8 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
FREE.—The very Best Table Cut. 
lery—Silver-plated Table Articles 
—Geld E*eas ladelililc Ink—Chil¬ 
dren’s Toys—Flower and Garden 
Seeds — Floral Sets—Sewing- and 
Washing machines and Wringers 
—Knitting - machines —Melodeens— 
Pianos— American Watches — Sin¬ 
gle and Double Barrel Guns—As¬ 
tral Oil—Pumps—Family Weigh¬ 
ing Scales — Bictionaries — Books— 
Toy Steam - Engines — Toy Steam- 
Boats—etc., etc., etc., are among tits things 
that we are distributing very largely all over the country to 
our friends who send in dubs of Subscribers. Some report 
getting as many as fifty subscribers a day. Others get 
one, two, three, or more, as opportunity serves. Some 
make this their sole business, and sell the premiums 
received, and thus get large wages. There is no humbug 
or clap-trap about this. At least Thirteen Thousand per¬ 
sons have received these premiums with great pleasure, 
and still, not one in ten of those who ought to read the 
American Agriculturist and Hearth and Home for their 
own pleasure and profit, is yet supplied with it. So there 
is abundant room for thousands of others to obtain these 
valuable premiums. This work can go on all winter. 
Pull particulars will be found in the Advertising Col¬ 
umns, pages 33 and 34. 
Tobacco Crops.— Along the Connecticut 
River the tobacco crop has been very heavy, and of ex¬ 
cellent quality. Farmers speak of perfect leaves thirty- 
nine inches in length and twelve in width having been 
produced. 
“ Give us Gravel, or we Die.”- 
“C, C. R." sends ns some “fowl fables,” but our col¬ 
umns have space only for the moral, which is that after 
many hens had died, having been doctOredfor pip, gapes, 
worms, thrush, and all other diseasesfaur.'d in the books, 
finally it was discovered that what was ihe matter was 
simply want of gravel; of which alt moy take a note. 
Prospects fbr a Bairy.— “E. H. M.,” 
Clintou Co., Pa., desires to enter nto the dairy business, 
and asks some questions relative thereto, to which we re¬ 
ply : That milk may he conveyed ten miles by wagon with¬ 
out difficulty if it is in close cans which are kept quite 
filled, so that there is not much dashing about, which 
tends to sour the milk rapidly; by railroad it may be 
conveyed forty or even a hundred miles very well, 
without too great expense for freight. Cows may 
he kept in the stable or yard and fed there through¬ 
out the year without injury, and with advantage, 
if they have an hour’s exercise in a pasture twice 
a day. The best feed is grass, green oats and peas, 
clover, and corn-fodder in the summer, and clover 
bay in the winter, with carrots, sugar-beets, bran, and 
corn-meal in the winter. The milk business, all things 
being equal, gives less labor and more profit than any 
other form of dairying. 
Corn-Husking- Machine.—“H. E. C.,” 
Oxford, N. H., asks if there is a machine that will husk 
cc -n.—Philips’s corn-husker does this work in a very 
rapid and cleanly manner. The stalks are fed into tho 
machine, and 'jto ears are separated and the husks 
stripped off at one operation. It is an invention well 
worthy of examination by those Interested. 
Bone-Flour and Plaster. —“ Ohio,” 
Centralia, Ill., asks where bone-flonrand plaster can be 
procured in the West.—The Michigan plaster, mined at 
Saginaw and Grand Rapids, is to be procured in Chicago, 
as is also ground hone. If farmers will attend their 
county fairs and keep their eyes open, they will see 
samples of all these things exposed for their especial 
benefit, and they can see the dealers themselves on tho 
ground, who will give them all needed information. 
Farmers do not seetn to thmk that :hese men attend the 
fairs for this express purpose. 
A Question of Profits— “Z. F. H.,” 
Mnkanda, Ill., writes as follows: A stalifeeds B’s cattle: 
what proportion of the gain in weight should A have? 
With that gain for his share, would it pay A to feed'un- 
hulled cotton-seed, cooked, at $15, bran $12, hay $20, and 
corn-meal $25 a ton ? What would be the best selection 
of feed to make from this list for profitable feeding in 
money and manure ? What amount of floor space is 
necessary for one head of stock, and what the safest and 
cheapest fastening?—In all these questions, a great deal 
depends on the kind and condition of the cattle; if they 
were in good condition it would not pay A to undertake 
to feed them ; if poor, he would make money by taking 
the gain for his share, and so would B by reason of the 
more marketable condition of his stock. We would 
rather feed hay and corn-meal at the prices given, than 
any of the other materials; it would hardly pay to use 
any hut concentrated food, for much profit lies in the 
quickness of the operation. The cotton-seed if hulled 
and ground would be a valuable help to the meal and bay 
and valuable in the manure, but with the husk it is not 
safe feed. If the cattle are large, five feet in width is not 
too much floor space if stalls are used; if not, four is 
enough. Stanchions are safest and best on the whole. 
Where shall we Stop ?—Truly this is 
aland flowing with milk, if not with honey, if the “plain 
otory of a truthful James ” must be accepted, as a corre¬ 
spondent, “Q.,” who hails us from Colorado Territory, 
says it must. A native cow gives fifty-four quarts of milk 
in twenty-four hours at three milkings. If this is true, 
it must he due to the irrigation commonly practiced in 
Colorado Territory. 
Beekeeper’s Ma.g-a&iue.—This is an 
illustrated monthly, published by H. A. King & Co.,Mur¬ 
ray st., New York, and devoted to the interests of bee 
culture. It promises, to use its own words, to be “ a 
storehouse of information for all engaged in this pur¬ 
suit.” Amongst the names of the editors that of Mrs. 
Ellen S. Tapper, of Iowa, appears ; this of itself will be 
sufficient to show ■ that it is to be a practical work. 
Amongst tlio contributors we perceive the name of M. 
Quinby, also a well-known “ beeist.” 
Ride of Three.—“ J. F.,” Natick, Mass., 
propounds the following question: If corn-meal ia worth 
lJ4c. per pound, what is skimmed milk worth per gallon 
for feeding pigs? — We would advise “ J. F.” to feed both 
the skim-milk and corn-meal, as the pigs will thrive 
better on this mixed feed than on either separately, and 
not endeavor to settle the question by means of- figures. 
North Atlantic Express Co.— -Having 
been at times obliged to pay for a small parcel from 
Europe twice the real value of its contents, we feel that 
we do the public a service by making it known that there 
is now an Express Company that transmits parcels either 
way for something like a reasonable charge. We wish it 
abundant success. 
Peacli-borirag: Beetle. —A correspon¬ 
dent in Maryland sends us a small beetle which does 
much damage to the peach-trees. It is a species of 
Coryphalus, and our entomological contributor, Mr. Riley, 
promises us an article upon it in November. 
Osage Grange. — “E. E. W.” asks if 
Osage Orange is hardy in Central Iowa.—In some locali¬ 
ties it is. 
Vinegar-Making.—T. Paulsen, Portland, 
Oregon. It is true that we have warned people against 
buying recipes, but the advertisement “ Vinegar-Making 
in 10 Hours ” refers to an apparatus constructed accord¬ 
ing to well-known principles. We do not advertise tilings 
of this kind without first investigating them. 
Fistula. —“ T. IV.,” Tuscumbia, Ala., asks 
how to treat fistula in the shoulder.—If there are several 
openings, the dividing walls must be cut so as to connect 
them; and a solution of five grains of corrosive subli¬ 
mate to an ounce of water should be injected with 
a glass syringe until these walls are sloughed away ; the 
wound is then healed from the bottom by washing twice 
a day with a solution of one dram of chloride of zinc to a 
quart of water, keeping a plug of lint in it until the bot¬ 
tom heals. If the bone is diseased, there is no help but 
in a surgical operation. 
The Riglit Boctrine.—A correspondent 
at West Point, Wis., writes: “Farming is slowly rising 
from the old beaten paths. Our lands have been cropped 
with cereals until the returns are so small that farmers 
from sheer necessity have to return something to the 
soil. Clover is doing wonders for us, and were it not for 
wolves and dogs sheep would be our best stock, becanse 
we get so much money in so little space and weight that 
transportation is not so burdensome ; while on the other 
hand the cost of getting the heavy cereals to the sea-board 
almost eats up the proceeds.”—This is the right doctrine. 
Clover and sheep, corn and pork, grass and beef, will not 
only improve the fertility of the soil, but in all sections 
distant from market will afford the greatest profit. We 
have advocated this doctrine for years, and are glad that 
its truth is being recognized by intelligent farmers. 
Washing- Wool. —“F. C. W.,” Lebanon, 
in reply to “Maryland,” who asks (June Agriculturist ) 
for a method of washing wool, says that salt is prefer¬ 
able to soap for this work, that it leaves the wool of a 
good color and very loose, while soap has a tendency to 
cause it to “ mat.” 
Need, For Braining.—If we recount the 
troubles and losses which result from a want of drainage, 
it will be seen that a wonderful balance of loss lies on 
the side of undrained fields. There are late plowings 
and sowings and plantings in spring consequent on wet 
fields ; poor crops and ill-conditioned soil resulting from, 
enforced plowing of land when in an unfit state for the 
plow; drowned-ont crops in wet seasons, and parched 
crops in drouths, for, strangely enough, both of these ex¬ 
tremes occur in undrained soils more than in drained 
ones ; wet pastures, poached and water-soaked, filled with 
sour, coarse grass and weeds unfit for the food of an 
animal giving milk; cattle with diseased feet, or sick or 
dying from disease engendered by unwholesome pasture, 
or by drinking stagnant surface-water; sheep with foot- 
rot, liver-rot, dysentery, or other deadly complaints, re¬ 
sulting from the to them fatally destructive moisture of 
their feeding grounds; with, finally, crops heaved out by 
frost, meadows killed by freezing or by a covering with 
ice, and last, but not least, the miasma which arises from 
•undrained ground, and which affects the health of the 
farmer or his children. Then does it pay to drain? 
Farm Mills*. —Charles Beecher, Newport, 
Fla., wants to know where the mills figured in the Augnst 
Agriculturist can he obtained, and if they will grind suf¬ 
ficiently fine for domestic use. The particular mill there 
described was oneconstructed for the writer of the article; 
the stones were purchased in Chicago, and the ftamework 
was home-made. Similar mills, which can grind Cue 
enough for family use, but do not bolt or sift, can be 
bought in New York and other large towns of almost 
any of tho denlers in agricultural implements. 
Emasculation. — “ E. E. W.” wants to 
know if it is quite safe to perform emasculation at 
any season of the year.—No. There are periods when it 
is safer than at others. Horses should not be operated on 
during hot weather, while with hogs hot weather is not 
considered injurious. If it is necessary to operate during 
fly-time, pine-tar will keep off flies and assist in the heal¬ 
ing process. It is better to operate on iamba when they 
are very young, from twenty-fonr hours up to a month old, 
and on pigs when they are from two to six weeks old. 
Calves and colts may he castrated late in the fall. 
Fresco Tor Walls and. Ceiling's.— 
“ J. F.,” Northampton, Mass., wants a good recipe for 
fresco which an ordinary workman could apply.—The 
difficulty here is not the want of the coloring, but the 
skill in laying it on the walls or ceiling. No ordinary 
workman would he able to do this, it needs one who has 
learned the art by long practice. Any of the mineral 
colors which are not affected by lime may be used, but no 
others. The groundwork also needs particular treat¬ 
ment, which only an expert can give. 
Mow to Make a Good Cow.— 1 “S. 
K.,” Bedford Co., Pa., has a heifer, twenty-two months 
old, which will have a calf next February. He fears this 
early milking will tend to injure her as a cow, and wants 
advice as to the proper treatment to make her a good 
cow, as good as her mother, which has made 13!4 pounds 
of butter in a week.—It is not in the power of a man nor 
of any particular treatment to make a good cow out of a 
poor one, but a good one may easily be spoiled by im¬ 
proper treatment. This heifer should not be forced too 
much. The best of hay, with (when there are no roots) 
four quarts of bran and one quart of crushed oats per 
day, to within a month of her calving,when the bran and 
grain should be gradually dropped off until a week after 
calving, when it may be gradually given again, would he 
quite as much as she would bear, and possibly too much. 
She must be watched, and not allowed to get into a high 
condition, hut kept only in feir growing order. If she 
gets fat the oats should be discontinued. 
Salt, for Poultry.—“L. H.,” Montgomery 
Co., Pa., asks if salt should be given to poultry.—No. 
Premiums.— If you would know all about 
them, see page 83. 
