270 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[Septembeb, 
The Fsiir ef the Annericaii Insti¬ 
tute. —The 36th Aiiniiai Fair of the American Institute 
will commence on tlie 12 th inst., and continue until 
October 19th. The place selected for holding the exhi¬ 
bition is the armory on 14th-street, near 6 th avenue,.be¬ 
ing the same building occupied by the great Sanitary 
Fair last year. A very extensive and liberal list of pre¬ 
miums is offered for industrial products of all kinds, in¬ 
cluding those of agriculture and horticulture. Agricul¬ 
tural and dairy productions, as well as preserves, honey 
and wines must be in place on or before Monday, Sept. 
12th. Fruits must be in by Monday, the 18th; Green 
House plants and florist's flowers generally, Monday, 
25th ; Evergreens, Fern.s, Lycopods, and out flowers on 
Monday, Oct. 2d ; Table decorations. Baskets, Bouquets, 
and Rustic stands, Monday, Oct. 9th, and Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, Monday, Oct. I9th. Horticulturists wall be much 
interested in this fair, from the fact that the award of the 
Greeley Premiums is to be made upon fruits there exhi¬ 
bited. One hundred dollars will be awarded, each, for 
the best bushel of apples, the best bushel of pears, and 
the best dish of grapes (not less than six pounds), of the 
varieties best adapted to general culture. The following 
varieties of Apples and Pears were exhibited and exam¬ 
ined last fall and will not come into competition this 
year, except from the parties who exhibited the speci¬ 
mens then, viz; Apples .—Hubbardston Nonsuch, Fall- 
awater, Conkling’s Seedling, Swaar and Baldwiij. Pears 
Bartlett, Lawrence, Duchesse de Angouleme and Dana’s 
Hovey. The fruit for which these premiums are offered 
must be exhibited on or before Monday, the ISth of Sep¬ 
tember. Varieties which ripen at a later period may be 
exhibited at the rooms of the American Institute on the 
second Tuesday of November, and the second Tuesday 
of December, in competition for the same premiums. 
The following gentlemen compose the Committee to ex¬ 
amine and report upon the varieties exhibited : Messrs. 
John A. Warder, Cincinnati, Ohio; Chas. Downing, 
Newburgh, N. Isaac M. Ward, Newark, N. J.; Wm. 
S. Carpenter, New York ; P. T. Quinn, Newark, N. J. ; 
Wm. L. Ferris, Throg’s Neck, N. Y.; E. Ware Sylves¬ 
ter, Lyons, N. Y. Peter B. Mead, N. J., will meet with 
this Committee in awarding the premium on the Grape. 
The fruit for these premiums should be directed to John 
W. Chambers, Clerk of tlie American Institute, 14th- 
street. and marked “ For the Greeley Premiums.” The 
charges must be paid to the place of exhibition. 
Communications on the subject of the exhibition are to 
be addressed to John W. Chambers. Sec. American In¬ 
stitute, Cooper Union Building, N. Y. City. 
to Maiaag'e a ISasillcy Hoi-se.~ 
“J. C. R.,” of Pittsburgh, Pa., writes to the Agricul¬ 
turist, that he saw a stranger open the mouth of a baulky 
horse and throw in two handfuls of dust and sand from 
the beaten track of the road, and the animal obeyed his 
driver immediately and travelled on. We have known a 
similar effect produced by slipping a small cord around 
the tongue, or under jaw, and pulling forward on it. “ J. 
C. R.” accounts for the phenomenon by supposing that 
the dust diverts the horse's attention and he forgets his 
baulkiness for the time being. The best way is to 
so manage liorses, that they will never baulk. This 
preventive is worth all the remedies in the world. 
TSbc Ksassiasi Cattle Plagsie. (Cure 
Proposed.)—In an other article we give some state¬ 
ments concerning this disease. Mr. Louis Burstall, of 
this city, sends us the following, which is worth re¬ 
membering, for we may have an opportunity to put the 
suggestion in practice before long. “ Learning that in 
England, tlte Russian Epidemic has attacked cattle, and 
as it is possible that this very disastrous disease may be 
imported into tills country, I take the opportunity to 
direct your attention to a means, which, in this as in 
many other cases, has proved to be thoroughly disinfec¬ 
ting. Tills is Raw Petroleum, or if it is not to be had, 
Kerosene (or Benzine?). But for external use (as a dis¬ 
infectant) raw Petroleum is preferable. I go so far as to 
think, that Kerosene should be administered internally to 
cattle, that have shown the fiist symptoms of the Rus¬ 
sian plague.” 
To Prevent Smut in Wlicat,—David 
Nutt, Dearborn Co., Ind., recommends ope pound of 
bine vitriol in five gallons of water as strep for seed 
wheat, to prevent rust. The grain is soaked in it an lioiir 
and sowed immediately. The usual practii-.e Is, to so.ak 
tlie seed in strong brine, and use about K lb. of blue 
vitriol (sulphate of copper) to five g.nllons of brine. 
After the seed has been in this pickle a few hours. It is 
spread on a floor, rolled in dry slacked lime, and sowed 
as soon as practicablo. The brine floats off all the light 
seed and also aids the copper salt in killing tlie smut. 
4|iti(;l£ Time on WIscat Soils.—W. H. 
Marbles, Allegany Co., Mich., writes witli reference to 
our article on Soils for Wheat in the April number, page 
112; “Quick Lime has a very manifest and lasting effect, 
pulverizing and generally loosening our clay soils. May 
it not also act as a decomposer and absorbent ? I think 
I cannot be mistaken that the crop bears drought better 
where the soil has been limed. It should be slacked only 
sufficiently for spreading, and plowed under as quickly as 
possible. In some circumstances it is a cheap manure, 
as it costs .so little to apply it.” The same writer speaks 
highly of leached ashes. In one instance a dressing of 
these (quantity not given) increased the yield of grain 
more than ten bushels per acre. 
Kenovatiiig' old Meado'WS,—“R. C. J.,” 
Columbia Co., Penn., writes; “I have an eight acre 
meadow, which has not been plowed for thirty-five years. 
About one fourth, receiving the washings from the public 
road, produces good Timothy. Another fourth has grown 
up with wild grass ; the balance produces almost nothing. 
The soil is naturally good, neither too dry nor too wet. 
The question is, what .shall I do to get it in good Timothy ? 
Shall I manure, lime and harrow it thoroughly, and sow 
it with Timothy ? or shall I plow this fall for corn, fol¬ 
lowing with oats or wheat ? ’’—The wild grass is an in¬ 
dication of an excess of water. The first step is to drain 
and open the soil. Then a liberal dressing of bone dust, 
lime and barnyard manure, well harrowed in, may pro¬ 
duce a good crop next season. Or plow under a dres¬ 
sing of lime, and top dress with well-rotted barnyard 
manure, and stock down with Timothy, or sow other 
grass seed also. If done thismonth.it will yield aheavy 
burden of grass next season. The best way ordinarily 
is, to plow and crop it, manuring liberally a few years, 
and then stock down again to grass, with some g rain crop. 
Keepiaig' Mainirc .—Questions enough for 
a long chapter. —Geo. A. Dudley, of Ulster Co., N. Y., 
asks: I. Should the droppings of the stable be kept 
undercover, or exposed to rains? II. If under cover, 
should not the receptacle be just outside the building and 
roofed over, rather than under the stable, where it would 
infect the air above ? III. Should a pit, in either case, 
be left with naked walls and earth bottom, or both made 
water tight with cement? IV. Would an earth bot¬ 
tom absorb value to any great extent from the liquid? 
Ans. —I. In regard to the first i under cover. Though 
on this point Mr. D. says—his own experience has been 
that, “undercover the heap ‘burned’ out its vitality, 
while outside the rains prevented this.” This must have 
been because the liquids were not led over the solid parts, 
and the heap was not properly spread and trodden 
down. II. Much better have the manure sheds outside 
and with closed sides. III. We would cement both 
sides and bottom of any regular pit, but if the manure 
sheds were extensive, would not attempt to cement the 
whole, if Ihe ground was clayey, or a stiff loam, or 
gravelly clay loam, (IV.) .such soils are sufficiently im¬ 
pervious. Sandy and light loam soils allow the manure 
to soak into them, often to a depth of several feet. 
Clialliiig' Haty asid. Straw.—Isaac B. 
Rumford, of Penn., writes to the Agriculturist: I do not 
feed hay to any of my stock except milch cows, because 
I think straw and grain cheaper and as good. All the 
hay fed to cows, as well as straw, is chaffed to prevent 
any waste, and to be able to know exactly how many 
pounds are fed out. I find by chaffing corn fodder tliat the 
stock, except one of my mules, wliich is rather dainty, 
will eat it all up. We use a one-horse-power to chaff with, 
and are sure it pays. I prefer chaffed straw for litter, 
because it soaks up the liquid manure much better than 
when not cut. When the litter is chaffed, the manure is 
in a much better condition for spreading or plowing in. 
l>iS;cIiiMff MaclsiMes,—M. W. Montgome¬ 
ry, Jay Co., Indiana, inquires if there is any machine in 
successful operation for cutting ditches for tiles ? None 
that we know of. Many of our Western farmers have af¬ 
firmed that the Mole Plow, which is drawn by a capslan 
anchored to a tree or post, and makes a round iiole 2 or 3 
feet below the surface, through the compact subsoil, 
serves an excellent purpose. The best way to cut ditches 
is to use the ditching plow, pick, spade and shovel. 
Scyllse Slaarpeiiiaig-.—Chas. E.Townsend,' 
of Queens Co., N. Y., writes: “ The ordinary mode of 
sharpening a scythe wdth the dry rifle, heats the edge and 
destroys the fine temper of the blade, the same as the 
temper of a knife would be destroyed by grinding it on a 
dry stone. By using a round stone hone, and keeping it 
in a pail of waler, llie temper of the blade will be 
preserved, a keener edge imparled, and with a .single 
honing, double the quantity of grass can be cut than 
when shaipencd with the ordinary dry lifle. The hone 
should be re-wet two or lliree times while whetting the 
blade, A scythe treated in this way will last double the 
ordinary time ; and those who try this method of wet 
honing, will be surprised to liear the unw'onted, keen, 
ripping sound of the blade, as it cuts through the grass.” 
To which we say: Very important and useful, if true. 
Is Hair -wortli saviisg- as a Mamire ? 
—This question is asked by a Western Pennsylvanian. 
Had he hailed from this side of the Alleghanies we 
should have wondered at the question. Hair is very 
powerful manure, being so rich in nitrogen (which forms 
ammonia) that it must be used with caution, like 
guano and other highly ammoniacal fertilizers. It un- 
dei'goes fermentation rather slowly at first, but if com¬ 
posted with muck and the fermentation quickened by a 
little barnyard liquor or ho)'se manure, it acts very quick¬ 
ly. Hair, wool, woolen rags, horn shavings, etc., contain 
more nitrogen than the best Peruvian guano. 
—When they are not well drained, 
better drain, and improve their productiveness for a crop 
of spring wheat, than to sow winter wheat. In some 
sections of the country new ground in process of being 
cleared is called “ fallow.” On such let the rubbish be 
burned before wet weather, all weeds and bushes cut, 
and the soil well prepared for winter or spring grain. 
Tlie Ice«lioisse Question.—“W. H. 0.,” 
De Kalb Co., III. How to make an ice-house that will 
keep ice—that is the question. W. H. 0. writes : “ Last 
winter I built a house twelve feet square and eight feet 
high of pine boards, well jointed. I then built another 
two feet larger each way around it, and filled the space 
between them with oat straw, well pounded in ; the 
whole was then covered with a roof and shingled ; the 
space under the roof was also filled with straw, and the 
ends boarded up. It was filled in February with the 
most splendid ice I ever saw, all in blocks two feet square 
and two feet thick. I thought it would last till next 
wlnler, but here it is the first of July and my ice all gone, 
although we have not used a twentieth part of it. Vl^heje 
have I failed in the construction of the building? ” This 
house probably failed to keep ice on account of a lack of 
drainage, or from a free access of air at the bottom, 
operating in connection with no ventilation at the top. 
Not a particle of air should have access below, and no 
water should sland where the ice will touch it. The 
walls are all right, only twice or three times as thick as 
they need be. The I'oof would be just as good if boaj'ded 
on the under side of the rafters, with straw stuffed be¬ 
tween. Sufficient ventilation would be secured by hfllf- 
a-dozen 2-inch-augur holes in each end near the peak. 
I*lg'eons on tlic Fai-m.—Some one in the 
periodical called Our Young Folks, very prettily expa¬ 
tiates on the wonderful discrimination of the pigeon in 
eating only the seeds of weeds, and if he happens to touch 
a planted crop, it is only to pick up the imperfect grains, 
which this wise bird knew would never grow’, but which 
are just as good pigeon feed as those which would. The 
writer of all this pretty talk should have seen the pigeons 
at our peas this spring. They took them out of the 
ground about as fast as they went in, and as they made 
clean work, we must, according to this writer’s view, 
have planted none but bad seeds. There was one new 
kind we particularly desired to try, and though we en¬ 
deavored to save it by both dog and gun, the pigeons 
were too much for us. They got up early, staid up late, 
and watched all the time, which we couldn’t afford to do. 
We lost all our peas, and if somebody chance to have 
fewer pigeons now than formerly, they must have died 
from a combined attack of peas and bii'd shot. 
Horse C3ollar.s.—A horse cannot work with 
ease and without galling if his collar fits badly. There is 
but little danger of a collar being too small for an old 
horse, if it will pass over his head. Collars should set 
close to the neck all around. When so large that a man 
can thrust his arm between the collar and neck, thei'e is 
great danger of two things—galling and spi'aining the 
shoulder by heavy drawing, or a violent jerk. 
Es’S's.—Store with care in a (3ry, cool place, 
for use next winter. Set them on the small end between 
layers of any kind of meal or flour in a box or barrel. 
Pass each egg before a light, or look at it through 
a tube a foot or more long, to lell the good ones. Bad 
eggs are dark colored. Good ones ai'e ti'anslucent, show¬ 
ing the color of the yolk. Pack the boxes full, so as to 
be able to turn them bottom upward every now and then. 
Hrama CJrass.—F. A. Lament, Valleeito, 
Cal. The grass you speak of is one of several species of 
Chondrosium. Some attempts were made to introduce it 
into the Southern Slates some ycar.s ago, but we have 
never heard with what success. It is peculiarly adapted 
to sterile sotIs where there arc long drouths, hut vve doubt 
if it would supersede our pasture grasses at flie North 
