1875 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
423 
that “the whole of his cheeses have been sent to 
England and sold to the factor as oleo-margarine 
•cheese, with a full description of how they were 
mac le.”—In reply to the question, what parties 
were selling the cheese in New York, he declined 
to give the names, but said “ I know of at least 
four houses that have sold it, and one or two of 
them thoughj; they had played a good trick upon 
some sharp buyers, by selling them oleo-margarine 
cheese at top prices for full cream cheese.”—The 
company represented by the party interviewed, 
have five factories in operation making this cheese; 
besides these, there are several other factories. We 
repeat what we have before said, that there can be 
no objection to making an improved or patent 
cheese, if the makers will sell it openly for what it 
really is, but when the stuff is put off upon buyers 
“at top prices for full cream cheese,” we do not 
hesitate to denounce it as a fraud, which is full of 
danger to the makers of the full cream cheese, as 
bringing their staple into disrepute. As yet we 
have not been able to find one box branded “ Skim- 
milk and Oleo-margarine Cheese ” on this market, 
although “four houses are said to be selling it.” 
- <11 I ■ 
A Rail Holder. 
“C. H. K.,” Lancaster Co., Pa., writes: “For 
holding rails when pointing them, I use the ma¬ 
chine shown in the sketch given herewith. The 
parts of the frame are about 2i inches square, or 
heavier if need be, to resist the strain. The stake 
A is 21- feet long, and is driven into the ground two- 
thirds of its length, to support the machine. The 
lever B is 36 inches from A to C, and is bolted to A. 
The standard 0 is 10 inches from the pin to the ful¬ 
crum the upper part has a slot to retain the lever 
D. The lever D is 77 inches in length, and has the 
fulcrum bolt at H, and can be raised as represented 
at Z>, by the dotted lines, to receive the rail to he 
pointed between the jaws G. The ratchet E is 30 
inches long, and lxi inch, firmly bolted to B, and 
extending from B in a segment of a circle from the 
fulcrum of lever B at H. The pawl F fastened to 
A CONTRIVANCE FOR HOLDING RAILS. 
lever D holds the lever I) firmly at any position to 
the extent of the ratchet. The iron plates G are 
toothed so as to hold the rail from slipping when 
the lever is pressed down and held by the pawl and 
ratchet. The rail is shown by the dotted lines in 
the engraving. 
What Becomes of the Sheep-skins? —Few 
persons have any idea of the industrial value of 
sheep-skins. The manufactures for which sheep¬ 
skins furnish the raw material are both numerous 
and important. In the city of New York alone, 
the sale of manufactured sheep-skins amounts to 
more than $5,000,000 yearly. A single manufactur¬ 
er turns out 50,000 dressed skins weekly. Most of 
the skins are imported, as American skins are too 
small and light to be split. The best skins come 
from Calcutta, which is a curious fact, when we 
consider that a hot country is unsuitable for sheep. 
These large skins are split into two portions, the 
wool side being called “ skivers,” and the flesh side 
“fieshers.” The whole skins are called “roans.” 
The “roans” are tanned to imitate morocco, and 
are used as a substitute for the real article, which 
is prepared from goat skins. A large quantity of 
6heep-skin is used by boot and shoe makers for 
toppings, linings, and trimmings. Leather from 
“ skivers ” is used largely for binding books, in¬ 
stead of morocco; and that from “fieshers” is 
used for binding account books, being stronger 
than the skivers. Trunk makers, saddlers, pocket- 
book makers, hatters, glovers, makers of musical 
instruments, and furniture makers, use a large 
quantity of sheep’s leather. “ Chamois ” 6kins are 
made almost entirely from “ fieshers,” as is also 
most of the buck-skin that is used for various pur¬ 
poses. 
Greenhouses Taking Fire. 
Our correspondence for one week last winter in¬ 
formed us of no less than four fires in greenhouses ; 
we have repeatedly warned against this danger, 
and again do so. These fires occur when the green¬ 
houses are heated by boilers, either from the smoke- 
pipe being placed too near the beams covering the 
furnace-pit, or by the flooring being placed too 
close to the upright chimney. In one of the in¬ 
stances related to us, a workman had thrown an old 
bag over the smoke-pipe to dry; this made a con¬ 
nection between the pipes and the beams, and tho 
place took fire. When heated by flues, the cause 
is usually similar; something is carelessly thrown 
on the hot part of the flue, and the fire is com¬ 
municated to the wood-work under the benches. 
The greenhouse structure is rarely burned itself, as 
it is usually damp, and the material of which it is 
made is not very combustible; but the danger to 
the plants is from smoke ; that from the burning of 
a few boards being sufficient to destroy the whole 
contents of a large house. 
- J --— a> — .«-- 
The Value of Fall Pasture. —It may be sup¬ 
posed that so long as grass is green, and there is 
plenty of it, the pasturage is as good at one time as 
at another. This is a dangerous mistake. Doubt¬ 
less much of the disease which occurs amongst 
stock, after the substantial growth of spring and 
summer has ceased, is due to this error. A wet 
season may cause a rank second growth of grass or 
clover, which is eaten with avidity; but this is 
deficient in nutriment, and too succulent to be 
healthful. Stock fed upon it fail to thrive, if they 
do not actually suffer. In course of time the diges¬ 
tive organs are disordered, and if the stock is neg¬ 
lected, the first intimation that anything is wrong, 
probably comes in the shape of the loss of some of 
them. The past season has afforded numerous 
examples of the fact here pointed out. An interest¬ 
ing experience of a western New York dairyman, 
accords exactly with our own, and is valuable. 
The wet weather which succeeded the harvest, 
started a luxuriant growth of oats from the shelled 
grain. The cows were turned upon this herbage, 
as an excellent addition to the feed. The butter 
was well colored, but the quality was so inferior 
that complaints poured in from the customers. 
This feed was worse than useless, it was injurious. 
As the milk comes from the blood, the blood of 
these cows was affected, and had it not been that 
the injurious matter was carried off by the milk, 
there might very well have been some serious cases 
of disease in the herd, as there have been in others 
in that locality. 
— — « ■ — - — 
Portable Fruit Packages. 
"We have several times advocated the use of a 
handier package for fruits, and especially for peach¬ 
es. The Michigan peach-growers are far in advance 
of their brethren on the Atlantic coast, in respect to 
packages, and while we do not claim that they have 
the best that can be devised, we are quite sure that 
had their baskets been in use by the shippers from 
the Peninsula, the returns of the past season would 
have been essentially increased, even with poor 
fruit. When iD a strange city, we always make it 
a point to visit the markets and produce-centers, 
and in following this custom in a recent visit to 
Chicago, were both surprised and pleased to see in 
actual use that which we had long been pleading 
for : a fruit package, which men, and women too, 
could carry without inconvenience. Iu New York 
we now and then see some unfortunate toting a 
basket or crate with both hands, or upon his shoul¬ 
der, toward the car or ferry-boat that is to carry 
him homeward, and looking as if he were quite 
ready to give up the job in disgust. In Chicago we 
saw 20, if not 50, people carrying peaches from the 
markets, where we see one in New York, and all 
for the reason that the packages could be easily 
carried, and not because the fruit was cheaper, 
as it really sold for more than the same quality was 
selling at the same time in New York. As a sug¬ 
gestion for an improved package, we give (on p. 421) 
engravings of this Michigan basket; fig. 1 shows it 
as it stands, and fig. 2 allows its structure to be 
more distinctly seen. Elm, bass, and other cheap 
woods are used, and are cut into thin veneers. The 
basket is 8 inches high ; 10 inches across the top, 
and 6 inches across the bottom. It is made of six 
pieces of veneer, each of which is 23 inches long; 
each piece is partly cut through at 8i inches from 
the end, the middle piece of 6 inches forming the 
bottom; at each end of the pieces a hole is cut, 
and a slit is made to allow for the necessary spread¬ 
ing; the manner in which the pieces cross one an¬ 
other, is shown in fig. 2. At the top there is a thin 
hoop inside and out, and i inch wide; near the 
middle is a slightly thicker hoop, i inch wide. A 
piece of No. 16 copper wire, 16 inches long, hooked 
at each end upon a heavy, large-headed tack, fur¬ 
nishes the handle. This basket weighs 9 ounces, 
and holds, slightly rounded, a peck of fruit. The 
peach-growers we met with, bought their baskets 
at 5 cents each ; we were unable to find one who 
made his own baskets, but suppose they are very 
readily put together upon a mold or former. The 
baskets, when filled, are packed in pairs in a simple 
crate of slats, and all bother of returning of baskets 
is avoided. Persons were willingly paying 50 cts. 
for these baskets of a peck of no better fruit, than 
at the same time was selling for 50 and 75 cts. in New 
York for baskets of 21 pecks. A person can carry one 
of these baskets home, or take it into car or stage, 
without inconvenience, and the quantity is as much 
as an ordinary family cares to have at a time. The 
fruit-dealers in Chicago have a little “ Aodge,” 
which we never saw elsewhere. Each basket of 
peaches is covered with a piece of tarletan or mil- 
linet, of a bright rose or scarlet color, which gives 
to the fruit a most attractive appearance, and at 
the same time prevents handling; this is put not on¬ 
ly over peaches, but over pears and other fruit.— 
We hope that our peach-growing friends will se¬ 
riously consider these two points. How to produce 
better fruit, and how to put it on the market in an 
attractive form. If these ends are accomplished, 
peach-growing will still be a paying business. 
•-■ ■ -- 
Catch Crops.— The experience of every succes¬ 
sive year shows that those crops known as “ catch 
crops ” may often be the most valuable. When a 
field is idle and not producing anything, then the 
farmer’s money is not drawing interest. When the 
rye or oat stubble lies idle from August until May, 
half a year’s interest is lost on the value of that 
field. It might have been sown to turnips, and if 
three roots weighing but four pounds each were 
raised on every square yard, there would be nearly 
30 tons, or 900 bushels of roots—without counting 
the tops—to every acre. Or a peck of rape might 
be sown in August on an oat stubble, and enough 
feed raised in less than two months, to feed 10 
or more sheep or two cows, per acre, until after 
snow fell. There would be a mass of roots and 
refuse left on the ground that would pay all the 
cost of the crop, leaving a handsome profit. It is 
in this way that a farm may be made to carry more 
stock, to produce more manure, and consequently 
increasing crops every year. The soil ought to be 
kept always producing, and if the term “catch 
crops ” leads a farmer to suppose that such crops 
are of no value, he makes a very great mistake. 
