1866.] 
AMERICAN AG-RIOULTURIST. 
218 
ISloody inilk.—S. P. Strong, Johnson Co., 
Iowa. Tliis comes from what is commonly called Garget. 
a name rather loosely applied to any inflammatory dis¬ 
ease of the udder. Sometimes the bag cakes, and be¬ 
comes hard and very sore. This generally yields to ex¬ 
ternal applications, as hot soap suds, hot brine, hot 
arnica water (tincture of Arnica in twice as much hot 
water), with all the rubbing and kneading of the bag the 
cow will bear. At other times the udder is only a little 
tender, and there is internal bleeding coming from sores. 
The hot bath is good for this also, but it is well to accom¬ 
pany it by a dose of epsom salts (1 lb.,) and ginger 
oz.,) given in a bran mash, well salted to disguise the 
taste. Where it can be obtained, the root of Pthylolacca 
dtcandra, (Poke-w'eed or Garget-root,) is excellent for any 
form of Garget. Three or four ounces are cut up fine, 
and fed with oats or roots. 
I-'os* Feccliiig" 'Vosiaig' Calves.—M. N. 
Russell writes : “ I think a small trough is preferable to 
a pail, any way it can be fixed. M. Hester’s plan, on page 
130, March number, is no doubt a good one, but by using 
troughs the milk can be poured in and the calf left to 
drink it at its leisure ; it also saves trouble of waiting for 
the pail until the calf, is done.” 
Wliat is tlie anatier vvitla tlie Fittle 
Pigs ?—In some sections of this State there seems to 
be some trouble with the little pigs. Whole litters die .a 
few hours after they are born. It would seem to be a 
kind of epidemic. Can any of the readers of the Agri¬ 
culturist throw light on the matter ? 
To l*reveaat Bfieaas* Fatiatg Tlteir 
Eggs. — Give plenty of lime, old plastering, oyster 
shells, powdered bones, etc. ; supply a tittle animal food, 
such as bits of fresh meat from the ttible or any fresh meat 
chopped fine ; besides, provide good large nests well fill¬ 
ed with leaves of hay, and set in snug darkish corners, 
away from observation. Then your hens will not eat 
their eggs aud will lay abundantly. 
BtiXpci'iciisce witia Bleiis.—“P.” writes: 
My experience with hens during several years has led me 
to the following conclusions: 1st, Hens, well fed aud 
cared for, usually lay the first season, daily, small or 
medium sized eggs, until they take a notion to set, which 
is generally when they have laid two or three dozen eggs. 
If not permitted to set, they will begin to lay again in 
two or three weeks. Some hens, however, do not incline 
to set very often—these, of eottrse, will not lay so con¬ 
stantly as tho.se which are more ambitious to realize the 
fruit of their labor.—2d, The second season, hens lay 
large egg.s, quite too large to sell by the dozen, but seldom 
or never oftener than every other day.—3d, Pullets 
hatched from eggs laid by hens more than twelve or 
fifteen months old, are apt to be like their mothers—to 
lay large eggs, but not daily.Therefore, I would 
never keep a hen through the second winter, and never 
set eggs of hens after they have moulted, or of those 
that are more than a year and a half old. 
—A Turkey Item.—Mrs. Sar.ah 
Fries, of Ontario Co., N. Y., is a very successful poultry 
raiser, having sold the past winter $400.00 worth 
of turkies alone, all the product of one season. If any 
one can report a greater crop, IMrs. Fries will continue to 
cry “quit, quit” till she tries again. 
I^'o im S^isMe SSosie,—TlicI^’. Y. 
Farmers’ Club.—“ W. A. F.” writes: “Mr. Quinn 
is reported in the Tribune as saying, at the .\m. Institute 
Farmers’ Club, that ‘the action of fire upon lime is to 
expel about one half its weight of water and carbonic 
acid,’ and that the farmer who would adopt Mr. Wil¬ 
liams’views .and apply ground limestone, ‘would have 
to haul a large quantity of water combined with the 
lime.’—Is this so —The reporter adds : “ Tiiese views 
of Mr. Quinn seemed to be unanimously sustained by the 
members present.”—No. It is not so. There is no water 
at all in limestone, the unanimous opinion of the Farm¬ 
ers’ Club to the contrary notwithstanding. Lime.stone 
contains over 40 per cent of carbonic acid gas, and this is 
expeiled by heat alone. The Farmers’ Club of the 
American Institute is famous for bringing out good prac¬ 
tical ideas, as well as absurdly impracticable ones, for 
advocating .sound theories as well as very unsound and 
absurd ones. It is entirely safe to weigh whatever is re¬ 
ported of its discussions in the scales of practical com¬ 
mon sense, and to refer scientific statements to the text 
books. For if all the ridiculous practical statements 
and false science of the “ N. Y. Farmers’ Club,” from 
the doctrine of the Progression of Primaries, to the ex¬ 
pulsion of carbonic acid from soda by heat alone, and tlie 
great percentage of water in limestone, which in their 
day have been implicitly believed, were to be brought up 
afresh, it would so disgust sensible people, that the reports 
of the proceedings of that venerable institution would 
lose many readers. When a man states things as facts, 
let him be sure of his facts, and when he guesses, say so. 
Sea Weed as Mamsirc.— J. Albee.— All 
the organic products of the sea, whether vegetable or 
animal, are of great value as manure. In the fresh state 
the bladder weeds, kelps, etc., contain much water. A 
portion of this is rapidly evaporated, and in this condition 
these weeds are worih nearly or quite as much as com¬ 
mon yard manure. The eel grass is not worth so much, 
yet is valuable. All contain quite a large percentage of 
animal matter in the little polyps, shellfish, sponges, etc., 
wiiich are attached to them? They are best employed, 
as a general thing, in a compost with muck or soil. 
Meg'lect to Sow S*Saster.— 
Red Clover is the great renovating crop of American 
agriculture, and plaster is the well fried manure for 
clover. The plaster, in most sections, costs but little, say 
from $3 to $5 per ton, and from 100 lbs. to 200 lbs. is suffi¬ 
cient for an acre. We have now machines that will sow 
from fifteen to twenty acres a day, and the farmer who 
neglects to sow plaster on his young clover, omits one of 
the essential means of enriching his soil—for (ilaster in¬ 
creases the growth of the clover, and clover enriches the 
farm. Peas, like clover, are a leguminous plant, and on 
most soils plaster has a beneficial eflect on this crop. It 
may be sown broadcast, say from one to two bushels per 
acre at the time of sowing the peas, or if they are al¬ 
ready up, sow tile plaster broadcast over (hem. There 
are those who thitik this’the better way—that the plaster 
does most good on tlie foliage. Hence in sowing plaster 
on corn it is usual to wait until the plants are up a few 
inches high, and then scatter a tablespoonful or so on 
the hill and over the plants. We have experimented a 
good deal with manures for corn, and while many artifi¬ 
cial manures greatly increased the crop, plaster is the 
only fertilizer that iias given us an increase, sufficient at 
50 cents a bushel to cover tlie cost of the manures em¬ 
ployed. When corn usually brings a dollar a bushel 
bone dust, superphosphate, and guano, if of good quality 
can be frequently used with profit. But plaster can al¬ 
most always be used on dry upland with advantage, even 
if the corn brings only 40 cents a bushel. 
Woolen Faeloi-y IlVaste. — “S. K.” 
Sucli waste as you can get. though full of seeds, is still 
valuable manure. If it contains a great deal of wool, it 
is a very strong fertilizer. Used to litter animals in the 
stable, the weed seeds would probably be killed, but the 
manure would be so rich, that the most economical way 
to use it, would be to farther compost it with muck, or soil. 
ISsiclcwlioat as a BSreen jllasu»i-e 
Crop.—“ H.” . On very poor and light land, buckwheat 
is by far the best common green manure crop. Oats do 
very well on soils of a little better quality, and clover is 
best for clayey soils that need organic matter. The 
amount of the crop varies exceedingly. 150 to 200 lbs. of 
good Peruvian gnano will almost uniformly ensure a 
cron of buckwheat, and two crops may be plowed in in 
one sea.son. Oats need a little more guano, with the ad¬ 
dition of some ashes and plaster perhaps, and clover 
needs very thorough plowing. It may also have a dres¬ 
sing of lime plowed in, also lime harrowed in, and an 
application of guano and plaster at the time of sowing, 
which may be in September, or you may plow in a crop 
of buckwheat or oats, and sow clover in the fall. 
ISosie i»ii tlse CSai'deii.— E.Whe.eler, 
Kalamazoo Co., Mich., has a quantity of bone dust and 
asks how to apply it. If used at planting, it will not hurt 
the seeds, but the best way is to spade it in abundantly— 
a peck to a square rod is a fair quantity, and its effects 
will, in some cases, be manifest for years. 
The BSssrl»oi*ry as a Ileslg'e — 
The Wallingford Circular says: “ One of the wants 
of the agricultural community at the present time i« a 
good hedge-plant; one that is reliable under all circum¬ 
stances and conditions. Nearly every one that has been 
tried thus far, has exhibited some radical defect that un¬ 
fits it for the purpose. 'A hedge-plant, to become popular, 
must be perfectly hardy, and easy to propagate. It 
should also be vigorous enough to grow well in ordinary 
soils withoutlmanure. It should be thorny, to keep cattle 
from hooking it, and strong enougli to keep them from 
breaking through. Finally, it should be low enough to 
require little or no pruning. The common barberry 
(Berberis vulgaris) combines these qualities better than 
any other plant I am acquainted with. The barberry is 
a native of the northern part of Europe and Asia, 
but has become thoroughly naturalized, and is now 
found glowing wild in the waste grounds of New' 
England. It is a remarkably hardy plant, thriving well 
in a great variety of soils, and is said to live for centu¬ 
ries. It has a shrubbery habit (growing from six to ten 
feet in height), yellowish thorny wood, leaves in rosettes 
yellow flowers on drooping racemes, and scarlet oblong 
berries, very acid, but making delicious preserves. We 
have a barberry hedge on our grounds at Wallingford. 
Ct., 25 rods long, and 9 years old from tlie seed. Two 
rows of plants were set, the rows one foot apart, and (he 
plants one foot apart in tlie rows: alternately, to break 
joints. This hedge has been clipped .a little, two or tliree 
times, to keep it even, and is now six or seven feet high, 
with a firm, compact base, perfectly impervious to the 
smaller animals, and stout enough to turn ordinary farm 
stock, except for a short distance at one end where the 
soil is quite thin. On our grounds at Oneida we liave a 
barberry-hedge 50 rods long, and seven years old from 
tlie seed. In this case but one row was planted, and the 
plants were set one foot apart. It has been kept clean 
with the cultivator, and clipped a little, once or twice, 
and is now five feet high, thick and compact at the base, 
and already so strong that the fence was taken away last 
fall, leaving in its place only a slight railing of a single 
board, six or eight inches wide, as a temporary guard, 
until the hedge can gain another year’s growth, it being 
situated on a highway where cattle are passing daily. 
An important item in regard to (his plant is, its habit 
of sending up suckers from the bottom, by wliich, in a 
few years, it comes to have a base from six to tw-elve 
inches in diameter.” 
BYliile Willow for Fomccs.—I n tire 
fall of 1864 we described in the Agriculturistlsome White 
Willow hedges and fences, which we saw in Illinois, and 
before and since that time many liave tried them—no 
doubt a good many on account of the favorable report 
which W'as made in this paper. We know that in Illinois, 
if good cuttings are planted and treated well, the willow 
will make a fair fence—in some cases an excellent one in 
a few years. On poor dry soils it will not do so well, if 
well at all, but with good care we know it will live and 
grow. If any body knows where tlie true White (Gray 
or Powder) Willow has been well planted, and where it 
lived and did well for two years, and tlien after several 
years more has proved not to be good as a live fence 
or hedge, we wouhl like to know about it, how it was 
treated, and wherein it failed. 
A Screen for OMt-ISiiiJuliBag’s.—J. B. 
Bowman, Altoona. Norway Spruce, Hemlock or Ar¬ 
bor vit®, will each of them make a screen close enough. 
The first mentione.l is the most rapid in its growth. We 
do not know who has the seeds you ask for. 
Tliorns from Slue Seed. — T. Braybrook, 
Allen Co.. Ind The seeds of the White, and all other 
Thorns, do not come up the first year after planting. 
Mix the seed with earth in a box or other vessel, and 
bury it for a year, and the next spring sow it without al¬ 
lowing it to become dry. 
Tlie Sunflower for Fuel.— Hosea Barnes 
of Kenosha Co., Wis., writes, that seeing an article in tlie 
Country Gentleman on corn for fuel, he wishes to sug¬ 
gest an economical substitute. “ There is perhaps no 
annual plant which will furnish so much woody fibre as 
the sunflower, yet I have never heard of the stalk and 
seed of (his well known plant mentioned as fuel. It re¬ 
quires but little cultivation ; a great quantity will grow 
on an acre, and the seed is valuable, if gathered when 
ripe, for feed, and much more valuable tlian corn for fuel, 
as.it contains a great deal of oil. After the heads have 
been gathered in autumn, let the stalks remain until the 
frost kills them, and then gather, cut and dry, and in 
connection with the seed you have a stock of fuel. 
Sunflowers will do well planted as thickly as corn. Try 
it, and see if it is not cheaper and better than corn at 20 
cents per bushel, or wood at $12 per cord.” It must be 
remembered, however, that there are few crops so ex¬ 
hausting to the soil as this, on account of the great 
amount of potash it takes up 
drsifilMg tlie BVild 4jci*aj»es.—T. H. 
King, Tompkins Co., N. Y., is clearing laml for a vine¬ 
yard, and asks if it would pay to graft the wild vines al¬ 
ready there. We should say not ; among other reasons, 
we do not see how it is possible to prepare the land proper¬ 
ly for a vineyard and leave the old roots'undisturbed. 
of Yiitos to an Acre.—J. 
Grable. If put 6 feet each way it will take 1210, and if 
set 6 by 8 feet, 905 plants to the acre 
Claickens in Cold Cwrajaeries.—“-A. 
S.,” of Chester Co., Pa., writes: “After laying down 
the vines in autumn, I put about twenty hens into a small 
cold grapery, not more than 25 feet in length by 10 in 
width, and find they have plenty of room, and furnish a 
beautiful supply of fresh eggs during the whole winter. 
