AMERICAN AGERIO (JLT U li 1ST. 9 
BLACK HAWK. 
Foaled in 1S33, the property of Wingate Twombly, Greenland, N. H. Sire, Sherman ; grand- 
sire, Justin Morgan Dam raised in New-Brunswick, a half-blood English mare. Black Hawk is 
now owned by David Hill, Esq., of Bridgeport, Vt. 
We love to look at and study a well formed animal of any kind, and especially a horse. Next to 
the living animal is a good portrait, and we are glad to present the above well executed picture taken 
from the Morgan Horse-Book just issued by C. M. Saxton & Co.— [Ed. 
IMPROVED KING PHILIP CORK, 
WORK FOR STORMY DAYS. 
These days will come at this season of the 
year, terrible snow storms, beating rains, 
and fierce winds, in which no work can be 
done comfortably in the field or forest. The 
cattle are all housed and fed, the tools are 
all in order for the spring work, and the an¬ 
nual supply of fuel is prepared. What next 1 
Most farmers ought to read and think far 
more than they do, and introduce system 
into all their operations. Head work, then, 
is the business for these stormy days in 
winter. If you have the back volumes of a 
good agricultural journal you will find genial 
assistance and company in this head work. 
First lay your plans, what fields shall be 
planted with given crops, what seed and 
what manures for each, what shall be sub¬ 
soiled, and what under-drained, &c. Hav¬ 
ing done this, search the volumes to find 
what has been written upon these topics. 
Reading with an object in view is far more 
profitable than reading for amusement. 
This will fasten principles in the 
farmer’s mind, and make him intelli¬ 
gent in his business. He is like a lawyer 
consulting his volume of reports to ascertain 
what principles of law have been determined 
in the decisions that have been given. He 
consults his book of cases with some case 
of his own on hand, and reads with deep in¬ 
terest every case that has any bearing upon 
his own. 
The farmer has always cases on hand— 
principles not yet fully determined. Now 
is the time to read up and resolve doubts, to 
ascertain the best uethod of performing ev¬ 
ery piece of work iO be done next summer. 
For ourselves, we have no greater luxury in 
these cheerless days than to get down the 
back volumes of these journals and see what 
our brethren of the plow have been doing 
these past 10 or 15 years. These books of 
farm cases will be profitable just as we read 
them up and master them. Such reading 
makes the practical farmer skillful in his bu¬ 
siness.— [Ed. 
SINK DRA INS IN WINTER. 
Every wise cultivator knows what to do 
with soap suds that run from the sink-spout 
in summer. The growing crops need no 
herald to proclaim the secret of their luxu¬ 
riant foliage. But what shall be done with 
the water when the crops are gathered, and 
the tub for collecting it is turned up for the 
season! If your sink drain enters into a ma¬ 
nure vault that is enough. But there are 
thousands who have not yet waked up to 
that institution. 
Rather than let the water run to waste 
upon the surface, dig a large hole and put in 
a cord or two of muck. This will catch the 
water, and the whole mass will become sat¬ 
urated by spring—a good article for the com¬ 
post heap or to spread directly upon the 
garden and spade in. Try this for a single 
winter and mark the result in the summer 
crops, and you will no more suffer this 
waste upon your premises.— [Ed. 
The man without ideas has generally a preat 
idea of himself. 
This variety of maize has been sent out 
from the Patent Office for several years past, 
and is now quite generally disseminated. It 
originated on Long Island, in Lake Winipis- 
iogee, New Hampshire, on the farm of John 
Brown. He claims for it early maturity, 
small stalk, small cob and a large yield of 
grain. From what we can learn it appears 
to make good the claims of Mr. Brown. 
We cultivated about one-eighth of an acre 
of it the past summer. The yield was twen¬ 
ty-one bushels of ears, making about eighty 
bushes to the acre, which was a large pro¬ 
duct from soil in no better condition. Other 
producers have reported one hundred bush¬ 
els and over of shelled corn to the acre. It 
ripens very early, gives a long good-sized 
ear, a large kernel and small cob. 
We think it a very desirable variety for 
the northern parts of all the northern tier of 
States, and for low and wet lands liable to 
early frosts, still further south. It is of 
great importance to have corn w r ell ripened. 
W'ith this variety turnips may be sown at 
the last hoeing in July, and a good crop be 
secured. The corn will do to cut up by the 
10th of September, leaving the turnips full 
possession of the land for sixty days before 
the ground is frozen. 
At present we can see but two disadvan¬ 
tages in the cultivation of this variety. The 
stalk being small is more likely to be brok¬ 
en down by the August winds than the lar¬ 
ger kinds, and the ears coming out low on 
the stalk frequently break off, and fall to the 
ground, where they are liable to sprout and 
mold. For deep rich soils and warmer cli¬ 
mates, we do not think it any improve¬ 
ment upon some of the old varieties. A far¬ 
mer, in seld&ing his seed corn, must study 
his soil and climate, and procure the variety 
best suited to his position. The improved 
King Philip is a very desirable kind for the 
localities we have indicated.— [Ed. 
CRANBERRY CULTURE-EXPERIENCE OF A 
SUCCESSF UL CU LTIVATOR. 
Having had an unusually large number of 
inquiries for information upon the culture of 
cranberries, we addressed a note to Mr. Bag- 
ley, of Usquepaug, R. I., and also forwarded 
him a couple of the letters sent to us,request ■ 
ing a plain detailed statement of his experi¬ 
ence. Below we give his reply, for which we 
are much obliged. We only know Mr. B.from 
having seen a considerable quantity of supe ¬ 
rior cranberries, of his growth, in the New - 
York markets: 
To the Editor of Vie American Agriculturist: 
In reply to yours of 10th inst., I will give you 
my experience, hoping it may not only prove ben¬ 
eficial to others, but also elicit further informa¬ 
tion from them through your columns. It is to be 
regretted that so little attention is paid to the cul¬ 
ture of the cranberry, one of the luxuries 
by which many farmers might make large profits. 
I commenced the culture of the cranberry as an 
experiment, in a small way, in 1849, on a peat 
swamp, and finding my experiment successful, in 
1851 and ’52 extended my operations, and now 
have about ten acres under good cultiva 
tion. My method is as follows : I take 
off' the stumps, roots and moss, to the bot¬ 
tom of the roots, about one foot deep, and cany 
them on the upland. I then mark out the ground 
with the corner of the hoe, about two feet each 
way, and drop, say half a dozen vines, having the 
roots all one way, in the hoe mark, treading the 
roots in and covering them with the foot, leaving 
