238 
MOORE'S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
JULY 24. 
stocks of bees, nine years old this season, in per¬ 
fect health and good condition, and 1 verily believe 
no person even with a microscopic instrument, 
could distinguish aDy difference in the size of the 
bees of these stocks, and those in younger 
colonies. 
These patent venders are either ignorant of the 
losses incurred in changing comb, or else it is the 
“ precious dollar” they are alter—and many times 1 
am inclined to think it is the latter—and of late I 
have come to the conclusion that when such base 
impositions are imposed upon the public, that l 
am in duty bound to inform them of the facts so 
that they may be upon their guard, ready and equip 
ped. And here, in connection with this subject, 
1 may as well state, for the benefit of all concerned, 
that no person should purchase a right of any in¬ 
vention, and especially of a bee hive, until he has as¬ 
certained, at least, two important facts. 1st, that 
there is really a patent on the invention, and 2d, 
that the part patented is, in his opinion, worth the 
money demanded for the right to use it. This will 
apply rightly and justly to the “Phelps Combina¬ 
tion Hive” as well as to any other. If any person 
will search the Patent Office Reports of 1852 and 
1853 he will find the claims upon this hive to be 
nothing more nor less than a moth trap very nicely 
arranged underneath, and if we could only coax 
the moth into it, it would be a nice thing. But, when 
selling these hives, the great requisites to them are 
the sections, which undoubtedly were in use a long 
time ere Phelps was born. I am not complain¬ 
ing, but I want the public to know, that if they 
would leave out the “ moth trap,” the hive being 
just as good without it, they can use the whole of 
the rest without aDy infringement upon the patent 
whatever. 
I would advise you to get a copy of “ Langstrotli 
on the Honey Bee," a practical treatise, containing 
534 pages, including 18 pages of plates represent¬ 
ing the various forms of the hive, and giving relia¬ 
ble directions for making the same,— undoubtedly 
the best work of the kind ever published in the 
English language,—and last though not least, Rev. 
L. L. Langstroth’b Movable Comb Hive, which 
has been in use six years—a sufficient length ol 
time to test its value, and is being adopted by most 
of our best apiarists, and is, in my opinion, the best 
hive ever invented or used. The great Apiarist ot 
this State, (N. Y.) M. Quinby, St. Johnsvilie, Mont¬ 
gomery Co., has been thoroughly testing it the 
past two seasons, and is, I believe, making and 
using for this season’s swarms no other. Last 
fall I visited his apiary, he then had nearly one 
hundred of the Movable Comb Hives in use, and he 
pronounced them the best hives he ever saw or 
ased, and advised me to make and use the same. 
You had better let your bees swarm once, and 
then transfer them to the Movable Comb Hive.— 
You also state that you have raised your hives half 
an inch from the board, and every few morn¬ 
ings find worms on the bottom boards. You need 
have no fears of the worms destroying your bees, 
providing your hives are kept close to the bottom 
boards, are well filled with bees, and that you kill 
all the worms before their transformation takes place. 
But then, no definite rule can be given without a 
close occular inspection of the interior of the 
hive. With Langstroth’s, each and every comb in 
the hive can in five minutes be taken out separately 
examined and put into another or returned to the 
original one. 
In the Rural of June 19th, I notice that M. 
Qpinby’s sensitiveness has been wonderfully, sur 
prisingly, and amazingly aroused. He says he 
would suggest to the writer to disguise his matter 
enough to prevent its being easily recognized, or 
else acknowledge its source. In defence, I can say 
that I had no access to his work whatever, but in 
looking over the communication I find four or five 
sentences the same as in his work, but the rest 
entirely original. I have his work, and have read it 
repeatedly and with considerable interest* and it 
would be nothing strange if I should have quoted 
him, as it is well known by many that I possess a 
tolerable good memory, and have thus made his 
work, and perhaps his words, my own. 
Mahlon M. Baldridge. 
>li(ldleport, Niagara Co., N. Y., July, 1858. 
THE POTATO ROT-ITS CAUSE AND CURE. 
ered the bug on the vines, but thought it was con¬ 
fined to them. During the last year he has found 
it on the tubers, and watched its effects upon them. 
It appears on the vines in from two and a half to 
three months after planting, according to soil and 
manure, a richly manured soil producing the per¬ 
fect insect Boonest 
The natural history of the insect begins with the 
development of the egg. This i3 invisible to the 
naked eye, but can be seen with the aid of a lenp, 
agglutinated to the skin of the potato. It is of an 
oblong form, and is planted with the seed potato. 
The egg may be hatched in six days in a warm, 
moist place. The entire period of development is 
not settled. Mr. II. exposed a plant to the insect, 
under proper precautions, and from the time of the 
exposure to the time the young insect of the next 
generation obtained his wings, was three months. 
The process of reproduction has been ingeniously 
watched by Mr. Henderson. The egg planted with 
the seed potato is hatched, and the young insect 
stays in the ground until he gets wings. In the 
meantime he is engaged in stinging the tubers, 
each perforation poisoning the root and begetting 
the rot While yet in the ground, and as early as 
the tenth day of existence, the young insects co¬ 
habit, and from the great rapidity with which they 
propagate, Mr. H. argues that the egg is deposited 
before the first emergence from the ground, altho’ 
in case of cold, wet weather, the insect sometimes 
leaves the vines and returns to the tuber. Only a 
few days are required for the entire destruction of 
the vine. The insect is remarkably industrious, 
but the destruction of the vines does not affect the 
tuber except to stop its growth. 
Mr. Henderson finds a ready explanation for the 
greater healthfulness of the potato in sandy soil, 
lie finds that the grains of sand greatly annoy and 
cripple the insect, and as the light soil is heaved 
up by the growth of the root, the sand impacts or 
falls down, preventing the access of the fly. In a 
stiff soil the insect readily leaves the ground thro’ 
the cracks opened by the growth of the tuber, and 
having stung it, comes to the surface and attacks 
the vine, especially after heavy showers. During 
the past winter Mr. Henderson has had thousands 
of the young insect hatched under glass, and to try 
their power of mischief has experimented with 
bugs only a quarter grown. The plants exposed 
showed unmistakable signs of disease on the 
fourth day. 
These statements we regard as important. So 
much is evident, Mr. Henderson, by means of this 
insect, produces potato rot at will. When a healthy 
plant is shown us, the insect applied, and the rot 
follows in four days with unerring certainty, there 
is good reason to suppose that the problem has 
been solved. 
As to cure, Mr. Henderson thinks there is no se¬ 
rious difficulty. If we put a stop to the planting 
of the egg with the seed potato, we stop the prop¬ 
agation of the insect. The egg being invisible, 
any means applied should be thorough and reach 
the whole surface of the root Mr. Henderson 
states that by sprinkling quick lime over the pota¬ 
to, as it is cut for planting, the moisture will dis¬ 
solve the lime and bathe the tubers in a caustic 
a'kali which will destroy the egg. At this time of 
the year the ravages of the insect may be prevent 
ed by packing the earth around the tuber firmly, 
with the foot, which will smother the insect We 
may add that it is probably the same inse-ct which 
has recently attacked the grape vine. 
Since writing the above, we have found one of 
the insects in our jar, which had deserted the now 
rotten vines, at work underground upon a sound 
young potato. 
In conclusion, we would express our thanks to 
Mr. Henderson for the public spirit he has shown 
in thus freely disclosing all his observations and 
their results. Ilis frank statements, and his entire 
denial of any secret means of cure, relieve him at 
once from any imputation of quackery, and entitle 
his theory to a candid investigation. — Buffalo 
Commercial Advertiser. 
calving, high feeding is injurious, it may be; but 
I have seen cows run in clover that they could al¬ 
most hide in and do well atealviDg. I have always 
heard that cows should have but little to drink 
from twelve to twenty-four hours after calving; a 
quart or two of water with a little wheat bran will 
be good, but a larger quantity is thought to be in¬ 
jurious. Will others give their experience?—A 
Subscriber. 
HAY-RIGGINGS, AGAIN. 
Ever since the disease known as potato rot first 
appeared, various hypotheses have been offered as 
to its cause and cure. A malady attacking an es¬ 
culent so important and forming so large a portion 
of our daily food, was at once recognized as a na 
tional disaster, and the researches of scientific men 
were directed to its study. Up the present time no 
satisfactory theory has been promulgated. In giv¬ 
ing publicity to that which we are now about to 
notice, we shall confine ourselves mostly to what 
has been done by actual experiment, and to the 
legitimate conclusions which inductive reasoning 
from those experiments affords. Our personal 
knowledge is confined to the following facts: 
On the morning of the 24th of Jone, Mr. Alexan¬ 
der Henderson, of this city, left at our office a glass 
jar containing a sound and healthy potato plant, 
covered in by a perforated paper so as to afford 
air. He had placed it there at 7 A. M., and with it 
were confined some 6 or 8 insects, which Mr. H. 
believes to be the source of the potato rot. The 
insect itself we cannot describe scientifically. It 
is about half the size of the common house fly, of 
a brownish color, has six legs, two pairs of light 
diaphanous wings, two antennae, and a long, strong 
proboscis. Mr. H. thinks it is the Phytocoris, but 
is not positive as to that. At the end of twenty-four 
hours the plant was evidently diseased 
sect was actively engaged upon its various por- 1 
tions, which became brown and mouldy in the leaf, | 
while the stalks in the course of two or three days | 
suffered a putrescent change, until on the 28th 
some of them fell over by their own weight, the 
stalk being swollen and softened, in some places 
quite to a jelly of a sickly green color. This pro¬ 
cess, Mr. Henderson informs us, takes place uni¬ 
formly, but most rapidly when the plant is freely 
watered and exposed to Bun and air, as the speci¬ 
men described was not. To all external appear¬ 
ance the disease was identical with the ordinary 
potato rot as it attacks the vines. Some pieces of 
early (this year's) potatoes, placed in the jar were 
also plainly attacked by the rot during the four 
days of exposure. 
Mr. Henderson Htates that he lias been engaged 
in this research since 1845; that in 1850 he discov- 
LOSS OP COW AT CALVING. 
Messrs. Eds.: —In a late issue of the New- 
Yorker, I noticed an account from “M. F., n some¬ 
what similar to a case which I had. It was as fol¬ 
lows:—My cow calved the 20tli of May about noon. 
She cleaned soon after and to all appearances was 
doing well, except that she did not seem inclined 
to eat anything. About sundown she came to the 
barn staggering, looking wild, and laid down, The 
next morning I found her lying upon her side ap¬ 
pearing to be in pain, her ears and legs cold. I 
put spirits of turpentine on her head, back, and 
legs, and gave her red pepper and whisky inter¬ 
nally, about half a pint every half hour, for some 
time hut could not produce a re-action. She died 
in the course of the night. I did not discover 
that her tail was soft until after she was sick. My 
cow was seven years old and in good condition— 
she was in good feed and had been milked once a 
day for a week to prevent her bag from caking.— 
If I had commenced giving her stimulants as soon 
as she began to stagger, I think I might have saved 
her, for I have heard of several similarly affected in 
the neighborhood that were cured by attending to 
them immediately. Now can any one tell why this 
cow was thus attacked? — G. W. B., Henrietta, 
N. Y., 1858. 
Seeino a piece in a late number of the Rural 
by M. F. “ on the loss of a cow at calving,” I am 
induced to write a few lines concerning it. M. F. 
The in- I says, “ at five or six P. M. she had a fine calf by 
Eds. Rural: —As Mr. Lee has undertaken to de¬ 
preciate the value of a hay-rigging on a wagon, I 
thought, to show him and others that some things 
could be done as well as others, I would tell him 
why a rigging for hauling hay on a wagon box is 
better than any other kind of rigging. 1st, Be¬ 
cause it saves changing box for rigging. 2d, 
Because you have a tight box and bottom which 
will neither lose your pitchforkB when going to 
the field, or let you fall through while unloading. 
The plan is as follows:—Have a wagon-box of the 
desired length which any farmer wants for hauling 
loads to market. The boards for the box should 
be about one foot wide. Procure three cedar 
crooks, for cross-pieces, of suitable leDgth for the 
width of rigging; put two pins in each end, crook 
so that they will set close in the corner of the box, 
reaching down through the bottom boards so as to 
make it strong; take two narrow hoards or poles 
to lay on the outer ends of the crooks, one each 
side of the hind wheels, fastened on with pins or 
bolts if the cross-pieces are not crooked enough 
to carry the boards or poles above the hind 
wheels; put two bows over the wheels if you use 
poles, or, if hoards are used, two short pieces of 
scantling can be nailed to each board crosswise, 
with a cap board over the wheel. Bore a hole 
with an inch and a half auger in the centre of the 
forward crook, for the standard or guide, with a 
pin through the top for hitching the Hues on while 
loading, and your rigging is finished. All things 
considered, this is much the cheapest and best 
plan, as your box is always on, and the top part or 
rigging is light and easily lifted off. From the 
lowness of your box and the hollowing form of 
the rigging it carries a load with the same ease 
and steadiness as any other rigging with twice the 
weight of timber which this has. I have used this 
kind of rigging for a number of years, and would 
not change it for any other. I never had a man 
load hay on it but said it was the best rigging he 
ever loaded on. Now, if I have not shown that 
the trouble which Mr. Le’ 2 speaks of is entirely 
done away—that is, that a box rigging must he 
flat— I hope to hear him say so. C. G. Smith. 
Massena, N. Y., 1868. 
Eds. Rural: —In your paper I see a description 
of a hay-rigging by Mr. Paine. Now, Sir, permit 
me to describe one which I have made for my own 
use, which I think is better. I say better, because 
it is an article which farmers draw their grain 
upon, and, for this purpose, my rigging is more 
suitably adapted because it feaves all the grain that 
shells by treading upon it when loading and draw 
iDg. When grain is very dry it saves two or three 
bushels per day, and grain saved is as good as 
grain raised. 
I take two joists 14 feet long, 2 by 8, for the side 
pieces of the bed; then I make a tight bottom, the 
same as a wagon box, with end boards of one 
inch plank, 8 inches wide. The ends of this box 
do not need any reds as a wagon box. I then take 
2 by 4 joists, 5 feet long, six pieces, champer one 
end to support the side-hoards, put the champered 
end on the bottom of the box on the opposite 
side, which I bolt through the bottom to a step 
board at each end and in the middle. (Bolts pur¬ 
chased at a hardware store.) These pieces are 
slanting, which make the shellings slide into the 
box. These six arms are also bolted through the 
2 by 8 side pieces; also the step and bottom 
hoards with holts 15 inches long, and then the box 
cannot spread, as it is perfectly braced and tight 
I then put on for side pieces boards 14 feet long 
and 20 inches wide, bolted into thp arms, also a 
piece bolted across each end 2 by 4, and a ladder 
standard bolted on the froq$ end; also a single 
standard bolted on the hack, which serves to keep 
the load from sliding- at each side. The whole 
when painted and finished is an ornament to a 
wagon. Should the side-hoards rub the wheels, 
raise the box by blocks bolted upon the bottom of 
the box, which will keep the rigging from slipping 
forward and hack. The cost of the material is 
about the same as for Mr. Paine’s rigging, or 
about four dollars and fifty cents. My rigging ob¬ 
tained the first premium at our La Salle County 
Agricultural Pair last September. 
Ottawa, La Salle Co,, Ill., 1858. 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
Cows Leaking their Milk. —In answer to the 
inquiry of George A. Allen, of Rock Stream, 
N. Y., in relation to cows leaking their milk, I 
would say to him, and all others who have cows 
that cannot retain their milk beyond a certain 
amount, milk three times a day, and your loss is 
prevented, and the constrictor muscles of the teats, 
by having the load taken off, may gain sufficient 
strength to hold the milk from morning to even¬ 
ing. There are no mechanical or medicinal means 
to be relied on, or indeed, that are safe.— R. B. C., 
Cooper's Plains, N. Y., 1858. 
Culture of Barley.—Rolling. —The practice 
of rolling barley when it is fairly up from an inch 
to an inch and a half high, is becoming very prev¬ 
alent in this county and it is claimed here, (as in 
England from whence it was introduced,) that it is 
very beneficial to the crop. It has the effect to 
consolidate the soil about the roots, after the 
sprouting of the seed, giving it thus a more favor¬ 
able condition for germination than if rolled when 
sown. It also promotes tillering, and we have seen 
instances when fields which had commenced to 
turn yellow, recovered their green color immedi¬ 
ately after being rolled. Even where the imple¬ 
ment had been turned short about, the iDjnry has 
not been real, hut such Bpots seemed equally as 
good as any in the field.—*, Niagara Co., N. Y. 
INQUIRIES AND ANSWERS. 
Corn and Gophers. —Will gophers and squirrels 
eat corn that has been rolled in plaster?—T. 8. T., 
Woods, Iowa, July, 1858. 
Remarks. —Some of our Western friends who 
have had experience with gophers will please 
enlighten our correspondent. 
Cows Losing Calves. —A gentleman who keeps a 
great many cows writes us—“ Last Spring many of 
our cows lost their calves, and in some dairies it 
went through the whole lot—a very unusual thing, 
and one for which we could find no reason. Can 
any one tell us the cause or preventive?” 
Flax Culture.— Can some of your subscribers 
who are experienced in raising flax inform me 
through the Rural the best time and way to har¬ 
vest flax, where the seed only is the object, and 
the best way to thresh it ? Should it be dead ripe 
before cutting?—N. H. Fowler, Livonia, N. Y. 
Remarks. —Flax should he cut as soon as the 
earlier formed seeds are ripe, without waiting until 
the entire crop is “ dead ripe.” It should then he 
bound in small bundles, and when well dried is 
ready for the barn or threshing floor. 
Information Wanted.— Cobble Slone Buildings. 
—We want some of our readers who have had ex¬ 
perience in building cobble-stone houses or hams 
to give us the benefit of their knowledge—the 
quantity of lime to be used with the sand or 
gravel, best mode of building, &c. We have had 
an inquiry on hand for some time from a corres¬ 
pondent at Wing's Station, N. Y., and a friend 
fully competent promised us the desired informa¬ 
tion, hut circumstances have prevented the fulfill¬ 
ment of the promise. We now ask any of our 
readers to give the desired information. 
An Analysis of Chess, which a correspondent 
inquires for, we are not at present able to give. 
The following is the analysis of wheat, air dried, 
as given by Fkesenics: 
Water.-.44-83 
Glulen_19-64 
Albumen....— ‘95 
Starch__45 99 
Gum....-.. 1'62 
Sugar---•-150 
Oil . -87 
Vegetable fibre_12-34 
Ash___■---..... 2.36 
Jairus Lawrence. 
BUTTER-MAKING. 
her side, had cleaned well and all seemed right 
with her save that she seemed prostrate, as deemed 
from heat, although she had been all the time in 
the woods. She drank a pail of water, and we 
rubbed a little salt and water along her hack and 
supposed the cool of the evening would give her 
strength and enable her to get on her feet and he 
about She had been up and moved two to four 
rods from where she calved.” I think if M. F. had 
not given his cow a pail of water so soon after 
calving he would have saved her. A neighbor of 
mine lost a fine cow soon after calving, and on 
i opening her it was found her water passage was 
| tilled up and inflammation had set in, which was 
caused by giving the cow two pails of water soon 
after parturition. I have heard of cows dying by 
giving them one pail of water soon after calving 
as in the case of M. F. He thinks that just before 
Messrs. Eds.: —Noticing an article in the Rural, 
of July 3d, “Churning Milk vs. Churning Cream,” 
I thought I would give my experience in butter- 
making. I have been in the business twenty-five 
years, and have tried- churning milk several times. 
I have takeD, for instance, three day’s milk and 
churned it, and then the cream of three day’s milk, 
and have always found, by weighing, I had the 
most butter when I churned cream, and the quality 
as good. I think there is no difficulty in making 
as good butter from cream as from milk, providing 
the cream is taken off and churned at a proper 
time,—it should not stand too long. I have churn¬ 
ed by water-power, and have churned the milk 
after skimming, in warm weather, to see if there 
was any butter left hut found none. The labor is 
much more to churn milk,—it takes as much time 
to see to a churning of ten pounds as to one of 
twenty. I think there is no doubt that the butter¬ 
milk is better for hogs and calves when milk is 
churned, but I had rather have the butter to put in 
the firkin. I think Delaware county makes as good 
butter as other counties, and I believe they gene¬ 
rally churn cream. Mrs. Sarah D. Fkisbee. 
Delhi, N. Y., 1558. 
Tiie Potato Rot.— Elsewhere we give an inter¬ 
esting article, detailing the experiments and dis 
coveries of Mr. Henderson, of Buffalo, as to the 
cause of the potato blight The matter is one of 
vast importance, and worthy of further investiga¬ 
tion in the direction Mr. H, has pursued. Can aDy 
of our readers furnish corroborative or similar tes¬ 
timony as to the origin of the disease? 
Rust on Oats. —Will some of your numerous 
readers tell me through the columns of the Rural 
what is the cause of the rust on the oats this year? 
By so doing they will greatly oblige a reader. 
More anon.—Jo. D. Kenady, Wallonia, Trigg. Co., 
Ky., July, 1858. 
Remarks. —We have not seen oats affected with 
rust in this section the present season, nor have we 
heard of any complaints of the kind. The same 
combination of circumstances that produces rust 
on wheat no doubt causes the rusting of oats. As 
our correspondent has promised us more on the 
subject, we withhold further remarks at present. 
Garget.—I wish to inquire through your valua¬ 
ble paper, if you or any of your numerous subscri¬ 
bers can inform me of a remedy for cows that give 
lumpy milk. I have two valuable cows that have 
nearly lost the use of one teat each; one quarter 
of the bag becomes caked and the milk comes out 
stringy or lumpy, the swelling goes down in a few 
days of itself; often the milk from that teat is 
thin or watery, and gives hut very little at that — 
Many of my neighbors’ cows are troubled in the 
same way. Any information on the subject would 
be of great benefit to myself and many others.— 
A. B. C., Dry den, N. Y., 1858. 
Remarks.— The disease affecting the cows be¬ 
longing to our correspondent, has been frequently 
spoken of in the present volume of the Rural. If 
“A. B. C.” will refer to his file he will find quite a 
number of prescriptions for the treatment of Gar¬ 
get_the malady troubling his animals. 
The “Hooks,” or “Haw.” —My horse was taken 
last winter with an inflamed eye without any appa¬ 
rent cause; my hired man said there was a bay-seed 
in it In a short time after, the eye became in¬ 
flamed so as to close it, and ran a great deal. I did 
nothing for it except bathing in cold water fre 
quently,— the eye grew better, and supposed that 
it was well and sound as ever. Upon examination 
and frequent trials by others and myself, I am 
obliged to call her entirely blind, although the 
sight appears clear and bright The only thiDg, 
however, appearing different from the other eye is, 
the front covering of the ball seems to be inflamed 
and fastened to it when the hall rolls back — and a 
closer observation shows that the eye appears to 
be inclined to rather turn back. No w to the point 
The other eye has just commenced in a similar 
manner, and unless some information can be ob¬ 
tained soon through the columns of your valuable 
paper, from you or your numerous readers, the 
other eye will certainly become blind. The people 
and all the horsemen here call it the “ Hooks,” and 
some recommend cutting it out, while others say 
not I hope to hear from you very soon. — A. H 
Bell, Hillsboro, III, July, 1858. 
Remarks. —We can recommend nothing differ¬ 
ent from the treatment given in the Rural of J une 
6 th, under the caption, “Diseases of the Eye in 
Cattle.” This extract has been mailed to Mr. Bell. 
Will some Rural reader give his experience? 
The Wheat Crof. —Now that the Wheat Crop 
of the country has ripened, and been harvested in 
most sections, much interest and speculation are 
manifested as to the result—whether the yield and 
quality compare favorably with those of former 
years, the probable prices, &c. Though we have 
many accounts in our exchanges, and from cor¬ 
respondents, relative to the crop in the various 
wheat growing sections of the Union, they are so 
conflicting that it is impossible to arrive at a satis¬ 
factory conclusion. The best we can do, at pres¬ 
ent, is to briefly sum up the probabilities, as the 
actual result can only be ascertained after further 
and more definite information is received. The 
crop of Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Ac., is re¬ 
ported good — full an average. The crop of Vir¬ 
ginia is a partial failure — in some parte good, and 
in others half a crop to nothing. In Maryland, 
Delaware and Pennsylvania the crop is believed to 
be generally good, and a full average. 
The midge takes a great portion of the crop in 
New York, and has ravaged some districts of 
Canada West and Ohio. From the Western States 
our accounts were generally favorable until quite 
recently. Within ten days we have received many 
letters statiDg that the wheat crop was badly 
rusted in certain sections, yet think the yield 
throughout the great wheat-growing region of the 
West likely to prove fair, if not a full average of 
former years. It is, however, too early to decide, 
as the reports are so conflicting that no positive 
estimates or opinions can he formed iu regard 
to the crop in the West—upon the result of which 
will depend, in a great measure, the ruling priceB 
of breadstuff’s for the next twelvemonth. 
Mr. Plowhandle on Awarding Committees at 
Ag. Fairs. —The article of our friend John Plow- 
handle, relating his experience at the last New 
York State Fair — published in the Rural of Dec. 
16th, 1857 — has attracted considerable notice and 
been widely copied. The Dedham (Mass ) Ga¬ 
zette has published it twice—soon after its appear¬ 
ance in this paper, and again, at the request of 
several members, the week before the recent An¬ 
nual Meeting of the Norfolk Co. Ag. Society, of 
which the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder is President 
One of the officers of the Society writes us that “ the 
article was also read at the meeting, one of the 
largest ever held by the Society, and its effect will 
be highly beneficial to the various Committees.”— 
We shall endeavor to re-publish the article in a few 
weeks, for the benefit of all concerned. Meantime 
we congratulate friend John, who is becoming so 
widely useful and famous. 
Minnesota Ag. College.— Gov. Sibley in his 
late special message, says he has “ received reliable 
information that the sum required to purchase 
three hundred and twenty acres of land, to comply 
with the terms of an act establishing a State A gri- 
cultural College at Glencoe, has been raised by tbe 
public spirited citizens of the county of McLeod. In 
addition to $2,200 subscribed for that object, $500 
has been obtained for the purpose of breaking up 
the prairie land, and to forward other prelimina¬ 
ries connected with the important institution 
named. Situated in a central position, iu one of 
the finest agricultural counties in tbe State, there 
is every reason to anticipate that the enterprise 
will be successful, and be the means of advancing 
the great interests of husbandry. The Stateshould 
foster and encourage an institution which bids fair 
to become eminently useful to a large class of the 
citizens.” 
Applving Manure on vnE Surface. — Von 
Thaer says, from a great number of experiments 
made by himself and other agriculturists, it ap¬ 
pears to be established beyond a doubt, that manure 
that has passed the highest point of fermentation, 
when it is laid upon the land, even in the hottest 
and dryest weather, not only loses nothing, but 
gains in quality. He was formerly of the opinion 
that manure must lose by evaporation, when his 
attentiou was drawn to the subject by some large 
farmers in Mecklenburg, from which it appears 
that, probably, the evaporation from rotten manuie 
is not so great as it seems to be; for, although on 
its being carried out it exhales a strong, mushy 
smell, yet this evaporation cannot in any case be 
avoided; it after a short time, ceases to smell, 
and without losing anything in weight. 
Arabian Horses. —Arabia is not rich in horses. 
The breed is limited in that country to the extent 
of its fertile pasturing districts. Owners of poor 
ground usually have poor horses. Arabs tend 
their horses with greater care than almost any 
other race. When a colt is born they never let it 
drop on the ground, but receive and keep it for 
several hours in their arms, washing it, strength¬ 
ening and stretching its limbs, and hugging it 
like a baby. The famous “ Kubleh,” immortalized 
by song of Bayard Taylor, was not treated thus; 
she was an example of horse-taming hundreds of 
years ago. A drink of water from a camel band, 
when ready to die with thirst, so overcame her that 
ever after she submitted to her deliverers.— Ex. 
Mass. State Ag. Society. — At the recent 
annual meeting of the Massachusetts Society for 
Promoting Agriculture, it was voted to compile a 
digest the records of the Society's doings for dis¬ 
tribution among those interested in agricultural 
matters. The following officers were elected for 
the ensuing year:—President, C. W. Lyman; 1st 
Vice President, C. G. Loring; 2d Vice President, 
R. C. Winthrop; Corresponding Secretary, James 
W. Paige; Treasurer, Thomas Motley, Jr ; Record- 
ing Secretary, R. S. Fay; Trustee*, George Pea¬ 
body, Stephen Salisbury, William S. Lincoln, G. T. 
Bigelow, D. Sears, Jr., George B. LoriDg. 
A Haying-time Hint. —A writer in the Maine 
Farmer says, it is well known by all hay-makers, 
that the soles of boots and shoes, in tbe hot dry 
weather during haying, become smooth as glass, 
and full as uncertain for a foothold, as well as 
dangerous on the top of a load, or in ascending and 
descending the mows. Now, to remedy this evil, 
I take the soles from a pair of cast-off rubber shoes 
and tack them to the bottoms of my boots. Biuee 
this has been my practice, I have at all times 
known whereto find my feet when I put them down. 
