1870,] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
169 
4 to A'/,, feet long at the top.—Bell hanging, ventilators, 
dumb-waiters, cornices, brackets, etc., etc., are neces¬ 
sarily deferred to next number for want of space here. 
Steaming' Feed for Cattle. —Wm. H. 
Dungan, Ind., asks: “ Can you inform me of a good plan 
to steam corn-meal, etc., for cattle and pigs ?” Buy a sec¬ 
ond-hand boiler of 8 or 4 barrels capacity—tubular boilers 
are best if strong—have it tested to know what pressure 
of steam is safe; have it properly set and the valve loaded, 
then fire up, and carry the steam into the bottom of any 
deep closed chest, hogshead, or tight box. An india-rub¬ 
ber pipe makes the best connection, and a piece of “gal¬ 
vanized ’’ iron gas pipe may be used to carry the steam 
down into the feed in the box.—The same arrangement 
serves to boil potatoes, meal, etc., for pigs in a cauldron 
or tub with water. 
€licesc Factories-How Far Sowtli? 
J. M. Brooks of Waterford, Miss., wants to know if a 
cheese factory will do well in his latitude and to be put 
in correspondence with a man to run one. We would be 
glad to see the South producing its own cheese, and will 
thank any who will inform us of the success or failure 
of cheese factories south of “ Mason and Dixon’s line.” 
A sites on Wet Land.— E. E. Fagan—no 
manure does much good on really wet land. You can 
afford to pay 15c. for ashes, to top-dress grass land, and 
the middle of May will probably not be too late to apply 
them. They will benefit the succeeding crops for years. 
25 bushels is a fair dressing, and 75 will do no harm. 
Peas and Osits— “Constant Reader” asks ; 
“ Do they mature at the same time, or would the crops be 
adapted for soiling only?”—They mature about the same 
time and may be thrashed.—“If used for soiling, would the 
crop (green) be as heavy as corn or clover ?”—Heavier 
than clover; not so heavy as corn. “ Would barley do as 
well with the peas as oats, and would it answer to seed 
the field to clover at the same time ?” Barley does not 
make straw enough—Clover seeding would probably do 
well. “ Is there any crop which will give more pork to 
the acre than good corn ?”—No grain crop and no green 
crop—possibly some root crop. 
Keeping- Cabbages. —S. J. Sweet, (who 
gives no county or State), enquires if it is necessary to 
cover cabbages when stored in the ground for winter use, 
with straw or other litter. If he lives where the thermom¬ 
eter falls 10° or 15° below zero, when the ground is not 
covered by snow, it would be necessary to cover with three 
or four inches of leaves or straw; for although cabbages 
will stand a certain amount of freezing, there is a point be¬ 
yond which they will be injured. It is likely that his 
failure may be from some other cause, such as storing them 
too early in the season, or putting them in too hot a place. 
Sour Millc for Cows.— W. White, West 
Stephentown, N. Y. Cows may be easily accustomed to 
“ swill, ” sour milk, whey, buttermilk, etc., especially if 
mingled with bran or other ground feed. If such high- 
flavored things as onions, decaying vegetables, fish, etc., 
are kept out, no harm will be done, and it will form a 
nutritious and very valuable article of food. It will have 
no tendency to dry up cows. 
Mow to Sow and Eaise Corn Pod- 
tier.—We have recently learned of a method for raising 
corn fodder, practiced by a successful dairyman in Rock¬ 
land Co., N. Y., which strikes us as so thoroughly prac¬ 
tical that without testing it, we give it to the readers of 
the American Agriculturist. The farmer selects good land 
which has been a year or more under cultivation, plows 
and harrows it, marks it out in drills three feet apart. 
In the drills he drops his corn 14 to 16 kernels to the foot. 
He uses white Southern for seed—then ho spreads cow- 
dung from his stables (his cows are not bedded and the 
manure is pure cow dung) upon the corn in the drills, us¬ 
ing about 8 full loads to the acre. This is then covered 
out of sight by crossing the furrows with a Shares’ coul¬ 
ter harrow, which leaves the ground smooth. The com 
comes up soon, gets ahead of the weeds, may be tilled 
with a cultivator twice and laid by. It grows 10 to 12 feet 
high, with the buts scarcely larger than one’s finger. 
ISow to (Jet MoodL (Jrass on a 
Mill-side. —“Novice,” who resides near a large city in 
Tennessee, where manure can be obtained at a mere 
nominal price, asks: “ How can I get a good meadow 
and pasture on three acres of rather steep hill-side?”— 
If the land needs plowing, spread on it fifty tons of well 
rotted manure per acre, and plow it under as deep as the 
character of the soil will allow. Use the harrow freely, 
and destroy all weeds that spring up. If the soil can be 
got into good condition, the grass seed, with or without 
a grain crop, may be sown at once; but if the land is 
rough, or the soil hard and cloddy, it will be far better 
not to sow anything on it until next fall; and, in the 
meantime, work the land repeatedly, to kill weeds and 
to pulverize the soil. After the manure is partially de¬ 
cayed, plow the land again, perhaps a little deeper than 
before, then harrow it and destroy the weeds ; and if you 
want a meadow of the grandest kind, that will last for 
years, spread on some more manure, say twenty tons per 
acre, and plow it under in August; then harrow the soil 
smooth, and sow such grass seed as is suited to the 
climate. Here, we should sow a peck of timothy seed, 
4 quarts red clover, 1 quart white clover, and 2 quarts 
Kentucky blue grass per acre. If the land is now in 
grass, and it is not desired to break it up, the principal 
means of making a good meadow and pasture will con¬ 
sist in top-dressing with rotted manure, and the free use 
of the harrow. Give up the idea of raising a large crop 
the first year. Spread twenty tons of well rotted manure 
per acre on the surface, and harrow it repeatedly; and 
when this first dressing of manure is washed into the 
soil, or mixed with it, put on another good dressing, and 
harrow again thoroughly. Then sow some white clover 
and grass seed, and you may reasonably expect a splendid 
meadow and pasture. We give this advice on the idea 
that the land, from its contiguity to a large city, is very 
valuable, and manure very cheap. In such circumstances, 
it is almost impossible to manure grass land too highly, 
provided it is not put on in such large quantities at one 
time as to smother the grass. 
Howard Co., Maryland, Agricul¬ 
tural Association. —The farmers of Howard Co. 
have recently formed an association of which Anthony 
M. Johnson is President; D. Lawrence, Clarkesville, is 
Corresponding Secretary. It meets at Ellicott City. 
Crops in Illinois.— N. J. Shephard, Leba¬ 
non, writes : The present prospect for wheat is very poor. 
Some farmers intend to plow some of it up as it is utter¬ 
ly worthless. Unless the spring is a very good one the 
wheat crop will be a total failure in this section of coun¬ 
try. All are very busy preparing for planting corn, of 
which there will be a very large amount planted this year. 
A good many have come to the conclusion that raising 
corn at 50 cents, pays better than raising wheat at 75 cts. 
or $1.00. Farm bands are receiving from $14 to $18 per 
month, including board. A majority of farmers have 
decided not to pay as much for harvest hands as they did 
last year, on account of the fall in the price of wheat. 
Carfoolic Soap. —“M. C. K.,” Freeport, 
Iowa, asks if it will injure the skin. That would depend 
upon its strength.—The soap made for washing and medi¬ 
cinal purposes would not. 
Saddle Galls in Morses.—“ E. P.,” 
of Canon City, Colorado, writes : “ Nearly all horses in 
this Territory have large ‘ saddle marks ’ on their backs, 
and those that have just come from under the saddle have 
large sores. In this country two horses are considered 
necessary for the riding of one herder, and as I have 
stated, their backs get invariably sore. What is the 
remedy ?”-When the horse comes in, loosen the girths, 
lift the saddle and replace it for half an hour ; then wash 
off the back and lay a bag wrung out of cold water upon 
it, binding it on. After an hour or two, apply a lotion of 
1 drachm Tincture of Arnica, in V 2 pint of water. A hard 
saddle is better than a padded one. The saddle may often 
be greased to advantage. Instead of Arnica, salt and 
water, whiskey, and vinegar and water may be used. 
Sometimes a sheepskin laid under the saddle is a great 
relief. Saddle the horse half an hour before mounting. 
Meet Ssigrar.—S. R. Collins, Cooper Co., 
Mo. There is not as yet any process by which sngar can 
be made from the beet as a domestic product. The fac¬ 
tories where large capital is employed, have hardly 
reached success. Those who by their inventions did so 
much to facilitate the production of sorghum syrup, 
should turn their attention to beet sugar. 
A 4-Acre Farm. —“Amateur” wants to 
keep a horse and cow, and to raise vegetables for a small 
family on 4 acres of land now in grass.—Devote quarter 
of an acre to garden, quarter of an acre to small fruits and 
quarter of an acre to potatoes. Plow and manure all this 
deeply and well, manuring heavily. Put in oats and peas 
mixed, on another quarter acre, for green feed before corn 
is ready. On another sow carrots and parsnips, an 
eighth of an acre each, having the rows as long as pos¬ 
sible, using fine bone and fish manure compost or super¬ 
phosphate. Have another quarter acre well manured, plow¬ 
ed, cross plowed, and harrowed “ all to pieces ” for man¬ 
gels or sugar beets. Heavily manure a full acre for a suc¬ 
cession of corn crops, and sow about one-sixth of an acre 
once a fortnight from about the first of May to the first of 
August. On part of this land a crop of buckwheat may 
be sowed and turned under for manure, or corn may be 
sowed or turned under for the same purpose. Peas 
might also be sown and taken off in time for the later 
sowings of corn, and would make excellent fodder, green 
or dry. The rest of the land might lie in grass the first 
year and be fed off by tethering the animals, or mowed 
for hay. Plow the land, which is left by the oats and 
peas, and put in Swede turnips with superphosphate in 
the drills; and as fast as corn is cut, plow and sow turnips 
up to the 10th of August. After that sow wheat, and mow 
it as often as it will give a good swath. This is an out¬ 
line, which, if followed, will teach you what you can do. 
The important thing is manure enough. Feed oil-cake 
and bran for the sake of the manure. 
Spaying Animals, etc.—“ B. F. D.” 
asks: “ Is there a book that will give me information on 
the Spaying of Animals ?—I wish to apply it to sheep, 
goats, and cows.” — There is an excellent work on 
“ The Castration of Domestic Animals,” by Gonrdon. 
It is in French, and can be imported if desired. We 
know of no English work. 
Killing' Meg.—Ebcn Wight, Dedham, 
Mass., says: “Having an old and favorite dog that I 
wished to get rid of in the easiest possible way, and not 
liking to shoot him or witness the spasmodic effect of 
strychnine, I laid him on a blanket in a box and pouring 
in 4 ounces of chloroform, covered him with another 
blanket, closed the lid of the box, and all was over with 
him without the slightest struggle.” 
Fite Prize Matter Essay.—The prize 
offered by the proprietors ofthe Blanchard Churn, through 
the publishers of the American Agriculturist , in our Feb¬ 
ruary number resulted in our receiving 82 documents, 
many of which were not intended to compete for the prize, 
but were written to convey hints or descriptions of pro¬ 
cesses believed to be peculiar and valuable. The com¬ 
peting essays, were submitted to the committee named 
below, who award as follows:— 
Messrs. Editors: The essays upon butter making, sub¬ 
mitted to us, have been carefully read, re-read and com¬ 
pared, with reference to the offer which requires the essay 
to be “thoroughly practical in its whole character,” and 
to “include the management of the milk from the time 
it is drawn from the cow, the treatment of the milk and 
cream in the dairy, churning, working, salting, packing 
and marketing. ” The competition was very close be¬ 
tween several of the essays which were of rare excellence; 
but we agree entirely in awarding the prize to Mrs. M. A. 
Deane of Farina, Fayette Co., Ill., whom we congratulate 
as having rendered important service to thg butter mak¬ 
ers of the country. Very respectfully, Maktiia C. Weid, 
Vincent Kenton. 
The successful Essay will probably be published in 
these pages next month. 
Miometsotsi State Morticultural 
Society. —This association is sending circulars to fruit 
growers of the State, with a view to ascertain the hardi¬ 
ness of the leading varieties. Every fruit grower in Min¬ 
nesota should be a member of the Society, and can be 
such by sending $1, to Wyman Elliott, Treasurer, Min¬ 
neapolis, which will entitle him to a copy of the Report. 
Emitter KortItem* Sown.—A. E. Rich, 
writes: “Your special Iowa contributor gives a list of 
apples well suited to the Central and Southern part of 
Iowa; abetter list for Northern Iowa would be, Sum¬ 
mer, Red Astrachan, Sops of Wine. Autumn , Saxton 
or Fall Stripe, St. Lawrence, Fameuse, Duchess of 
Oldenburgh. Winter, Plumb’s Cider, Perry Russett, 
Ben Davis, Talman Sweet. I agree with your contribu¬ 
tor in regard to mulching trees. If a mulch of coarse 
manure were placed around trees after the ground has 
frozen, the trees would be almost sure to be girdled by 
mice before spring. This could be prevented by bank¬ 
ing to a hight of 8 or 10 inches with clean earth, the mulch 
to extend only up to the bank. The borers, that most 
trouble us, work in the body and main limbs of the trees. 
Would keeping the ground clean under trees prevent 
their working in them?—Probably not. m 
Moles. —“New Subscriber,” Washington, D.C. 
We have in previous numbers published descriptions of 
several mole traps, any of which will doubtless prove 
efficient, if thoroughly attended to. The difficulty is that 
it takes both time and trouble to trap the animals. We 
have no faith in any other remedy yet proposed. Mr. A. 
S. Fuller, of Ridgewood, N. J., has offered $100 for the 
most efficient means of ridding his grounds of moles. 
Tlie C31ory B B ea.—Several inquirers. The 
seed is kept by most of our Seedsmen, in packets, at 25 
cts. and 50 cts. Mr. Saul, of Washington, recommends to 
sow the seeds where the plants are to flower, waiting un¬ 
til about June 1st, or until the soil is thoroughly warmed. 
