MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
MARCH n. 
Coinnuuutations. 
THE U. S. AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Mr. Moore :—There is nothing I admire more 
in the r. anagement of your journal than its 
sterling independence, —and nothing, I am sure, 
has contributed more to build up its immense 
popularity and usefulness. Your readers have 
always felt, and now feel, that in this they have 
a reliable safeguard," a protection against the 
impositions of quacks and unprincipled specu¬ 
lators with which the Agricultural, as w r ell as 
all other communities are infested. You will 
pardon this remark, which I feel is in some de¬ 
gree called for on this occasion—and I trust it 
will be taken, as meant, an honest expression, 
and not an empty compliment. 
I observe that, you speak of the U. S. Agri¬ 
cultural Society with your accustomed freedom, 
and my object in writing now is to express a 
different view in regard to the value and influ¬ 
ence of its operations and displays from that 
entertained by you. I have regarded these 
Monster Agricultural Meetings with amazement 
and profound admiration. Nothing, in my 
opinion, that has ever occurred in connection 
with the progress of Agriculture in the United 
States has done so much to bring the profession 
out grandly before the world or to elevate it in 
the estimation of mankind. 
Rural labor and rural life have, heretofore, 
occupied a position far too low, in the esteem of 
a majority of all classes. I think this will not 
be denied. The more intelligent and enter¬ 
prising young men of the country, farmer’s 
sons, have endeavored to fly from the farms as 
though to remain on it, were a sacrifice of their 
dignity and talents, or worse, as though it were 
a disgrace to their manhood. Clerkships in the 
lowestgrade of mercantile houses have generally 
been preferred to the so-called plodding pursuit 
of Agriculture. Thus the cities and villages 
have drained the country of its best men, com¬ 
merce and the professions have been filled to 
overflowing, and the advancement of the noblest 
of all pursuits Las been retarded. You sir, are 
as well aware of the existence and magnitude 
of this evil as I, and have labored as I know, to 
correct it. 
Among the commercial classes Agriculture 
has not been appreciated. The farmer has not 
commanded that influence, nor Las he been 
accor ed that respect, to which he has been 
justly entitled ; and all this because Agriculture 
as a pursuit has been allowed to remain, for 
ages, in a comparatively degraded condition.— 
I rejoice that the day has come when it is Dot 
only honored by the farmers themselves in the 
“ Rural districts,” but in the city as well. It 
is all right and proper that it should be feted 
and feasted, and that “Statesmen, Stockmen 
and Sportsmen yea, and men of all ranks 
and professions, should, if you please, sing 
“ peans” to it, in the highest places. Agricul¬ 
ture is our great national pursuit, the main 
source of our wealth and prosperity, and the 
large cities can afford, and should afford, to 
raise immense funds to be spent in its honor 
and interest. Let us encourage them to do it, 
and let us rejoice to see in such magnificent 
festivals as these, the eloquence of an Everett, 
a Winthrop, a Wilder, a McMichal, and others, 
of whom the nation is proud, employed in ad¬ 
vancing the interests and speaking the praises of 
Agricultural life, and teaching the farmer’s son 
the true honor and dignity of his profession.— 
By all means let us give a vigorous and hearty 
support to our local societies; through them 
alone can we carry a spirit of improvement into 
places where it is most needed,—but let us not 
withhold our approbation from those grand 
general movements that have the power of en¬ 
listing in the service of Agriculture, wealth, 
talents and whatever else may be calculated to 
confer honors and benefit upon it. 
In all my Agricultural reading, I have not 
laid my hands upon a volume which has so 
deeply interested me—so impressed me with 
the vastness of our Agricultural resources, or 
brought my mind to so lofty an appreciation of 
the Agricultural profession—as the last journal 
of this U. S. Society. Recommend your young 
and rising readers to peruse the lectures, speech¬ 
es and addresses which it contains, and my word 
for it they will feel their attachment to the farm 
and its associations, become a new thing. 
In my humble opinion. Col. Wilder, who is 
the main stay and master spirit of the United 
States Agricultural Society, has already earned 
the eternal gratitude of American farmers 
for bringing their profession before the world 
as he has done. These have been no paltry 
shows of which men might feel ashamed. His 
genius has invested them with all the charms 
of novelty, beauty and eloquence, and they have 
been successful without a parallel in the civil¬ 
ized world. This is something to boast of. The 
proceedings at Boston, last fall, far eclipsed the 
grandest gala days of the Royal Agricultural 
Society of England, and were never approach¬ 
ed by any Agricultural festival or show" in any 
part of Europe. As long as this Society goes 
forward in such a glorious career, I can heartily 
say success to it, and all honor to its President, 
Marshall P. Wilder, the Napoleon of Agri¬ 
culture and Horticulture in America. May his 
life be spared until the warmest wishes of his 
heart have been realized. b. 
Ragged Barms. —Almanza Rogers, of Shelby, 
writes that it is less expense keeping a farm in 
nice order, than shabby and ragged, and adds : 
“ If any person will get elderberries enough on 
my farm of 93 acres, for one pie, I will give 
him five dollars, and the same for a gill of this¬ 
tles, burdock or mullein.” That is the light 
way to farm.— 0. Farmer. 
SHAPE AND SIZE OP BARNS. 
Mr. Moore :—You gave your readers, near 
the close of last volume, what in your opinion 
constitutes the main features of an improved 
farm; to all which I heartily subscribe. You 
insist that all the farm buildings shall be neat, 
convenient and well constructed. Now that is 
very well, but what constitutes the best and 
most judicious plan for a farm Barn, for the 
great mass of ordinary farmers ? Tastes and 
views on the subject of buildings of any kind, 
are as various as faces of the projectors. No 
two dwellings are alike, and yet every man’s is 
the best. I am, I presume, one of those very 
dogmatical chaps, and think what I don’t know 
about a barn aint worth looking a great while 
after. So permit Sir Oracle to give his opinion. 
In the first place, a good site is an important 
consideration, and my views on the subject can¬ 
not be carried out, unless it is so chosen that the 
barn can have a basement story, therefore it must 
stand upon a bank, or rising ground, so that the 
basement floor may be entirely dry, with the 
ground graded away from the backside with a 
proper descent. 
The structure should be either 30 by 50 or 
40 by 60 feet, according to the size of the farm 
and the demand for room. The old 30 by 40 
barn is too small for even a moderate sized farm ; 
especially when a part has to be used for the 
purpose of stabling horses. The basement 
should be built with a good stone and mortar 
wall. The frame with 18 or 20 feet posts and 
gambrel roof to make space with mows each 
side of the main floor, and otherwise arranged 
to the taste of the owner. 
Across one end of the basement, there should 
be a stable, feeding racks and troughs for cat¬ 
tle, and sliding doors through the siding of the 
mow on the main floor to feed hay to the ani¬ 
mals, and the other end of the same for horses, 
all properly lighted and ventilated. The cen¬ 
tre of the basement should be occupied for a 
root cellar, by bins of brick for grain and prov¬ 
ender, with a water-lime concrete floor, and a 
larger cistern to be filled from the roof, with a 
pump and suitable troughs and conductors for 
conveniently watering every part. 
At the end where the cattle stables are, I 
would have the shed, so that the stable door 
would enter into it. The shed should be at 
least 20 or 25 feet deep, and of a length to ac¬ 
commodate the number of animals kept, and not 
over 6 or 7 feet space between the floor and the 
ground for the sake of warmth and the great 
depth, so that the master cattle cannot control 
the whole space. Over the shed may be the 
corn-crib, with a door from the barn floor, and 
the balance of the room for various farm imple¬ 
ments, and the use of a shop bench and tools, 
for tinkering and repairing. 
With such a barn well painted, a lightning- 
rod at each end and an insurance in the Monroe 
Mutual, which only takes farm risks, I should 
be content to live in quite a small and conven¬ 
ient cottage, and expend my pride of appear¬ 
ances on my barn—rather than on a great lathy 
house, half finished and not a quarter furnished. 
Clarkson, N. Y.j Jan., 1856. II. Y. 
HEN MANURE FOR CORN. 
I have experimented with this manure for 
several years, and found it, when carefully used, 
to be equal to the best of fertilizers. It should 
be mixed with twice its bulk of muck or veget¬ 
able mold, and applied to the hill,— a shovel¬ 
ful of this compost to four or five hills, sprink¬ 
ling a spoonful of plaster over it in each hill, and 
covering the whole up well with soil before 
dropping the corn. This manure is very pow¬ 
erful, and if seeds are dropped directly upon it, 
are apt to be injured, as they are sometimes with 
Peruvian guano. When used as recommended 
above, the muck prevents it from heating, ren¬ 
dering it less concentrated, and the plaster an¬ 
swers the double purpose of holding moisture, 
and taking up and retaining the escaping gases. 
Ashes or lime should not be used in connection 
with it. They liberate and expel the ammonia, 
the most essential ingredient. Ashes may be 
applied with good advantage to the top of the 
hill. This compost is first rate also for garden 
vegetables and young fruit trees.—H. G. S., 
Weet Boscawen, N. 11. 
For corn, I have used this fertilizer with good 
success, in the following manner : I take about 
equal quantities of hen manure and plaster, or 
ashes and plaster equal to the hen manure ; 
mix the whole thoroughly and pulverize as fine 
as possible. Put half a pint of the mixture in 
the hill, and mix it with or cover it lightly with 
the soil, before dropping the corn. It gives the 
corn a fine start, and if one, by way of contrast, 
will leave a few rows through the field without 
the compost, I think the worth of the domestic 
guano will be plainly visible.—J. D. L., Salis¬ 
bury, N. Y. 
Last year I had about ten bushels of hen 
manure, and for experiment, I chose the poorest 
part of my corn ground, and spread it broad¬ 
cast very thin, a sufficient distance from where 
I put stable manure, so that they should receive 
no benefit from each other. I worked in with 
a gang-plow. When the corn came up it was 
plain to be seen just how far the hen manure 
had reached. Where the hen manure was it 
was dark green, thrifty, large, strong stalks, 
and heavy ears. — D. Thomson, Adams' Basin. 
Hen manure is fully as valuable as Peruvian 
guano for corn, in my estimation. I mix it with 
the soil of the hill at the time of planting, tak¬ 
ing care that the seed does not touch it.— C. P., 
Five Corners, N. Y. 
Much manure in the hill tends more to the 
production of stalks than of corn. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
TUMOBS ON CATTLE. 
I have a young cow with a bunch growing on 
her under jaw bone, as hard as the bone itself. 
It commenced last December, and is now about 
the size of a goose egg, and -is growing fast.— 
Some of my neighbors tell me that it will 
eventually break into a running sore and con¬ 
tinue to discharge freely until finally the ani¬ 
mal will die. I should like to be informed of 
the name of the disease and its remedy if there 
is any.—D. B., Cambria, N. Y. 
Remarks. —Tumors occasionally occur on cat¬ 
tle, and most frequently about the face or jaws. 
Such an one as our correspondent describes, is 
apt,—after a growth of months, perhaps,—to 
break and discharge a thin excoriating fluid, 
becoming a sort of cancerous ucler, very diffi¬ 
cult or impossible to cure. If attacked before 
they break, they may generally be got rid of. 
Youatt’s Cattle Doctor says that Iodine Ointment 
is the best external application. The following 
is the recipe for its preparation, “ Take hydrio- 
date of potash one dram, and lard seven drams, 
rub them well together.” Rub a quantity of 
this well in upon the tumor, twice a day, and 
give four grains of hydriodate of potash morn¬ 
ing and evening in a mush or gruel. This treat¬ 
ment must be continued for at least a month, 
and perhaps longer. Sometimes they can be 
removed with a knife, but in that case the in¬ 
ternal medicine above named should be given 
for three weeks at least, to remove the constitu¬ 
tional tendency to such tumors.— Eds. 
SEEING WHEAT IN VERMONT. 
A year ago last summer I failed for the first 
time in a dozen years of raising a moderate crop 
of winter wheat, and I made up my mind to 
try spring wheat, and from the Rural learned of 
the “ Fife or Canada Wheat,” a Barrel of which 
I procured from one of your seedmen, costing 
me all charges included, $3,60 per bushel, and 
also the derision of some of my neighbors. But 
mark the result! 
Three bushels of the wheat I sowed on a clay 
loam, about the 25th of April, and harvested 
about the 15th of August. The product of the 
two acres on which the three bushels were 
sown, was sixty-seven bushels of as handsome 
wheat as I wish to see, making 40 lbs. of flour 
the bushel, and bread as white and sweet as 
the best of Genesee — the crop, including all 
expenses, use of land, &c., costing when ready 
for the miller not exceeding $50. The wheat 
I am selling for seed at. $3 per bushel, but say 
it is worth $2,50 for bread ; at that price the 
wheat would amount to $167,50, and adding 
the value of four tons of straw at $5 per ton, the 
whole would be $187,50. Deduct the cost of 
raising, and I have a profit of $137,50.— Wm. 
Child, Fairlee, Vt. 
PBOFITS OP BUTTEK MAKING. 
Perhaps it may be interesting to some to 
hear something of the profits of cows. I have 
two three-year old heifers which I milked last 
season ; one, a cross of the native with the Devon, 
the other native cr*ss red Durham. They were 
fed on dry hay in the spring, and pasture in the 
summer. Our family consisted of three persons, 
and hired man 100 days. The product sold 
from the two heifers was $95, besides plentiful 
use in the family.—D. T., Adams' Basin, N. Y. 
During the year ending the 1st inst., we 
milked four cows, two of which were heifers 
two years old. Our family consists of four 
grown persons, and we have much company.— 
YVe used all the butter, milk, and cream we 
needed, beside which we sold 708 lbs. of but¬ 
ter, for which we received $164,31. Our cows 
are of the native breed. —Farmer’s Wife, Clif¬ 
ton Park, Saratoga Co., March, 1856. 
SALTING FARM STOCK. 
I have noticed for a number of years past, 
much said in relation to salting farm stock, and 
am astonished that many yet believe that their 
creatures need salt “ as often as once or twice a 
week;" —they might as well supply water in the 
same way. To avoid all trouble, and keep 
stock healthy, it should be kept by them, sum¬ 
mer and winter —all they want and more too. 
Accustomed to it daily, they will never over¬ 
eat, as I have often seen cattle not allowed a 
full supply. I have practiced upon this rule 
for twenty-five years, with perfect success.—H. 
Hayes, North Plains, Ionia Co., Mich. 
HEDGING PLANTS—INQTTIBY. 
Wiiat is the best hedge plant for your lati- 
I tude (which is about ours) and in light sandy 
soils ? 
Does the Osage Orange suffer from the win¬ 
ter, and if so, is it the extreme cold that does 
it, or some peculiar changes, or other influences? 
Where can Buckthorn seed be obtained, and 
what quantity by measure or weight is neces¬ 
sary to raise a thousand plants, and what is its 
usual price ?—S. M. L. S., Mill Point, Oltowa 
Co., Mich. 
Who can answer the above inquiries?—E ds. 
SOWING PLASTEK. — ASHES. 
Mr. Pratt recommends mixing snow with 
plaster before sowing : I think this will be at¬ 
tended with some difficulties. Mix your plas¬ 
ter with moist ashes, from a pile lain to the 
weather is best, supplying the last named till 
the dust be perfectly set. Sow immediately, 
and you will have no trouble with the wind, or 
in breathing pure air—all will be right. Plas¬ 
ter should never be sown unmixed and dry.— 
H. H., North Plains, Mich. 
Inquiry.— I have a valuable engraving which 
has been almost ruined by a spot of grease. Is 
there any method of removing it ?—J. L. K., 
Rock Haven, Ky. 
plural ftotts a# Items. 
The American Agriculturist, heretofore 
published by R. L. Allen & Co., has been pur¬ 
chased by Orange Judd, A. M., by whom it 
will be exclusively conducted in future. Mr. 
J. has been the conducting editor for several 
years past, and possesses an ability and expe¬ 
rience which ought, and we trust will, insure a 
career of prosperity and usefulness. 
-- 
Western Agriculturist. —When this journal 
was commenced, we, in noticing the enterprise, 
and wishing it substantial success, expressed a 
fear that the publisher would be disappointed. 
And such appears to have been the result, for 
the last (24th) number announces its discontin¬ 
uance as a weekly,—and that its publication 
will be resumed on the 15th of April as a semi¬ 
monthly, in octavo form, at $1 a year. A 
monthly is also to be made from articles in the 
semi-monthly, and issued at 50 cents a year. 
We trust the new enterprise will be well sus¬ 
tained. Published by David Ramalay, Pitts¬ 
burgh, Pa. 
Pure Bred Stock. — Breeders and others 
wishing to obtain domestic Animals of various 
improved breeds, are referred to the announce¬ 
ment of Col. L. G. Morris in this number of 
the Rural. Col. M.’s stock consists of Short¬ 
horn and North Devon Cattle, South-Down 
Sheep, and Berkshire and Essex Swine,—and 
his reputation as an importer and breeder is a 
guarantee that the animals offered are superior 
specimens of the various breeds mentioned. 
A Farmers’ Camp Meeting. —The Prairie 
Farmer is agitating the question of the feasibil¬ 
ity of holding the next Illinois Fair on some 
Prairie in the southern part of the State, on the 
railroad, but away from any large town or city, 
camping out in tents for the time, as in a Meth¬ 
odist camp meeting. It is a new idea, and 
perhaps a feasible one. Why could not the in¬ 
tention of such a Show be carried out there as 
well as anyliwere ? In some respects it would 
be the best place to be chosen. 
Herkimer Co. Ag’l Society. —The following 
named officers were elected at the last Annual 
Meeting of the Society:— President —S. McKee, 
Winfield ; Vice-President —P. H. Warren, Col¬ 
umbia ; Sec'y. —J. D. Ingersoll, Ilion ; Treas. — 
J. A. Rasbach, Ilion, and nine Directors. 
At this meeting, Messrs. McKee, Ingersoll, 
and Fish, were chosen a committee to consult 
the feeling of the people in regard to locating 
the Fair at one place for a term of years; to 
recommend the best and most convenient point; 
and report to the Executive Committee at the 
March meeting. They did so, and the result 
was a resolution to hold the Exhibition at Ilion 
for five years, and the appointment of a com¬ 
mittee consisting of Messrs. Warren, Inger¬ 
soll and Rasbach to erect buildings and perfect 
other necessary arrangements. 
The premiums atvarded last year amount to 
nearly $500, and include several copies of the 
Rural New-Yorker. The receipts were $1,020,- 
50, and there is now in the Treasury about $400. 
The last Fair was the most successful ever held 
by the Society, and the Lady Equestrians con¬ 
tributed largely to that result. 
J. D. Ingersoll, Rec. Sec. 
Millet as Feed for Stock. —A correspondent 
of the 0. Varmer speaks of this forage plant as 
follows:—Four bushels of seed were sown on 
the fifteenth day of May, on twelve acres of 
grouud; the soil a rich, sandy loam. It was 
mowed on the first of August, and averaged 
three large wagon loads to the acre—certainly 
equal to three tons to the acre ; every load was 
as much as two good sized yoke of cattle could 
pull. I measured several stalks over six feet 
high, and I think the whole field would aver¬ 
age five feet. My horses, colts, cows and calves 
have been fed with it all winter, thus far, and 
when there is good timothy hay in the rack 
with it, they will pick out all the millet hay 
first, and very seldom touch the timothy hay at 
all. I have not fed any of it to sheep, and 
therefore cannot say how it would suit them.— 
Millet produces a great quantity of seed, and 
the stock seem very fond of it. I think it would 
make excellent cut feed, to mix with shorts, and 
corn and cob-meal, for milk cows. 
A Luxury for Animals. —It is related of Rev. 
Sydney Smith that when on his farm, each cow 
and calf, and horse and pig, were in turn visit¬ 
ed, and fed and patted, and all seemed to wel¬ 
come him ; he cared for their comforts as he 
cared for the comforts of every living being 
around him. He used to say, “ I am for all 
cheap luxuries, even for animals ; now all ani¬ 
mals have a passion for scratching their back 
bones; they break down your gates and pal¬ 
ings-to effect this. Look ! there is my univer¬ 
sal scratcher, a sharp edged pole, resting on a 
high and low post, adapted to every height, 
from a horse to a lamb. Even the Edinburgh 
Reviewer can take his turn ; you have no idea 
how popular it is. I have not had a gate broken 
since I put it up. I have it in all my fields.” 
Prunes. —Prunes have been very successfully 
cultivated in Pennsylvania. Among the econ¬ 
omists in Beaver county, they have been graft¬ 
ed on plums. Mr. Pfeiffee, of Indiana, raised 
prune trees in large numbers, and sold them at 
exhorbitant prices, some as high as high as $5 
and $10. He had some of the fruit at the 
Pennsylvania State Agricultural Fair, held at 
Pittsburg, which sold readily at 50c. a quart. 
Exchange. 
Size of Swine.— A writer in the Ohio Farmer 
makes some sensible remarks about swine. He 
argues, and we think correctly, that many 
western farmers regard great size as of too much 
importance. He quotes the opinion of an ex¬ 
perienced pork merchant as follows : 
“John Mahard, an old and extensive pork 
packer in Cincinnati, in speaking of large versus 
medium sized hogs, prelers the medium. He 
says it is fully as much to his interest, and that 
of every one else engaged in curing pork for 
market, as to the interest of the farmer, that the 
very best breed of hogs should be scattered 
over the country. He says he can make no use, 
in that market, of hogs weighing from four to 
seven hundred pounds, even though they may 
be well fattened. A hog of proper form and 
quality of meat, that matures at ten or twelve 
months old, so as to fatten properly, and that 
weighs from two to three hundred pounds, is 
the sort for which they will give the highest 
price, because it yields them the greatest profit, 
and most assuredly it will pay the farmer the 
best. A spring pig, killed in the fall, weighing 
two hundred pounds net, will certainly pay 
better than if the same pig had been kept over 
winter and killed the second fall at five hundred 
pounds net.” 
Farming at the West. —We gave last week 
some statements in regard to farming in Maine, 
showing it to be a safe and profitable business 
in the long run. Western people think such 
progress ratlier slow, no doubt, and so they may, 
if they can furnish many such examples as, the 
following: 
A larmer in Peoria county, Ill., living upon a 
rented farm for which he paid $226 per annum, 
did his work himself, kept a team of horses, 
paid his rent, supported his family and cleared 
$1,000 last year. 
Another farmer in Pike county harvested 
3,000 bushels of wheat from a single field, hired 
everything done, and cleared $2,000. An ac¬ 
quaintance of this man, residing in the same 
county, emigrated to that section a few years 
since with nothing save his health and a pair of 
willing hands, and last year sold produce to the 
amount of $17,000. His pig pen contains 481 
fat hogs, averaging 350 pounds each. 
Another farmer in Morgan county sold $60,- 
000 worth of cattle last year, and cleared a 
pretty penny from sale. 
Mr. West, of Blackberry, Kane county, in a 
letter to the Prairie Farmer, gives the total 
profits of his farm of 240 acres, last year, at 
$2,289. 
A Hint to Farmers. —A few weeks ago, a 
■farmer from one of the counties near Detroit, 
brought a lot of wheat to market, but it was so 
foul, and apparently so full of all kinds of seed 
except sound wheat, that he could not get an 
offer for it. Finally a dealer tendered him a 
dollar a bushel, which the farmer accepted.— 
The buyer’s friends thought he had a hard bar¬ 
gain, but he resolved to test that question. Bo 
he hired three laboring men and having a fan¬ 
ning mill of his own, he set them to cleaning 
the wheat. They worked at it a day, running 
it three times through the mill, and by night 
six to eight bushels of chess and light -wheat 
had been taken from the lot. But the weight of 
the whole had only been reduced three bushels. 
The next day the same wheat was sold at $1,25 
per bushel, realizing a profit of $25,85, after 
allowing $4, for cleaning. Need I say anything 
more to you on this subject ?— Johnstone's Hills¬ 
dale Address. 
Sheep in Spring. —Look out for the sheep as 
the wet days of spring come on. That was a 
good policy of old Mr. Noah, in keeping his 
stock in the Ark till fair weather was well es¬ 
tablished. At any rate this is a good hint for 
wool growers. If the tender sheep, and espe¬ 
cially the heavy ewes, get their fleeces drench¬ 
ed with the cold rains of spring, it exhausts too 
much of their vitality to keep up a needful 
vigor for the crisis before them, which is the 
best provided for in advance. Remember “a 
penny saved” is a good motto for farmers in 
winter time, when more can be accomplished 
by saving than earning.— Ohio Cultivator. 
Devon Cows.—The editor of the Massachu¬ 
setts Ploughman,says —“ In regard to Devon cat¬ 
tle we say, after an experience of eight years, 
that these are the only kind which we have any 
desire to keep. They are unquestionably the 
richest milkers that we have in the country, and 
the half bloods make the best oxen which are 
seen in Massachusetts. We have repeatedly 
offered to set the milk of six Devon cows 
against the milk of six of any other breed and 
give a premium on the richest. Four beer 
quarts of (his milk, in September and October, 
have repeatedly produced a pound of excellent 
yellow butter.” 
Soot and Charcoal. —Never permit the soot 
from your chimneys and stove-pipes to be 
thrown away. The carbon contained in these 
substances, produces the best effects when ap¬ 
plied to vegetation. It is a valuable constitu¬ 
ent in the compost heap, also. Pulverized char¬ 
coal is in itself a most valuable manure, and 
when mixed with gypsum, poudrette or guano, 
acts with great energy. As a dressing for onions, 
soot and charcoal dust are unequaled.— Ger¬ 
mantown Telegraph. 
Preparing Osage Orange Seed. —Isaac L. 
Stanley, of Rensselaer, Indiana, says, to pre¬ 
pare this seed for planting, “ Tie it up in a bag 
and sink it in running water three or four 
weeks ; if you have no running water, deposit 
in any vessel filled with cold water, taking care 
to change the water every day, to prevent fer¬ 
mentation.” He thinks this is not generally 
known, and imparts it as having been proved 
to be a good plan, by two years’ experience.— 
Prairie Farmer. 
