116 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Grafting- Wax.— R. S., Wisconsin Two pounds of 
rosin, one pound of beeswax, with tallow or lard enough 
to temper it to suit the season Stir well until all is melt¬ 
ed. Work with the hands until white 
IIot-Be«ls —“ Juvenile Gardener ” asks ifliot-beds 
will succeed when made in the ordinary manner, without 
the s shes. The heat will not be retained without some 
covering, and thai covering should admit light. The sash 
is also necessary lo shield the young plants fr*m outside 
frosts and storms. 
Kerry Plants from Seeds.—J. N. R. asks if 
Strawberries, Blackberries, Cranberries, &c , are pro¬ 
duced from seed true to the varieties sown. They are 
not, although finer varieties are generally produced by 
seeds from choice kinds. It is better for cultivators, gen¬ 
erally. loobtain plants of known varieties, rather than at¬ 
tempt rai-ina from seed. Cranberry giowing from seed, 
s answered by a noted experimenter, who says: “But 
raising vines from seed is uncertain, hazardous, and il 
you succeed you have a longtime to wait for the fruit.” 
The Permanent tonalities off Flowers.— 
F. Sohrener, of Moss Grove, gives us the case of a Fox 
Glove, which changed the color ofrits flowers in thecourse 
of seven years from purple to white. “ Our beautiful pur¬ 
ple fox gloves are gone, and there has not be> n in alt that 
time another fox glove, except our own within a mile of us. 
How do you account for it!” 
This is what professional gardeners call a sport. There 
is a disposition in all flowers to he affected slightly by 
external causes, climate, soil, cultivation, manures. &c. 
But some plants have this disposition much stronger than 
others. The fox glove probably has it more than the 
Dahlia. We would suggest changing the fox glove to a 
new location in the garden to see what the result of 
fresh soil will be. 
Porn for Foslder.—M. II I’., of Columbia Co— 
We believe the general experience is in favor of planting 
or sowing in drills in preference to broadcast. If sown 
broadcast, it must be thin enough to allow the growth of 
m-ich foul stuff, or the corn will not flourish, and then 
the weeds cannot be kept down by hoeing. Make the soil 
as rich as may be convenient, and put in drills 21 or 3 feet 
apart, and give it as thorough cultivation as for a full imp 
of ears. The seeds may be put in say one or two inches 
apart, according to the richness ofllie soil and the proba¬ 
bility of suckering Corn planted in this way yields a 
great amount of valuable fodder. Many persons are in¬ 
tending to try a plot of the new sugar cane for the same 
purpose. Il bids fair to excel corn, as tiie stalks are much 
more solid and full of saccharine matter, which is of a 
fattening nature. We shall see how this is the present 
Summer. 
Kin? Philip Coral.—L. Lewis, of Cayuga Co., 
says of this corn : “ It is the best I have ever raised 
after an experience of fifty years with various kinds. It 
ripens early, has a small cob, large kernel and ears of 
good size. It oars well, and if planted three feet by two 
and a half a part, and well taken care of, it will yield BO 
bushels to the acre. The seeds he inquires for he can 
probably procure in Auburn. 
Wheat Culture.— D. W., of Washington county, 
Pa., wishes information on this topic. As he is a new sub¬ 
scriber, he has not read our former aiticles. At the appro¬ 
priate season, we shall discuss this subject at length. Any 
hints from our readers thankfully received. 
Silk Worm Eyrsrs Wanted.—J. Laverell, of 
Bridge Val ey, Pa., inquires where these can be obtained. 
We do not know. Will some one having them please 
write him direct, and also inform us. 
Saving- and Trying New Seed.—J. D. H., of 
Cold Spring Harbor, writing upon this topic, says....“ In 
May, 1855, I received from a friend in Europe only four 
Sorghum seeds. These I planted, and raised seed enough 
to plant half an acre in 1856. One-half of this I fed, and 
from the remainder made 70 gallons of good molasses or 
syrup; sold $130 worth of seed, and have enoush left with 
which to plant twenty acres this year.” Not a bad 
speculation on four diminutive seeds in two years. 
Parsuep Wine.—Mr. Jno. Clarkson, of Milford, 
Pa , informs us that he makes a very good wine from 
parsneps by the following process ; Let the roots remain 
in the ground all winter, if you like ; by all means let 
them be well frosted In the month of March, clean a 
quantity, cut them fine, and add one quart of water lo 
each quart of cut roots. Boil them 1 to 1£ houis. Press 
out the liquid and strain it. To each gallon of the fluid 
thus obtained add 3! lbs. of coarse sugar, stirring jt well, 
and when sufficiently cool set it to work with yeast 
smeared over a piece of toasted bread. After 12 to 18 
hours, put it into casks p'eserving sufficient to fill up the 
casks from time to time. When done working, close the 
bung tightly: let it stand until the following March and 
then rack it off into bottles, adding to each bottle a lump 
of sugar of the size of a walnut. When sufficiently fine 
you will have a very delicious wine. Some use 4 lbs. 
sugar instead of 31 lbs., arid also use a lemon ; but this is 
merely a matter of taste. 
Dried Apples; Pies.—“A Buckeye Girl”sends us 
the following recipe : Let those who have the great 
privilege of drying their own fruit, prepare their apples 
for pies before they a:e dried Free them from all skins 
and cores, then slice and spread on platters, and they w ill 
dry in a hot sun or by a cooking stove in less than twenty- 
four hours, without losing their natural flavor. Apples 
dried in this way will cook ready for use in a half hour, 
and witli the usual seasoning of sugar, spices, &c , w-e 
have a pie that would take a preity smart epicure lo tell 
from a green apple pie, and besides, it is a saving of 
time, which is a great desideratum in the endless round 
of cookery. 
Soap and Candle Multilist. -We have valuable 
communications from our fair Kentucky correspondent, 
“ Mollie Broom,” on these topics, which, with others of 
similar character, we shall find room for, now that Spring 
work in the garden and field will not demand so much 
space. "We shall gladly surrender a due share of these 
pages to instructive hints and suggestions on household 
labors. 
SSeeff or Fork Fickle.—An Illinois clergyman, 
furnishes us the following one, which he thinks can’t be 
beat for goodness arid cheapness: To every 2 gallons of 
water add 4 lbs. salt, 1 lb. sugar (or its equivalent in 
molasses), I ounce saltpetre ; boil and skim and then add 
1 ounce saleratus. » 
Coffee-making.— 1 The same correspondent writes: 
An improvement in coffee-making is to frequently, say 
every three minutes, take it from the fire while burning 
and shake and blow out the hulls and dirt that come off by 
healing which will not be removed by the preliminary 
washing Wife has tried various methods, and says the 
recipe on page 31 of this volume (Feb No.) will be a per¬ 
fect one, with this additional item in burning. 
Indian Brcail.-“ Icanne,” of Buffalo, sends us 
this recipe: 
“Take 2 teaspoonsful of soda or saleratus, well pulver¬ 
ized ; 1 quint of sour milk ; 4 tea-cups of Indian meal; 2 
tea cups o< ryp or Graham flour ; I cup of molasses, and 
sa:t as needed. Bake 2j hours. 
“The soda in all cooking should be put into the cup in 
which the milk is measured, and well stirred, and from 
I hence poured carefully into the pari it is made in ; Ihen 
small particles will not he found disfiguring the loaf. 
The above will make one nice thick loaf, baked in a two 
quart tin basin with a modeiaie fire. The last hour arid a 
half, it rtquires but very little heat; if it bakes too fast on 
the top, as many stove ovens do. cover with an old three 
pint tin basin. Those who are “experienced” will un¬ 
derstand why an old basin is better than a new one. 
Wh il done, let it stand half an hour before attempting to 
take out of the tin ; then do up In your bread cloth, and 
if you do not admit by the next day that it is the perfec¬ 
tion of Indian bread, I shall call you no epicure in 
coarse diet.” 
TootSie Aclie Kemcdy.— Mr. John McBradner, 
of Walton, sends the following remedy or palliative; 
clean out the cavity, and insert into it a little cotton dip¬ 
ped in a solution of Gum Copal in cliloriform. To reduce 
inflamation, anil swelling, rub thoroughly with a strong 
solution of one part common salt and two parts saltpetre 
in water. The gum and chloroform preparation we know 
to be good. The saltpetre and salt wash we don’t know 
about Alochol, mustard, essence of pepoerrnent, or better 
camphor solution with plenty of ‘rubbing’ is always good. 
Big Apples and “ Salt Junk.”-Mr. Lydeck- 
er, of English Neighborhood, N. J., will please accept our 
thanks for a magnificent Fallenwalder Apple, left on our 
desk in our absence “ as an evidence that in his locality 
they had got beyond ‘ Salt Junk.’ ” We consider the evi¬ 
dence perfectly conclusive. If such apples abound in 
English Neighborhood, salt meats must be at a decided 
discount. 
Advantages of Taking tlie Papers.—“Ex- 
perimenta,” of New-Jersey, writes on this topic, on three 
varieties of paper. There are some good thoughts, and 
if the article were condensed into one-third of the space, 
we should like to publish it. 
Salting Hay.— Albert Mackey, of Ulster County, 
is right about the diffusion of the salt through the whole 
mass of the hay. The analogy of salt on hams is a 
clincher. 
Aclicap way of Increasing Production 
A legal friend writes us from 
JONESBOROUQH, E. TENN. 
.Though engaged in a profession, I concluded I 
wjould also become a producer, and to effect it, adopted 
the following plan, viz., to procure subscribers to the 
Agriculturist On the following page you will find ten, 
which makes fourteen I have already procured. I have 
read the Agriculturist for some time past and I am satis 
fled that each farmer, who takes and reads your paper one 
year, will produce as the result, at least twenty bushels 
more of something for human subsistanee and comfort, 
worth at least ten dollars. This makes 280 bushels 
worm $140. Why am I not a producer to this extent? 
Suppose each one of the 30,010 lawyers in the U. S., 
were to do this, (ilhas cost me in all say tlvee hours 
time) you have produced 8,400,000 bushels, worth $4,200,- 
000. Are not small things too much neglected?” 
Spanish and Dorking Fowls.—G. F. C , of 
Amenia, sends us a few good words in favor of these 
fowls. We have raised them for years and are inclined 
to think favorably of their merits. The hen fever has 
subsided. . 
Outlets for Drains. — “ B.” of Shelbum, asks 
if in underdraining a garden for fruit these are necessary.” 
If the drains ever carry water they should have outlets. 
The pears and plums w ill do w ell on the clay portions if 
drained. 
Dourah Corn. —C. S. Keep, of Monson, inquires 
if this article will mix with the Chinese Sugar Cane. Il 
belongs to the same family and will hybridize readily. 
The sorghum should be planted at a d stance from every¬ 
thing else of the broom corn species. 
Country Du ellings and Farm Buildings 
— Communications, with drawings on tiiese topics, are on 
file f.rexamination. Let us have more of ihem, from dif 
ft-rent sources, that we may select and illustrate by cuts, 
the best plans for constructing plain, cheap, and yet. oni- 
fortable and beautiful rural dwellings and out-buildings. 
Manure Enquiries.— The letter of J. I. Paine, 
and many others of similar character, have not been 
specially answered, as most of the questions proposed are 
answered in the Tegular articles on manures. 
New Books. 
We have on our table several valuable new books, 
waiting a thorough examination and notice. We have 
looked through one of them carefu'ly. It is entitled: A 
Practical Treatise on Grasses and Forage Plants, 
comprising their Natural History, Comparative Feeding 
Value, Methods of Cultivating, Cutting, Curing, and 
the Management of Grass Lands. By Charles L. 
Flint, A. M., Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of 
Agriculture, &c. Published by G. P. Putnam & Co., 
New-York. 
This is, we think, the best treatise of the kind we have 
seen on this important subject. The various plants used 
as forage for animals both in a green and dry state, are 
fully described, and illustrated with numerous plain cuts. 
The method of culture is given in detail, with many prac 
tical suggestions. We advise our readers to get this book, 
and study it thoroughly, as we are now doing. We shall 
be happy to assist any distant subscriber in getting a copy. 
It can doubtless be sent post paid, by mail to any one 
forwarding the retail price, $1 25, as the postage amounts 
to about the difference between the wholesale and retail 
price. _ 
Agricultural Exhibitions. 
N. Y. State. —Next Annual Exhibition at Buffalo, Oct. 
6th to 9th, inclusive. Send for full List of Premiums and 
Regulations to the Secretary, Col. B. P. Johnson, Albany, 
U. S. Agricultural Exhibition at Louisville, Ky., Sept. 
1st to 5th, inclusive. 
The Cattle Murrain in Europe. 
A fatal disease, which is said to be contagious, prevails 
very extensively among the cattle in the countries around 
the Baltic Sea. On the 2d of April the British Govern¬ 
ment issued an order in Council that hereafter no cattle, 
horses’hoofs or hides, shall be brought into the United 
Kingdom from any of the territories bordering on the Bal¬ 
tic or Gulf of Finland. This order was made after an in¬ 
vestigation, and the subject is of no little importance to 
this country, as these hides, taken from the animals dy¬ 
ing of the disease, being shut out from a nearer market, 
will doubtless be sent here inlarge numbers, especially as 
they had been previously prohibited in France, Prussia, 
and several of the Geman States. As this disease has 
prevailed for a year or two past, and it has not yet spread 
elsewhere, there does not seem to be so much cause for 
fear as there would otherwise be, yet we think the matter 
demands the prompt attention of our Government. A 
brief delay may lead lo the introduction of a disease 
among our animals producing the loss of untold millions. 
The “hog cholera” is already creating much apprehen¬ 
sion in some of our Western States. 
A Correction.— On page 88,by an error in“making 
up,” the Black Naples and Bang Up Currants got into the 
list of Gooseberries. 
Sale or Devon Cattle —It will be seen by an an¬ 
nouncement in our advertising columns, that Mr. Wain 
right, will hold his first, publiesale of Devout, .Tune 17th. 
