44,8 
[December, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
To Clean a liwsty Plow.— Take a 
quart of water and pour slowly into it half a pint of sul¬ 
phuric acid. (The mixture will become quite warm from 
chemical action, and this is the reason why the acid 
should be poured slowly into the water rather than the 
water into the acid.) Wash the mould-board (or any other 
iron that is rusty) with this weak acid, and let it remain 
on the iron until it evaporates. Then wash it again. 
The object is to give time for the acid to dissolve the 
rust. Then wash with water and you will see where 
the worst rusty spots are. Apply some more acid and 
rub those spots with a brick. The acid and the scouring 
will remove most of the rust. Then wash the mould- 
board thoroughly with water to remove all the acid and 
rub it dry. Brush it over with petroleum or other oil, 
and let it be until spring. When you go to plowing 
take a bottle of the acid water to the field and apply it 
every bout to any spots of rust that may remain. The 
acid and the scouring of the earth will soon make it 
perfectly bright and smooth. If all iron work be wash¬ 
ed over with petroleum as soon as we put our tools, 
implements, and machines aside for the winter, it will 
keep them from rusting, and save a great deal of trouble 
and annoyance, to say nothing of depreciation and loss. 
A IPIaiclcy Aoiiaag' IFsarfisies'.—A Wis¬ 
consin farmer’s son writes us as follows: “ I am 25 
years of age. Have a fair amount of pluck, and a pret ty 
good supply of muscle. I am just on the point of buying 
a farm of 265 acres for $9,000, running into debt for 
nearly the whole of it. I can have any amount of time 
to pay for it. Some of the land needs draining. Tiles 
are very high, but there are-plenty of flat stones near the 
farm that may be had for the hauling. An Englishman 
offers to dig the ditches and stone them up (I drawing 
the stones) for 18 cents per rod. Draining is something 
I know nothing about, except what I have read in the 
Agriculturist. Had I better set him to work?” If the 
ditches are cut the proper depth, say 2J4 t.o 3 feet, 18 cts. 
per rod for digging and laying the stones is certainly 
cheap enough, and if the work is well done it will pay 
you. We wish you abundant success, and think you are 
made of the right material for a farmer. We wish you 
had less laud and more capital. Industry, intelligence 
and pluck, however, will go a great way to make up for 
the lack of capital. 
Cs};&-r«leiaiasg. —“Hortus,” Buffa¬ 
lo, N. Y., asks: “ With a moderate capital to purchase 
and conduct a small fruit and vegetable farm, combined 
with a fair practical knowledge of the business, do you 
think there is an opportunity in the immediate vicinity 
of New York to make a living ? — heavy returns on invest¬ 
ment not expected. Or do you deem the field already 
overstocked ?”-If “ Hortus ” is under 40 years of age, 
and possessed of $2,000, with the additional capital of a 
fair amount of physical strength and energy to use it— 
and can keep down his private expenses to $500 or $000 
a year, there is no doubt of his making a living and some¬ 
thing more before the end of ten years. Much, very much 
depends upon the soil. See article from Peter Hender¬ 
son, on page 459, in this number of Amer. Agriculturist. 
Cal»l>ages ami Celery. —A. Burton, 
writes: “ I have a piece of land near New York, which 
is worth rather too much for me to live on, unless I make 
it bring me something. I want to put it—about two 
acres—in early cabbages, to be followed by celery. I 
can get the necessary labor, and am willing to put on the 
necessary quantity of fertilizers. The only thing that 
troubles me is, can I get the soil ready quick enough ? and 
are commercial fertilizers—Plaster, Guano, etc., suffi¬ 
cient ? The ground is an old meadow, plowed last year, 
and is rather thin and stony.”-If you apply Peruvian 
guano at the rate of one ton to the acre, or bone-dust at 
the rate of two tons per acre, and if your’soil is of fair 
quality and free from water , there is every chance of rais¬ 
ing a profitable crop of early cabbages (Wakefield is best.) 
to be followed by celery. Your ground having been 
plowed up from meadow is in the best possible condition 
to raise a cabbage crop. The guano or bone-dust is best 
applied by sowing after plowing in spring, and then 
thoroughly harrowing in. If you have or can -procure 
cabbage plants that have been wintered over in cold- 
frames, they would pay best, as they will come in earlier. 
Hjime and AsBaes for a (GJai’uless. — 
“Z. F. II.,” of Illinois, asks the proper way to apply 
lime and ashes to land and prepare it for a fruit and veg¬ 
etable garden, and the proper quantity to produce best 
results. Put a bushel of slaked lime to the square rod, 
or a peck of ashes, broadcast, and harrow or cultivate 
them in. If done six or eight months before planting, 
and the ground is thoroughly cultivated, so as to incor¬ 
porate the lime and ashes with the soil, so much the bet¬ 
ter. A dressing of well-rotted manure in addition to the 
hme and ashes will help to ‘’produce the best results.” 
“Patching” and “Darning.” — A Hovel 
Exhibition.—Clothing for the Poor. 
I. —On going recently into the residence of a small farm¬ 
er in Pennsylvania, we found the good man of the house 
putting a “patch ” on his pantaloons. He excused himself 
by saying that, as his crops were poor, ho had to make the 
old clothes last over; and that as his wife, the daughter 
of formerly wealthy parents, had not been brought up 
to sew, she made awkward work of it. It occurred 
to us that she was a fair sample of a good many thousands 
of her sisters. There are, in the aggregate, millions of 
garments annually cast aside, which might be made to do 
good service if the wives, sisters or daughters of the 
wearers knew how to put on a “ patch ” so neatly, as not 
to mortify the wearers, or the patchers themselves. We 
have heard of an Agricultural Society giving a prize of 
$10 for the best patched garment, and the idea strikes us 
as a very good one. Nine-tenths of the wives of our 
country (and every girl expects to become a wife) will 
have far greater need of knowing how to patch well 
than how to make good “patch-work”—such as premi¬ 
ums are usually given for at the fairs. We would like to 
see every girl and young woman in the country learn 
how to put a patch neatly on father’s or brother’s 
coat or pantaloons. The knees of boys’ pantaloons 
furnish abundant material to practice-upon. 
II. —New York City is crowded with the poor, who 
flock in here from all quarters of the world. Many benev¬ 
olent ladies of our city are united in Associations to 
feed and clothe them, and every garment they can get is a 
great blessing to one of these poor shivering creatures. 
III. -^-The above considerations have prompted the Pub¬ 
lisher- of Hearth and Home and Aunerican Agriculturist 
to announce a novel Exhibition— to be held in their Pub¬ 
lishing Building, 2-15 Broadway, New York—to open on 
Tuesday, Dec. 20th, 1STO, and continue open to the public 
for three days. The following Prizes will be awarded: 
CLASS A. 
For Best Specimens of Patching (at least two patches) 
by any girl, not a tailoress, and not over sixteen years old : 
First Frlze.$15 Cash. 
Second Prize. 10 Cash. 
'TSsird Prize. 5 Cash. 
Fourth Prize. Hearth and Home for One Year. 
Flftii Prize... American Agriculturist for One Year. 
CLASS 15. 
For Best Specimens of Patching (at least two patches) 
by any lady, married or single, (not a tailoress,) and over 
sixteen years old : 
First Prize.$15 Cash. 
Second Prize. 10 Cash. 
Third Prize. 5 Cash. 
Fourth Prize. Hearth and Home for One Year. 
FiftEa Prize_ American Agriculturist for One Year. 
CLASS €. 
For Best Specimens of Darning on Woollen Clothing, 
(on at least two places,) by any girl (not a tailoress.) and 
not over 16 years old: 
First Prize.$1-5 Cash. 
Second Prize. lO Cash. 
Third Prize. 5 Cash. 
Fourth Prize .. ..Hearth and Home for One Year. 
Fifth Prize_ American Agriculturist for One Year. 
CLASS ®. 
For Best Specimens of Darning on Woollen Clothing, 
(on at least two places.) by any lady, married or single, 
(not a tailoress,) and over sixteen years old: 
First Prize.$15 Cash. 
Second Prize. 10 Cash. 
Third Prize. 5 Cash. 
Fourth Prize. Hearth and Home for One Year. 
Fifth Prize.. ..American Agriculturist for One Year. 
CLASS JE. 
For Best Specimens of Darning Socks or Stockings, 
(at least one pair,) by any girl not over 16 years old: 
First Frize.$5 Cash. 
Second Prize. Hearth and Home for One Year. 
Third Prize.. .American Agriculturist for One Year. 
CLASS F. 
For Best Specimens of Darning Socks or Stockings, 
(at least one pair,) by any lady, married or single, and 
over 10 years old: 
First Prize.S5 Cash. 
Second Prize. Hearth and Home for One Year. 
Third JPrize.. .American Agriculturist for One Year. 
The garments contributed to this Exhibition will be 
given (for Holiday Distribution to the Poor) t‘o the 
Ladies’ Five Point Mission, or to such other similar 
associations as may ho designated by the individual con¬ 
tributors.— j Vote alt the following Particulars: 
Each artiole in every parcel sent in must be marked 
“for Competition,” or “ for Exhibition only,” and have 
securely pinned or stitched upon it an envelope contain¬ 
ing the Name and P. 0. Address of the contributor, and 
a statement that the work was done entirely by herself, 
that she is not a tailoress, whether she is under or over 
sixteen, and under what Class (A, B, C, D, E or F,) tlie 
article is to be entered. When it is specially requested, 
the name of any contributor, except the prize takers, 
will not be published.* 
The articles may be sent in at any time after December 
5th, and before December 15th. The articles will be 
displayed on the morning of the 20th, at the Office, 
245 Broadway, at which time a competent Committee of 
Ladies will make a thorough examination, and award the 
prizes, which will be promptly paid and duly published. 
The articles as they come in will be numbered, together 
with the envelopes, for reference after the Committee 
have rendered their decision. 
The articles for competition in the first four classes may 
be of coats or pantaloons of any size and of woolen fabric 
suitable for men or boys in winter, and of any degree 
of wear, if not useless. Of course all articles will bo 
sent in a cleanly condition. Any garment may have from 
two to five patches, or darned places, or more if needed. 
Articles contributed for the above purposes and marked: 
For Patching Exhibition & Distribution, 
Care of Orange Judd & Co., 
245 Broadway, New York. 
may be sent unpaid, by the following Companies, viz.: 
American Merchants Union Company, 
United States Express Company, 
National Express Company. 
Adams Express Company, 
If sent by any other Company, or other conveyance, 
the carriage must be prepaid or otherwise provided for. 
The above offers present a three-fold incentive to the 
fair daughters of our country. Hirst, their efforts at 
patching or darning neatly will be very useful to them¬ 
selves. Second, they will have a chance to get the cash 
and the credit included in the Prizes. Third, every 
garment sent will go to help warm some unfortunate son 
of poverty during the coming winter’s cold. Let every 
one take part in it, and let us have an exhibition of a 
magnitude that will make it worth going far to see, and 
one that will gladden the hearts of the good ladies at the 
Mission, or other kindred institutions thus remembered. 
* Any other articles of clothing for destitute men, women, 
or children maybe sent at the same time, for Distribution, 
and we will pass them over to the designated Associa¬ 
tions. Such articles, of course, are not to ho 'entered 
for competition, and they should be folded separately in the 
parcel sent, and be plainly marked: “for Distribution only. ’ 
Essex vs. S B Sf>-N.—“ Do the 
Essex possess any decided advantages over the small 
Berkshire|j?” No; or at. least, either of these breeds, 
if pure, will do so much to improve our common stock 
that, it will make comparatively little difference which is 
selected. The Essex is remarkably gentle, is more 
“refined” than the Berkshire, and is believed to he 
“more thorough-bred,” and consequently will impress 
its characteristics more strongly on common stock. The 
Berkshire is more active, more disposed to range, and 
probably will “get liis own living” better than the Es- 
sex. To breed pure for the butcher we prefer the Berk¬ 
shire ; to cross with common sows, we prefer the Essex. 
PerclaeroM Moi’se.s. — A gentleman in 
New Jersey who has recently brought over a pair of 
Percheron horses, writes us that he knows from experi¬ 
ence that they make the very best of agricultural horses. 
He says there have been twenty-six Norman and Perche¬ 
ron stallions imported into the United States this sum¬ 
mer. In ten years he thinks America will have belter 
Percherons than France; for “ an American will always 
buy the best, while a Frenchman willingly sells his.” 
“WIsen 3 m the Haestf. flime fl o Sia Ha-soil 
—When you have the least work for your horses. Deep 
plowing should he done in the autumn, so that the frosts 
of winter shall mellow the raw soil, but subsoiling does 
not bring the raw soil to the surface; it merely breaks It, 
up, and we think it makes very little difference whether 
the work is done in the fall, spring, or summer—or in 
winter when the ground is not frozen. 
tfjJsiisiniiio flnaBjMU’iefil into tine United 
Slates.—For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1S69, the 
value of guano imported into the United States wa 3 
$204,348; for the year ending June 30, 1870, $1,415,519, or 
nearly seven times as much. These figures arc taken 
