38 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
Cattle Tramping-Cnrions Fipires. 
—A wild heifer belonging in the neighboring village, that 
ought to have been “impounded” for sundry previous 
misdemeanors, ran through our gate the other day, as it 
was opened for a carriage to pass. She galloped as if 
mad, up and down the garden, over the beds of bulbs, 
across the lawn, among the shrubbery and elsewhere. We 
called the owner to account for letting this animal loose 
for the third time contrary to law, and pointed to her deep 
footprints that spoiled the grass and plants wherever she 
stepped. He insisted that she had done little harm. The 
incident set us to figuring the amount of injury done in 
this case, and generally, when cattle or other heavy 
animals are allowed to run upon meadows, or fields of 
grain. Suppose a cow walks once around a square field 
of ten acres, taking five steps to a rod, and making a 
separate track with each foot. If the foot tramp down 
or spoil a surface equal to six inches square, the single 
journey round will injure 800 square feet. Nine cattle 
going three times round would spoil half an acre! Let 
the arithmetical reader of the Agriculturist carry out 
these figures, learn the lesson inculcated by them, and 
act accordingly, especially while the ground is soft, as it 
will often be between now and settled weather in Spring. 
Too milch Kindness to Sheep.—S. 
S. Randall, the well-known sheep breeder and author, 
gives, in the Country Gentleman, his views concerning the 
great mortality among young lambs in the Spring of 1862. 
In many sections, particularly of Western New-York, 
these animals appeared to be wanting in physical devel¬ 
opment at their birth, and thousands died in a short time 
thereafter. Mr Randall is of opinion that the difficulty 
was largely owing to the too close confinement and high 
feed of the pregnant ewes during the month of February. 
Fullness of flesh in the mother is unfavorable to the well¬ 
being of the offspring before birth. They should be strong 
and healthy but not fat. It is recommended to allow ani¬ 
mals in this condition, succulent food, as roots ; to feed 
sparingly with grain, and not to crowd them in poorly 
ventilated sheds. They need protection from storms, par¬ 
ticularly rain, with plenty of exercise and pure air. 
RalVbits in Nursery and Orchard. 
L. Vories, Madison Co., III. Trap the rabbits and make 
“ pot pies” of them. They are easily caught in a com¬ 
mon box trap with sweet apples or potatoes for bait, or 
they will catch themselves without bait if the trap is 
properly arranged, as they will run into anything that 
promises them shatter. Where trees have been gnaw¬ 
ed by rabbits, bank up earth about them or bind up with 
clay or cow manure. 
Fruit Stock.— J. H. Creighton, Zanesville, O. 
The Siberian Crab is of too slow growth to make a good 
stock for the apple. The pear will not do well on the 
common or Doucain apple stock. 
Fruit Queries.— J. Brownell, Washington 
Co., Pa. The Bartlett Pear does not succeed as well on 
the quince as upon the pear stock. Apple orchards should 
be pruned where the limbs are crowded. June and July_ 
are the best months. We have already published a list 
of pears, and shall do so with other fruits, as soon as they 
can be determined on. Your best course is to rely upon 
the judgment of successful fruit growers in your district. 
Staking Apple Trees.— Subscriber, Cof¬ 
fey Co., Kansas. Doubtless your trees might be staked 
without injury to the roots. Trees for such windy coun¬ 
tries as yours should be grown with branches very low, 
in the nursery. 
Chenango Strawberry Apple.— T. 
H., Wayne Co., Mich. This is not much known at the 
East. One of our best pomologists considers it a good 
third-rate apple, but worth cultivating on account of its 
remarkably fine appearance. 
Trees on Fralries.— Several subscribers in 
the far West make queries upon this subject. The answer 
would be too long for a basket item, and, as all the other 
pages are filled, the reply must wait till the next month. 
See article on the Willow, on p. 39. 
Grafting live Grape. — L. C. J. Town¬ 
send, Mass. The grape is so readily propagated from 
cuttings and layers, that grafting is seldom practised. 
The cions should be cut before vegetation starts. The 
grafting is done when the vine is in leaf, and danger of 
bleeding has passed. The earth is removed from around 
th# vine, which is cut 3 or 4 inches below the surface. 
The stock is split and the cions inserted in the usual way 
of cleft grafting. No wax or other composition is applied 
but the earth is merely replaced. Another mode has 
been recommended, which is to split a large vine at in¬ 
tervals of one or two feet, and insert the ends of the cions, 
which are cut to a wedge, in the slits. The vine is then 
buried horizontally so as to leave one or two buds of the 
cions above the surface. The vine so layered throws out 
roots during the season, and in the Fall or following 
Spring may be cut up so as to leave a share of roots to 
each graft., 
Salt for Insects. —“W. C.” Waukesha Co., 
Wis. We very much doubt if sufficient salt can be used 
to destroy any kind of insects without injury to the vege¬ 
tation, while the cost would be enormous. A ton spread 
over an acre would be only a pound on every twenty-two 
square feet, and that amount worked into the soil would 
hardly be heeded by insects. A positive statement put 
forth by a professedly agricultural journal, that a bushel 
or two of salt on an acre, would destroy the wire worm 
and other insects, has gone the rounds of the papers for 
years. This is the third time we pronounce it nonsensi¬ 
cal. When land is plowed in the Fall, the frosts of Win¬ 
ter will generally kill great numbers of them. 
Green Manure.— L. Z. Snyder, Montgomery 
Co., Pa. Millet or oats will make a good crop to turn 
under before sowing fall wheat. At the present price of 
oats, millet seed will be much the cheapest. If the soil 
is infested by weeds, buckwheat may be used. Sow early 
and plow in as soon as it is in flower, and then sow for 
another crop to be plowed under first, before sowing the 
wheat. 
Cltinck Bug's.— “A Reader,” Winnebago 
Co., Ill. The eggs of this troublesome insect are not de¬ 
posited in the corn, but in the ground, where the young 
are sometimes found in great numbers. As they are 
most numerous in dry weather, and disappear after a 
rain, it has been proposed to shower the crops to destroy 
the bugs, by means of a fire engine, but this would not 
be practicable on a large scale, even if it were effective. 
Obtaining! §ecds from Washington. 
—Several inquirers are informed that their best way to 
procure seeds from the Agricultural Department at 
Washington, is to make an application through the rep¬ 
resentative of their own districts, as the seeds are mainly 
distributed through the Members of Congress. 
Seeds Received.— C. H. Howard of Utah 
sends us seeds of the currants of that Territory, and 
Wm. Holley of Hall Co., Nebraska has furnished us 
with the stones of a dwarf cherry of that region. Ail 
these have been placed for trial with one of our most ex¬ 
perienced cultivators of small fruits. 
Seeds for a Name.— W. G. Fowler, O. 
The plant is Lunaria biennis and is called Satin Flower 
and Honesty. It is cultivated for the delicate membrane 
which is left after a portion of the pod falls away ; this is 
used in making dry bouquets. It flowers the second year 
from the seed. 
Hubbard Sqiiasli.— Robt. Hutchingson, 
Ashtabula Co., O. The usual shade is a dull, clay blue 
color. It sometimes is of a dark olive green. Both colors 
are considered by the introducer as equally pure. 
More Beans.— W. C. Comstock of Fairfield 
Co., Conn., writes that among his beans raised last season, 
was one-plant with 83 pods, containing 459 merchantable 
beans, of the kidney variety. He planted in drills 10 
inches apart, in rows two feet distant. 
Red Cabbage.— N. C. Laughlin, Ct. This 
variety is always small, but should grow larger than the 
first. The pickle is made by slicing the cabbage, adding 
spice and pouring cold vinegar over it. 
Crimson Clover.— J. F. Rucklman, Munroe 
Co., Pa. We have only seen this cultivated on a very 
small scale, and the account to which you refer is the 
only one we have seen of any extensive experiment. The 
plant is very showy when in flower. The seeds can be 
had in this city. - 
Elapluic odora. —Mrs. J. W. H., Charles¬ 
town, Mass. This is an evergreen green-house shrub 
which bears clusters of white or pinkish, very fragrant 
flowers on the ends of branches. It belongs to a widely 
different family from the Tuberose and resembles it in 
odor only. If grown as a house plant, it should not be in 
too hot a room, and should have plenty of air. 
Gloxinias and Petunias.— A Reader, 
New-Hartford, Conn. These are raised from seed and 
the varieties continued by propagation from cuttings. 
Gloxinias can be successfully raised only where there is 
a green-house. Petunias are readily grown in the open 
air. The seeds may be had at the seed stores, and a paper 
may give you some fine double ones, but if you wish to 
be sure of these, the best way is to get the plants from 
commercial gardeners. 
Camclina saliva. — A. K. Laughlin, Vt. 
We have no knowledge of the culture of this plant for its 
oil in this country. The article in the Patent Office Re¬ 
port was copied from an English journal. It is known 
by the names of False Flax, Wild Flax and Gold of 
Pleasure, and is only known in this country as a not very 
common weed in old fields. 
NfemopiiiSa maculata is the plant sent by 
Mary Rider, Holmes Co., O. It is a native of Califor¬ 
nia. The vulgar name is Spotted Lovegrove. This, with 
the N. insignis, discoidalis, and others, are among our 
most beautiful annuals. 
Truffles—Tuclcalioe.— Geo. H. Gilbert, of 
Cheshire Co., N. II., in response to the query, whether 
Truffles were ever found in this country, says that 12 or 
14 years ago he was living in Mississippi, and there fre¬ 
quently saw a kind of root that grew in the ground en¬ 
tirely unconnected with any plant or leaf above the sur¬ 
face; it was about 1M inch in diameter, and 3 inches 
long, looking quite like a sweet potato. Pigs were fond 
of them, and he supposed they were a species of Truffles. 
The substance he refers to is doubtless the “ Tuckahoe," 
or Indian bread, a thing which has been a great puzzle to 
naturalists. It has been classed with the Fungi (Mush¬ 
rooms) and has been called Lycoperdon solidum, but as 
no vegetable structure has been discovered in it. Us real 
nature remains unsettled. The Tuckahoe has been found 
as far north as New Jersey. 
I>aii*y Farmer. — California subscriber. 
There was such a paper published, but owing to the times 
it was obliged to suspend—temporarily we hope. 
Ag’l. Library Association—A Good 
Move.—J. J. Joslin, Rutland Co., Vt., writes that an 
Agricultural Library Association has just been formed in 
the town where he resides, and agricultural works amount¬ 
ing to $250 are already purchased. A “ Farmers’Social 
Club” for discussing appropriate subjects, is connected 
with the association. 
Economical Food. —“ Diffidence,” of Mid- 
dlebury, Vt., writes as follows : “ In these times of patri¬ 
otic sacrifice and diminished incomes, many of us would 
like to learn how to live comfortably on a small sum. No 
doubt you have many subscribers like myself, not far¬ 
mers, who take your paper for its other valuable con¬ 
tents. Will not some kindly disposed lady reader, who 
has to purchase everything for the table, with little 
enough money to do it with, give a list of the 21 meals, 
such as are eaten in her family for a week ? With such 
a list in the Agriculturist , no doubt many of us would be 
much benefited.’.’ [We shall be glad to have responses 
to the above.—E d.] 
Mow it Paid. —The letters on business, and 
other topics, received at the Agriculturist office, number 
from 75,000 to 100,000 a year. A single morning’s mail, 
sometimes brings in more than five hundred. These let¬ 
ters very often convey hints and suggestions which are of 
indirect aid in preparing the paper, when they are not 
used directly. The letters for two months past have, 
more than ever before, abounded in kind words of appro¬ 
bation and encouragement, indicating such a spirit of 
friendly feeling on the part of our leaders, as we greatly 
appreciate and enjoy. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, 
have recently given an account of some special way in 
which a single hint from the paper has paid them far more 
than the cost of it for a year. We take the liberty to give 
the substance of a private note from a subscriber (J. M.) 
in Shiawassee Co., Mich. “_Three years ago an auc¬ 
tion of bees was to be held, which I had no thought of at¬ 
tending, until just before the sale I happened to read an 
article on bees in my Agriculturist, which led me to buy 
13 swarms that averaged $3 each ($39). The two heav¬ 
iest I traded for a 3-vear old steer which I sold for $24, 
leaving the cost of 11 swarms, £15 net. The first two 
years I took up 7 swarms, and last Autumn 12 swarms 
more, and a nice lot of cap honey which a.together paid 
more than five times over for the care of tne bees, and I 
now have 26 swarms left, which I would not sell at $4 
each or £104 ; so much for the $15 invested. This will pay 
for the Agriculturist longer than I shall live. I am wholly 
indebted to the paper for my bees, to say nothing of many 
other good ideas obtained from it, too numerous to men¬ 
tion. The paper is certainly a good investment at $1 ’’ 
