations for 
mutual improvement among farmers, and 
hence we are glad to chronicle any new or¬ 
ganization of the kind. On Friday of last 
week we met the farmers of Pluckemine, 
Somerset Co., N. J., for an evening lecture, 
after which a considerable number of gentle¬ 
men formed themselves into a Farmers’ Club, 
chose as officers, D. N. Van Zandt, Presi¬ 
dent, David K. Huffman, Secretary, and ad¬ 
journed to meet, on the next Tuesday even¬ 
ing, to adopt a Constitution and By-Laws, 
and to discuss the subject of liming land, in¬ 
cluding the profitableness of its application, 
the time and mode of using, the quantity to 
be applied to different soils, &c. ‘As these 
discussions will take the form of mutual 
conversation, and details of the practice and 
experience of different farmers, the result 
can not be otherwise than beneficial. We 
trust this and other similar associations will, 
from time to time, furnish general results 
arrived at, for publication. 
There is much valuable farming land in 
the valley in which the village of Plucke¬ 
mine is situated. From the general observ¬ 
ations we were able to make, we think thor¬ 
ough draining is the great want in that 
vicinity. The water from the neighboring 
hills continually oozes out upon much of the 
arable land ; and the frequent occurrence of 
“ iron springs ”—known by the brown scum 
upon the surface of the water—is a sure in¬ 
dication that there is large quantities of 
poisonous sulphate of iron in the soil, which 
can best be destroyed by draining and sub¬ 
soiling. 
Our thanks are due to Messrs. J. H. Huff¬ 
man and John McBride, for attentions shown 
us during our visit. 
POMFTON PLAINS FARMERS’ CLUB 
On Tuesday evening of last week, by in¬ 
vitation, we addressed the farmers of Poinp- 
ton Plains and vicinity, in Morris Co., N. J. 
Knowing the former comparative absence of 
agricultural reading in that vicinity, and the 
entire want of organized effort for improve¬ 
ment throughout the whole county, we were 
much gratified at meeting a large audience, 
and to find at the close of our address over 
thirty ready to unite in forming a Farmers’ 
Club. 
We trust this organization will prove a 
nucleus of a County Agricultural Society. 
There are several other towns in the same 
county, where similar associations might be 
formed, if the matter was taken hold of by 
two or three spirited individuals. 
We are indebted to Mr. Jno. V. B. Roome 
and others, for their attention shown during 
our visit. 
SMUT IN WHEAT—CANADIAN CORN. 
ripens in about three months after planting, 
and is the only kind that can be grown far 
north, owing to the early and late frosts 
there. It yields about as much grain per 
acre as the large southern corn, but nothing 
like the same quality of stalks, although 
these are much more nutritious and palatable 
for stock. They are so small, tender, and 
sweet, that cattle eat them nearly as greedily 
asjhey do hay, and they thrive on. them 
about as well. 
Early Canada corn should never be planted 
at the south, except in the garden for early 
table use. As a field crop, it is comparative¬ 
ly worthless there. But for table use, seed 
of the sweet corn grown any where north of 
40 degrees, is the best for the south, and the 
next best is the Tuscarora. Either of these 
will ripen within ten days to a fortnight, of 
the Canada, and will even make a fair field 
crop there. 
The best kind of corn grown at the south 
for a field crop, if to be sold in the New- 
York market, is the white gourd seed, such 
as is cultivated by Mr. T. P. Devereux, Hali¬ 
fax, N. C., and some others. 
The suckers or side shoots should never 
be removed from any kind of growing corn. 
Doing so almost invariably lessens the yield 
of grain. 
A North Carolina subscriber makes some 
inquiries in reference to the above subjects. 
The best preventive of smut is, to make a 
brine strong enough to bear an egg, pour this 
as hot as the hand can bear into a half 
barrel tub, put in half a bushel of the wheat 
you are about to sow, stir it up well in the 
tub, let it settle two or three minutes, skim 
off all the light grain and chaff that rises to 
the top, stir it up again, repeat skimming, 
then pour off the brine, which can be warmed 
again and used for another lot of wheat. 
Now spread the wheat on clean boards or a 
cloth in the sun, or on the barn floor or any 
convenient place. Take slaked lime and sift 
enough over the brined wheat to cover it 
well; and as soon as dry, put it into a bag 
or basket for sowing. 
Some farmers damp the wheat in a heap 
on the floor, and mix up two or three quarts of 
lime with it, and then spread it outupon boards. 
If in the sun, it will dry in half an hour, if in 
the shade it sometimes takes two or three 
hours. The object of soaking in brine is, 
to kill the smut ; that of sprinkling the 
brine on it is, to dry^the wheat and prevent 
the kernels from adhering to each other 
when they are sown. The lime probably 
assists also to prepare the organic matter in 
the soil for the first wants of the growing 
plant. Dry ashes, or even very fine mould 
will answer in the absence of lime or ashes. 
Some use copperas dissolved in water, also 
urine instead of brine for soaking the wheat; 
but the latter is safest and most cleanly. 
The wheat should be sown immediately 
after it is dried, otherwise it might not vege¬ 
tate. It has vegetated with us several days 
after drying, yet we consider it dangerous to 
risk it so long. 
Early Canada Corn is a dwarf species, 
growing from three to five feet high,D 
NON-PROGRESSIVE. 
While rapid strides are being made to ad¬ 
vance in agricultural and horticultural sci¬ 
ence ; while every effort is brought to bear 
for the improvement of our Short Horns and 
Long Horns, and Long Wools ; nothing left 
undone to get the most pork for the smallest 
quantity of corn, and the largest egg from 
the ugliest species of fowl; we would here 
insert a word—a thought—as to the present 
progressed system of fee- ding doctors and 
killing children, even at the risk of being 
classed among the non-progressives and old 
I fogies of the past century. 
To do our subject justice would require a 
more elaborate and lengthened disquisition 
than our space will admit of in the present 
number, and we shall therefore confine our¬ 
selves to the mere statement of a few facts, 
leaving the inference to the reader. 
Thirty years ago, or longer, a majority of 
mothers (would that their days had been 
lengthened !) made linsey-woolsey gowns— 
of their own weaving—for their children to 
wear as an outer garment. These gowns— 
for boys and girls alike—extended from the 
chin to the ankle; while a thick woolen 
stocking, extending up to the knee, and a 
heavy-soled, well-greased, water-tight shoe, 
were the protections for the feet. A coarse 
wool hat, for boys, and a padded hood, for 
girls, protected the head. Exposed to all 
sorts of weather—rain, hail, or snow—for 
six, eight, or ten hours, working or playing, 
as was the case with many children in those 
days, and yet—. What? 
Croup, at that period—aside from willful 
negligence—was a something only read of, 
but seldom seen, and rarely heard of even in 
the stories of grandmothers. Boys and girls 
would walk miles—often as many as three 
and sometimes four=-to school j play for 
