86 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[March, 
Renovating' :i IPoor Field. —“J.,” a 
Michigan farmer, writes: “I liavea seventeen-acre field 
that is considerably run down, and I have undertaken to 
bring it hack to its original state of fertility. I seeded it 
down with a large kind of red clover in 1867. Last year 
took oft' a crop of seed, 214 bushels per acre. This spring 
I propose to sow on some lime and pasture the field until 
some time in June, and then let the clover go to seed and 
plow r it under, and sow wheat and again seed to clover. 
Is my plan a good one?”—Clover sometimes does not 
take well immediately after clover. A better plan would 
have been to pasture it the first year, instead of taking 
off a crop of seed. Then this spring either let the clover 
grow' until June, or pasture it and then plow it up and sum¬ 
mer-fallow. If it is a heavy soil, plow it three times and 
reduce it as fine as possible. Tou might then expect fair 
wdieat and a good catch of clover. If a lighter loam, 
once plowing with repeated harrowing and “ cultivator- 
ing,” to keep down the weeds, will be sufficient. Apply 
the lime on the fallow, rather than on the grass. 
Corn, Oats, Wheat, seeded with Timo¬ 
thy and Clover. Such is the rotation adopted by one of 
our correspondents in Virginia, and he adds, “ Our system 
of farming in this section is very defective and barely 
self-sustaining.” We supposed that corn was oft - in time 
to sow wdieat. If so, it would, we think, be better to 
give up the oat crop and sow the corn stubble to wheat 
and seed down with clover. Less oats and more clover 
would make the land richer and give better wheat. 
^ew BiiS&aiul fib a- Settles'S is every year 
opened up by the network of railroads which is so rapid¬ 
ly spreading itself over Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, and 
other comparatively new States. The settlers wdio rush 
in upon them are generally those from other Western 
Stales, who are dissatisfied with their homes, so they 
often leave good houses and “improvements,” that is, 
fences, sheds, and perhaps barns, roads, and, very likely, 
churches and school-houses ready built. These deserted 
houses, if in healthy localities, are much cheaper for 
Eastern farmers than the w'ild land further west. 
Raising' fiUae Price of Farms:.—“ J. 
G. S.,” Worcester, Mass.—The best thing that can be 
done is, to apply more capital and skill to the soil. Im¬ 
proved husbandry, in any district, raises the price of 
lands quite rapidly. In Germany, since the introduction 
of a new system of agriculture, the population has in¬ 
creased, and the land risen in value 130 per cent. Ger¬ 
many has instituted schools for instruction in farming, 
in which all the specialties of agriculture, the cul¬ 
tivation of the vineyard, and all other branches, are 
taught by professors devoted to the subjects. This 
great painstaking to teach both the science and art 
of husbandry in schools has resulted in an extraordi¬ 
nary increase in the production, and in the wealth 
of the country. Better farmers will inevitably make 
more valuable farms. • 
Fall YVEaeat in tlac 
Spring.—A New Jersey subscriber of the Agriculturist 
asks if it will pay to apply bone-dust or superphosphate 
to winter wheat in the spring. The increase of the 
wheat crop alone would probably not pay for the manure, 
but bone-dust would benefit the land so much that in the 
end he would much more than get the money back.'' 
For immediate effect on the wheat, sow a mixture of Pe¬ 
ruvian guano and superphosphate, 130 lbs. each, per acre. 
Sow it as early in the spring as possible. Sift the guano, 
to get out all the lumps ; then break them up and pass 
them through the sifter. There should no lumps be sown 
larger than a marrowfat pea. If wheat brings $2.50 per 
bushel, the money expended, and probably more, will be 
returned from the increase in the first crop, and the clover 
will show a great improvement; while the extra straw 
and clover will enable him to go on enriching the land. 
Whsit’s tine IP trice of Wool 'Wool 
growers will admit by and by that the persistent advo¬ 
cacy of the long and middle-wool breeds of sheep by the 
Agriculturist was wise. This has never been exclusive. 
There is great use for the fiuc-wool breeds, if they pro¬ 
duce wool in those sections where sliccp cannot receive 
much care and shelter, winter or summer, and where the 
distance from market is such that mutton bears a low 
price. Over a great part of the Union now the long-wools, 
especially Cotswolds and Lcicesters, and middle-wools, 
particularly South:!own.-, maybe profitably raised, both 
for wool and mutton. The amount of combing wool 
used in this country is vastly in excess of the supply. 
The growing demand for lustrous wools, of the character 
of Leicester and Cotswold wool, is for the manufacture 
of worsted goods, Listings, delaines, bereges, Italian 
cloths, bunting, furniture damask and reps, cords, and 
tassels, etc., etc. It is stated that 12,000,000 pounds were 
consumed by twenty-five manufacturing firms last year, 
which is an increase of 9,000,000 pounds since 1861. The 
short supply seriously checks the manufacture,and though 
fashions may change, and the demand for fine wools in¬ 
crease, as we hope it will, yet the great advantage which 
the raiser of combing wool has over the fine-wool producer, 
viz., that his mutton will always be in demand, will re¬ 
main ; and for many years we presume whatever he gets 
for his wool may be counted as clear gain. Common 
long combing wool sells at G7 cts. to 72 cts. per pound, 
while choice Saxony brings but 65 cts., and common to 
fine grades of Merino 45 cts. to 50 cts. 
IPotato Rot Again.—Dr. Moody G. Free¬ 
man, Marshall Co., Ill., writes : “ In the fall of 1S34, and 
at different times since, I have preserved my potatoes 
from the rot by applying two quarts of common salt to 
three bushels of potatoes, sprinkling the heap, containing 
the number of bushels which I wished to preserve, with 
a little water, and covering them with dry straw and suf¬ 
ficient earth to keep from freezing. My success induces 
me to believe that it will always preserve them when 
rightly applied, and even stop the progress of decay after 
it has commenced. Let the farmers try it.” 
CTaeap E-iamcls isa FBorislsE. —The rea¬ 
son why the land is offered so very cheap to settlers, as 
it appears from the experience of a friend, who says he 
was “Yankee enough not to bo caught,” is, that the rail¬ 
road company mean to get their money back in transpor¬ 
tation charges. The land cost $2.50 per acre for wood 
land, and $5 for cleared land. The charge for one barrel 
of produce from Cedar Keys to Fernandiua, about 150 
miles, was $5. 
ErrigntioBi iia Winter.—“J. M.,” Gro¬ 
ton, Ct., asks: “Have you any experience with irri¬ 
gating grass lands in winter? Does it kill the grass ?”— 
We have noticed but one instance in which the grass was 
injured by winter flowing, and that was near Brattleboro, 
Vt., and we presume this was owing to very severe freez¬ 
ing, and to the smothering of the grass. In most cases 
where the water is allowed to flow freely all winter, the 
ground is protected by the covering of ice, and does not 
freeze at all. This we judge to be safer than to have the 
water upon soil already frozen solid. The best results 
follow from abundant irrigation of all naturally dry or 
well-drainad soils, both in summer and winter. Not only 
is the grass crop increased, but the subsequent hoed 
crops, when tho sod is broken, show that the land has 
been permanently enriched. 
S^-ejsatrlimg Manans-e for YY anesst.— 
A young Virginia farmer asks how to make a compost, to 
put on his wheat next fall. Material on hand, manure 
from the stable and cow yard, some long straw, and leaves 
from the woods.—Make the heap ten feet wide, put a 
layer of the straw at the bottom, then a layer of horse 
manure, then a layer of leaves, and then a layer of cow 
manure. Then another layer of straw, horse manure, 
and so on as before, until the heap is of the desired hight, 
say five or six feet. Then cover the whole with some 
old decomposed sods or soil. The work should be done 
early in the spring, when the manure is wet. And if any 
liquid runs from tho heap, throw up tho soil around the 
heap to absorb it. Then as soon as the heap has fer¬ 
mented, turn it all over and mix with it the soil that has 
absorbed the liquid. When done, covcrwith a few inches 
of soil as before. On some wet day during tho summer 
turn the heap again and cover as before. In this way 
you will have a pile of well-rotted manure ready to spread 
on tho soil and harrowed in after the land is plowed for 
wheat. If there is much straw, the manure will not be as 
rich as is desirable, neither will (ho heap ferment readi¬ 
ly. If you could put in half a bushel of bone-dust to 
each ton of manure, it would be a great improvement. 
Scatter it on each layer of the material as you are making 
tho heap. It will promote fermentation of the manure, 
and the fermentation will react on the bone-dust and de¬ 
compose it, so that it will act more immediately than 
when sown alone. Any animal matter, such as hair, 
hide, wool, blood, bone sawings, etc., will be a very valu¬ 
able addition to the heap. The value of a compost de¬ 
pends on the materials of which it is composed. The 
object of piling, turning, etc., is to decompose them and 
render them more available as food for plants. 
C»rcasimg; Wagon WBaeels.—“A. N.,” 
Fort Wayne.—“ What is tho best article for greasing 
axles, and how often should it. bo applied ?”—Mutton or 
beef tallow is a good article for wooden axles, and cas¬ 
tor oil is, perhaps, the best cheap oil for iron or steel. 
“ Liltic and often " is the rule for greasing. Hubs are 
often injured by too much oil, as it tends to loosen tho 
spoken and boxes. Rancid castor oil can frequently be 
had very cheap, and it is quite as good as tho best for a 
lubricator. A teaspoonful of oil applied to an axle is 
just as efficacious as a quart, and would be much cheaper. 
•-« n g O ta n I » »--- 
Bee Items.—/??/ M. Quiriby. 
ILiOSS of BBees. —B. W. Cox, Willow Gate, 
Iud., writes: “Within the last three weeks 75 stands of 
bees havp died in this county. There was plenty of 
honey in the gums. Would like something on the sub¬ 
ject.”—This shows that the malady spoken of last, month 
still continues. Flowers have not yielded honey since 
October last, which is about the time previous reports 
were made. The trouble is doubtless in the honey, and 
as tho bees could not have collected it from flowers, with¬ 
in the last two months, the probability is, they have rob¬ 
bed some hive or hives that have died earlier in the 
season, in consequence of a disease or poison, caused 
by tho unusual product referred to in a former article. 
Nothing is more common with careless bee keepers, 
than robbing on some fine day in November or December. 
Should this be correct, it would be important that every 
hive without bees be immediately removed and the con¬ 
tents put out of the way, otherwise I fear we shall hear 
further disastrous reports. Yet should there bo a tree in 
the woods, in reach of healthy bees, where poisoned 
honey has been left, I see no escape from the malady until 
such honey is used up. It would be interesting to know 
how fiir this has already spread from the starting-point,; 
and also if some one at that place had not been experi¬ 
menting with some noxious compound as a cheap food 
for his bees. All the facts would be thankfully receiv¬ 
ed, if faithfully reported.... Since 
writing the foregoing I see in the 
N. Y. Tribune, further complaints 
of this malady, and a reply from 
Mrs. Ellen S. Tupper, a distin¬ 
guished apiarian, who also at¬ 
tributes these sad effects to 
poisonous honey; and suggests 
further, that tho cause might be 
too much honey, and too few 
bees, for cold weather. Had slm 
known that this malady commenced in October, while 
the weather was yet comparatively warm, the last sug¬ 
gestion would probably not have been offered. A friend, 
with much alarm, says: “I sec they have the bee 
malady, also, in Maryland.” This is an error in printing 
on page 47, American Agriculturist —“Clark Co., Md.,” 
instead of Clark Co., Incl., which it should have been. 
Arfiifiac'istl £$stieeias„—In addition to what 
was said last month, relative to the 
dwarfing of tho queen on account of 
size of cell, I will here introduce two 
cells, to illustrate the surplus room of 
the royal apartments. Figure 1 shows 
the royal larva in a cell just built, with SSI 
the original worker cell, or that part """ 
entirely filled with royal jelly. The 
other, figure 2, shows a finished cell, 
with the side cut oil', to exhibit the 
full-sized queen in a state of repose, just 
at maturity ; showing that such queen 
would find ample room in a cell half tho 
siz«. This figure is taken from Mr. Langstroth’s work. 
ESee Flamts.—“ M.,” Clayton, N. Y., says: 
“ Can you inform me which is the best plant for honey ? 
I have tried Buckwheat, which is not as good as clover, 
but we cannot always obtain that. I want something 
that will be the most profitable. Is borage as good or 
better? What kind of soil is required?”—The question 
most frequently asked is, “ Will it pay to sow any thing 
especially for bees ?” This one asks what is best. Mother¬ 
wort, Borage, and Catnip yield abundantly. Tho first 
named will last but a short time, while the other two will 
sometimes produce honey continuously for three months. 
If I should cultivate any plant exclusively for honey, it 
would bo" the catnip. When we come to the question, Will 
it pay? I should answer no, when land is more than $10 
per acre. To talk about cultivating plants for the honey 
they produce is simply a waste of breath. When we 
contemplate the thousands of tons of honey grown annu¬ 
ally, even in this State, only to be “ wasted on the desert 
air” for want of bees and skill in aiding them to collect 
it, it would seem like better pay to cultivate bees. In the 
90,000 lbs. of honey sent to market in 1SGS from a small 
part of the Mohawk Valley, less than one-sixth was ob¬ 
tained from Buckwheat. Rather than raise more honey, 
wo can more profitably take care of what already grows 
spontaneously. When one field is occupied with the 
bees necessary to collect its sweets, take 50 or 100 stocks 
to another, three or four miles away; and still another, 
and another, until all the country is filled, and all the honey 
gathered. Then will be time to talk about raising more. 
In the new system of management, one man will take the 
necessary care of hundreds, with very much better 
chances of profit and success than ever before. 
