290 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[August, 
Another Use of iSie Crow.— “It is 
said,” that crows will eat the Colorado potato beetle. 
We know it is their nature to devour insect larva, beetles, 
and worms, and it is not improbable that the story that 
they will eat potato beetles, may be true. It might be 
well to give them a chance, as well as other known in¬ 
sect-eating animals, as the skunk for instance, which 
certainly devours crickets, cockchafers, and other “ bugs” 
in great numbers, and not attempt to drive them away, or 
kill them off. Certainly neither crows nor skunks, in 
all their depredations, have done so much mischief as 
cutworms and potato beetles have done this season, nor 
will it cost a tithe so much to prevent them from doing 
what little harm they may do, or are charged with. 
Late Chickens.—“ S. A. M.,” Glencove, 
L. I. It is difficult and unprofitable to raise chickens 
hatched in August. They stop growing as soon as the 
cold weather arrives, and are not strong enough to resist 
the cold of winter. If they do survive, they consume 
several times as much as they are worth before sirring. 
We would not allow any hens to brood now, but would 
break them up, and get them laying again. The eggs are 
worth more than the chickens. 
Durable Stable Floor.—“E. E. P. 
T.,” Boone Co., Kv. It is impossible to make a stable 
floor of cement alone, that will stand the trampling of 
horses that are sharp shod. The floor described and 
illustrated in the American Agriculturist of November, 
1873, page 415, in which a pavement of cobble stones 
is filled in and covered with cement and gas tar, or as¬ 
phalt, is preferable to any other that we know of. 
Fish Seine.— “E. S.,” Clinton Co., Iowa. 
Gilling twine, of which seines and other fish nets are 
made, is worth 50 cents a pound. It is cheaper to buy 
the nets ready made, than to make them by hand, even 
when the maker is expert at the business. They are now 
made by machinery in lengths of 100 feet, and 10 feet 
wide, and sold at $3 per pound. The weight of the net 
of course depends on the size of the mesh and the 
coarseness or fineness of the twine. 
Fertilizers for Fall Sowing.—“ S. 
N.," Loudon, Va. In the fall we need an active fertilizer, 
one that will push forward the young plants and enable 
them to become well established before winter. Phos¬ 
phates are not generally required by a young plant, it is 
only when the seed is to be formed that the plant needs to 
store up this material. If superphosphates are applied 
in the fall upon soil containing lime, the excess of solu¬ 
ble phosphoric acid combines with the lime and makes 
an insoluble, (or only slowly soluble), phosphate which 
haq no appreciable effect upon the crop. It is for this 
reason aud not for any fault or defect of the fertilizer 
that it so often seems to be useless. Guano on the con¬ 
trary is immediately active, and much more suitable for 
fall use than any other artificial manure. Superphos¬ 
phate of lime should be applied in the spring, which is 
the season when it will be most useful to the plant. 
Preservative for Femce S’osts.— 
“P. C.,” Hudson Co., N. Y. Crude petroleum is an 
excellent material for painting fence posts. It needs no 
admixture ; it may bo put on with a broad white-wash¬ 
ing brush very quickly, and gives an agreeable brownish 
color to the wood. 
The Batter, Cheese, and Egg 
Trade.—The statistics of the trade in butter, cheese, 
and eggs for the year ending May 31st, are reported as 
follows: Butter. Cheese. Eggs. 
Pkgs. Pkgs. Bids. 
Total receipts.1,046,584 1,905,078 455,‘447 
Total exports. 44,832 1,701,328 
Average receipts per month.. 87,215 158,831 37,053 
Average exports per month.. 3,736 141,819 
Range of Prices. Per lb. Per lb. Per doz. 
Eastern.19®38c. 12%@16%c. 15X@30c. 
Western.13@31c. 10 @15^c. 15' 2 fo)30c. 
Failing: to Breed. —“ S. H. I.,” UteCreek, 
N. M. The probability is that your hens and Berkshire 
sow fail to breed because they are too fat. If the condi¬ 
tion cannot be conveniently reduced any other way, a 
few doses of epsom salts might be of service to the sow. 
As to the hens, we would get rid of them, and procure 
some Leghorns or Brahmas, which are persistent layers, 
even when fat. 
Relative Cost of Water-Power 
and Steam. —“ W. W. S.,” Miflin Co., Pa. The 
original cost of the most expensive system of water- 
powers, such as are used at Lowell, Mass., and at the 
water-works at Philadelphia, varies from $100 to $200 per 
horse-power. This includes canals, dams, and costly 
turbine wheels. For wooden dams, and overshot or 
lower grade iron wheels, the cost would not exceed $50 
per horse-power. Steam-powers, inclusive of engine- 
houses and foundations for 100 horse-powers, cost about 
$300 per horse-power, and for 300 horse-powers and up¬ 
wards from $115 to $150 per horse-power. But in opera¬ 
tion the cost of water-power is from one-fourth to one- 
tenth that of steam-power, with coal not over $6 per ton. 
Ayrshire Register.— We have received 
a copy of the North American Ayrshire Register, Yoi. 1, 
edited by E. Lewis and Joseph N. Sturtevant, of South 
Framingham, Mass. The volume contains over 500 en¬ 
tries, and every effort has been made by the very able and 
conscientious editors to do their work so thoroughly, 
that the register may be a true record of thoroughbred 
animals, whose pedigrees show them to be without doubt 
or suspicion. The editors make the valuable suggestion 
that breeders of Ayrshires present a copy of the record 
to every purchaser of their stock, who does not already 
possess one. This will certainly have the effect to in¬ 
crease the public interest in the record, and encourage 
the desire of new purchasers to keep their stock pure. 
Cream Cheese.— Mrs. “ S. N.,” Phila. Pure 
cream cheese is made for the French and English markets 
in small rectangular cakes, about 5 or 6 inches long, 3 or 
4 inches wide, and 1% to 2 inches thick. They are eaten 
fresh, and are very delicious. The milk is set for about 
15 or 18 hours, or until the cream has formed a somewhat 
■tenacious skin over the milk. The cream is then care¬ 
fully removed, and put into a muslin bag to drain for 
about 20 hours, when it is placed in wooden molds, open 
at the bottom and the top. A layer of rushes is placed in 
the bottom of the mold on a clean table, and another 
layer above the' cream. A board is then placed over a 
row of the cheeses. This is done in the evening, and in 
the morning they are taken to market. No salt is used. 
Calculating- Machines.—“ R. E. G.,” 
Rock Hill, S. C. A list of the various calculating ma¬ 
chines that have been invented since the 4th century, B. 
C., up to the Babbage calculator of 1833, and the machine 
of G. & E. Schentz, of Stockholm, invented in 1853, may 
be found in the new Appleton’s Cyclopedia. One of the 
last mentioned machines is now in the Dudley Observa¬ 
tory, Albany, N. Y. A very useful calculator, consisting 
of concentric circular plates, is sold at the philosophical 
instrument shops, as is also the ordinary slide rule, by 
which many calculations in multiplication and division 
may be made with great rapidity. 
Sales of Short-Horns.— The following 
important sales of Short-horns have occurred since our 
last report. At Toronto, Canada, on June 16th, six head 
from the Hillliurst herd of M. II. Cochrane, of Montreal, 
and 34 head from the herds of Messrs. Miller & Beattie, 
of Ontario, Canada, were sold. The 6 head from Ilill- 
liurst sold for $30,850, an average of $5,141.67. Airdrie 
Duchess 5th, a seven months old heifer-calf, sold for 
$18,000 to Avery & Murphy, of Michigan. 5th Duke of 
Hillliurst, a two months calf, was taken at $8,300 by an 
association of breeders from Tennessee. The 34 head, 
all cows and heifers, of Miller & Beattie, brought $41,730, 
an average of $1,227.35. These prices are all in gold. 
No bids were made for the bulls offered. Of less fashion¬ 
able stock there have been sales of 48 head for John 
Bond, Abingdon, Ill,, at an average of $165 per head ; of 
S3 head for S. Cobbin, and Green & Morton, at Cedar 
Rapids, Iowa, at an average of $207; of 52 head for W. 
Warnock, of Cynthiana, Ky., at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 
an average of $218 ; of 73 head for Joseph Scott, of Ky., 
at Galesburg, Ill., at an average of $197 ; 9 head for J. S. 
Latimer, also at Galesburg, for an average of $160, and 9 
head, at the same place, for Niles Bros., averaged $132. 
Millet.— “J. A. L.,” Van Buren, Ark. If 
millet is raised for the seed, it may be thrashed either by 
the flail or by the thrashing machine. The straw is then 
of little use except for litter. If it is grown for fodder, 
it should be cut when in blossom, and cured as hay is 
generally cured, but without much exposure to the sun. 
It is best cured in cocks. The seed after it is thrashed 
out, may be cleaned in the ordinary fanning mill, by 
using the same sieves as for cleaning clover seed, and 
blowing with a light draft. 
Sowing- Clover in July.—“H. R.,” 
Essex, Ill. If the season is not too dry, a good catch of 
clover ma, be got by sowing in July, or early in August. 
The troub’e is that the late summer drouths or early fall 
frosts may injure the young plants. If these are escaped, 
the catch will probably be as good as a spring sowing. 
We have bad an excellent catch of clover by sowing with 
buckwheat in July. 
Profit of a B(‘rkshire Boai*.—“R. 
G. II.,” Camden, N. Y. There is no doubt that the pur¬ 
chase of a good Berkshire boar, for your own as well as 
your neighbor’s use, would be profitable. A boar will 
easily sire 100 to 200 pigs in one season, and if each one 
is worth only one dollar more than a common pig, the 
cost of the boar will be repaid several times over the 
first Season. The value of any pure bred animal to a 
farmer, if estimated in this way, will be seen to be much 
greater than its cost. The better the animal that is 
selected, the greater the probable profit from it. The 
Berkshire has a good ham, and a deep side for bacon, 
with small offal. It excels in these points. 
SlTi^BRA HUMBUGS. —In former ar¬ 
ticles we have alluded to the fact that some humbugs are 
very difficult to treat. One class of these is where the 
probabilities all indicate that a concern is a humbug, but 
the evidence comes just short of being proof. Another 
class is those relating to medical matters of a kind which 
will not allow of a full exposure without the use of terms 
hardly proper to print in a family journal. Still another 
are those schemes or occupations in which so great is the 
temptation that a large share of those engaged in them 
are swindlers, and to denounce these as a class is unjust 
to the few honest men engaged in the pursuits, which of 
themselves are honorable and legitimate. Under this 
last head are included lightning-rod men and tree-ped¬ 
dlers, or nursery agents, of whom more than any others, 
except quack medicine chaps, are the complaints most 
numerous. Letting the lightning-rod men pass for the 
present, let us define 
OUR POSITION AS TO NURSERT AGENTS AND 
TREE-PEDDLERS. 
Complaints of these have been especially numerous this 
year, and in view of the rascality of some of the transac¬ 
tions, we have said that it would be safest to have noth¬ 
ing to do with the whole lot. Some of our nursery 
friends think this rather too sweeping, as they have 
agents who they know to be perfectly honest men. We 
must admit that it is hard for such to be classed with 
swindlers, and that there are those who do not deserve 
it, we are well aware. There was one who for ten or 
more years represented one of the large nurseries in the 
territory around New York City, who could be implicitly 
trusted, and one who was so sure of his own position in 
the community, that he liked to have ns show up the ras¬ 
cals in the trade. Now what shall we do f We have the 
community to protect against 19 rogues, and to avoid 
injuring the business of one honest man. It is the true 
interest of every fair-dealing nurseryman that theae 
swindles should be stopped, and we are willing to co¬ 
operate in any feasible plan which shall encourage hon¬ 
est agents, and at the same time protect the community 
from the dishonest ones. Now, gentlemen, what do you 
propose ? One of your reasons for employing traveling 
agents, is that it encourages tree-planting, and that per¬ 
sons are by personal application induced to plant trees 
who, if left to themselves, would not do it at all.—Well, 
this is just what we would encourage, and if we could 
cause 10 trees to be planted where one now is, we should 
gladly do it, but then we wish the trees to be of the 
right kind and true to name, and not the refuse of nurs¬ 
eries labelled promiscuously. We have been at the nurs¬ 
eries and know how this thing is managed. Smith, the 
peddler, calls himself an agent, he gets orders for trees 
from Jones’ nursery. At the digging season he goes to 
Jones and buys certain blocks or odd rows of trees ; he 
has his own men to dig them, he takes them to some va¬ 
cant place, labels them as may be, packs them in lots to 
suit his orders, and all that Jones has to do with the 
matter is, the trees grew on his ground, and he sold 
them. Several years ago we were at a large nursery, and 
learned the opinion of that concern, of peddlers. A lot of 
several acres was being surrounded with a high fence, 
and upon inquiry we were informed that the enclosure 
was for the peddlers, who were to be rigidly excluded 
from the regular packing yards and sheds, as the losses 
from theft by these men must be stopped. Now it is 
due to themselves and due to the public that the nursery¬ 
men devise some plan by which, when an agent claims 
to represent a particular nursery, the one who would 
purchase trees shall know that he is duly authorized; 
moreover, the purchaser should have some assurance 
that the trees when received did really come from said 
nursery, and that the proprietors of that nursery are re¬ 
sponsible for their being the trees ordered, and that when 
they left the nursery they were correctly labelled. The 
purchaser has as much right to a reasonable assurance 
that he gets what he pays for, as has the seller that he 
will get his money. We should like to have those nurs¬ 
erymen who think our remarks about agents too general, 
tell us what provision is made to secure the purchaser in 
this respect....If you will show us any way by which 
the farmer can tell between the legitimate agent and a 
swindler, we will gladly welcome it, and give it tha 
widest publicity... .We repeat our caution to order 
nothing for which unusual claims are made. If a peddler 
offers tilings which no one else has, or things not before 
heard of, such as “ self-pruning grape-vines,” straw¬ 
berries which grow on “bushes,” peaches grafted on the 
