REVIEW OF THE FEBRUARY NUMBER OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
147 
REVIEW OF THE FEBRUARY NUMBER OF THE 
AGRICULTURIST. 
Adulteration of Food , No. 8. —Is there nothing 
that can escape this universal, all-pervading adul¬ 
teration ? Yes/I never have heard of any of these 
cheating chaps adulterating the Buffalo. And that 
is about the only human food that man can partake 
of, in these days of refined rascality, in a state of 
purity. 
The Cow—Her Diseases and Management. No. 9. 
—These articles I have repeatedly commended. 
They are worth, in each number, the whole cost of 
the paper per annum. Though I think I can give 
a better remedy for the cure of wounds by goring. 
First, let the gored animal die. Now take off the 
skin and take it to the tanner and sell it. Take 
the money and buy as many balls for cattle horns, 
as you have horns in the herd, and put them on, 
and bid the said horns to go and sin no more. 
N. B.—It is always best to have one cow gored 
to death first, before putting on the balls, because 
“a burnt child dreads the fire.” 
Hydraulic Presses . —I want a little one for “ fam¬ 
ily use.” Can it be had? One that would do 
to press the lard out of a few hogs, or the wool 
into the sack, and a thousand-and-one domestic 
purposes ? Have these presses ever been used 
upon cotton plantations ? Or would they answer ? 
Or is it a fixed fact that nothing but that great, 
cumbrous, wooden screw is ever to be used in baling 
cotton ? 
How to Preserve Eggs. —It will do it, I know, but 
to do it would be “ book farming.” So let them 
rot. They don’t smell bad—till the shell is broken. 
Disposal of the Filth of Paris. —I wish some¬ 
body would undertake to dispose of the filth of 
New York. But if it were all to be carried out of 
the city to-day, the population would be much less 
to-morrow, on account of the natural affinity of one 
body for another. “The farmer,'standing in his 
barnyard, knee deep, in offensive accumulations, 
may proudly say, here is the source of my wealth, 
&c.” And so can we, in almost any street of the 
city, in every rainy spell, say the same. And who 
is there that shall attempt to wean us from our 
idols, or disrupture natural affinities? “The re¬ 
fuse of a city may be considered as of five different 
kinds,” says this writer, in speaking of Paris; 
but I assure him that it is “all of a sort” here. 
“ The city fathers” always excepted—and the 
mud-removing contractors thrown in. “ The gut¬ 
ters of Paris are washed out every morning.” 
That practice would be objectionable in New York, 
on account of the danger of some citizen “pos¬ 
sessing the right of suffrage,” taking cold from 
damp streets. At Paris, the street refuse is remov¬ 
ed to places of deposit to be decomposed. Here 
we let it lie and decompose the natural way. 
What’s the odds ? 
Advantages of Thorough Draining will never 
be understood and appreciated, in this country, while 
the disposition is so rife, and the ability so great 
of acquiring so much land. From Canada to 
Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the 
inquiry is never made, How well I can cultivate 
my land, or how productive I can make it ? but 
“island cheap there?” “ How many acres can 1 
get ?” Even in districts where the land cannot be 
cultivated without draining, as for instance, the 
sugar plantations on the Mississippi, “ thorough 
draining” is but little understood. “ Blind drain¬ 
ing,” I believe, is never practised there, or, at least, 
it was not when I was acquainted there some years 
ago. It will be a very long time before thorough 
draining will be done in this country. Indeed, ex¬ 
cept in case of gardens, or some choice spot, it will 
not pay. And until that is the case, it will never 
be done. 
Cisterns and Matrasses .—How in the world a 
man of so warm a temperament as Dr. Philips is, 
manages to keep cool, without ice, is more than I 
know. Fact is, he don’t do it. As to cotton ma¬ 
trasses, I beg of you, Doctor, no matter what you 
are called for it, to keep up the fire until you kill 
every goose, or at least prove any cotton planter to 
be a goose, and a lame one at that, who would give 
six or eight pounds of cotton for one of feathers, 
to make a bed, instead of using his own staple, 
and with that make a more comfortable and healthy 
one that ever was made of feathers. As to “ cot¬ 
ton comforts.” a man is destitute of the comforts of 
life that is without such bedding; and in a very 
uncomfortable state of ignorance if he don’t know 
how to make them, but still worse, knowing how, 
and not doing it. 
Rough Notes by the Way , No. 6.—One of the 
things mentioned in this number of these pleasant 
notes, is a water ram. How singular it is that any 
man in these days of economy and labor, should 
continue to live on top of a hill, with a flowing 
spring at the bottom, some 80 rods off, from which 
he is lugging up by hand all his water for household 
purposes, and taking all his stock down to the 
spring to drink, when, for a sum not exceeding a 
dollar a rod he may have one of these excellent 
machines, sending the water into all his yards. It 
is always pleasant to visit such men as Captain In- 
gersol, who devote a portion of their means to so 
useful a purpose as resuscitating a “ worn-out 
farm,” and making a pleasant and agreeable residence. 
Effects Produced under an Exhausted Receiver .— 
“ Gunpowder will not explode.” What a pity that 
“ exhausted treasuries” have not the same effect 
upon gunpowder, for then “wars shall be no 
more,” and men would learn the arts of peace, and 
how to multiply and replenish the earth instead of 
slaying one another. 
Shell Marl .—Has it ever occurred to Mr. Hib¬ 
bard, the reason why this marl will forward a crop 
of wheat so much more than any other manure ? 
If not, then I may as well tell him that it is be¬ 
cause the wheat must have lime to perfect itself, 
and probably the quantity in the land may not be 
sufficient, or if it is, this in the marl is in that par¬ 
ticular state easiest assimilated to its wants by the 
wheat; and therefore is the very best manure that 
could be applied. Giving manure to plants is ex¬ 
actly similar to giving food to animals. If it is 
desired to fatten them, they must have food con¬ 
taining fatty matter. If it is desired to increase 
bones and muscles, they must have food containing 
phosphate of lime and casein. Just so should 
the farmer study to feed his plants, and, above all, 
to know why he should feed them. 
