136 
AMEK1CAN AGRICULTURIST. 
No. 148. 
the city, I noticed a large gooseberry bush would 
leaf out about the same time in the Spring, from 
year to year. It grew out of the foot of a neigh¬ 
boring field wall, with a southern exposure, and 
was protected from the north and west winds by 
a high hill. But other gooseberry bushes not thus 
protected would* vary in leafing out, more or less, 
every Spring. A. B. Allen. 
New-York, April 18, 1659„ 
-- 
Better Prospects for Farmers- 
We would not encourage any false hopes, or 
say a word to lead farmers or others to relax the 
strict economy which has been impelled, or com¬ 
pelled by the depressed financial condition of the 
country, for the past year. Still, we think, so far 
as we can observe and study the “ signs of the 
times,’ 1 from an advantageous point of observation, 
there is much to encourage the hope that a more 
prosperous state of affairs lies but a little way 
ahead of us. The use we would now make of 
this is, to encourage farmers to a more extended 
and thorough cultivation of various crops, the pre¬ 
sent Spring. The season bids fair to be a favor¬ 
able one. Prices of produce are, in the main, 
higher than they have been for some time past, 
and will probably increase still further. Let 
every one make an effort to plant or sow an acre 
or two more than they had intended, and to till 
those crops already planned for, with more care. 
The extra produce thus secured may he a make¬ 
weight to turn the scale in favor of future pros¬ 
perity. 
-®-« - -*-.»- 
Test the Seed Corn Before Planting. 
Oft-repeated suggestions for saving and keep¬ 
ing seed corn have been given in this journal. 
But whether these have been followed or not, it 
is well to make a preliminary test of corn, and of 
all other seeds which sometimes fail to vegetate. 
This is easily done. Select from the mass enough 
to be a fair sample, and plant in a warm situation, 
or in a box of earth, kept suitably warm and 
moist. An examination of the specimens, even 
before coming up, will show whether they are in 
a sprouting condition. Better far to do this, than 
to make a similar experiment on a five or ten 
acre field, and only learn of a bad result when 
too late to be remedied. 
Good Agricultural Premiums. 
We are almost daily receiving, from officers 
and committees of agricultural and horticultural 
Societies, propositions for taking large numbers 
of copies of the American Agriculturist, to be given 
out as premiums at the next agricultural Exhibi¬ 
tions. Nearly 500 copies will probably be given by 
a single Society. We are pleased with this fact— 
not because of any personal advantage, for, as 
stated last year, copies thus presented are, on the 
whole, unprofitable; and further, we cannot com¬ 
pete with journals got up at less cost in propor¬ 
tion to the subscription price. Still, the practice 
is an excellent one. A living premium, extend¬ 
ing through a whole year, will do more to awaken 
and /rcepupan interest in agricultural improve¬ 
ments, than any money or other premiums, re¬ 
ceived but once, can possibly do. Multitudes who 
receive during the year a dozen successive num¬ 
bers of a good agricultural periodical, will be led 
to continue reading, and thinking also. We say, 
then, to those now arranging their premium lists 
for next Fall, try the experiment of giving out a 
hundred or two subscriptions to some good jour¬ 
nal devoted to those interests your Society seeks 
to promote. You will find them not only satis¬ 
factory to recipients, but productive of great good. 
Out-Door Whitewash.—A Better Wanted, 
We have already given a capital in-door white¬ 
wash, but have sought in vain to find one which 
we could confidently recommend for fences and 
other outside work. Numerous recipes have gone 
the rounds of the papers, but each one seemed to 
be defective as regards their capability of with¬ 
standing rains. The one most highly commend¬ 
ed, is made by adding sulphate of zinc to the com¬ 
mon lime wash ; but in this, if the sulphuric acid 
leave the zinc oxide to unite with the lime, we 
have sulphate of lime (plaster of paris) formed, 
which, though partially insoluble, is still slightly 
so, and will be gradually washed off. It would be 
as well to use calcined (burned) plaster, at first 
for the entire wash. After sundry inquiries, we 
applied to Mr. Saunders, house painter, at Flush¬ 
ing. He says he has tried various recipes 
with no satisfaction ; but after some experience 
with it, he can, with considerable confidence, re¬ 
commend the following as 
A GOOD OUT-DOOR WHITEWASH. 
Take unslaked lime and put it into a bucuet 
with about as much water as will be required in 
use. Then throw in about half a pound of tallow 
for a peck of lime. As the lime slakes, the 
heat will melt the tallow, when it is to be tho¬ 
roughly stirred in—the stirring to be repeated fre¬ 
quently during use if any grease rises to the sur¬ 
face. No definite experiments have been made 
to determine the exact weight of tallow for a given 
weight of lime. Impure or rancid lard, oil, or 
other grease, may be used instead of tallow. 
The philosophy of the process is, that the oily 
material incorporated into the whitewash will 
prevent its Jpeing dissolved by rains. Any further 
definite information respecting this or other pre¬ 
parations, which the readers of the American 
Agriculturist can present, will be gladly received. 
Water Pipes of Hydraulic Cement. 
A dozen or more inquiries, recently received, 
will be answered by the following article which we 
published in the Agriculturist for May, 1856. Mr. 
Henderson, of Bowling-Green, Va., put down in 
the Spring of 1855, some 600 feet of pipe, 11- 
inches in diameter, for the purpose of conveying 
water from a spring to the barn-yard. He used 
for the purpose 10 barrels of cement, which cost 
$15, or $1 50 per barrel, at the Rockbridge mill. 
His method of constructing the pipe is as fol¬ 
lows: The dry cement is thoroughly mixed with 
an equal quantity of sharp sand, and portions of 
it made into mortar, only as fast as required for 
use. For a mould, two pieces of two-inch plank 
are taken, say four inches in width, and six feet 
in length. These are hollowed out on one side, 
so that when placed together, a hole would be left 
through the centre. They are then put down 
edgewise in the bottom of the ditch where the 
pipe is to remain, but are set apart three or four 
inches, so as to leave a suitable space for the 
mortar between them. They are kept apart by 
another small end-piece of plank, rounded upon its 
two edges to fit the hollows in the two side pieces. 
This forms a kind of open trough or mould, six 
feet long and four inches deep, having the ground 
for the bottom; the hollow plank for the sides, 
the last piece of pipe formed, for one end, and 
the small end-piece for the other. 
Through the centre of the end-piece a hole is 
bored, of the size of the internal bore of the pipe. 
Through this hole a round, smooth, wooden rod 
is thrust, which is continued along the middle of 
the mould, and into the hole in the last piece of 
pipe formed. When thus arranged, the mortar, 
just prepared, is poured in, and soon becomes 
hard. As soon as the mortar is set, the rod is 
drawn out carefully, leaving a smooth round hole. 
The side pieces are then taken off, and moved 
along for another six feet. These may be kept 
in place by the sides of the ditch, if it be of the 
proper width ; but it is better to prepare a couple 
of iron clamps, say like a wide plow clevis, 
which can be set down over them to keep them 
from falling outward, and taken up when the side 
pieces are to be moved. 
The whole process is very simple, and can be 
rapidly performed, and we should judge, quite 
cheaply. As soon as the whole pipe is finished, 
the water may be let in, but the pipe should be al¬ 
lowed to harden some two weeks or so, before 
much pressure is added. 
The method of making the pipe is quite simple 
and cheap. Mr. H. states, that in his own town, 
ns well as in Rockbridge, it has been extensively 
used for several years, and is very highly esteem¬ 
ed. He has seen several instances where water 
is conveyed from half a mile to a mile, with a 
heavy pressure. 
The Grain Bushel Measure.* 
Its Capacity—Mode of Ascertaining the Bushel 
Contents of a Box, and the Size of a Box or Bin 
to hold a given number of Bushels. 
Our grain bushel contains 2,150 and 42-100 cu¬ 
bic inches, or nearly 37 2-3 quarts, or nearly 9 1-3 
gallons, wine measure. The wine or water gallon 
holds 231 and the wine quart 57f- cubic inches. 
A cubic foot (or a box 1 foot each way) con¬ 
tains 1,728 cuhic inches. A bushel, therefore, 
holds 1 cubic foot and 422,42 inches over. 
A cubic foot (1,728 inches,) is to a bushel mea¬ 
sure (2,150.42 inches,) very nearly in the ratio of 
45 to 56 : 
1. To find the contents of a box in bushels. —Mul¬ 
tiply the length, breadth and hight together, to get 
the number of cubic feet ; multiply the number of 
feet thus obtained, by 45, and divide’ the product 
by 56, and you have the number of bushels it will 
contain. ( Note —If the box cannot be measured 
in even feet, multiply its length, breadth, and 
hight in inches, and divide by 1,728, to get the 
cubic feet.) Example —Suppose a box 6 feet long 
by 54 feet wide, and 4 feet deep. Multiplying 6, 54- 
and 4 together, gives 132 cubic feet. This multi¬ 
plied by 45, gives 5,940, which, divided by 56, 
gives 106 and 1-14th bushels. 
2. To find the size of a box needed for a given 
number of bushels .—Multiply the number of bush¬ 
els by 56, and divide the product by 45, which will 
give the number of cubic feet required. The 
length, or width, or hight of the box will depend 
upon the other two dimensions. Example .—In a 
bin 8 feet long by 7 feet wide, what hight will be 
required for 420 bushels of grain 1 Multiply 420 
by 56, and dividing the product by 45, gives 5224 
as the number of cubic feet required. Each foot 
in hight of the bin (8x7) contains 56 cubic feet. 
Divide the 5224- cubic feet required, by 56 feet, 
gives 94 feet for hight needed. If the box be 
94 feet long, and 7 feet high, it would, of course, 
need to be 8 feet wide. 
* Our bushel measure is the old “ Winchester bushel,” 
which was in use in England until 1826, at which time the 
Imperial Bushel was introduced. The Winchester Bush¬ 
el contains 2,150.42 cubic inches, and the Imperial Bushel 
2,218.192 inches, so that 32 Imperial Bushels very nearly 
equal 33 Winchester Bushels. 
