338 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[AuQiwr, 
Remedy for Ijcaky 'I'eats.— As soon 
as the cow is milked clean, wrap a rag about one 
Inch wide twice around each teat, an inch from each tip, 
and tie it on with woolen yarn, w hich is more elastic tlian 
linen or cotton. They sliould be tied in a bow knot suffi¬ 
ciently tight to prevent the milk from coming down to 
the end of tire teats, but not tight enough to produce pain 
by stopping the circulation of the blood. The rags are 
of course removed when the cow is milked. Light In¬ 
dia rubber bands slipped over each teat are much better 
and more convenient than strings, and may be obtained 
at any stationery store. They may be made by cutting 
narrow slices off* from the end of rubber tubes, or by 
cutting rings out of a piece of old-fashioned rubber slioe. 
If they clasp the teats too tightly, shave them thinner. 
A joiner's gouge is the best tool to cut out such rings with. 
After a few weeks the teats will be so contracted that 
they will not leak. 
Bougilitoia WBsitc Wiacat.— A corre¬ 
spondent whose name was mentioned in the Agriculturist 
In connection with the Boughton w heat, receives so many 
questions by letter, that lie thinks his statements must be 
of general value to our readers. For ourselves we only 
know it to have a very good reputation vvlierever we 
have seen it grow—ranking equal to the Soule, Weeks, 
and other good varieties. Our correspondent says : “1st, 
The Boughton smooth eared wheat ripens earlier tlian 
any wheat I know of—nearly, if not quite a week earlier 
than the red Mediter.anean. In 1863, I had engaged 
my three acre lot, to be reaped on the 27th of June (fully 
ripe), but Gen. Jenkins, and then Gen. Lee vi.siled us 
with about 90,000 Southerners, and hence it was md 
reaped until the 18th of July. Still, it shelled out very 
little. The yield was 25K bushels to tlie acre. Stood 
rather thin. Second, Freezing out. Tlie winter of 1S6.3— 
’64 was a hard one on wheat. Col. McClure and oilier 
growers had light crops in consequence of freezing out, 
but mine was belter than ever —the yield from 2^ acres 
was 60>^ bushels in weight (63 bushels measure) ; the 
grain plump, the flour from it the best I ever had, whilst 
an adjoining lot of red Mediterranean, sowed on the same 
day, was greatly damaged by the fly, my Boughton, fit 
for reaping 7 days before, was untouched by that enemy. 
To the query: I can think of only one reason why my 
Boughton did not freeze out, namely : I had top-dressed it 
the fall before.”—[Probably with fine yard manure. Ed.] 
Cure Ibr Insect Stimg-s.— A French 
newspaper, the Sud-Est, of Grenoble, publishes a cure 
for insect slings which it says “is not only as efficacious 
as an alkaline application, but is preferable to this 
and many other remedies in being always at hand when 
wanted. It consists in the immediate application upon the 
wound, sting or bite, of a small quantity of the yellowish 
secretion formed in the ear, known as ceramen or ear- 
wax. The faculty may scout this as an old woman’s an¬ 
tidote ; but it is said to prove successful even 
against the bites of poisonous insects which not unfre- 
quently occasion death. The discoverer of the remedy 
states that the venom in the bite or sting is completely 
neutralized by this simple means.” It is easily tested. 
Canker worms {Fhalina verna(a). — Great 
devastations were wrought by the canker worm in New 
England during the past months of May and June. 
In making two trips into Connecticut, we passed, we may 
almost say, through hundreds of miles of orchards and 
rows of elms, which were at one time hung with fine 
webs that glistened in the morning sun, and suspended 
countless numbers of little naked wriggling worms, and 
at another the same trees presented an appearance as if 
a fire had swept over them, scorching and destroying 
every green thing. The apple and elm trees at about 
the middle of June had no more leaves, and cast 
scarcely more shade than in mid-winter, the strong ribs 
and veins of the leaves being all that the worms had 
left. They have destroyed the fruit as well, for deprived 
of the sustenance derived from the foliage it has dropped. 
Many different contrivances for defense against this 
pest have been tried , all depending on the same funda¬ 
mental fact, viz: that the female moths that lay the 
eggs from which the worms are hatched, come from the 
ground, ascend the trees by crawling up the trunks, and 
being wingless they must crawl. We hear the greatest 
dissalisfiaction and lack of confidence expressed in regard 
to these protectors, but so far as we can learn where they 
have proved ineffective (as they have we are free to say 
in the great majority of cases), tliey were either not put 
on early enougli, or they were not well applied. 
REMEDIES FOR THE EVIL.— The fact that the females 
must crawl up the trees to deposit their eggs, places the 
multiplication of the In.^oct almost entirely within the 
power of man. No man ever saw the winged male carry 
Mb companion over any obstacle, or into the tree. Impos- 
Blble obstacles ate; Isl, Leaden gutters surrounding the 
trunks, filled with oil. A cross section of a gutter is like 
a letter c inverted (thus 0). The oil is held in the lower 
p.art and the upper part forms, a roof to keep out the 
rain : 2d, Cas Iron troughs similar to the leaden ones (pat¬ 
ented) ; .3th, freshly tarred bands (upon cloth or paper,) 
about the trunks, which are not effective after the tar 
hardens, or in cold weatlier; 4th, A (patented) inverted 
metalic trough, a section of which is somewhat like a 
letter y inverted, (thus X.) suspended and attached to the 
tree by a cloth band on the upper end , 5th, An inverted 
glass-trough, or gutter (patented) attached to the tree in 
a similar way ; 6th, A strip of tin, two or three inches 
long, to the lower edge of which a strip of cloth is 
fastened, the ends of the tin being cut slanting, the upper 
one lapping, and the tin being smeared with some fluid, 
offensive to the insect (the form patented, the fluid not). 
These plans have all so far as we know stopped the 
ascent of the insects; the 3d pian is not to be recom¬ 
mended. The 61h is probably the cheapest.—We have 
little doubt that cloth or tough paper, or such as is made 
impervious to water by oiling, smeared with some viscous 
non-drying substance, like tar and molasses, or something 
of the nature of bird-lime, that which the female moth 
could not pass, would be effective, and cheaper than any¬ 
thing else, quite a consideration in large orchards. 
EARLY APPLICATION.—The application of any preventive 
must be made as early as the first of September, for the 
moths begin to ascend as soon as the nights are frosty ; 
and keep it up till the earth is frozen hard. In the spring 
they commence again as soon as the top of the ground 
becomes soft from the ice thawing , and they may be seen 
ascending every mild evening for 6 or 8 weeks. A good 
deal of labor attends faithfully preventing the ascent of 
these creatures, but it may be done, and we may sav-e 
our trees and fruit, and it will be a paying job in the end. 
Silk Rsaisiisjsf im Frawce.— 
The experiments (says La Patrie, of Paris.) made in the 
raising of silk worms at the Imperial farm at Vincennes, 
are now in full operation. A great many breeds of the 
ordinary mulberry silk worm are being raised there with 
the view of ascertaining the causes of the epidemic raging 
among these little animals, and important experiments 
are made in acclimating various new species, such as 
live on the leaves of the oak, the wild plum tree, the 
castor oil plant iRicinus), ailanthus, and other trees. At 
the present time the ailanthus worm is perfectly accli¬ 
mated ; they are being snccessfullv raised and the num¬ 
ber of eggs of this species produced at the Imperial Seri- 
cultural establishment is insufficient to supply the de¬ 
mand ; fortunately, however, there are several worm- 
raisers in the other parts of France, as well as in Switz¬ 
erland, w ho are able to furnish large quantities of them. 
Am IBIlls.—“ Ward ” has several colonies 
of ants in his yard, and wishes to know how to get rid of 
them. We wish we could tell him. We once fought the 
inhabitants of two hills for several weeks, with every- 
thing we could think of, and they rather flourished under 
the treatment. This was before benzine was in common 
use, and were wo troubled now, should make an experi¬ 
ment with that, by pouring a quantity into the holes, and 
covering them up with earth, so as to confine the ants in 
the vapor as long as possible. One correspondent re¬ 
ported that he routed a large colony by burning fire 
crackers on the hill one 4th of July, 
Mow to ItaliiinitEe an Apiary in any 
kind of Hives. —Bidwell Brothers, of St. Paul, Minn., 
write : “ When an Italian Queen has been in a hive 10 
days, all the eggs and brood from which a Queen can be 
made are Italian; then change this hive with one contain¬ 
ing a black queen, drive out both stocks of bees with 
queens, shaking the bees containing the black queen in 
front of the one which contained the Italian, and as they 
go in catch and kill the black queen. The bees will then 
raise an Italian queen from the Italian brood. Next shake 
the bees with the Italian queen in front of the hive which 
previously contained the black queen, and in 10 days re¬ 
peat the operation with another until all are Italianized.” 
Are Itsilian ISecs Ifiarcly ?— Bidwell 
Bros., of Minnesota, says in answer to this question : 
“ We wintered 28 stocks of bees in the open air, which 
included 21 of Italians. They ate less and came out the 
strongest of the lot.” 
Bkot^pkmic Mamires. —It is generally be¬ 
lieved that of all the necessary ingredients of plants de¬ 
rived from the soil, none is commonly so easily exhausted, 
or withdrawn by successive cropping, as Phosphoric acid. 
The great source of supply of this substance is bones— 
which consist largely of phosphate of lime. And on 
all exhausted or worn-out land, manures of which bones 
or phosphate of lime form a part, in the shape of bone- 
dust, or composts containing it, superphosphate of lime, 
etc., are productive of the most lasting benefit. Peruvi¬ 
an guano contains a considerable quantity of phosphate 
of lime (26 or 28 per cent.), but proportionally more am¬ 
monia (15 to 17 per cent.), which stimulates the growth 
of crops so that an Increased quantity of both bone-earth 
and other inorganic, or earthy manorial substances are 
needed by the crops in connection with its use on ex¬ 
hausted land. There have been various deposits found, 
of the nature of guano,containing far less ammonia and 
more phosphates. Some of these are very valuable as 
manures for more or less worn out and exhausted land, 
containing as they do the phosphates naturally in a state 
of fine powder, and readily assimilable. Of this charac¬ 
ter is the so called ,Bolivian guano, the best samples of 
which contain some 60 per cent, of phosphates, with 
between 1 and 2 per cent, of ammonia. It must come 
chiefly in competition with bone-dust, ordinary grades of 
which contain about 45 per cent, of phosphates, «ith 
about 3 per cent, of ammonia, or its equivalent. The 
best qualities of bone meal or bone turnings and filings 
are much richer both in ammonia and the phosphates, 
(4)f per cent, of ammonia—57Ji per cent, phosphates.) 
SSsiBif^Ies—Mow to B^ay anti Nail 
Tliem ?—“O. H. E., of Portsmouth, N. H., says he 
sends us “ a chip for our Basket,” we hope for more 
from the same source. In the sawing of shingles from 
round “bolts” or small trees 6 or 8 inches diameter, the 
shingles are “slab-ways,” or have a piece of the heart in 
them, or have more sap wood on one side than on the 
other, and the annual rings lap one upon the otlier. If 
the sap side of the shingle is exposed to the weather and 
the heart side is placed next the roof, it will not curl or 
warp up ; also if the nails are placed one inch each side 
of a line running through the center of the shingle, es¬ 
pecially each side of the heart piece, if there is one, (the 
usual manner being one inch from the edge, however 
wide the shingle may be,) the shrinkage will be from 
each edge toward the center. I have seen roofs shingled 
with Fir, Hemlock, Spruce, Cedar, and Sapling-pine, re¬ 
tained in their place, and without a split, and also shin¬ 
gled in the old manner with every other one split from 
slirinkage, making a crack directly over the joint in the 
lower course, and under the joint in the next course 
above, causing aleak. We know our plan works well 
and will be useful to many. 
“N®. 17 McrcSaanats ExcSiiaMge.”— 
During the past three or four years we have received 
from time to time hundreds of circuiars sent to our sub¬ 
scribers, and by tliem forwarded to us, dated “No. 17 
Merchants Exchange,” although professedly emanating 
from many different cities and towns. Often they bear 
the name of a place where “the oldest inhabitant” nev¬ 
er heard of the existence of a “ Merchants Exchange.” 
Most or all of these are swindling schemes of bogus 
lotteries {all lotteries are unsafe money traps) to tempt 
the unthinking. Give a wide berth to all letters and cir¬ 
culars dated “ 17 Merchants Exchange,” especially if 
they offer great inducements for investing money. 
Mow to Set a. Steel I'l-ap.— Take a 
common steel trap with a stiff spring, but one which 
springs easily, cover the trap with a piece of cotton cloth, 
sewing it to the “ pane ” or treadpiece. Upon this fasten 
the bait so that it can not be taken off without springing 
the trap. Set the trap near the rats’ runs. J. Amaden. 
Defiance Co., 0., says of this way : “After trying every 
thing else I fixed my trap according to the above plan 
and caught 9 rats in one hour.” 
Xlie IjiTe Oalc.—J. McGregor. It is of no 
use to try to start the acorns of the live oak in Iowa, as 
the climate is much too cold for it. 
A ft-ood Yield of Potatoes.—R. Coates 
of Attleborough, C. W., writes, that one of his neighbors 
planted, last spring, a bushel of Prince Alberts, cut into 
small sets, and in the fall harvested 98 busliels. The 
hand had been used for a sheep pasture for several years, 
and the planting was done on the recently turned sod. 
Flag I-icelc.—“ L. A. L.” has received some 
seeds of this from the Agricultural Department at VVash- 
ington, and wishes to know whether it is useful or or¬ 
namental. It is a garden plant of the onion kind, and 
is used in soups and stews. An account and figure was 
given in April of last year. 
Mricd Cnrrjinfs.— J. J. T., Sullivan, Ind., 
asks, if the dried currants of the shops are the common 
red currants, and how they are prepared. The imported 
currant is not a currant at all, but a very small grape from 
the South of Europe. Being from Corinth, they wers 
called Corinths, which finally was changed into currants. 
