312 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
Cliiiiitiiey»4 iB» Blay Stsiclcs. —It is a com- 
rnon practice in Englaml. where it is frequently difficult 
to get liay well cured, lo make a chimney in the hay 
stack. This is done by filling a large four bushel sack 
with cut straw and placing it upright in the middle of the 
slack, and slow the hay around it. As the stack rises, 
pull up the sack and proceed as before, until it is finished, 
and you have a chimney that will carry offtiie heat, gases, 
moisture, etc. A butter firkin with a handle to it or a 
rope answers the purpose. When hay is stacked in a 
barn, especially a light boarded one, this chimney is of 
still more importance, and care should also be taken to 
have rails underneath, so arranged that air can circulate 
under Ine hay and get into the chimney. 
Seven(Ii Volume of the American 
SUort-liorn Herd Boole, which has been for some 
lime promised, is now on our table. It contains the 
pedigrees of 1086 bulls, and 2400 cows, owned by about 
400 breeders. Tills is the 7th of a series of volumes, 
edited and published by Hon. L. F. Allen, of Buffalo, 
which are of iuestim.able value to Short-horn breeders. 
We can not better express our own appreciation of this 
work than by quoting and endorsing the following from 
the preface : “ No one need suppose that he can become 
a successful breeder, and command sales and prices, un¬ 
less he be familiar with all the blood, and strains, and 
crosses of Anglo-American Short-horns. They must be 
his study. Without this knowledge he goes gropingly to 
work. Some breeders may suppose that in possessing 
the volume containing the pedigrees of their own stock, 
their herd book necessities are supplied. Not so. The 
best, and most succe.ssful breeders, who,se herds are 
most sought by intelligent purchasers, are tliose who 
possess and study the entire series of the work.” 
Xlie Use of ©c Ora<le ISull*^. 
—This practice can not be too severely deprecated. 
There are plenty of thorough-bred bulls, Ayrshires and 
Alderneys especially, probably also Devons, which are 
for sale at very low prices ; calves for $50 to $75—year¬ 
ling's, $100 to $200. Quite often, bulls of name and 
fame, 3 years old or so, which have been used as long as 
their owners desire upon their own herds, and which are 
still as good as ever, may be bought very cheap. Cer¬ 
tainly no farmer who raises his heifer calves should ever 
use a scrub or grade bull, and those who raise veal 
should use good blood Short-horns or Ayrshires. 
S*revei»live of tlie Pleut*o>pneu- 
inonia,—In the 2d Report of the Royal Commissioners 
on the Rinderpest, “Col. tlie Hon.” Wellington Patrick 
Chetwyne Talbot and his advisor, who is bailiff of Lord 
Granville, slate in their testimony that as a preventive of 
the diseases to which close kept cows are subject (Pleu- 
ro-pneumonia, etc.), the following articles are given to 
the cows in Col. Talbot’s and Lord Granville’s milk 
stables, viz : 1 oz. nitre every other day to each cow in 1 
(lint of water, (probably on tlie feed.) 1 pint of prepared 
charcoal between two cows on the feed, every morning. 
This changes the odor of the breath in a few days. 
following' a, 'Fliuntlci* 
Storm.—W. L. Benedict, Orange Co,, N. Y., com¬ 
municates to the readers of the American Agriculturist 
the following interesting facts: On the afternoon of the 
27th of June it was exceedingly hot and a thunder storm 
passed over, preceeded and accompanied by cold wind 
and rain. He says : “ My cows were in the pasture during 
the shower, which was very heavy. They were brought 
up to be milked at 6 o’clock, when I found three of them 
with their udders very much swollen, badly inflamed, 
and so sore that it was difficult to milk them. But little 
milk, and that clotted, could be drawn from the parts af¬ 
fected. I put them in the stable with plenty of dry straw 
for bedding, and bathed the parts freely with cold water. 
This seemed to afford much relief, and I repeated the 
application in about two iiours. The next morning the 
swelling had somewhat subsided. Cold water was again 
applied freely, as also the succeeding evening, when the 
cure seemed com|ilete. Some years since I had two 
cows affected the same way, one of which lost one of her 
teats, and the other dried up for the season, but then I 
had not learned from the Agriculturist to put my cows 
immediately in the stable and give them a dry bed.” 
oo4loliiicl<^ IHerticiiio,— From your Bug- 
gestion some months since, lo smoke out woodchucks 
with a rag di|iped in melted sulphur, I took the hint of 
anotiier method. This is my recipe : Blast,ng powder, 1 
lb.; saltpeter, pounded fine, 1 lb.; floweis of siilfihur, 2 
lbs. (1 ot.il cost 85 cents.) Mix well, mil breaking the 
grains of powder. Some rainy day roll a half newsfiaper 
on the broom stick, tie up op ; end of the tube .so made ■ 
fill 6 or 8 inches with the medicine, insert 10 inches of 
blasting fuse (price 3 cents a yard), tie snugly, and re¬ 
peat, until you have a rocket for each woodchuck, and 
one to spare for the boys when they want a Roman 
candle, and you can’t afford one. (Some dark evening lash 
it firmly to an arrow near the head, and when the fuse 
has burnt short, let it fly 100 or 150 feet in the air and they 
will shout.) Put the rest in a raisin box, cover with a 
shingle, and detail an artillery guard to carry the caisson 
in the day of battle. Order the regiment under arms, 
send skirmishers in advance to report on woodchuck 
holes, let the coiqis of sappers and miners close the upper 
opening, if one is higher than the other, and prepare sods 
and dirt for the lower ; light fuse, insert rocked as far as 
may be, charge shovels and slop the hole when the fire 
becomes a roar, and see how the smoke will force its way 
through the ground in various places to show tlie course 
of the tunnel. Repeat until the caisson is empty. My 
woodchucks do not dig out again. * 
Hen Uice.— Try the following. (Where the 
idea comes from we do not know, but we have little 
doubt it will work well; an alum wash kills lice on cat¬ 
tle, why will it not on hen roosts); Dissolve alum in 
cold water, or better in hot water, adding enough water 
to keep it all in solution when cold—about 2 pounds of 
alum to 12 quarts of water ; and apply this thoroughly 
to every part of the hen house, and perhaps also to the 
hens. It tans the lice, as we suppose. 
Marking Cliickeuf^.—It is often a desir¬ 
able thing with breeders of fancy poultry to be able to 
mark them so as to readily identify individuals in the 
flock, in order to keep a register, on the principle of a 
herd-book, or, so as to be able to recognize the age of 
hens at a glance. In the great poultry shows of England 
and France, it has been found very difficult to separate 
birds of the same breed should they by any accident be¬ 
come mixed, and we have seen a French suggestion that 
fowls should be marked by notches filed upon the toes. 
This might do for a year or two, but it is very awkward, 
and we suggest thin copper labels the size of an old three 
cent piece, wired upon one leg (above the spur in cocks). 
Such labels may be of several different shapes—square, 
round, oblong, triangular, oval, and all the chickens of 
one year receiving their labels at six months old might 
be adorned with those of one sha[ie, while those of anoth¬ 
er year receive another shaped label, and so on. 
Curing nnd l*a,cking — F. Kes- 
ler, of Great Salt Lake City, Utah, writes his method of 
curing and packing hams as follows, and though we 
do not like his pickle very well, the way of packing 
is new to us and may be very good : “ I pack my joint 
meat in barrels as close as I can, make my brine strong 
as possible with boiling water, letting stand until cold, and 
then for every 100 lbs. of meat add one teaspoonful of 
saltpeter lo tlie brine, stirring all well together. Cover 
the meat well over with the brine. If the weather is very 
cold and the hams large (say 40 lbs. weight), they should 
remain 6 weeks ; if the weather is mild, or the meat kept 
in a warm (dace, 4 weeks will be sufficient. Rub the 
bony parts well with a strong decoction of red pepper. 
Hang up the meat for smoking, the hocks down ; tliis 
prevents drippage ; smoke to taste with green hickory or 
sugar maple. The smoke house should be roomy. Wlien 
sufficiently smoked, I pack in boxes or barrels in clean 
new wood ashes, where the hams will remain in perfect 
safety until needed for use. 1 have kept my hams and 
shoulders in this way for years past with entire satisfac¬ 
tion ; no vermin of any kind will trouble them in the 
least. I have never known the first piece of meat treated 
as above to become rusty or old tasted, but it retains its 
freshness until used up.” 
Piclcliug Keef a.n«l 'l'ongue»$. — 
Burlington Beetpe.— Rub slightly with fine salt 
and let them lie 24 hours. Then cover with the following 
cold pickle ; For 100 lbs. meat, 6 gallons of soft water, 6 
lbs. fine salt, 1>^ ounces saleratus,3 ounces salttieter, and 
1)^ lbs. of sugar. Beef for drying to be left in this brine 
nine days ; Tongues three weeks. — City Subscriber. 
How to X'raiii a Hog.— 
Will somebody answer “ One who wants to know ?” 
Hogs fin* Sale.—The inct.ure in a recent 
number brings numerous inquiries about Black and Tan 
and Bull Terriers. I’here are people in all the cilies 
who make a liusiness of buying and selling, or breeding 
dogs. They would be able lo sell a good many of such 
as would be servicable ratters, etc., if they would adver¬ 
tise. Good shepherd dogs are frequently inquired for. 
Xlie Slitling Ualnncc Oate not I*a- 
teuted.—J. S. Rogers, of Marengo, III., answers one 
question in the June number about the gate as follows ; 
“There is no patent on the gate that 1 know of, iiut Mr. 
Joel Lee, of Galesburg in this State, has made an im¬ 
provement on it, for which he has obtained a patent. It 
consists of an iron roller working on a swivel, w hicli is 
placed on a cross-piece under the second board from the 
top. The gate rolls back until it balances, and is then 
easily swung around. His agent has been through tliis 
section, selling rights to use the rolls, for $3 to $5, ac¬ 
cording to size of the farm, and leaves a supply of the 
cast rollers at some hardware store, where they are 
retailed at 25 cents, the buyer being required to show his 
papers. Almost every farmer buys a right, for the gate is 
clieaper, easier made and every way better than a ‘ pair 
of bars.’”—See description of gate on page 219. 
Where to liocate ? —Numerous letters 
come to us, asking advice where to locate for farm¬ 
ing, fruit or market gardening, etc. We are obliged 
to decline answering such applications for obvious rea¬ 
sons, one of which is that they come mainly from 
those who should first ascertain whether they should 
locate at all. Gardening of any kind is only successful 
when the individual has skill, perseverance and industry. 
One with a stock of these may locate anywhere near a 
market and do well, while one without them, no matter 
how favorably he may be settled, will soon fail. We try 
to give general hints from time lo time ; but to give judi¬ 
cious individual advice, we should need to know so many 
things about the querist’s circumstances, experience, 
natural tact, capital, family, etc. (without knowing all of 
which we might advise wrongly), that many hours or 
days of correspondence, ami thought on the subject 
would be required. No one could decide such a question 
for himself even, without much meditation and inquiry. 
This statement of the case will explain why we do not 
answ er many letters. Our time can not of course be de¬ 
voted to individual cases, or we should have none for 
the public, or for ourselves. 
Uoolc Out for tlie Hroiioiins. —A care¬ 
less use of pronouns often spoils sense. We try to keep 
them straight, but sometimes fail, and it is worth while to 
make a mistake now and then if we can get taken up so 
shariily and pleasantly withal, as we are by J. A. Delano, 
Macoupin Co., Ill., who writes : “ I have reml the Am. 
Agriculturist with satisfaction and profit for several 
years, and generally find its teachings ‘ stand to reason.’ 
Now I am in a quandary, the thermometer indicating 95° 
in the shade. On page 279 of August number of Agricul¬ 
turist I read the Doctor’s treatment of his (linguitudinous 
porker. ‘ He gives it corn meal and sour milk, and stirs 
it with a red hot iron.’ Cannot some less ardent per¬ 
suasive to obesity be substituted during the present 
‘ heated term ?’ Is it not possible to induce sufficient 
agitation by those less objectionable (in extreme hot 
weather) appliances, the ‘sharp stick,’ or the ‘ long pole ?” 
How often does the Dr. ‘stir’ his adipose pet? Might 
not chloroform or other aiiassthetic be employed during 
the process (lerlurbative ? Does not the Dr. render him¬ 
self liable to an action on a charge of ‘cruelly to animals?”’ 
'File IBi’siiii.s vs. 'Fiiiiliei* Hi'siiiis.” 
“J. R.,” of Marion Co., Ind., asks : “ How do earthen 
tiles do for draining land ?—Do the drains last many 
years ? With us many drains laid with timber are failing 
after about 8 or 10 years use—the wood rots.”-It is 
such a settled thing in our own minds, that there is no 
material so good for drains as well baked earthen tiles, 
that perhaps we have not dwelt upon it enough of late. 
Properly laid in any soil, except in quick sands, or on 
other unstable bottoms, well baked tiles will last indefinile- 
ly’long. Nobody has ever known such a drain to fail 
from the giving out of the tiles. A drain may fill up, or 
the earth wash and some tiles drop out of (ilace, but 
placed below the influence of frost, the tiles suffer no 
perceptible change, except from the wear of the water. 
Soft tiles will sometimes be crushed by the pressure of the 
soil above, or crumble by the action of frost, or perhaps 
by some othei''influences, and occasionally one soft tile 
in a line of hard ones gives out and makes trouble. 
JapsiiieNC Striped Maize. — In the 
notice of this new ornamental leaved plant given last 
March, we were rather cautious in our praise, as we 
feared that it might forget the “kink,” and fail to repro¬ 
duce its peculiarities from seed, outside of Ja|ian. We 
have seen plants tlii.s year raised from .seed grown by Mr. 
Hogg, and sent out through the enterprise of B. K. Bliss, 
the well-known seed.sman, of Springfield, Mass. Tlie.'C 
plants are as beautifully striped as those we saw last year 
from Japanese seed, and we see no reason why the pe¬ 
culiarity should not be permanent. The (ilant has met 
with great favor in Europe, the horticulturists both in 
England and on the Continent .selling specimens in pots. 
Moreover, at the recent International Horticultural Ex¬ 
hibition, it received a prize, and has had honorable men¬ 
tion .at other European shows. We are glad to be able to 
give so good an account of a novelty that we were the 
first to illustrate and bring prominently into notice. 
