127 
1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Weeds of ITIaisie —By F. Lauison Scribner. 
—This is a pamphlet of G2 pages, by a young botanist, a 
student at the Maine Agricultural College. It gives both 
a popular and brief botanical account of the troublesome 
weeds of the State, with suggestions as to their extermi¬ 
nation. If farmers would become better acquainted 
with the strategy of their enemies, the weeds, they could 
operate against them with better chance of success. This 
little work will prove useful in teaching the proper 
names as well as the habits of weeds. 
The Torrey Betaiiical Club.— The 
botanists of New York and vicinity have for some years 
been associated under the above name. With the present 
yearthey commenced the publication of a Monthly Bulle- 
tinof matters mainly relating to the local Flora. Theyde- 
sire to be in communication with all who are interested 
in studying plants within 30 miles #f New York City. 
These and others can procuro the Bulletin for a year by 
enclosing $1 to Wm. II. Leggett, 224 East 10th-st., N. Y. 
AiiotHat's- Fisae S’rotector. —If bugs are 
not kept away from cucumber, melon, and similar vines, 
it will not be for lack of contrivances to effect it. The 
latest one we have seen was in the stock of It. II. Allen 
& Co., and is shown in the engraving. It is made of mos¬ 
quito net, four triangular pieces of which form the sides ; 
the edges or corners are of two thin strips of wood, 
nailed together with the netting enclosed between them. 
At tho top are two small bits of leather, each one of 
which is tacked to two of the wooden supports in such a 
manner as to form a hinge. The protector, when notin 
use, shuts up and occupies a very small space. It is 
claimed that 24dozen can be put into a flour barrel. They 
are easily made, but arc sold by the dozen very much 
cheaper than one can afford to make them. 
Blow to Improve a Meadow.—“S.,” 
Seymour, Conn.—Hurrow it thoroughly, sow on some 
fresh grass seed this spring. Pile or compost your ma¬ 
nure, putting in a half bushel of bone-dust to the ton of 
manure, turn it two or three times, and apply it to the 
meadow at the rate of 20 tons per acre. Or, if more con¬ 
venient, use good Peruvian guano or superphosphate of 
lime, broadcast, at the rate of 400 lbs. to the acre, during 
rainy weather this spring. 
C»ood —Porter Frisbee, Secretary of tho 
Delaware County (N. Y) Agricultural Society, writes, 
that at their annual meeting they had a good show of 
grains, seeds, dressed meats, etc. Five spring pigs were 
tshown—three of them, 10 months old, weighed, dressed, 
446, 354 and 332 lbs. ; and two pigs, of 9 months old, 
weighed, dressed, 311 and 33S lbs. 
Slavic Louse.— D. B. Boyer, Montgomery 
Co., Pa. Yours is a bad case of the Oyster-shell Bark- 
louse. The eggs are under the scales, and will hatch in 
June. If this tree is in an orchard we should cut it down 
and burn it; and give close attention to the other trees 
upon which you say it is “starting.” We do not com¬ 
mend Mr. Norris’ plan of painting trees “ from stem to 
stern,” but your tree is good for nothing else but to burn, 
or devote to some such desperate experiment. 
Floral Exhibition at Charleston, 
S. C.—An exhibition will be held by the Charleston Co. 
Ag'l and Hort. Soc., from May 1st to 10th, and liberal 
premiums are offered for the leading classes of flowering 
plants as well as for baskets, bouquets, strawberries, etc. 
JI. B. Holbeck is Secretary. 
Corn. vs. Wheat in Virginia.—“ II. 
G.,” Augusta county, Va., writes : “ My farm is a sandy 
loam, excellent for com, but rather too light for a maxi¬ 
mum crop of wheat. I can raise from 40 to 00 bushels of 
.corn per acre, while the same land rarely yields over 20 
bushels of wheat, and often less. If we attempt to push 
it beyond this, it falls down and does not fill well; but it 
brings fine clover.” We can see no reason why such land 
cannot bo made to yield 30 or 35 bushels of wheat per 
itcre, Undcrclrain where needed, make the land clean, 
so that there shall bo no weeds or grass in the wheal.— 
raise more clover and keep more sheep. If this does 
not give 6tiffer stuaw and a well filled ear, try lime. 
drafting tiae Bliclfory.—Hickory nuts 
vary much in their wild state, but the difficulties of prop¬ 
agation have prevented the multiplication of the choicer 
specimens. Mr. David B. Dickinson, having tried va¬ 
rious methods of grafting without success, hit upon tho 
following, which allows him to propagate the hickory 
with satisfactory results: Early in the Spring he grafts tho 
stock, which should be small, very near the surfaco, or, 
if possible, below it. The graft is waxed in tho usual 
manner, and then the earth is heaped around to cover 
all of the cion except tho upper end. Mr. D. has grafted 
trees now coming into hearing, from which he brings us 
specimens of the nuts. 
Blow Crops S'-cod.—A Treatise on tho At¬ 
mosphere and the Soil as Related to the Nutrition of Ag¬ 
ricultural Plants, with illustrations; by Samuel W. John¬ 
son, M. A., etc. New York: Orange Judd & Co. Pro¬ 
fessor Johnson’s work, “How Crops Grow,” is devoted 
to the chemical composition of the plant and the changes 
which take place during its life. Not only has that work 
received the highest commendations in this country, but 
it has been republished in England under the editorship 
of two of the professors of the Royal Agricultural Col¬ 
lege, and it is being translated into German under the 
auspices of Liebig. As a companion to “ How Crops 
Grow,” we have a work by the same author entitled 
“ How Crops Feed," in which are given the latest re¬ 
searches upon the relations of the atmosphere to plants, 
and the origin and composition of soils and the offices 
they perform in the nutrition of crops. It is sufficient to 
say of the present work that it is marked by the same 
thoroughness and clearness that characterized its pre¬ 
decessor, and is, like that, the best work upon its sub¬ 
ject in the language. As the author says in his preface, 
“ His office has been to digest the cumbrous mass of evi¬ 
dence in which the truths of vegetable nutrition Me 
buried out of the reach of tho ordinary inquirer, and to set 
them forth in proper order and plain dress for their legiti¬ 
mate and sober nses.” Those who would study the prin¬ 
ciples which underlie nil correct agricultural practice can 
have no better aid than these works will afford them. 
A third of this series is in preparation, which will 
treat upon manures and fertilizers. Price, $2, post-paid. 
BBoHclmg-s on Iilrnpc-Vines*.—J. Mc¬ 
Coy, West Va.—We know of no better way to treat the 
rosebug than to shake them off early in the morning, 
while they are dormant, catch them on a cloth and put 
them in the fire. The netting you speak of might do for a 
vine or two, but it would be too expensive on a large scale. 
Cropping an Orchard.—“J. B. H.,” 
Rancocas, N. J.—The soil of an orchard 16 years old 
should be given up to the trees, and instead of taking 
anything off by planting soiling crops, it would be much 
better to put fertilizers on to it. We know that it is the 
custom to mow or otherwise crop the orchard, and we 
know it is also the custom, in places where the practice 
prevails,to complain that fruit trees do not do well. 
Peaches in Intlisina.—W. W. Borden, 
Clark county, Ind., states; “The night of Feb. 20th 
killed the entire peach crop in this vicinity. Such is the 
report from the high lands (the Knobs), by those exten¬ 
sively engaged in peach culture. In the valley the result 
is about the same. The peach buds were very much 
swollen, and the lilac buds were bursting. The ther¬ 
mometer indicated 3° below zero.” 
“ Shot Land ” in Kentucky.—“J. F. 
F.” writes: “ I have about twenty acres of what we call 
1 Shot land .’ If it were all together I would probably 
put it in some kind of grass, but it is scattered over my 
farm. The soil consists of pebbles from the size of a large 
buckshot, down to that of a pin’s head, nearly round, hard, 
hut it can he cut with a sharp knife, exhibiting a dark 
iron-ore appearance on the inside. They are in some 
places very thick on the ground ; and the thicker they are, 
the less the land produces. It appears to he unable to 
retain ordinary manure.”—Probably the best course 
would he to plow and seed to red clover, encouraged by 
plaster, and calculate to turn under two or three crops of 
buckwheat, clover, or corn before it would begin to look 
like good soil or hear other crops. 
Inland Fisheries.—It is gratifying to no¬ 
tice the steady progress made in some States in stocking 
streams and ponds with fine kinds of fish. All the New 
England States have commissioners who are active in in¬ 
vestigating and devising means for multiplying and in¬ 
troducing fish into their'streams, lakes and ponds. We 
have received from the Massachusetts commissioners 
their report to the Legislature for the year 1869, which is 
au instructive document to those interested in this sub¬ 
ject, as it details both successes and failures. The names 
of tho New England commissioners are given, and wo 
print one for each State for the benefit of persons in other 
States desirous of inducing their legislatures to take action 
in fostering inland fisheries: Clias. G. Atkins, Augusta, 
Me.; W. A. Sanborn, Weirs, N. n. ; A. D. Hager, Proc- 
torsvillc, Vt.; Theo. Lyman, Brookline, Mass.; W. M. 
Hudson, Hartford, Conn.; Alfred A. Reed, Apponang, R.I. 
Blow to Apply Maniirc.-E. Taylor, j 
Michigan, asks: “ What shall wc do witli our barn-yard 
manure? Geopgo Geddes says plowing it under 10 or 11 
inches deep is the poorest way to apply it. This has 
been our plan ever since I can remember. We sow wheat 
after corn, then clover two years, and then corn again, 
and so on ad infinitum. Now, wlrnt shall wc do with the 
manure? ” Do as you have been doing, if it does well, 
and never mind the agricultural doctors. If the corn 
does not get the benefit of the manure the wheat will. 
But do you plow 10 or 11 inches deep? Measure and see if 
tho furrow slice is over 8 inches thick. Most peoplo 
think they plow 2 or 3 inches deeper than they really tlo. 
BMastea* on Clover.—“II. G.,” Augusta 
county, Va., writes: “ We all use plaster here on clover, 
and it increases the yield very much—in fact, I think it 
doubles it in most cases.” 
ISaising Lambu* l»y BIaaa«l.—Use the 
milk of a new milch cow, and let the cow be well fed, so 
that the milk may be as rich as possible. Put an India- 
rubber nipple on a glass bottle ; and be sure that the bot¬ 
tle is thoroughly cleansed with boiling water every day. 
Clover for JPij^.-A correspondent writes : 
“With a good clover pasture, I can easily make a full- 
bred pig weigh 400 lbs. with22 bushels of corn.” 
lSaittoii»Iiole B8on«jsa«?s®;.—Some time 
ago we gave engravings of 
seme bntton-hole bouquet h "jfi- .*.. 
holders made of glass tube, f 
A writer in a recent num- \ j 
her of the Gardeners’ Chron- \ / 
icle (Eng.) gives a plan \ 
which will be acceptable \ 
to those who cannot conve- \ 1 
niently procure the lube \ / * 
holders. Some moss is tied \ 
to the stems of the flowers and \ ; 
thoroughly wetted ; then the , \ 
stems are surrounded by _ \ . [ _ 
a piece of oiled silk of the 
shape and twice the size Ehown by the dotted lines in 
the accompanying diagram. This is bound by means of 
a thread, and will prevent evaporation from tho moss. 
Allen’s* Cntaloguc.—Among the numer¬ 
ous American and foreign illustrated catalogues we have 
from time to time received, none equals in completeness 
and fullness of illustration the volume recently issued by 
R. H. Allen & Co. It embraces tools, vehicles and ma¬ 
chines used by the Northern farmer and by the planters 
of the South, of Cuba and South America, by nursery¬ 
men, gardeners and fruit raisers, by brick-malccrs, car¬ 
penters and others; implements for draining, for ico cut¬ 
ting and handling, and a great variety of household arti¬ 
cles, dairy implements, applc-parers, etc., etc. It in¬ 
cludes scales, pumps and hose, edge tools, bells, and even 
thorough-bred stock—and almost everything is pictured. 
The price asked is $1, and this is refunded with the first 
order. This offer to refund has given rise to some exhi¬ 
bitions of shrewdness almost past credence. For in¬ 
stance, a person in Belmont, Ohio, sends for tho hook 
and $1 worth of sundry seeds, saying ; “ I see you pro¬ 
pose to refund the price of the book on receipt of tho first 
order; and, as you propose to pay postage on the hook, 
you may send the amount of postage in peas, box the hook 
and seeds and send by express.” The order was filled. 
ISiiraaiiag' BSoiaes.—“A. J. It.” Rees Cor¬ 
ners, Md.—Bone ashes are useful, certainly ; but there is 
a heavy loss of value in burning them. A hone mill is a 
pretty heavy affair—Stewart’s, one of the best, costs 
$1,000. Bones maybe slowly reduced by being broken 
with a sledge, and then mixed with fresh wood-ashes 
kept moist for two or three months. When overhauled 
the heap should be mixed with earth, and the still hard 
bones thrown out to he worked over again. 
Fern.— C. C. Schenck informs 
us that this plant, figured in Jan. last, grows abund¬ 
antly upon the Cumberland Table-lands in Tenessee. It 
is known there as “Wild Pea-vine,” and the starveling 
cattle food upon it in the absence of better food. 
