1873 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
327 
Engines in Cheese Factories.—“ E. 
L. B.,” Springfield, 0. No engine ia required in a 
cheese factory. A boiler to produce steam to heat the 
curd and cleanse the vats and apparatus is all that is re¬ 
quired, and any boiler that is steam-tight and will bear a 
few pounds pressure per square inch will answer the 
purpose. 
Corn anti Feed Mill. —“ W. II. G.,” Finn 
Co., Iowa. The best mill for grinding feed or corn-meal 
is a burr-stone mill mounted as described in the Agricul¬ 
turist of Augast, 1872. To grind twenty bushels per 
Pour, twenty horse-power will be needed. The address 
of the manufacturer mentioned is not known to us. Any 
of the dealers of agricultural implements mentioned in 
our advertising columns can supply such a mill. 
Management of Manure.—‘ P. W.,” 
Toledo, Ohio. When horse manure has been allowed to 
mold, or become covered with a light white fungus, it 
is in the condition known as fire-fanged, and has parted 
With its chiefly valuable quality and can not he restored. 
It is worth little more than dry straw. Fresh manure, 
if kept under cover, should he turned whenever it has 
Become heated so that steam arises from it. If outside, 
it should be laid up in a broad pile, with dishing top, so 
as to catch the rain that falls. If plenty of rain falls 
while the pile is heating, so that it he kept moist, it will 
not become fire-fanged ; if not, it should be turned once 
or twice. Sods may be rotted for potting purposes by 
piling them in a heap and leaving them during the sum¬ 
mer. Animal manure is not the best for lawns, on ac¬ 
count of the weed seeds contained in it. Guano or blood 
manure, at the rate of 230 pounds per acre, with a bushel 
of plaster each spring, is the best dressing; wood ashes 
also are an excellent fertilizer. 
Winter Feeding of Steers. —“ EL. L. 
S.,” Lee Co., Ill., writes that eighty head of steers were . 
fed in his county last winter in the open field, without 
the shelter of trees or a tight fence even, on whole corn 
In troughs and hay in racks, and came out well and the 
best fat steers in the neighborhood. Nevertheless, such 
management is not to be commended. 
Compost for Com.—“W. It. Y.,” My- 
ersville, Md., sends the following mixture for a compos; 
for manuring corn—viz. : 5 bush, lien droppings, 2 hush, 
bone-dust, 10 bush, of dip peat muck, H bush, salt, l 1 /, 
bush, plaster, and B pails of chamber-lye. This will be 
found a very valuable fertilizer for late planted corn, or 
for corn planted for fodder.—Although “ W. It. Y.” com¬ 
plains in his letter of the “ vexingly indefinite " direc¬ 
tions sometimes given by others, he falls into the same 
error himself in neglecting to say how much of his mix¬ 
ture he uses in each hill of corn. In default of such 
direction, we suggest that one handful of the mix¬ 
ture should be used in each hill, and mingled vv ith. the 
I eoil so as not to come in contact with the seed. 
' Cost of Iron anti Lea«l IMpe.—“ A. A. 
II.” Ilalf or three-quarter-inch iron pipe will answer to 
conduct a stream of water. The price of iron pipe is much 
less than lead pipe or tin-lined. Lead pipe, half-inch 
diameter, is about 12 cents a pound, and weighs 11 to 16 
pounds per rod, according to its strength. 
Stemming Foot! for Cattle.— “ B. II. 
H.,” Grantville, Mass. Steamed food will not sicken 
cattle if properly fed. Any food will sicken them if fed 
in excess. They should never be fed at any time more 
than they will eat up clean, and an occasional change of 
feod is an agreeable variety which tends to maintain 
their appetite. A feed of long hay cr straw is always 
advisable between meals of steamed food—at noon, for 
instance. 
lEssdigestioiia iu a SSor.se.—“ Subscriber,” 
Saratoga, N. Y. When the grain fed to a horse passes 
from him undigested and he in consequence becomes thin 
and hide-bound and rough and staring eoated, it would 
be advisable to give him a change of food. Carrots or 
boiled potatoes fed nearly cold with a handful of salt 
sprinkled on them, scalded wheat-bran, scalded oats with 
a handful of linseed meal added, and cut hay or oat straw 
might be usefully given. In addition a teaspoouful of 
finely powdered copperas and another, heaped, of ground 
ginger may be given daily in the feed. 
Harvest ISoBne.—The Farmers’ Co-opera¬ 
tive Union, of Jamaica, L. I., at a recent meeting passed 
a resolution appointing a committee “ to inquire into the 
probable success, the most desirable and accessible ren¬ 
dezvous, and the cost of such a picnic as would be accep¬ 
table to the farmers and their friends,” to take the place of 
the old-fashioned harvest home which has been held year 
by year on the other side of the Atlantic from time imme¬ 
morial until now. From the most ancient times, farmers 
have signalized the close of their season of labor and 
the safe gathering of their crop by a day of recreation 
and mutual congratulation. The present is an age when 
labor is more concentrated than ever; the head works 
with the hand, and becomes equally wearied when its 
labor is done; and as a rule farmers and their families 
have but few, if any, public gatherings for entertainment 
and recreation. The action of the Long Island farmers 
is to be commended, and may well be imitated elsewhere. 
Texas or Wlrere Y— “L. A. B.,” Natchez, 
Miss. There is a vast tract of most excellent land in 
Northern Texas and Southern Kansas which would be in 
the locality you desire. The method of reaching those 
lands would be to start from Topeka, where you can go 
West or South or North. The railroads furnish tickets 
the cost of which is returned to purchasers of their lands. 
EBiamin"’ Lime. —“E. O. N.,” Grundy Co., 
Tcnn., will find an article with illustrations and descrip¬ 
tions of kilns for burning lime in the Agriculturist of 
September, 1871. 
Tirade or TEaiis. Sowing-. — “ T. G.,” 
Granville Co., N. C. This is a question which will prob¬ 
ably remain undecided while men have different opinions 
of things. Facts are not conclusive in regard to it and 
never can be because the conditions under which they 
occur are so variable. Each farmer should experiment 
for himself. No more general rule can be given than 
this: on rich land the seeding may be moderately thin, 
say V/, bushels wheat and 2 y 2 of oats; on poor land, on 
which grain will not tiller much, the seeding may be from 
2 to 2'i bushels wheat and 3 to 4 of oats. We have raised 
equally heavy crops with a seeding of 1 bushel and 3 
bushels of wheat per acre on good soil. 
E5i S - Mead.— “J. Q. G.” Gallatin Co., Ill. 
This disease, which attacks the jaws of the horse and 
causes a large and hard -swelling or tumor which often 
prevents the closing of the teeth, and which is generally j 
known as “ big head,” and ostco porosis or osteo sarcoma | 
by veterinary surgeons, is incurable without such an 
operation as would render the horse entirely unservicea¬ 
ble. The diseased jaw or parts of it must be cut away. 
It may he therefore accepted as practically incurable. 
Lime wodi» Wheat.—“J. J. B.” There 
is no better way to apply lime than with the seed in the 
fall. It may then he harrowed in directly with the rye 
or wheat. 23 to 40 bushels per acre of finely slacked 
lime would he a good dressing. The finer it is the more 
effective it will be and the less quantity may he used. 
Worms iai si Horse.—“ Subscriber.” Tho 
best medicine for a horse troubled with worms is tartar 
emetic. One dram given with half a dram of ginger 
made into a hall with linseed meal and hot water should 
he given each morning for a week, then a pint of linseed 
oil as a physic. After a week’s rest this may be repeated; 
after which the horse should have a dram of sulphate of 
iron (copperas) powdered given daily in the feed. The 
most unmistakable symptom of worms next to their ap¬ 
pearance in the dung is the rubbing of the tail consequent 
upon irritation of the large bowel and anus, and the ap¬ 
pearance of dry scaly matter (dry mnens) beneath the 
tail. An injection of one pint of linseed oil with 2 drams 
of spirits of turpentine will bring away the species of 
worm which lodges in the rectum. It may he given in 
conjunction with the above medicine weekly. 
EEeii. Msaassire ota ia Garden.—“W. J. 
S.” lien manure is almost exactly identical in quality 
and effect with guano, aud may be used iu the same man¬ 
ner. Except on very rich soils it should not he used in 
larger quantities than 250 or 300 pounds per acre, as it 
would only stimulate a strong growth which could not be 
kept up in vigor. As a change of manure on rich garden 
soil which is heavily cropped it may be used to advantage. 
The best way to preserve it is to keep it dry or mix it 
with earth. Its value if free from foreign matter and dry 
is $50 a ton. 
Pnrifj icig- Mills:.-. “ J. H. McHenry,” Balti¬ 
more Co., Md. writes us that wood charcoal is an excellent 
absorbent of the disagreeable flavor of garlic in milk. 
He uses it every spring by dropping a piece 3 or 4 inches 
long and 2 inches thick into each pail of milk or into 
the pitcher in which milk for table use may be kept. 
S-iiquitl Msiinii-e. —Dr. “ C. F. F.” Liquid 
manures are most conveniently aud effectively applied to 
grass, clover, corn, or other crops grown for fodder. Af¬ 
ter the cutting,especially in dry weather,the application of 
a fertilizer in this shape causes a most abundant and 
rapid growth. Of such crops as much as 30 tons per acre 
have been cut in one season by the use of liquid manur¬ 
ing. All garden crops are also especially improved by it. 
But few field crops admit of the passage of the necessary 
vehicle over them. The time to apply the manure is from 
the commencement of the growing season until its close 
and in the afternoon or as near sundown as possible. 
Foultry Matters.- “ H. B.,” Green Bay, 
Wis. The best hens for the farmer, taking everything into 
consideration, are the light Brahmas. The nests are bet¬ 
ter placed upon the ground, or upon a bench not more 
than a foot above it. The best food for hens is com oc¬ 
casionally changed for wheat. 
MetSsoils* of Feeding Meal.—“ R. A. 
Fisher.” The plan of cutting the fodder and mixing the 
meal fed to cows with it and feeding it moistened is pre¬ 
ferable in our opinion to any other method. By feeding 
meal dry or made into dough some portion of it will pass 
into the fourth stomach and escape only partially di¬ 
gested. The plan of mixing the meal with water and 
making a drink is preferable to feeding it dry or in a 
donghy state. The meal then passes, as it does when 
mixed with the feed, into the rumen or paunch whence 
it is passed, after undergoing rumination, into the reti¬ 
culum or second stomach in a condition fitted for perfect 
digestion iu the third and fourth stomachs and the bowels. 
■Weed* oil SSicti Soil. — “I find,” writes 
a Penn, farmer, “ that the richer I get my land the more 
trouble I have in keeping the weeds down.”—Just so. 
Maunre has the same effect on a weed plant as it has on 
a corn plant. It will make either of them grow more 
luxuriantly. Butwhatofit? We think it is much easier 
to keep rich land clean than poor land ; but you want it 
clean to start with. We do not like the phrase “ keeping 
the weeds down.” Better ent them up, and kill them 
root and branch. It is a work of years to make a foul 
farm clean, but it can he done—and must be done before 
we can get full returns for our labor. 
('in*!: for Founder. —“ R. C. F.,” Loa An¬ 
gelos Co., Cal., sends us a cure for founder in horses, 
which, lie says, lie has never known to fail in many years 
of trial. It is as follows. As soon as the horse is 
found to be stiff swab the legs and feet with hot water so 
hot that the hand can not bear to touch it, hut it must 
not be so hot as to scald. After a short time the logs 
should be rubbed dry and the horse gently exercised. 
Agricultural Laborers’ Union. --Mr. 
Joseph Arch, the president of the Agricultural Laborers’ 
Union of England, an association which has grown to 
large proportions within a year, is expected to visit this 
country. His object, we are informed, is to examine the 
prospects presented for the successful emigration of 
farm laborers hither. Skilled farm laborers or competent 
tenants arc in great demand here ; and Mr. Arch’s mission 
will he or ought to be looked upon very favorably by 
those agricultural associations whose members are ia 
pressing need of reliable and steady farm help. 
I® reserving- Manure with Earil*.— 
“ W. C. C.,” Clermont Co., Ohio. The manure from a 
hen-roost if kept dry will retain all its valuable properties. 
If moistened it will decompose ; and if when mixed with 
earth it is found to give off pungent vapors of ammonia 
it should he sprinkled with a solution of copperas or di¬ 
luted sulphuric acid. It should be kept as dry as possi¬ 
ble until wanted for use; but if it should absorb moisture 
from the atmospheie sufficient to start the ammoniacal 
vapors they may ho caught and fixed by the above men¬ 
tioned applications. 
Interested In Eiaiclks. —“ F. A. C.,” who 
is interested in ducks to the extent of asking twelve dis¬ 
tinct questions, with “just one more” added to make a 
baker’s dozen, and who having purchased Rouen ducks, 
as he thought, has become a victim to ruined hopes, and 
finds his ducks far from Ronen, is informed that a Rouen 
duck if pure-bred should have no white feathers, and the 
drake should have none cither except a white ring around 
the neck not quite meeting at the hack, and a fine white 
streak across the wings. The legs should be orange with 
a little brown hut not black. The young drakes may be 
distinguished as soon as they are fully feathered. The 
general color of the duck is brownish with dark pencil¬ 
ing?, and the drake has a claret-colored 1 reast, is gray 
and green on the back, and has a broad ribbon of rich 
pm-|)le edged with white on the wings. If pure-bred 
ducks arc an object it would be more satisfactory to pay 
$8 for a pair of pure ones, than pay loss and have a pro¬ 
geny of all sorts and colors. Young ducks eat enormous¬ 
ly, and if well fed will grow fast, and the Rouens weigh 
at maturity 12 to 18 poimdj the pair. 
