1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
131 
CUiclcen Hoctorisis;.—The hit or miss 
style of metlicinnl practice has some advantages. Not 
tlie least is that it brings occasionally pleasant surprises. 
“ Aconiturn ” writes, that hearing that “ arsenicum had 
been successfully used as a preventive and cure of Rin¬ 
derpest in horses ” fhorses never have the disease) he 
tried tincture of Aconite to cure a paralysis in the leg of 
a chicken. This drug was used “ as answering best to 
the fatality of the symptoms.” Three drops were given 
in a te.aspoonful of water, and the paralysis was soon 
cured. The principle of similia similibus finds a double 
application—a little more Aconite would have caused a 
paralysis in toto ; 3 drops caused a total cure in pedo. 
Ale fbr Cliickens.— ^We recommended 
bread soaked in ale for chickens with colds or attacked 
with the roup. A correspondent asks for a receipe by 
which he can make a small quantity of ale. It cannot 
be done ; but where ale cannot be obtained, lager bier 
will do very well, and we have administered rum and 
water (and probably any other spirituous liquor would do 
as well,) with the very best effects, graduating the dose 
in proportion somewhat to the strength of the medicine. 
T'ra.nsport^ition of Eg'gs for Set¬ 
ting.—So many disappointments occur when eggs are 
carried a great way, that many of our best poultry fan¬ 
ciers and dealers refuse to sell eggs to go far. They are 
wise, for- several re.'sons—principally on account of 
the hard feelings occasioned, and secondarily, because 
they can make it more profitable to raise the chickens. 
Cbicken I.ilteratnre.— Why hens should 
Inspire our comic writers we do not exactly see ; but 
they are made the excuse for a great deal of nonsense. 
Even the religious papers, such as llie Independent, have 
occasionally a funny column devoted to chicken talk. 
The writer of the following, wlio signs himself “ Chitta¬ 
gong,” has evidently been reading the Independent: 
“ Chicken on the Brain. —The best time to set a Hen is 
when the Hen is reddtj—1 kan’t tell yu what the best 
breed is, but the Shanghai is the meanest—it costs as 
much to. bored one, as it does a stage Hoss, and yu 
might as well try to fatt a fanning mill by runnin Oats 
thru it. There aint no profit in keejtin’a Hen for his 
Eggs if he laze less than won a day. Hens is very long 
lived if they dont kontract the throte disease. There is a 
grate many goes to pot every year hy this melankoly 
disease. I leant tell exactly how tew pick out a good 
Hen, but as a general thing the long geared ones I kno 
are least .apt to scratch up a garden. Eggs packed in 
equal parts of salt and Lime water, will keap from 
Twenty to Tliirty years if they are not disturbed. Fresh 
Beafsteak is good for Hens. I serpose 4 or 5 pounds a 
day is all that a Hen would kneed at furst. I shall be 
happy to advise with you at any time on the Chicken 
questshon, and take pay therefor in Eggs.” 
Canary Seed. —A single firm in this city 
has sold 15,000 bushels (GO lbs. each) of canary seed 
within the past two years. So far as we know this is 
used exclusively for bird feed, and indicates the extent to 
which caged birds are kept in tiiis country. Sales of other 
large houses have very likely been equally great. 
Broom Corn.— Jas Graham, Cuyahoga Co., 
O,, inquires for the best machine for planting broom corn. 
Tomatoes and the Agriculturist in 
In Colorado Terr.— A subscriber in Colorado gives 
us some account of his gardening operations, in figures 
which look rather large. Last year he kept a strict ac 
count of the product of half an acre. He sold, in fruit, 
$2046.39 ; in cans, $350, and in catsup, $57.50; in all 
$2483.89. The sales of tomatoes commenced at 75 cents 
per lb., and closed at 20 cents. The writer attributes 
milch of this success to having seen the Fejee noticed in 
the Agriculturist as a good variety. He, like an enter¬ 
prising man, sent for the seeds, and thinks that this variety 
has in two years been worth from $1500 to $2000 over the 
common kind. We suspect that to be the greatest amount 
of good the Agriculturist ever did to any one half acre. 
Pure Air Everywhere.— One of our 
most distinguished physicians informed the writer a few 
days since, in speaking of the health giving influences of 
pure air and light, that for ordinary patients he would 
rather have the protection of a tent fly, the south side of a 
hedge or fence, than the best house that could be built, 
or to th'.it effect.. To illustrate how much attention 
educated, wealthy, thoughtful people give to this subject, 
we publish a statement which comes to us from a 
wide-awake traveller and church-goer who recently vis¬ 
ited Vermont on business, and of course went to church. 
It was not 1000 miles from Bennington. He says; “The 
Church referred to have just put their meeting house. 
erected in 1807, or thereabouts. In complete repair. 
Tiie church was originally built over a portion of the 
cemetery; since then there have been some burials under 
it, though not for several years. Excavations have been 
made near the ends for furnaces, and a passage way has 
been dug between them ; the removal of earth disturbed 
several graves,and the bones'were removed and reinterred 
in the cemetery. Those not disturbed remain there still. 
The air for warming the church is taken from this vault, 
the outside air being generally excluded. After being 
breathed by the congregation, it is returned to the fur¬ 
naces and rewarrned, as is frequently done in other 
churches. This church .and congregation are highly in¬ 
telligent and wealthy, and are probably as careful in re¬ 
gard to ventilation as most of the New England churches 
outside of Boston. How many congregations would 
relish breathing the air from an old burial vault, I don't 
know, but it is a fact, that nine-tenths of New England 
are breathing constantly an almost putrid atmosphere in 
their own houses, change of air not being provided for.” 
“Besigning Wall Paper.”— “Reader.” 
We know of no book on the snbj'ect. There is a, 
“ School of Design for 'Women ” connected with the 
Cooper Union. Doubtless the Secretary of that Institu¬ 
tion will know if the branch is taught there. 
Seed Cilleries. —S. H. Cowles, Onondaga Co., 
N. Y. The necessity for changing seed or obtaining 
it from a different locality, is a subject about which 
there has been much discussion. It is mainly a question 
of the adaptability of varieties to particular soils and 
situations. Where a variety retains all its characters 
and is equally productive year after year, there is no need 
of changing the seed, but where it shows a tendency to 
degenerate, then get seed from a locality better adapted 
to it. There is no probability that apple and pear seeds 
will produce fruit like the stock from which they came. 
Swine—Essex, Berkshire,’etc.— There 
is a good deal of inquiry where to get well bred hogs of 
various breeds, especially of the kinds named. Those 
breeders who have tiiem should .advertise more freely. 
New Jersey vs. Eong Island Eands. 
Our veteran correspondent “ S. W.”—referring to our 
remarks on portions of the “ Barren Lands of Long 
Island,'’ (May Agriculturist, I860,) to the effect that their 
coarse subsoil would not hold water enough for dry sea¬ 
sons—thinks that lale experiments on the “same 
sand and gravel formation in New Jersey” have proved 
that with green-sand marl these lands yield crops of clo¬ 
ver, etc.—The comparison fails, because on the New 
Jersey lands referred to, the coarse saml and gravel do 
not come very near the surface, but there are several feet 
of soil sufficiently comi)act to hold water, or conduct it 
upward to the surface. 
Profitable Bees.— D. C. Hunt, of Orange 
Co., Vt., writes to the Agriculturist, that he made over 
$300 net, besides six new stocks, out of 26 stocks of bees 
in (Langstrolh’i) movable frame hives the last season. 
llow to keep 91acltine Oil Eiqnid 
in Cold IVeatlier.— When sawing fire wood, or 
timber by machinery, at a distance from the dwelling 
house, or when thrashing grain, or running any kind of ma¬ 
chinery in cold weather, the most convenient way to keep 
oil or other lubricating substance in a thin, liquid slate, is 
to heat a piece ofhard wood plank, or a slab of marble in 
.an oven, wrap it in a thick blanket and carry it to tlie 
woods, field, or barn, keeping the oil can, grease vessel, 
or dinner pail even, in close proximity. A piece of plank 
a foot or more square will retain sufficient heat to keep 
such articles warm for several hours in a very cold day, 
thus avoiding much trouble. Moreover, oil kept warm 
by this means, will not be injured by being heated too hot. 
In the absence of other matenals, two or three bricks 
horoughly heated will retain sufficient warmth, nearly as 
long as a plank of hard wood. 
Interesting Meteorological Pacts. 
—Mr. H. T. Haviland, of Brooklyn, who has for many 
years observed and recorded the temperature at 7 A. M. 
in winter and 6 A. M. in summer, exhibits the following 
figures, showing that the mean temperature of two op¬ 
posite months (January and July for instance) is a very 
close aproximation to the mean temperature of the year. 
Thus it appears that the mean temperature of J.inuary 
for 19 years at 7 A. M. is 28° Fahrenheit, that of July for 
the same period at 6 A. M. is 67°—the mean of these two, 
being 47)^®, while the general average for the whole 19 
years is 47®. The average of Feb’y (28°) and August (66°) 
is 47°. That for March (34°) and September (59°) is 
i6%°; April (43°) and October (50°) give 46)f°; May 
(52°) and November (41°) give 46)^°, and June (63°) and 
December (32°) give the average 47>^°. Mr. H. thinks 
that were the observations more numerous and more ac¬ 
curate, the mean temperature of any two opposite 
months would represent accurately tlie average tem¬ 
perature of the climate at any place. 
Peat Eaad.— “Subscriber,” Clark Co., Ill., 
has a 160-acre bed of peat drained, and dry (so that 
several acres took fire and burned up, leaving some feet 
in depth of ashes). The question is, how to till it. It is 
covered with tliistles. The best way to manage it, might 
be to plow deep, cross-plow, and so dry tlie top ; then 
burn this off, mingle the ashes with tlie rest by plowing 
and harrowing, and then it would probably sustain a good 
growth of timothy and red clover, or bear corn. Such 
peat is a very valuable manure for sandy land, and will 
pay to haul on any sandy land that it will pay to fence ; 
and the sand is equally valuable upon the peat. 
How to Set Smootliimg Planes.— 
“C. H.E.,” Rockingham, N. H., in a note describes a 
“trick” well known to all joiners, but which may be 
useful to those who lack professional skill. He says: 
“ It is frequently found difficult to adjust the ‘cap’and 
‘iron’ of the smoothing plane, so that botli shall retain 
the desired position. 'When the plane iron is struck to 
start it forward, the ‘ cap ’ does not move forw'ard with 
it, but a slight blow upon the forward end of the 
plane will start both forward together, thus bringing 
down both irons in the proper manner upon the work.” 
” Crsinpowder Rendered Harm- 
less.”— In an item in the January Basket an account 
was given of a plan for rendering gunpowder less readily 
combustible, by mixing it with powdered glass. A friend, 
who knows all about great guns and gunpowder, writes 
us that tlie invention has no practical value. That the 
great danger from powder is during its transportation, 
and that a slight jolting causes the mixed powder and 
glass to .separate. He says : “ Take a tin pan and make 
the mixture perfectly ; stick in your red hot poker, and 
it will hot burn much. Reheat the poker, give the pan a 
few sharp raps on tlie edge with the hand, and reinsert 
the poker— (/' you dare." 
A Mild Winter in Oregon.— David D. 
Prettyman sent from Salem, Oregon, on Dec. 4th, spe¬ 
cimens of grass and strawberries in flower, and a rose, 
in proof of the mildness of the winter on the Pacific coast. 
He then h,ad violets in bloom and radishes in his garden. 
Citric Acid in Cancer. —The cooling and 
tonic effects of lemon juice are well known. Citric acid 
is to all intents and purposes crystallized lemon juice, 
and is often used as a substitute for lemons in making 
lemonade, etc. An Italian physician. Dr. Brandini, find¬ 
ing that a patient, with a cancer of the tongue, received 
great relief in eating lemons, was induced to try the 
effect of citric acid on other, cancer patients, which he 
did much to their relief. In a case of hopelessly incur¬ 
able cancer, under our own observation, it has been used 
with the happiest results, and afforded a greater relief 
from pain than any other application tliat has been tried. 
We found that this use of citric acid was not known to 
the physicians of our acquaintance, and we give it for 
the benefit of our medical readers. The crystallized acid 
is used, one part by weiglit, to 90 parts of soft water. 
The weight of a common nickel cent to a pint of w ater 
comes sufficiently near. The solution is applied by moist¬ 
ening a piece of lint, and renewed when the pain returns. 
Cutting^ Notes and Bank-Mils in 
Two,—A subscriber asks ; “ Is it against the law to 
cut a note in two parts, and send one half at one mail 
and the other the next, so as to guard against thieving on 
tlie way.” This practice is very common in England, 
where the notes are arranged to encourage it. the numbers 
and letters being duplicated on the opposite sides, and 
probably also the laws, or decisions of the courts, make 
it easy to collect on one half if the other is lost. This 
custom does not prevail in this country and it would be 
hard to collect on -half a note. 
Notices of tke Agriculturist.— The 
notices of the Agriculturist by Agricultural and other 
papers have not been unappreciated because unnoticed. 
We were especially gratified at most favorable mention 
of this sheet in that excellent paper, the Canada Farmer, 
which is, by the way, one of the best of our agricultural 
exchanges. The N. Y. Citizen is a paper devoted to the 
difficult task of reforming the abuses of city government. 
Its chief editor, “ Miles O’Reilly.” is widely known foi 
his poetical contributions, and his paper is one of the 
most independent and outspoken in the country. The 
following is an extract from the Citizen’s estimate of us : 
“ Nothing gets a place in the paper that ha.s not an object 
of practical utility or instruction; and yet so genial and 
