1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Sulphur sm<l Wall.—“ Q. C. A.” From its 
active effect on the system particularly through the 
skin, it is dangerous to give sulphur in excess to stock in 
the winter time, without good reason and proper ac¬ 
companying care. A proper allowance is useful espe¬ 
cially to sheep and pigs. Generally one ounce of sulphur 
to a pound of salt will he sufficient when given regularly 
in the feed. 
Mow to liaise Turnips.—“ W. T. S.,” 
Arkansas. On a light soil a proper preparation for a crop 
of turnips would be a deep plowing and harrowing as 
early as possible. When the weeds have started another 
plowing and harrowing should be given. The land when 
well mellowed should be laid off in drills 30 inches apart, 
by taking two furrows with a single plow, or one with a 
double mold-board plow. In the dri 1 well-rotted stable- 
manure should be spread at the rate of 10 or 12 loads per 
acre, or more if it is at hand. The manure is then cov¬ 
ered by throwing a furrow from each side on to it. The 
-ground is then harrowed lengthwise of the drill and 
rolled. The seed is sown either by a turnip-seed drill, or 
by hand in a light furrow made with the edge of a hoe 
and covered lightly. The crop should be kept free from 
weeds. See article in July, 1872, on raising roots. 
To IPrcvent JLice ois Sitting- Eletus. 
—“C. C.,” Fauquier Co., Va. If the nests of the silting- 
hens are lined with tansy freshly gathered, they will not 
be infested with lice. Old nest boxes should he treated 
to a bath of scalding lye before they are again used. 
Grease must not be used on the hens or the eggs will not 
hatch. Lime is not of any use. We have known a nest 
in a barrel of lime where the eggs lay on the lime, com¬ 
pletely infested with lice. 
To lEmpiy n Cesspool.—“J. A. G.,” 
Taneytown, Md. The method of emptying a cesspool 
and utilizing the contents was fully described in the 
Agriculturist for October, 1872. 
Goo. M. Patclien.—In reply to “ L. D. S.,” 
Darien, Ct., “ W. S. B.” favors us with the following his¬ 
tory of the horse in question. “ He was not a thorough¬ 
bred ; was foaled on the farm of a Mr. Sickles, near Free¬ 
hold. N. J. He was by Cassius M. Clay, he by old Henry 
Clay, and his dam was by a brother to Trustee the famous 
trotter. He was-thus a cross of the Bashaw, Messenger, 
and imported Trustee blood. Ilis last owner was Mr. 
Waltermire, of New York.” This agrees with the histo¬ 
ry of the first Geo. M. Patchen as given in Wallace’s 
American Trotting Register, in which are mentioned 
several other Geo. M. Patchens, descendants of the old 
horse. The old horse died in 1864. 
IlandUMill fop TVlieat.—“ Subscriber,” 
Acushnet.—There are hand steel mills which will grind 
wheat into meal, which, sifted tlirongh a fine hair or 
muslin sieve, will produce a coarse wholesome flour. 
Probably some of those dealers in implements and Beeds 
who advertise in the Agriculturist keep or would procure 
these mills. Write them. 
Composition of * 4 Siiisst.”—“G. P. D.,” 
Delaware Co., Pa. The yolk of wool, which is called 
tuint, contains a large portion of potash. It is this alkali 
which causes the oil of the yolk, in combination with it, 
to be soluble in water. It has been stated by a French 
chemist, Prof, narrez, in a report to the Chamber of 
Commerce of Yerviers, Belgium, that on an average one- 
third of the fleece is mint, and one-third of that is pot¬ 
ash. Thus, a fleece of four and a half pounds unwashed 
would yield half a pound of potash. For this reason the 
water in which sheep or wool have been washed should 
not he lost, but should be spread over grass laud, or used 
in any other convenient manner. 
liemoYal of T'umors.—“A Subscriber,” 
Washington Co., Iowa. Written directions would be 
insufficient to enable one to remove tumors from the 
body of a horse. A competent surgeon should make the 
operation when they are “ so large as a quart measure.” 
Smaller tumors may often be removed by the application 
of iodine ointment daily, but so large a one as this must 
be removed by the knife. 
Superphosphate or fluster for 
Potatoes!.—“T. F.,” Cheshire Co., N. H. The appar¬ 
ently inconsistent items in regard to the action of these 
manures on potatoes, in the Agriculturist of April, admits 
of the following explanation. They were written by two 
different parties, each of whom has grown the crops they 
speak of indifferent states, and on -.oils of a different 
character. The crops manured with superphosphate 
were on a gravelly loam, in which the fertilizer used 
would be preferable to ammonia'Cal manures. The soil 
was free from lime, and well filled with the remains of a 
heavy clover sod plowed under. There was, therefore, 
abundance of ammonia-producing matter in the soil. A 
part of the field, exactly one acre, produced over COO 
measured bushels o( narison potatoes ; and in one spot 
the yield was very much larger than this averngc. Our 
associate who uses ammonijicnl mannres farms on a clay 
soil, exactly the Boil in which ammonia would develop 
the lime, potash, and phosphoric acid which are more 
abundant in such a soil than in gravelly loams. Nothing 
is more certainly established than that the action of su¬ 
perphosphate, as well as that of ammoniacal manures, de¬ 
pends greatly on the soil in which it is used. Therefore 
the first thing a farmer has to learn is the character and 
needs of his soil, and adapt his manures to them. 
Potasla.— “F. D.,” Richmond, Va. Potasli, 
as known in the market, is the product of wood-ashes, 
which are leached, the lye evaporated to dryness, and the 
resulting salts melted. It comes to market in broken 
cakes, which have the shape of the iron kettle in which 
it was melted. It can he bought at wholesale at $8.50 
per barrel of about 500 pounds. The German salts, 
kainit, is an impure sulphate of potash ; the commercial 
potash is impure carbonate of potash. Nitrate of potash, 
or saltpeter, costs too much for its profitable use in our 
agriculture. The nitrogen from dried blood and flesh 
is cheaper. 
Miring Grain■ bags.— In England, 
“ sack-hiring companies ” rent grain-bags for one cent 
for each bag per week. The bags, or sacks as they are 
called, are made of very strong material, and hold four 
bushels. It is only about a dozen years since this system 
was introduced, but it has already become quite common 
for farmers to depend almost entirely on hired bags. 
When they have thrashed a quantity of grain they rent 
the necessary number of bags, and when the grain is sold 
the farmer directs the purchaser to return the hags direct 
to the company. If the grain-dealer or miller sees fit to 
keep the hags beyond the specified date he has the privi¬ 
lege of doing so, hilt he, and not the farmer, must pay 
the company one cent per bag per week for such extra 
time. We do not see why some such system could not 
be introduced here. When we consider that a two-bushel 
hag costs us forty cents, and that a large proportion are 
in use only a few days in a year, and that loss and deteri¬ 
oration is not less than 20 per cent, it would seem that 
many farmers would gladly avail themselves of the 
privilege of hiring bags for a few days. 
Five-toed IFowls.—“Subscriber,” Glou¬ 
cester Court-house, Va. Five toes are a blemish or mon¬ 
strosity in Light Brahmas. The Dorkings and the 
Houdans are the only breeds in which five toes are ad¬ 
missible. 
To Prevent :s lioller from d'iosr- 
•ring.—“ R. G.” An iron roller will not clog as much 
on damp soil as a wooden roller. Your plank roller will 
he benefited in many respects by saturating it with crude 
petroleum. It will keep it from shrinking, preserve it 
from rolling, and lessen the tendency to clog. If yon 
apply ail the petroleum that the wood will absorb it will 
become almost ns firm as iron, and will last for many 
years. But the petroleum needs to be repeatedly applied. 
'Flic ILasiit Sales of fll«c Usaiovi 
Pacific It.IS, for April, 1873, amount to 11,471 acres, 
at an average price of $4.92 per acre. The total sales up 
to May 1st, 1873, were 714,908 acres. 
Frauds oil Fanner!*.— A “ Correspond¬ 
ent,” Carrol Co., Md., who has paid $10 to a party in 
Maryland for a recipe for making “ raw-bone phosphate " 
has been swindled. The mixture is not a raw-hone 
phosphate, httt a much cheaper compound, of which 
nearly one-half has no phosphoric acid at all. Our ad¬ 
vice in this matter is for farmers to purchase no secrets 
whatever. The old proverb about buying a “pig in a 
poke ” applies emphatically to all such business. 
Not a Mad Tiling to Have.— A cor¬ 
respondent in Pennsylvania writes: “I read the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist with great satisfaction, and, I think, 
with some profit. Soven years ago I bought a small farm 
of 27 acres, none of it quite rich enough to grow even a 
good crop of cinquefoil. I started to improve it without 
any capital to speak of, either in money, experience, or 
labor. I made many mistakes, and met with many dis¬ 
couragements, but l*ive never as yet thought of selling 
out and moving into town again. . I have at present, as 
a basis for the coming summer’s campaign against 
drouth, bags, weeds, lazy liolp, and untimely rains, 
about 75 good two-horse loads of manure, manufactured 
in part from 15- tons of bay, 2 acres of oats, 3 acres of 
wheat and rye, 1% Acres of corn, about 4,1)00 !bs. of chan- 
24-7 
dler’s greaves which have been run through a lot cf 
sliotes, two tons of bran, and one ton of corn-meal, ai 1 
composted with sods, sawdust, and whatever trash could 
be found to mix with it, all of which is to top-dress 
about four acres cf young grass which is to go under for 
a corn crop two or three years hence.”—We are glad cur 
friend likes agriculture and the Agriculturist. Ee has 
the right ideas in regard to fanning. Good inancfe uid 
good cultivation are effective weapons. But we should 
he iucliued to spread the manure over a larger area. 
Mrcssing B'’tsi*«*.— “ G. B.,” New York. It 
would he advisable for a resident of New York city to 
have furs dressed by some one who makes a business of it 
rather than to do it one’s self, as home-dressed furs never 
look so well nor feel so soft in wearing as those done by 
professional furriers. But for the information of those 
living where furriers do not abound, we would say that 
furs may be dressed very passably by sprinkling pounded 
salt and alum on the flesh side, and doubling them up for 
a few days, ami then rubbing them dry with chalk, and 
smooth with pumice-stone. 
Grade or T!toroug;Ii>bred Tigs.— 
A young farmer in Connecticut asks our advice in regard 
to raising pigs. He proposes to buy a pure-bred Chester 
white sow and a pure-bred Essex hoar.—If he intends to 
raise pigs for the butcher, tlii3 is a capital cross, hut if 
lie intends to raise pigs with the intention of selling 
them for breeding purposes it will not answer. He 
must raise pure-breds. He thinks breeders ask very 
high prices for thorough-bred pigs. He will not think 
so when ho lias them to sell. It requires much care, 
patience, ar.cl good judgment to raise choice thorough¬ 
bred animals of any kind, and, as a rule, breeders do 
not make exorbitant profits. 
Flowing Hinder ESye for Manure. 
—“I commenced farming three years ago oil three acres 
of mowing land,” writes a young farmer at East Edding¬ 
ton, Me., “and I now have 35 acres, and keep 22 head of 
cattle, three of them thorough-bred Durham. I take the 
American Agriculturist, and have put a good many of its 
ideas into practice. I would like to ask you one ques¬ 
tion : At what stage of growth is it best to plow in win¬ 
ter rye for a green manure crop? I sowed a piece last 
fall that I propose to plow under. I have brought land up 
that cut only half a ton of hay to the acre to cut two and 
a half tons hv only plowing under one crop of clover and 
one crop of buckwheat.”—The best time to plow under 
rye, we should think, would be a few days after it has 
commenced to ear. But why plow it tinder for manure ? 
Why not feed it to your cattle as a soiling crop, save the 
manure carefully, and apply it to the land. The cattle 
would not take out more than ten per cent of the nitro¬ 
gen, and a still less quantity of phosphoric acid, potash, 
and other valuable ingredients of manure. The rye 
would he a useful food, and with your 22 head of cattle 
oil 35 acres you must have a demand for all the food you 
can raise. You have evidently done well by plowing un¬ 
der clover and buckwheat. You are now in a position 
to do equally well or better by raising food to bo fed out 
on the farm to stock. 
Steeping’ Tigs wlsiaoxit Ciover.— 
A. S. Tipton, Center Co., Pa., who is raising pure-bred 
Essex pigs and their grades, writes : “Grain is cheaper 
for my pigs than clover pasture. Will the pigs do as 
well on the grain if they run in the woods at pleasure? 
I can not get much bran, hut chop corn, rye, and oats to¬ 
gether— Half corn. Have no roots and no steamer.”— 
The E-sex will stand all grain when young and growing 
as well as any other breed—and better than common 
pigs; but as they get older you must not feed too much. 
Still, if they have plenty of exercise, we should appre¬ 
hend no trouble from pretty liberal feeding. The real 
point is to feed steadily—not to feed high for a few 
weeks and then suddenly put them on a starvation diet. 
Wo should soak the meal until quite soit, say from 24 to 
33 hours, to get it to absorb as much water as possible. 
Feed it with a large proportion of water — say two quarts 
of meal to each ten-quart pail of water. 'This is about 
tbo proportion of water in green clover. Let the sows 
have all they will drink of this slop twice a day. If tliey 
get too fat, put only three pints of meal to a pail of 
water. If not fat enough, put in a little more meal. Let 
them have all the water they will drink. 
Bfiow to Kill C;s£ia«3» TB&istlcs.— 
“T. R. T.,” of Winnebago Co., Wisconsin, writes: “I 
have two small patches of Canada thistles on some land 
that I bought last foil, but did not know of the thistles 
until after I had got it, and now I want to ask you how 
to get rid of them, as I never had anything to do with 
them before. I plowed the field last fall, and pulled all 
the roots out of ovary furrow and laid them on top, but I 
expect to see plenty of them spring up the coming sunt- 
