198 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[May, 
Wm. Rennie, Toronto, Out., Canada. Flower garden 
and field seeds, with several specialties. 
J. B. Root, Rockford, HI., offers, besides seeds, a large 
collection of vegetable plants from his hot-beds, and has 
a neat and instructive pamphlet to go with them. 
Tillingiiast Bros., Factoryville, Wyoming Co., Pa. 
Garden and flower seeds, and seed potatoes, some of 
which are not generally known. 
Vick’s Floral Guide, No. 3, gives interesting notes of 
his California trip ; useful hints, and a proper dig at the 
new postal law. It is perhaps necessary to add that we 
mean James V., of Rochester. 
II. W. Williams & Son, Batavia, Ill., send three docu¬ 
ments ; seed and plant catalogues, and a potato circular, 
•which gives instructions in cultivation. 
NURSERYMEN. 
C. H. Banta, Rivervale, Bergen Co., N. J. Fruit and 
■ornamental trees, and greenhouse stock. 
D. C. Benton, Quincy, Ill. General nursery stock and 
■greenhouse plants. 
Bird Bros., Newark, N. J., at the Kearney Nursery, 
besides the usual stock, make a.specialty of evergreens. 
Bush & Son & Meissner, Bushberg. Mo. Grape vines, 
This descriptive catalogue is the most complete of any¬ 
thing of its kind that has come to our notice. It is in 
fact a treatise with more full descriptions and history of 
-each variety than can be found elsewhere, and deserving 
•of a more extended notice than can be given here. 
A. P. Chapman, 50 & 52 Vesey st., N. Y. Small stock 
by wholesale a specialty. 
E. J. Holman, Leavenworth, Kas., sends the whole¬ 
sale list of Astra Nursery. 
Tuos. Jackson, 50 & 52 Vesey st., N. Y. Wholesale 
nursery stock. 
Samuel Kinsey, Dayton, O. Small fruits, ornamental 
plants, seedling stocks, etc. 
J. W. Manning, Reading, Mass., has a full assortment, 
including a number of specialties and novelties. 
C. S. Pratt, North Reading, Mass., small fruits. 
P. T. Quinn, Newark, N. J., has small fruits, a select 
list of pears and apples, and various vegetable plants. 
E. & J. C. Williams, Montclair, N. J., offer the lead¬ 
ing small fruits, seed potatoes, etc. 
GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 
P. J. Berckmans, Augusta, Ga., has, besides an ex¬ 
tensive nursery, a large range of greenhouses, and offers 
a fine collection. 
Burrows, Wood & Co., Fishkili, N. Y., include in 
their plant catalogue a list of fruit and other trees. 
B. P. Critchell, Cincinnati, O., has flower seeds as 
-well as flowering plants. 
Joseph Heinl, Jacksonville, Ill. A compact but full 
catalogue of ornamental plants, and a fruit list. 
Hoopes Bro. & Thomas, Westchester, Pa., send a 
plant catalogue almost as large as their list of trees, and 
it includes various novelties. 
G. W. Penney, Newark, O., keeps pace with the best 
in having new things. 
J. D. Robinson, Bloomington, Ill., though a new ac- 
•cession to the ranks, is, as we happen to know, a com¬ 
petent one, and deserving of success. 
John Saul, Washington, D. C., comes rather late with 
bis catalogue, perhaps because large bodies travel slow¬ 
ly, for this is very large and very full, and the colored 
plate of the new Queen Victoria Pelargonium makes one 
impatient to see the plant. 
A. Whitcomb, Lawrence, Kansas, has not so large a 
catalogue as some, but it is very neat and compact. 
Wm. C. Wilson, Astoria, (L. I.), N. Y., and 43 West 
14th St., N. Y. This immense establishment has about 
-everything, whether new or old. 
EUROPEAN CATALOGUES. 
Wm. Bryce & Co., Glasgow, Scotland. Wholesale 
list of vegetable and field seeds. 
E. G. Henderson & Son, London, England. A seed 
•catalogue that for variety in all departments, is wonder¬ 
fully full. 
Troitpin-Morren, Liege, Belgium. Seeds of all kinds, 
bulbs, roses, etc. 
Ch. Huber & Co., Hyeres, France. Wholesale price- 
list of choice plants ; Cannas a specialty. 
POULTRY, IMPLEMENTS, AND MISCELLANEOUS. 
Adriance, Platt & Co., 155 Greenwich St.. N. Y. The 
world renowned Buckeye Mower & Reaper, which last 
year took over a dozen premiums at field trials in Europe, 
and in this country prizes too numerous to mention. So 
neat and tasteful a catalogue deserves a more extended 
notice than is here given. 
Adams & French Harvester. Made by the Sandwich 
Manufacturing Company, Sandwich, 1H. This implement 
does not quite make the wheat into bread, but it ad¬ 
vances it, well towards its destination. 
Aveling A Porter’s Road Locomotives, Steam Rol¬ 
lers, and other implements, some of which have already 
been described in the Agriculturist. Wm. C. Oastler, 43 
JExchange Place, N. Y., importer. 
Bookwalter Engine. A portable Steam Engine, for 
farm and other work. Foos & Jayne, 109 Liberty St., N. Y. 
Fred. F. Harris, Portland, Maine. Improved Fowls, 
and Berkshire pigs. 
Peck & Skilton, Westville, Conn., make a great 
variety of tasteful rustic work, and red-cedar labels of 
various size and styles. 
C. R. Raynolds & Co., New York. An old established 
color house, send out a treatise on the use of Paris green, 
and a history of the Colorado beetle. 
Wood, Taber & Morse, Eaton, N. Y., tell the history of 
their Portable and Stationary Agricultural Steam Engines. 
Valentine & Co., Varnish makers, 323 Pearl St., N. 
Y., send out a business document that is a wonder in the 
way of beauty, neatness, and interest, it being an account 
of “ How Varnish is Made,” copiously illustrated by 
descriptive engravings, and embellished with several 
charming silhouettes. 
“Walks and Talks” Correspondence. 
Value op Essex Pigs.— “ Champernoun,” of Maine, 
writes as follows to the Agriculturist , and the editor sends 
it to me: ‘‘Please tell us through the Agriculturist the 
peculiar excellencies of the Essex pig, that makes it 
worth four or five times as much as ordinary pigs ? ’’—The 
Essex is a remarkably quiet pig. He has fine bones, 
thin skin, small head, and little offal. He is an “ easy 
keeper.” The lard is very white and firm, and the 
quality of the pork is excellent. Whether he is worth 
four or five times as much as ordinary pigs, depends on 
how yon use him. For crossing with and improving 
common swine, I would rather pay $25 for a pure bred 
Essex boar at two months old, than to take a mixed 
bred or common boar for nothing. And I think this is 
the testimony of all who have tried pure bred boars of 
any good breed. 
Plaster on Limestone Land.— “H. W. S.,” of Cin¬ 
cinnati, Ohio, writes : “ I often notice recommendations 
to use certain manures, and generally without any refer¬ 
ence to the chemical composition of the land.”—All soils 
contain the same elements of plant-food. They differ 
only in the proportions, and in the degree of availability. 
An ordinary soil analysis throws very little light on the 
matter. We have to judge from experience and actual 
trial.— “I wish to enquire,” continues H. W. S., “if 
plaster would be beneficial or harmful here, when our 
whole neighborhood is underlaid with limestone, and 
when I should suppose the soil is already highly impreg¬ 
nated with lime.”—This has nothing to do with the 
action of plaster. Limestone land is often greatly bene¬ 
fited by liming. And plaster is perhaps usually more 
efficient and valuable on dry limestone land, than on any 
other. Try two bushels per acre on clover or corn. I 
think it-will be found valuable for clover, and perhaps 
for corn. My own farm is a limestone soil, and plaster 
is a very useful manure for clover, corn, potatoes, peas, 
and sometimes for barley, grass, and wheat. 
Oats and Peas.—I have a dozen or more letters ask¬ 
ing about my plan of sowing oats and peas together. All 
I can say is that it is a good crop with me, provided the 
land is rich enough. If peas do well in your section, and 
you have a rich piece of ground, and want feed for sheep, 
drill in two bushels of peas and two bushels of oats per 
acre. The black-eyed Marrowfat is a good variety for 
this purpose—or for sowing alone. I drill in the seed 
mixed carefully together, and in sowing stir the seed 
occasionally in the hopper. 
Green Manuring for Corn.— “I have a field of 25 
acres,” writes a correspondent at Trenton, N. J„ “ to 
be put in corn in 1876. The field is seeded with clover 
and timothy, and has been mowed twice. Now which 
of the following plans would be preferable? 1st. To 
plow the crop of grass under, the middle of June, and 
sow the ground with oats and rye, to be plowed down 
again in the fall, just before frost. Plow again in the 
spring and plant corn. 2nd. Let all the growth of 1S75 
remain upon the ground, and plow under in spring of 
1876, in time for planting corn. Is there anything better 
for sowing in June or July than oats and rye? I keep a 
dairy of 25 cows, which are fed mainly on fodder corn in 
summer.”—I do not. think oats and rye a good crop for 
green manuring. White mustard, if the seed did not 
cost so much in this country, would be better for sowing 
in June or July, for this purpose, or buckwheat, or even 
corn fodder. But I must confess that I do not like the 
plan of green manuring, unless you can do nothing bet¬ 
ter. It is a great waste'of valuable food. The 2nd plan 
is open to the same objection. I should not like to see 
good grass rotting on the land, with 25 cows eating corn- 
fodder in the yards. I do not see what is to be gained by 
it. I would rather keep more cows and raise more corn- 
fodder and good, rich grass. I think I would sow 150 lbs. 
of superphosphate, and 150 lbs. nitrate of soda, peracre, 
on the grass field. Mow it for bay. Then pasture it in 
the fall, and, if desirable, plow up and plant corn the 
spring of 1876. You will find yourself with 30 or 40 tons 
of good hay in the barn, and this will help to make 
manure for the corn crop, and the nutriment in the hay, 
(which is of no value as manure), ought to be worth 
much more than the cost of the artificial manures. 
Bran and Clover for Pigs.—” D. B.,” Champaign, 
Ill., writes: “ My Essex sow and boar are doing well. It 
is hard to keep them down to breeding condition. Have 
reduced their feed to pure bran, scalded with slop water, 
and although they get not more than half as much as they 
would eat, they are still too fat. I have four five-months- 
old pigs. Same trouble with them. With four parts of 
bran and one of meal, by measure, they are curiosities of 
adiposity. Had I clover hay, would cut and feed as you 
state in Walks and Talks you do with your breeding sows. 
How is it that bran, containing so small a proportion of 
fattening matter, should have such an effect when fed? ” 
—There is more nutriment in bran than many think. 
Until your pigs get to be seven or eight months old, such 
food as yon describe will not hurt them, no matter how 
fat they get. They ought to be fat. They have been 
bred to take on fat at an early age. The pen of five pigs, 
under six months, I showed at the N. Y. State Fair last 
year, weighed about 200 lbs. each. They had been fed 
bran, corn meal, and some milk. I suppose they would 
be considered too fat for breeders. But such was not 
the case. After the fair I turned them out in a pasture. 
They are as healthy, thrifty pigs as any in the herd. I 
think the true plan is to feed well-bred pigs all they will 
eat and digest, as long as they are growing rapidly. 
When they have nearly got their growth, if intended for 
breeders, let them have less nutritious food, and plenty 
of exercise. 
Mangel-Wurzel.— “ C. H.,” Bloomington, Ind., wants 
to raise an acre or two of mangels. “ Can they be drill¬ 
ed by hand” he asks, “as there is no such a thing as a 
small seed drill here.”—There are several good drills 
advertised in the Agriculturist. If you sow by hand, the 
better plan is to mark out the rows 30 inches apart, and 
then drop two or three seeds in holes, made in the row, 
15 inches apart. I used to 
plant in this way before I 
used the grain drill. It has 
some advantages over drill¬ 
ing. You can soak the seed 
for 48 hours, and the plants 
come up quickly, often a 
week or ten days earlier 
than if not soaked. Then 
if you know your hills are 
15 inches apart, as soon as 
you can see a plant in a hill, 
you can hoe on each side of 
it, knowing that there are 
no more plants for fifteen 
inches. For making the 
holes in the row, take a 
piece of pine scantling, 3x3. 
Bore inch holes in it 15 
inches apart. Put pegs in 
the holes, and let them project downwards two or three 
inches. Bore a hole in the center, and drive in an old 
rake or hoe handle, on the side opposite the pegs, and 
you have a useful tool for making the holes. 
In regard to the culture of inangels, all I need say is, 
if you raise good beets in the garden, the same treatment 
will enable you to raise maneels in the field. No matter 
about the kind of soil, or the kind of manure. Make 
the former mellow and clean, and apply plenty of the 
latter, and harrow it into the soil after spreading, and 
then plow it in. Harrow again and again, and roll before 
and after planting. 
Value of Manure from Bran, &c— A Maryland 
subscriber writes to the Agriculturist that “ Walks and 
Talks ” in the February number must have made a mis¬ 
take in putting the value of the manure from a ton of 
wheat at $11.94, and that from a ton of bran at $24.32.—If 
I have I do not know it. If he will read my remarks 
again, and tell me where the mistake is, I will correct it. 
He thinks if my figures are correct, any farmer can make 
money by feeding stock. Perhaps so. But all I wished 
to show was that my neighbor could get nitrogen and 
phosphoric acid cheaper by feeding stock than by buy¬ 
ing artificial manures. 
Bones and How to Use Them. — “Z. H. P.,” Delaware, 
writes, that he looks upon bones as the best fertilizer, 
and wants to know how best to use them.—I would not 
dissolve them in acid, for any farm crop except turnips. 
—“ Will it pay,” he asks, “ to use potash with bones for 
wheat ? ”—I think not.—" Would you compost the bone 
dust with horse manure for corn f ”—It is a good plan. 
But probably your heap will get too hot. Ordinary farm 
manure containing cow and pig as well as horse manure, 
will not be so liable to ferment too rapidly when mixed 
with the bone dust. 
What to Sow on Corn Stubble. —“G. W. C.,” Xenia, 
Ohio, has a good farm. His corn crop on clover sod av- 
