238 
[June. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Sale ol' Ora.de Norman Ilorses.- 
Fifty head of grade Norman horses, mostly half to three- 
quarter blood, were recently sold at public auction at 
Summit, Cook County, Ill. Colts of two to three years 
were sold at low prices, ranging from $50 to $375, and 
brood mares brought only from $100 to $200. 
To BtAll Wild. Oats.- “J. B.,” Saint 
Paul, Oregon. There is probably no plant that a thor¬ 
ough summer fallow will not kill in time. By persever¬ 
ance the ground may be totally freed from vegetation of 
all kinds. But there are some plants the growth of 
which is actually encouraged by partial summer-fallows, 
badly conducted. A summer-fallow to be effective must 
kill every sprouting root or seed while it is in its early 
tender stages by constant plowing, harrowing, and cul¬ 
tivating. Perennial roots must be harrowed out, and 
those that possess great vitality must be picked off and 
removed from the land. Such a summer-fallow is costly, 
and it is almost equally effective to grow a succession 
of hoed crops, such as corn, potatoes, or roots alter¬ 
nated with crops of quick and close growth, such as 
peas, buckwheat, flax, or clover. To grow fall wheat 
upon foul land is only to perpetuate the weeds. 
How to Use Muck. —“C. L. S.” A sup¬ 
ply of swamp muck of good quality is a valuable acces¬ 
sory to a farm. There is no necessity to haul it to the 
barn-yard and back again. A certain quantity might 
be serviceably brought to the barn and used when dry as 
bedding for the stock, leaving the straw to be fed. But 
it would be better to carry the barn-yard to the muck 
than all the muck to the barn-yard with a great cost of 
labor. The better plan in such a case is to draw the 
muck to the field where it is to be used, after it has been 
dried for some months, and there mix it with the manure 
from the barn-yard, and let the whole ferment together. 
Other portions drawn and mixed with fresh dry-slacked 
lime in the heap as it is made ; the muck soon rots, and 
we have found it very useful as a dressing for grass. 
Intelligently used, muck is valuable, but otherwise will 
hardly pay for the digging and hauling. 
Calcareous Soils.—“L. L.,” Washington 
Co., Texas. A calcareous soil may be greatly improved 
by plowing in green crops, such as buckwheat, clover, 
or the southern cow peas. 
“This is Foolishness.”— “J. G. J.,” 
Audrain, Mo., thus relieves his mind after reading a 
statement in the Agriculturist of January, 1875, that 
three horses with a double furrow plow can do as much 
work as four horses with two single plows, and fre¬ 
quently the same team will do double the work with a 
double furrow plow that they can do with a single one. 
This may seem to bo foolishness to some, but it is a 
fact. One great saving in using double furrow plows is 
rarely thought of, there are only half as many turn¬ 
ings at the headlands, and all that loss of time is saved. 
Besides the horses in this case in plowing two acres on¬ 
ly walk as far as they would in the other, to plow but 
one acre, and the saving of labor in carrying their weight- 
about is another great gain. Double furrow plows must 
soon come into use, especially upon mellow, easily 
worked lands, so that one man can do two men’s work. 
Farming is behind all other mechanical industries in 
time-saving machinery, especially so far as regards 
plowing. 
Cos’ii for Green Manure.— "J. A. Y.” 
We have not much faith in corn for plowing under as 
green manure. The land that will grow a crop of corn 
will grow buckwheat, peas, oats, or spying rye, any of 
which would be more easily turned under, and some of 
which would be better fertilizers than corn. Two crops 
of buckwheat can be grown and turned under while one 
crop of corn is growing. But if there is barn-yard ma¬ 
nure enough to cover the ground, it is waste of time and 
labor to grow green crops to plow under. It would be as 
well to let the ground lie until June or July, and then 
plow it and cross-plow again in August for a wheat crop, 
and next spring sow down to clover, plowing that under 
the second year. 
Sale* of i^liort-Horiis. — A large number 
of Short-Horn cattle have been disposed of at recent 
sales. At Bloomington, HI., on April 28th, 140 animals, 
the property of Messrs. Smith, Nicolls, Franklin, Funk, 
and Duncan, sold for $48,399, an average of $345.70. The 
highest price being $2,000 for a cow of the Princess blood. 
On April 29th, at the same place, the herd of J. II. 
Spears & Son, consisting of 40 head, were sold for $46,- 
370, an average of $1,159.25; the highest price being 
$10,500 for the bull, 21st Duke of Airdrie, 4 years old. 
The herd of J. II. Pickerell, of Harristown, Ill., number¬ 
ing 23 head, sold for $29,005, an average of $1,201.09. 
The bull Breastplate sold for $6,100. In Iowa two large 
herds, the “Wapsie' - herd of S. W. Jacobs, of West 
Liberty, of 82 head, and the herd of Milton Briggs, of 
Kellogg, Jasper County, of 139 head, have been disposed 
of. The first sale amounted to $49,215, an average of 
$727 for cows, and $274 for bulls. The second sale real¬ 
ized only $37,030, an average of the small sum of $279 
for cows, and $235 for bulls. Mr. Briggs’ herd was in 
poor condition, most of the bulls suffering from mange, 
which accounts for the low average. Several other less 
important sales have occurred which, with those men¬ 
tioned, have been the means of distributing a large num¬ 
ber of good animals at very reasonable prices, amongst 
farmers in whose herds these animals will undoubtedly 
work great improvement. 
Wolf Teetk in Morses.—“ J. S.G. L.,” 
Juniata County, Pa. Wolf teeth do not cause blindness 
in horses. They are in no way injurious to a horse, but 
the popular idea to the contrary arises from the fact that 
they appear at the time when the colt, then in its third 
year, is cutting its permanent teeth. These displacing 
the first teeth either appear in their place or by the side 
of them, in which latter case the displaced teeth are 
called wolf or wolf’s teeth. They generally fall out, 
their roots being absorbed, but if they remain no harm 
occurs. Diseases of the eye have no relation to these 
teeth, but there are abundant causes in the usual ill- 
management of colts at this critical period, and after¬ 
wards, for those diseases to which horses are subject. 
Trapping’ Muskrats.—“J. H. J. C.” 
Directions for trapping muskrats are given in the Agri¬ 
culturist of March, 1872. 
BBeatii of a Morse from Mots.—“D. 
C. S.,” German Settlement, W. Va., asks what killed his 
horse. It was taken with a sudden chill after feeding 
and watering, and then with a sweat, while its legs were 
cold. He administered medicine for the flatulent colic 
but to no purpose. The horse lived in this state about 
sixteen hours, sometimes striking and kicking, but never 
tried to get up, and at last died very suddenly and easy. 
When opened there w'ere found two small holes in his 
intestines, and just enough had passed out to stain the 
outside, ne found the communication between the 
stomach and first intestine filled with bots. It w 7 as closed 
up so tight that nothing could pass through. The stom¬ 
ach was nearly full of liquid, caused by purgatives given 
him, and nothing was found in the colon or intestines, 
nor even in the rectum. Now the question is, what 
killed the horse ? was it the bots, or was it those holes 
in the intestines. The bots had stuck themselves fast to 
that canal or small communication.—We should say the 
horse died of the obstruction of the pyloric orifice of 
the stomach. The rupture of the intestines was probably 
accidental in the postmortem examination. 
Tall Meadow Oat Grass.—“ S. K.” 
Arrhenatherum avenaceum, or tall meadow oat-grass 
may be sown exactly as timothy is sown. It is an excel¬ 
lent permanent grass for meadows or pastures, as it 
starts early, and has a rapid late growth after mowing. 
The bushel weighs seven pounds, and three bushels of 
seed should be sown upon an acre. Clover may be sown 
with it as with timothy. 
How to Become :i ILoeomotive En> 
elneer.—“C. C. G.” To become a locomotive or any 
other kind of engineer, the business should be learned 
by apprenticeship in the shop. A thorough engineer 
must have learned his business in the mechanic’s shop 
first, and know how to build an engine. There are many, 
however, who have learned their business by serving first 
as fireman on an engine, but they can never become as 
competent as those who know everything about the con¬ 
struction of their engines. To go on a train as a brake- 
man will never teach a young man to become an engineer. 
Agricultural Msickiiiei-y :it tke 
Centennial.— The Centennial Commission is making 
thorough provision for the reception and display of agri¬ 
cultural implements. A section of the Agricultural Hall 
will be set aside for the exhibition of farm appliances. 
Within the Hall will be steam-power for driving ma¬ 
chinery. It is contemplated to test implements in the 
field. Manufacturers, designing to compete in the field, 
will be required to use the same machines they offer 
on exhibition. Inquiries may be addressed to the Chief 
of Bureau of Agriculture, Philadelphia. 
Pomology sit tlie Centennial.— It is 
intended to have a continuous fruit show at Philadelphia 
next year, from May until November. Some of the so¬ 
cieties arc already moving in the matter. 
Stock-Raising; in the West.— “W. 
S.,” Washington. The growth of grain in the west is 
not nearly so profitable nor so safe as raising stock, but 
it requires less capital. The capital required to begin 
with stock would be somewhere about the following, say 
200 head of selected Texan lmifers two years old, at $7 
per head, $1,400 ; 4 young, pure-bred Short-horn bulls, 
purchased in Kentucky, at $150 each, $600; 040 acres of 
land for winter pasture which may be bought well loca¬ 
ted for this purpose, for about $5 per acre, payable in ten 
year’s time, fencing, corralls, shelters and huts say $1,500, 
including payment on the land ; there will be inaddition 
the cost of attendance, cutting hay, and some corn for 
winter feed,which can hardly be estimated, for three years 
before any sales can be made, which will doubtless use 
up the balance left out of $6,000. Summer pasture on 
unoccupied prairie will cost nothing for many years. 
The first income would be in the fourth year, when 70 or 
80 three-year old steers, worth possibly $30 a head, would 
be ready for sale. 
Book upon Fisk Culture.— “ M. F., n 
Clarion Co., Pa. There is no book published upon fish 
culture that will teach any person how to make money 
by raising fish in ponds at 15 cents a pound. Fish cul¬ 
ture will do for an amusement, but not for a business to 
make a living by except in very rare cases. 
Cranberries osa Trees. —A correspon¬ 
dent at Albion, Ill., writes: “ Do not cranberries grow 
on a vine, on or near the ground ? Is there a variety 
which grows on a bush or tree ? The famous ‘ poplar 
peach tree ’ agent has sold and delivered a good many 
cranberry bushes in this county, which are four or five 
feet high, and resemble a snow-ball bush very much.”— 
Cranberries grow on a weak, prostrate vine, and near the 
ground. “ High-bush Cranberries ” grow upon a shrub, 
but these are no more cranberries, than horse-chestnuts 
are chestnuts. No wonder the bushes look like Snow¬ 
ball bushes, as this High-bush Cranberry (Viburnum 
opulus) is the wild and, so to speak, single state of the 
ornamental Snow-ball. If the agent sold these shrubs as 
cranberries , you can prosecute him—if you can catch him 
—for swindling. If he sold them as “ Bush-Cranberries,” 
and people bought them supposing they were regular 
cranberries, it is their own fault. Tree-peddlers are very 
excellent people to avoid. 
Hyiicintks.—“Reader.” Bulbs that have 
flowered once, are worth nothing to force again. They 
will give an inferior bloom, if set in the garden, and may 
be kept dry in the pots until fall, when they may be 
planted. We did not reply by mail, as requested, as we 
could not make out your P. O. address. 
Popular Music Books. — *We have 
received from Messrs Lee & Walker, music putlishers of 
Philadelphia, The Young Organist’s Album, The Music 
Teacher, The Musical Manual, The Gospel Singer, School 
for the Parlor Organ, Melodeon, and Harmonium, Musical 
Pastime, and Clarke’s New Method for the Piano-Forte. 
Crossing; Wlieat and Rye.— It would 
really seem as if Mr. Stephen Wilson had succeeded iu 
making this cross. He tried oats and barley, and Couch- 
grass as well, and got a good many seeds; but, of those 
that grew, the wheat came up wheat, and the oats oats, 
excepting two plants, which came from grain of a wheat 
plant fertilized by rye pollen. These plants, which were 
exhibited at the Edinburgh Botanical Society, looked 
intermediate between wheat and rye, and so did the ear. 
But its flowers produced no good pollen, and set no seed. 
So that was the end of it. 
Tke <»illuming’ of Fruit Trees has 
been investigated by a distinguished French physiologist, 
Prillieux. It is a true disease, mostly of the cambium. 
It begins in single cells, in which the starch is transform¬ 
ed into gum; and this sets up, by a sort of contagion, an 
unnatural action in the surrounding cells, which become 
unduly filled with starch, and then this starch turns into 
gum. To cure this diseased action, strong incisions in 
the bark are recommended. These excite an active pro¬ 
duction of cells at the surface, and so divert the nutri¬ 
ment from this abnormal activity, to a different and more 
healthful action. 
As to Imying :i Farm.—“J. H.,” New 
York. $2,000 would go but very little way towards buy¬ 
ing a farm near the city of New York Many persons 
have gone into new western states and taken up home¬ 
steads, or bought cheap lands from railroad companies, 
with even less than this sum, and have succeeded in a 
few years in making themselves independent. Farming 
in the eastern states now requires a large amount of cap¬ 
ital to be invested, and to use that capital with profit, re¬ 
quires a large amount of skill and experience. In the 
west, small capital used with caution, an aptitude to 
learn, and patience, perseverance, and sometimes long 
suffering with difficulties, all in the end accomplish the 
same results as money and practical skill in the east. 
