AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
98 
ia tlieni that never ought to be. Allow me to 
give 3 'ou a few facts. Fruit trees should 
never be trimmed in February, lilarch or 
April • the time is, when they are in blossom. 
,., .The time to cut timber, to have it last, is in 
January and February, Jrrly and August. 
One load of rrrarrure hauled orrt irr the firll after 
the suir crosses the line, arrd spread, is worth 
two to four loads hauled out in the spring, any 
way that j'ou can fix it. Fall-plowing is 
berreficial on clay loanr or mrrck soil, and on 
sarrdy arrd gravelly soil if j^ir can plow before 
there is any frost. Soirre rrren say that corrr 
will degenerate arrd run out. Mj" father got a 
kirrd of jmllow 13-rowed corrr in the j’car of the 
^ great eclipse 1806, which I reirrenrber very Avell. 
I took it from him in the spring of 1820 and 
have it rrow. It is arr carlj-, sound corn, very 
easy to husk. I can raise 80 bushels of shelled 
corn to the acre with no extra labor, plarrting 
S'ls feet each wa 3 ^ I have another kind of 8 - 
rowed yellow corrr, which I got irr 1828, which 
will grow arrd ripcrr in 00 orlOO da 3 's... .lYlicat, 
oats and jrotatoes will degenerate and wear 
out [with ordirrary cirlture: Ed.]. IVe do rrot 
harvest our gr‘ain arrd cut our hay eai'l 3 " enough 
irr this courrtry. Yvherr I coirrnrerrced 
farming I was closelv watched ly my ireigh- 
bors, Avho said I plowed too deeji, cut m 3 ' ha 3 ' 
too early, and cut m 3 ' grain too green. I have 
fiirmed orr 12 different firrms, and the resirlt has 
been, I have tripled the crops on arr avcr'age. 
I have drained three farirrs jiretty thoroughly 
within the last 20 3 'ears, arrd am rrow Presi¬ 
dent of the Coirrrt 3 ' Agricultural Societ 3 '.” 
Barn-Door Fastenings. 
Several plans for barn-door fastenings are 
sent in by readers of the Agriculturist, who use 
thenr and prefer them 
to the perpendicular 
suspended bar, which 
was illustrated in the 
January number. Of 
these we select two 
M'hich have real nrerit. 
Figure 1 is suggested by 
Wm. W. Fish, of Clin¬ 
ton Co. The fastening 
consists of two bars of 
wood (A and B), each 
a little more than half 
the length of the door.' 
These are held in tiieir 
places by three fiat staples (c, c, c) through 
which they move easi] 3 '. Tlie bars are shown 
shoved out, as when the door is fastened. By 
raising the lower bar (A) until the middle staple 
will enter the notch (d), 
the upper bar may be 
dropped down and will 
rest on the shoulder (/.) 
Ill both the above posi¬ 
tions the bars are held 
snugly in their places. 
The other plan is of- 
ered by “ J. J.,” of Bain- 
bridge, Chenango Co., 
N. Y., not as any tlfing 
new, but as convenient 
and secure. B, B are 
two bars secured b 3 ’- iron 
staples to the upper 
and lower cross-pieces of the door. They are 
attached b 3 '’ pins to a level'. A, which is fastened 
to the centre cross-piece by the bolt G. The 
points of attachment of the bars upon the lever 
are equally distant from the fulcrum bolt ((7), so 
that aiy' motion of the lever Avill move each bar 
equally up or down. The opposite door may 
be fastened in the same W'a 3 ', or by a simple 
wooden bolt. These fastenings may be operated 
from the outside, if a pin be set in either of the 
bars to go through the door and move in a slot. 
The Comparative Yield of Potatoes. 
Doct. F. lY. Hexamer, of Westchester Co., 
has given us the results of his last 3 'ear’s ex¬ 
periments with different kinds of potatoes. 
They were grown upon the same field, succeed¬ 
ing a crop of corn and without manure, with 
the following results. 
Bushels per acre. Eusliels per acre 
Cuzco.3B0 White Jleroer. .ISO 
Garnet Chili.290 Fluke.169 
Pliik-eye Rusty Coat....2S0 Prince Albert.100 
Peach Blow.240 Early June.159 
tVhite Peach Blow.239 While Rock.130 
Prairie Seei.lling .230 Early Dykeman.120 
Blue Mercer. 220 Early Cottage.110 
‘‘Buckley’s Seedling”.. .210 Early Sover'eign. 80 
Buckeye. 200 Rough and Ready.. 50 
Experiments were made with reference to 
the value of large or small seed; equal areas of 
land being planted with the largest potatoes, 
cut once Icngtliwise, and with small potatoes. 
In planting cut ]iotatoes man 3 ' insist on the ne- 
cessit 3 ' of placing the cut surface down, an 
operation requiring much care on the part of 
the planter. Doct. II. planted his cut pieces in 
both wa 3'3 with the result of showing that it is a 
useless waste of time to place the cut side down. 
Peach Blow's, small seed, gaAm 160 Imshels of 
marketable size and 40 bushels small, per acre. 
The same with large seed, 200 bushels large 
and 40 bushels small. 
White Peach BIoavs, small seed, gave 170 
bushels marketable, and 40 bushels small, while 
large seed cut in two,, gave 190 bushels maket- 
able and 40 bushels small, in those planted with 
the cut side up, and 35 bushels of small ones, 
v.'here the cut side was put down. With those 
planted cut side up, or down, no difference was 
observed in the time the plants appeared, and 
the 3 'ield shoAvs'that the position in this respect 
is a matter of little importance. 
-> €■ - - ■ ■ 
Agricultural Education.—The Public 
School. 
In our remarks upon this subject in our last 
issue (p. 55), Ave alluded to the fact that fcAV 
school-books give an 3 ^ intimation that the 
knoAvledge imparted 1)3' them is the merest 
outline, the barest skeleton of the subjects on 
I Avhich they treat. It is surcU not desirable to 
beAvilder the child Avith the idea that knoAvledge 
is so A'ast and that .the hill of science toAAmrs so 
high above him that he can never hope to 
clamber higher than its A'ery base; 3 ’et it is 
important Avhen he manifests especial interest 
in an3' one branch of knoAA'ledge, to be able to 
tell him AA'here and hoAV he ma3’- follow this 
bent, and perhaps even find himself investigating 
subjects upon Avhich the Avisest knoAV but little. 
We consider this unfortunate impression, so 
often gained by school children, that if they 
know all that is in their books, it is enough, as 
one great reason Avhy after leaving sehool so 
many give up all effort to acquire knoAvledge. 
The difference between teachers in respect to 
the desire to learn more, AA'hieh they implant 
in their pupils, is very great. This is certainly 
the best thing a child or youth can be taught. 
ith the strong desire to learn he icill learn. 
With the will, a Avay Avill be. If the best teacher 
the District will get is stupid, and cannot inspire 
the loA'e of knoAvledge in the children, then the 
efforts of the parents to accomplish the same 
end must be stronger, and this part of education 
not be neglected, for Avith its neglect comes i^lod- 
ding mediocrity, or stupid listless life, or a life 
of drudger 3 ' and mone 3 '-getling, the only aim 
being to add field to field, or dollar to dollar, and 
to receive the obeisance of those who boAV to 
wealth. This object, however, is rarel 3 ' accom¬ 
plished, and usually for the mere lack of knoAv¬ 
ledge, that is, the reasoning abilit 3 ', or clear-head¬ 
edness, AA'hieh comes of a love for knowledge. 
The farmer’s business is so varied, and 
touches so man 3 ' branches of knowledge, that 
he may well stand aghast at the contemplation 
of them all. In common Avith the rest of the 
world, he is interested personall 3 ' in all that 
affects the arts of comfortable living, the busi¬ 
ness relations of men, politics, religion, social 
life, etc. Besides, he has a great deal more to 
interest him and his children. He is in close 
contact Avith nature and her Avorkings, and 
should knoAV that thousands of the best minds 
in the Avorld ai'e studying the natural laws 
Avhich have a bearing upon agriculture. Some 
stud 3 ' the relation of the soil to solvent influen¬ 
ces, its ability to gain and retain fertilit 3 ', its 
relations to moisture and drouth, to the action 
of the air, to manure, etc. Others dcA'ote them¬ 
selves to gaining a knowledge of plants of all 
the different kinds, of A'egetable ph3'siology or 
plant structure, of the diseases of ])lants, of the 
changes which cultivation ma 3 ' affect. Others 
still, appl 3 ' themselves to the study of animals 
in health and sickness, the principles of breed¬ 
ing, feeding, fattening, etc. Others study 
stud3' the Aveather and its relations to full har¬ 
vests and scant ones, and to gain the abilit 3 ' to 
knoAv beforehand and take advantage of Avhat- 
ever may come. And so in such different de¬ 
partments of the farmer’s interests, wise men 
devote thought, zeal, and even life itself, to the 
fuller understanding of laAvs and facts Avhich ho 
may appl 3 ^ to his profit. Should he not knoAV 
something about all this ? Shall our bo 3 's groAv 
up as ignorant of subjects Avhich Avill enlarge 
their vieAvs and make them better men and 
better farmers, as the very oxen the 3 ' fodder ? 
Let us see to it then that our farmer bo 3 ^s, with 
that thorough groundwork of good knoAvledge 
of the English language and of the cardinal 
rules of arithmetic and other general knoAvledge, 
gain also the knowledge that there is a great 
deal more to learn about things Avhich will be 
very interesting and instructive, and Avhich Avill 
add not onty to their salisfixction of life, but to 
their Avealth in this Avorld’s good. 
- I ■ — < oi 
Italianizing and StYarming'. 
BY BIDWELI, BROS., MINNESOTA. 
Tlie method generall 3 ' adopted by the best 
apiarians in both countries is, to compel the 
bees to replace the queen removed, from Avorker 
eggs or larvm—Hature having provided that in 
case b«es accidentall 3 ' lose their queen, they can 
reproduce one from that source, and the queen 
so made, possesses force, soon after to acquire 
nearly the size and standard of anatural queen; 
so a worker of diminutive size, Avhen emerg¬ 
ing from an old comb, lined Avith even 100 
cocoons, will graduall 3 ' mature to an average 
sized bee. The requisites necessary to success, 
are best obtained in a prosperous colony, during 
tlie Avorking season, viz: eggs or larvm to con¬ 
vert into queens, honey and pollen from Avhich 
