AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
155 
during the day, and at night we gaze out upon 
the over-hanging firmament, glistening with tho 
light of the whole host of Heaven. We go to 
sleep with the flowers, and rise as jocund day 
comes tripping over the lawn—its feet bathed in 
dew, to join in the great anthem to our Maker, 
which all things having life unite in raising. 
Have we not cause to be thankful for the lot 
which has been assigned us? Should we not 
press forward in the race of life, with hearts 
buoyant with hope, and minds resolved upon 
victory. 
I shall say no more. We separate after a 
few hours. Meet again at the next Annual 
Fair—and bring with you your wives and child¬ 
ren. Come not empty-handed. Let the father 
and the son and the husband bring with them 
the products of their industry—and let the 
mothers and children bring the fruits and the 
flowers—types of their own purity. Here is a 
platform broad enough for all. No party spirit 
can find place upon it. Let him who comes 
leave the spirit of discord behind him, and give 
place in its stead to the Catholic spirit of peace 
with his brother and good will to all. That is 
the great principle on which this Society is 
based ; and it is consecrated alone to the noble 
task of beautifying and improving the earth. 
This spirit stands boldly forth to rebuke all sec¬ 
tionalism—all local strife. It knows no East, no 
West. It knows only Virginia in part and Vir¬ 
ginia in whole. It is on its march, and mount¬ 
ains sink before it. It walks upon the waters 
and the billows become calm. Come up, then, 
to an altar at which all may worship, and let 
your offerings be worthy of the altar and the 
Deity. 
AGRICULTURAL PATENT CLAIMS. 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING OCT. 29, 1853. 
Grain Separators —By J. V. A. Wemple, of 
Chicago, Ill. : I claim the employment of a cy¬ 
linder, having tangential, or other suitably pro¬ 
jecting plates across or along its periphery, for 
the purpose of separating the grain and breaking 
the impinging effect produced by the threshing 
cylinder on the endless apron, the said cylinder 
being so situated and operating in rear of the 
threshing cylinder, as gently to feed over it the 
straw and headings, as they are delivered from 
the threshing cylinder. 
Bee Hive —By Geo. Calvert, of Upperville, 
Va. : I claim the combination of the honey 
boxes with another box'; and cross pieces, ar¬ 
ranged and operated in the manner set forth. 
Devices for Steering Cultivators —By Se¬ 
neca Lapham, of Salem, Ohio : I claim the com¬ 
bination and arrangement of the parts, consisting 
of the lever and its attachment to the brace, and 
the connection of the tongue to the lever by the 
staple. This I claim in its application to the 
purpose of changing the direction of this and 
other machines, as specified. 
Opening and Closing Gates —By Wm. T. 
Merritt, of Hart’s Village, N. Y.: I claim eleva¬ 
ting or depressing, or opening and closing the 
gate, as described, viz., by means of the shaft, 
having upon it the pulley F, the pulleys, G G, 
being attached permanently to said shaft, and 
having ropes attached to them; and the pulleys, 
F F, being placed loosely on the shaft and con¬ 
nected to it at a certain period by means of pins 
on the shaft working in slots in the bosses or 
hubs of the pulleys, said pulleys having the 
chains attached to them and to the upper ends 
of the gate styles, and also the chains, 11, with 
the weights, the chains, 11, being attached to 
the lower ends of the styles, the gate being pre¬ 
vented from being casually depressed by means 
of the pawl, which is freed from the notch in 
the boss or hub by the dog, substantially as set 
forth. 
Straw and Grain Separators —By John A. 
Taplin, of Fishkill, N. Y.: I claim the vibrating 
straw carrier and grain separator, constructed as 
set forthwith a screen and fluted bottom board, 
for the purpose of separating the grain from the 
straw, returning the former to the winnowing 
apparatus, and conveying the straw to the hinder 
extremity of the machine. 
Grain Cradles —By C. P Kelsey, of Living- 
stonville, N. Y.: I claim, first, the bar or its 
equivalent, for attaching the fingers of the frame 
to the snath, for the purpose set forth. 
Second, I claim so connecting the braces with 
the fingers, by means of link or other universal 
joints, that the snath may be folded close against 
the fingers, without requiring that the said 
braces should be loosened in the snath, as set 
forth. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
THE HEN A CHEAP & CORRECT BAROMETER. 
Poets long ago sang of the graceful swallow 
skimming the fairy lake before the awful storm; 
also how the aquatic birds, too, show signs of 
the approaching tempest. Almost all the fea¬ 
thered flocks note the coming storms with as 
much accuracy as the most fastidious water- 
philosopher. In countries infested with hawks, 
he must be careless indeed who has not noticed 
the obtrusions of the hen hawk, and of several 
other varieties, such generally committing the 
most of their depredations just before a storm. 
Double care is requisit in guarding the poultry- 
yard just before a storm, that is necessary after. 
But the hen will tell as plain as she can talk, 
that some change of weather is near. She calls 
for more food and eats with greater avidity, is 
more uneasy and prates louder and louder. All 
of these manifestations are sure signs of a change 
of wind, but oftener of an approaching storm. 
She is then a good barometer for farmers, and 
as sure as the most nicely-adjusted instrument, 
costing far less, and paying for her keeping too. 
J. II. D. 
Morristown , N. J. 
SCALDING HOGS. 
Mr. Peter E. Harvey, of Columbus, N. J., 
gives the following description of his mode of 
scalding hogs, which we recommend to our read¬ 
ers, the time coming round shortly, when this 
operation will be generally resorted to by farm¬ 
ers and others. 
I have a scalder, or large wooden tub, with a 
boiler in it, by which we heat the water by 
building a fire within the boiler, which saves 
the trouble of bailing off the water after the tub 
is filled, and a much more convenient way it is. 
I will give you a description of it as well as I 
can. It is five feet three inches long, two feet 
wide at the top, and twenty inches to the boiler 
from the top of the tub, the boiler being a long 
cylinder of copper or sheet iron eleven inches 
in diameter, reaching from the outside of one 
end of the tub to nearly the inside of the other 
end, where it has a shoulder; and the rest is 
the size of a common stove pipe, reaching 
through the end of the tub, to put a pipe on for 
the draft and smoke to pass through. The larger 
end should be even with the outside of the tub, 
and have a door, with a flue hole in it, attached 
to the tub. Some are made wider at the top 
than at the bottom. Mine is so, being only six¬ 
teen inches at the bottom, and sixteen inches to 
the bilge, being the same width at the top of the 
tub. It should have a rack, or something like 
a ladder, over the boiler to keep the hog from 
lying upon it, and should have a wooden roller 
put inside the tub, at the end where the boiler 
door is level with the top of the tub, to assist 
in getting out the hog, and have another ladder 
with rollers, to pull the hogs on, with a couple 
of hooks on one end to hold it to the tub. 
The wood used for fuel need not be more than 
two feet long. It can be heated in an hour or 
two if the pipe draws well. A tub of this size 
will weigh 700 pounds. It should have a lid to 
make the water heat quick. Mine is made of 
cedar plank two inches thick, with two planks 
on each side, and three iron hoops, one on each 
end, to go all the way round the tub, and one in 
the middle to lap over the top of each plank.— 
Maine Farmer. 
Scratches in Horses. —The approach of cold, 
wet weather, suggests the publication of a few 
hints on this ailment, which, at this season, 
sometimes appears on the horse just above the 
hoofs and below the fetlock. It is caused gener¬ 
ally, by a want of proper care for the warmth 
and dryness of the feet, allowing horses to stand 
in their stalls after driving in cold, muddy 
weather with wet legs, and doing nothing to 
clean them and prevent a chill. At such times 
their legs and feet should be well rubbed with 
dry hay, so as to get them warm, and as nearly 
dry as may be. If the disease has already ap¬ 
peared, wash the part effected with warm soap¬ 
suds, and then with beef brine. This will effect 
a cure. Keeping them clean and dry by rub¬ 
bing only, will generally produce the same 
result.— Wool Grotcer. 
Pre-payment of Postage. —All correspondents 
are requested to pre-pay their postage on letters to 
us, as they thereby secure pre-payment in return. 
The saving of two cents for each letter may seem a 
small matter to such as seldom write, but the gen¬ 
eral omission to pre-pay would make a difference of 
hundreds of dollars per annum in our own postage 
bills. 
We also suggest the propriety, w r here correspond¬ 
ents write us expressly on their own business, re¬ 
questing a favor which causes us some trouble, and 
with no corresponding benefit, that they not only 
pre-pay their postage, but also enclose a stamp, to 
pre-pay the answer they solicit in return. 
Dating Letters. —Where our correspondents are 
not perfectly well known to us, we wish they would 
in all cases, date their letters very plainly, with their 
post-office address. Nearly every town in the United 
States has half a dozen name-sakes in other States, 
and of some of the most popular, they number by 
fifties. A few years since, there were about thirty 
Washingtons in Ohio alone. Let us, in all cases, 
have the name of their post-office and Stale, at the 
head of their letter, and they will be sure of a right 
direction for their letters in return. 
Correspondents will confer a favor by writing 
plainly. We spent four hours in deciphering a 
long article from a correspondent, which con¬ 
tained some good ideas. We have just received 
another from the same source, which we have 
necessarily laid by for the leisure of a rainy day. 
We never did like illegible writing, but we cheer¬ 
fully correct ungrammatical expressions, and will 
properly prepare manuscript for the press with plea¬ 
sure. If only plainly written, we care not how 
homely the style. 
Uarkek 
Remarks. —Flour has again advanced since our 
last, and it may be quoted now 15 to 20 cts. higher. 
Wheat has gone up correspondingly ; and corn, rye, 
and other grain have improved, though not in propor¬ 
tion to wheat and flour. Clover-seed and timothy 
are firm, the former at a small advance. Rice is 
about the same. Beef and pork have fallen from 30 
to 50 cents per barrel. Cotton has receded a trifle. 
Tobacco and wool are dull. 
Money is Btill high, and difficult to be had except 
on the best of security. Stocks are more firm. Ex • 
ports for the past week about 82,300,000. Among 
these were 107,025 barrels of wheat-flour, 1,975 bbls. 
of corn meal, 412,621 bushels of wheat, 1,007 bush¬ 
els of rye, 67,485 bushels of corn, 2,920 bales of 
cotton, 9,301 bbls. of Naval Stores, 963 bbls. of pork, 
745 bbls. of beef, 20,840 lbs. of cut meats, 23,674 lbs. 
of butter, 347,871 lbs. of cheese, 70,424 lbs. of lard, 
900 tierces of rice, 4,089 lbs. of tallow, 296 pkgs. of 
crude tobacco, and 102,207 lbs. of manufactured 
tobacco. 
PRODUCE MARKETS. 
Wholesale prices of the more important Vegetables 
Fruits, &c. 
Washington Market, Nov. 14,1853. 
Vegetables. —Potatoes, Carters, bbl., $2 ; Mercers, 
$t 87% ; Junes, $1 87% ; Western Reds, 81 62% ; Sweet 
Potatoes, bbl., $2 50 ; Tomatoes, ^ basket, 75c. ; Cab¬ 
bages, tjjl 100, $3@$3 50 ; Red do., $5@$6; Savoys, $£@ 
$2 50 ; Cauliflowers, $ dozen, $1 25@$2 ; Broccoli, 75c.@ 
$125; German Greens, $ 100, $1 50; Onions, white, $ 
bbl., $2; do. yellow, $1 75; do., red, $1 50; Parsnips $ 
bushel 44c. ; Garrots, bushel 44c. ; Beets, ^ bushel 44c.; 
Turnips, white, $ bush., 37%c.; yellow stone, 44e. ; Ruta 
Baga, 44c.; Lettuce, $ 10O, 50c-; Endive, $ 100, 50c.; 
I.eeks, $ doz. bunches, 25e. ; Celery, $ doz. bunches, 75c. 
@$1 ; Salsafy, ^ doz. bunches, 44c. ; Parsley, $ doz. 
bunches, 18c. ; Citron Melons $ 100 $2; Squashes, $ 100. 
$4@$8. 
