Exhibition op Wheat at Monroe Co. Fair— An 
effort is being made among the friends of improved agri¬ 
culture in this neighborhood to hold n Great Wheat Show- 
in connection with the next Fair of the Monroe County 
Agricultural Society. It is proposed to offer the following 
List of Premiums: 
No. 1. For the best 20 bushels of white winter wheat, 
$ 200 . 
No. 2. For the second best 20 bushels of white wheat, 
$ 100 . 
No. 3. For the. best 20 bushels of red winter wheat, 
$ 100 . 
No. 4. For the second best, $50. 
No, S. For the best two bushels of white winter wheat, 
$50. 
No. 6. For the second best two bushels of white winter 
wheat, $25. 
No. 7. For the best two bushels of red winter wheat, 
$30. 
No. 8. For the second best two bushels of red winter 
wheat. $20. 
No S). For the best two bushels of spring wheat, $30. 
No. 10. For the second best two bushels of spring 
wheat, $20. 
The wheat must be the growth of the year 1S63, must 
be of one variety, pure and unmixed. The prize to be 
awarded only to the actual grower of the wheat, and the 
wheat, receiving a prize to become tbe property of the 
Society The competitors for these prizes will be required 
to furnish samples of the wheat in the eaT and with straw 
attached, (say 50 ears of wheat and straw ) Also to fur¬ 
nish the Secretary of the Society a written statement of 
the r.av are of the soil on which the wheat grew, method 
of.'cultivation, time of sowing, quantity of seed, manures, 
(if any used,) and mode and time of application; also the 
time of ripening and harvesting, with such other particu¬ 
lars as may be of practical importance to the members of 
the Society Also the name by which the variety is known 
iu the locality where it was grown. Competition is open 
heavier growth of grass than was general through¬ 
out the field. He said it was where he had 
burned log heaps when he cleared the land, sev¬ 
eral years before. I suggested that tbe ashes 
from the wood burned made the difference.” He 
thought the a'-he? did not cause it, for he had 
tried the experiment of removing the ashes from 
the ground where the heaps were burned before 
they had leached, and he could see no difference 
between those places from which they were 
removed and those on which they w ere allowed 
to remain, as regarded fertility. 
From observation, I am inclined to think that 
the greater fertility of the soil on which the 
wood is burned is caused by heat. The increased 
fertility in such cases appears to be proportional 
nearly to the amount of heat the soil has under¬ 
gone. Now I am aware that farmers cannot 
■Elephant Kuos on Corn. —T wish to inquire through 
Ocr Rrit .tr. if there lias been any way fount! whereby we 
can get rid of what we n ail elephant bug 1 - that destroy the 
com ? They are a -mall, black ling, with a hard shell or 
skin, and have a bill like an elephant’s trunk. I planted 
on an old meadow that was fall-plowed, five acres of corn, 
the 20th of May. It came up nice, but to day I have ex 
_.I i j n. nr „ _ _ _i i_ i 
color. I continued turning both parcels until 
the dew-rotted flax had become as rotten as 
chaff, when the water-rotted was as strong as 
when first spread upon tbe grass. This I con¬ 
sidered a fair test of the two methods, so tar as 
durability was concerned. N. Goodsell. 
New Haven, Oswego Co., N. Y., 1833. 
nigai; the central space with numerous short 
nrotuberances or spines arising from an annular 
base; at the sides and upon the surface of the 
body are scattered set*: head small, somewhat 
narrowed in front: mandibles toothed; anterior 
two pairs of legs, separated from the posterior 
by a considerable interval: legs short, the ante¬ 
rior two pairs with acetabula or adhesion-discs, 
and five-jointed—the posterior three-jointed, the 
latter joint terminated by a long seta, and without 
acetabula. This acarus is greatly magnified. 
No one after this need wonder at the tickling, 
titillating, tingling, creeping sensations com¬ 
plained of by those whose corporations furnish 
boroughs for sub-cutaneous ten an is or mites of 
the description figured. The contemplation of 
acarinic and phtbiriatical diseases, has a ten¬ 
dency to produce a crawling or lousy sensation, 
even with such as are of the most cleanly habits. 
Figs. 10. llj 12. The scab in sheep, like the 
mange in horses, cattle, and dogs, and the itch 
in man, is produced by a sub-cutaneous insect or 
parasite (ricared [?] ovinus.) which bears so 
striking a resemblance to the itch-insect of man, 
already described, as not to require further 
description. The female, marked 10, is repre¬ 
sented as magnified 30G times its natural size. 
Fig. 11 represents the mites of their natural size. 
It i 8 H aid by some that this cutaneous disease, 
denominated scab or mange, was transmitted 
from brutes to man. This notion has been, how¬ 
ever, overthrown by microscopists. 
THE USE OF PLASTER. 
Is it advantageous to the farmer to use this 
substance? Experience has long since decided 
this question, and its benefit to certain crops 
authorizes its extensive application. But some 
if it benefits one place it injures an- 
Over-Reach,—C an you, or some of your correspond¬ 
ents, through the columns of the Rural, tell me of a 
remedy for over reaching ? I have a young mare that at 
every step makes the disagreeable noise of striking her 
hind and forward hoofs together, which she did not do 
before she waa shod.—O ld Scbsckihkr, Hampton, A". >'• 
Over reach Is generally confined to fast horses,—it hap- 
pens mast to those known as “ good steppers." When 
tired, tbe feet are apt to more irregularly, and one foot is 
put out to its place before the other is lifted. We are not 
aware of any eertaiu preventive, bat where injury has 
happened, the wounds should be washed daily with tepid 
water, and well fomented if there be much swelling. Hot 
oils, astringents, or stimulants, shonld be avoided When 
sloughing ensues, feed well with good, nutritious food, 
and water regularly. 
Yovatt says the preventive treatment is the beveling, 
or rounding off, of the inside edge or rim of the hind 
shoes. The cure is the cutting away of the loose parts, 
the application of Friar’s balsam, and protection from the 
dirt. Some horses, particularly young ones, over reach so 
as to strike the toes of the hind shoes against the fore 
onus, which is termed clinking. Keeping np the head of 
the horse does something to prevent this; hut the smith 
may do more by shortening the toe of the hind shoes, and 
having the web broad. When they are too long, they are 
apt to be tom off—when too narrow, tbe bind foot may 
bruise the sole of the fore uue, or may be locked fast be¬ 
tween the branches of tbe fore shoe. 
In answer to an inquiry similar to that of “Old Subscri¬ 
ber," published in the Rural, November 23,1861, “A 
Blacksmith," residing at Moreland, Penn., sent us his 
remedy, as follows:—“Make tbe heel corks of the forward 
shoes high and the toe-corks very low, and of the hind 
shoes the lied-eorks low and the toe corks high. You will 
observe that the horse will raise his forward foot before 
the hind foot reaches it." 
now say, 
other, and is not essential as a part of plants. 
Let us then look at what is known, and show its 
operation. 
Is it a fertilizer? To fertilize is “to supply 
with the pabulum (food) of plants,” or “ to make 
fruitful;” and a “fertilizer” is “that which fer¬ 
tilizes.” In the agricultural part of tbe " Patent 
Office Report” for 1866. is a distinguished article 
on fertilizers, by Simon Brown, of Concord, 
Mass. There it is stated that its “first discovery 
as a manure” was made “by Mr. Meter, a 
clergyman of Germany, in 17.08:" and that Dr. 
Fraxki.in, to encourage the “ use of this fertil¬ 
izer in America,” “sowed in large letters, upon 
a clover field in the city of Washington, iu pow¬ 
dered gypsum, the following phrase:- This has 
been Plastered.” Mr. Brown calls it a 
manure, and a fertilizer, and says that “as a 
ABOUT FLAX.-NO. VII. 
THE MANNER OP ROTTING FLAX. 
Eds. Rorat. New-Yorker:— In my former 
communications I have attempted to substantiate 
the four propositions which were named in my 
first article. As the season is now approaching 
when farmers who have gone into the cultivation 
of flax should be making their calculations for 
rotting their crop, allow me in this to dilate still 
further upon the importance of my fourth propo¬ 
sition, viz., the manner of rolling .flax, as I con¬ 
sider that the success, or failure, both in an indi¬ 
vidual and national point of view, depends alto¬ 
gether upon the manner iu which this process is 
performed. 
I am aware that at this time there is much said 
about cottonbnng fax, and many farmers, no 
doubt, are anticipating that for this purpose they 
will be sure of a market for all the ilax they can 
raise, at remuneiative prices. This may prevent 
some from preparing for water-rotting their flax, 
which will prepare it for a market, either at 
homo or abroad. That there may some valuable 
results come from the experiments now making 
to cottonizc flax, we fondly hope; hut while 
these experiments are going un. let the farmers 
prepare to meet a sure market, and leave the 
experiments to others, who have more time and 
capital to spend, while’ they pursue tho even 
tenor of t heir ways, and wait lor a demonstration 
of the utility of this process. 
The Legislature of the State of New York, in 
1862, appropriated the sum of two thousand dol¬ 
lars to be expended under the direction of the 
State Agricultural Society, for the encourage¬ 
ment of those who were seeking by machinery 
to test the experiment of manufacturing flax cot¬ 
ton. A committee, consisting of Messrs. Camp- 
reil, Gould and Wild, were appointed to 
gttqttirifis mut 
A .C. Powkll, Cherry Valley, Winnebago Co., III.— 
We cannot give you the information desired, as we do not 
possess any knowledge relative to the Sewing Machine to 
which yon refer, or its manufacturers. 
White Hairs ox a IIorsb.— How can I remove white 
liairs from my horse’s neck, occasioned by the wearing 
or rubbing of‘a collar 1 WiU some knowing one give tbe 
desired information through tbe columns of the Rural ? 
J. A., Nw./arur, N- Y 
Plan for a Sheep - Shed —I want to build a good 
“Sheep Shed" this season, and I would like to have a 
plan to build one to hold from fifty to seventy five sheep. 
Could sume of your readers give me such plan ? I desire 
to build one with racks and feed boxes.— L. W. R , Jar- 
vii, 2nd- _ 
llAMtu-itr. Ohk.rsb.— I wish to ascertain through the 
columns of the RonAl. whether the peculiar luscious fla¬ 
vor the Hamburg cheese possesses is given to it by process 
of manufacture, or whether ingredients are added to the 
milk or rennet that produces it ' Any one giving the de 
sired information, will oblige—Ax IsquittBR, Oxford Co 
C IF 
respecting the efforts to grow cotton in some of the North 
ern States. It is ascertained that the plant will not pro¬ 
duce cotton north of 40 degrees of lutitude. It will grow 
luxuriantly, and make large stalk* aud branches, but never 
bloom nor boll. In Kansas, Southern Illinois and Mis 
-deal of has been attained, In Kansas 
much greater thao clsewlier*. o.» n„. Kastcrn shore of 
Maryland, where cotton was produced long Drrtv» the war 
or the revolution, the old wheat and tobacco fields prom 
iso this year to be white with cotton. A considerable 
breadth has been seeded, and will be cultivated with 
somethingof skill and assiduity, The experiment inaugu 
rated last year, will linve a much fairer and more decisive 
trial in the present. 
Farm Aooounts — A majority of the farmers of our 
country undoubtedly uuderNUnd tbe necessity of keening 
Accurate accounts with the various departments of the 
farm, but tbe uncHtlcm vrlth -. I* it.-v, -*b,vU II l.c 
d.m«? Will some one give, thr jugli the columns of tlio 
Hi uai., a practical, comprehensive method of keeping the 
necessary farm accounts, aud oblige—M any i.v the Dark, 
Winneshiek, Iowa. 
Sheep Ticks.— Will some of the Rural’* numerous 
correspondents inform me of the best remedy to lull tieks 
on lambs, for mine are nearly covered with them f It is 
not that my old sheep have been poorly fed and cared for. 
They have been protected from the cold storms and are in 
good condition. In England 1 am told they use a sheep 
salve. WiU some Englishman please communicate?— 
John Scott, Newfane, A T . I". 
FROZEN POTATOES, AGAIN 
Washing Sheep.— A Procreative Flock. — A. C. 
Powell, residing at Cherry Valley, Winnebago Co., Ill., 
under date May 18th writes us:—As for washing sheep, I 
shall wash mine. They are of the large breedB, and widl 
not loose over one eighth in weight by washing. I am 
not aware of ever hurting a sheep by washing, if you only 
wait till weather and w ater arc warm, then handle care 
fully and I think there will be no trouble. 
If any of your correspondents can beat the following, I 
would like to hear from them:—I had in April forty seven 
ewes and one buck. Fifteen were last year's lambs. One 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— When I dis¬ 
charged my “taler” gun, 1 did not expect to 
draw the fire of Fort IJptoa; in fact I did not 
know where his battery was located—but he has 
opened upon me, (see Rural April Ith,) and 
alter the smoke of bis fire is cleared away. I 
again train inv quill in the direction of bis works 
and blaze away, trusting (as the rebels say,) “in 
the justice of my cause” for success in the end. 
When the article from J. J. Ur ton, stating how 
he managed to save his pot aloes after they were 
frozen, came to my notice I showed it to some of 
my neighbors, who were old farmers, ami they 
said “ ail there was about it the potatoes were not 
all frozen.” But not being quite “sound on the 
goose.” (or in other words, best in opposing a 
supposed error I sbouldoppose the truth.) 1 con¬ 
cluded to carefully try an experiment. So J took 
a tin pan, went down cellar aud got it part full 
of good sound potatoes, and it being about the 
lost freezing night of the season I set them ou^ 
and in the morning found they had gone to sleep 
sure enough. I immediately procured a box 
about one foot deep, put a layer of dry saw dust 
at least six inches ami placed them in a cool 
dark corner of the cellar to rocuporate. On 
bringing them out a few days ago I found every 
one of them crying over their bard treatment, 
and they were about as soft as anything the word 
can express. 
1 am thankful to friend Upton for all his ad¬ 
vice hbout covering potatoes, but think the water 
he speaks of he will find comes from the frozen 
potatoes and- not from the outside, I think I 
shall Btick to the old practice of trying to keep 
the frost out. for if I succeed ip that my potatoes 
generally come out dry and souud. If it had 
frozen a litfle harder in J. J. Upton’s cellar I 
think he would have found the hole in his pockei 
through which he lost his whole four dollars and 
a half. O. P. Ford. 
Tioga Co., April, 1863. 
Mending India Rt viiicua.—Can any reader of the Ru¬ 
ral tell me how to mend India Rubbers so that tliev «ill 
Vie as strong as they were before being torn?—W. G., 
IFfcut Bloomfield, N. Y. 
Rents in India Rubber goods cannot be repaired except 
by lapping the surfaces, or by patching with the applica 
tiou of heat, or by a strong solution of Rubber in cam ■ 
phene or ether, and then is an uncertain and unreliable 
process. 
Blok Lice on Cattle.—A Tuscarora, N. Y , corres¬ 
pondent wants to know how to get rid of blue lice. I 
will give him my remedy. Prick a little hole with the 
point of a knife in three or four places, just enough to 
start the blood, and then put into each place a piece of 
uuguentum as large as a wheat kernel. Repeat the same 
in about a week to kill those that may hatch out after the 
first application. I have never foiled if the ungueiituui 
was good. Some are afraid it will poison cattle, but there 
need be no fear of that.—M. M , Chaulavquc Go-, -V. T 
New Products or California — A man near Placer- 
villo has engaged in tapping fir balsam trees and roanu 
faeturiug from the balsam, resin aud turpentine. Tbe first 
Lot of resin, about twenty barreb, very superior, has been 
received in San Francisco. The turpentine, abo, is of 
very fine quality. During the past year about ten thou¬ 
sand pounds of peanuts were raised in Yolo and Sacra 
rnento counties. The first lot of peanuts raised In that 
State came into market about threo years ago. Their cul 
tivatlon has been so successful that it is probable the 
importation of them will entirely cease within the next 
two tears. 
Butter Packages.— I saw an inquiry in your paper by 
a young former about packages for butter, and as I have 
been engaged in dairying for the last ten years, I will try 
to answer it. For spring and fall packages wc use tubs. 
If for the western market. Welsh tubs, which are made of 
ash, are just as good; if for New York market half firkin 
tubs, as they will sell for a cent or two more on a pound 
These are made of oalt. For packages to keep butter 
through the summer we use ouk firkins, which will hold 
about 90 lbs. each. An ash firkin I never saw or heard of. 
M. M., Chant. Co. A'. Y. 
Strange Habits of Beks in Peru.—A recent traveler 
sends the following interesting fact in natural history from 
Arequiperu, Peru:—“A few years ago, a German got out 
a few hives of bees, an insect formerly unknown here. 
The first year he obtained a plentiful supply of honey, but 
year by year it decreased, until now tbe animals will hard¬ 
ly collect any. And why? Our climate is so equable that 
flowers cau be had all the year round, aud the sagacious 
animals having discovered this fact have evidently lost 
the instinct of hoarding honey for a winter that never 
comes." 
Wool is King. —In noticing the announcement of Dr 
Randall’s new and timely work on Sheep Husbandry, 
{“The Practical Shepherd,"I the American Phrenological 
Journal says:—“Such a work, from such a pen and press, 
must prove a desideratum to this great and growing in 
terest. If cotton was king, it is king no more, and Wool 
is now the Cry The price fur wool has gone up to a high 
figure, and everything that grows a there wiLl be sheared; 
cats, dogs, and even pigs, which arc said to make a “great 
cry’ and give but little wool, may look out for their 
“fleeces," if not for their skins, so great is the demand 
for this material.” 
American Horses for Napoleon.— The correspond¬ 
ent of the N. Y. Herald, in Paris, writes that the French 
transport Seine was about to sail for New York to take on 
board several horses intended for the use of the Ejnperor. 
This will make the fourth batch of riding horses from this 
country that his Majesty has purchased- It seems that he 
prefers for his personal use animals of the American breed 
and now keeps his stud continually renewed from it 
General Fleury, Equerry to the Emperor, states that the 
French breed of horses has improved greatly within the 
last few years. 
Convention ok Western Wool-Growers. A Con 
vention of Western wool-growers has been held at Cadiz, 
Ohio, which adopted resolutions to protect themselves 
against Eastern speculators. They have agreed that it is 
for their interest to establish a uniform price for woo. 
..,v,„ and that thev will make an effort 
of the Hudson. Of what we have seen, and may see, in 
Gotham, whence we hastily write tills, perhaps brief note 
may be made in future. At first sight the city appears 
like an enormous cluster of bee-hives, and all the habitans 
swarming.—it. 
Rosin Weed a Cure for the Heaves.—I notice in the 
Rural of the 23d May an article from the pen of “ C. D. 
B., Illinois,’’ headed—“To cure the Heaves." He says 
that a correspondent of his living in the State of New 
York writes liim*tliat he had a six year old horse that had 
the heaves badly; but upon coming to the West three 
years ago, ho drove the horse to Chicago, and gradually 
the heaves have disappeared. The curable properties are 
not contained in western corn or oats, but in the western 
hay. Upon nearly all of our prairies, and, more especial¬ 
ly, those inclined to be a little marshy, there grows a weed 
or plant called Rosin Weed, which, when cured with the 
grass, and fed out, is eagerly devoured by all kinds of 
stock, but more especially by horses and sheep. In this 
weed or plant lies the secret of permanently curing tbe 
lieaves-a never failing cure for young horses. I have 
been a resident of this country for the last twenty-six 
wars, aud during that time several cases of the kind have 
come under my observation, and all have been cured. — 
E. E T . JPopditock, III 
Agricultural Fairs. —At a meeting of the officers 
aud directors of the Wyoming Co. Ag. Society it was de¬ 
termined to hold the Fair on the 22d and 23d Of September 
next. A libera! premium list was established and judges 
Erie Co. Fair .— At the last meeting of the 
HEATING THE SOIL. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorkf,r : — It was “the 
preacher” who said “ the king himself is served 
by the field,” and. judging from my own expe¬ 
rience. I conclude that as “preacher” he needed 
the service of the field as much as the king. 
Though farming is not my business, yet, having 
passed the first twenty-one years of my life on a 
farm, and still being in the practice of helping a 
neighbor on his farm occasionally, I may he per¬ 
muted to write a few words upon a subject about 
which I have often thought for the last ten years. 
It is about that length of time since I was pass¬ 
ing with a farmer through his meadow, when I 
noticed small patches where there was a much 
appointed 
Erie county Ag. Association it was decided to hold the 
next Annual Fair of the Association on the 10th, 17th and 
18th of September next.- Brookfield Union Fair. —The 
Annual Fair of the Brookfield, (Madison Co., N. Y.,) 
Union Ag. Society will be held September 22d, 23d aud 
24th, 1863, on the old fair ground in Clockville. 
A Profitable Crop of Beans.— Messrs. Upton A 
Convention of Veterinary Sup.geo.vs, —A general 
convention of veterinary surgeons is to be held in New 
York soon, with intent to elevate the character of the 
veterinary service, and rescue it from the obloquy justly- 
attached to it by the ignorauce and stupidity of the com¬ 
mon horse doctor. 
A fr.urjiat'0“ vnvi v* - - I 
Reynolds of this city recently purchased of Ellwangkr U< 
& Barry 350 bbls. of beans, equaling 1311 39-62 bushes, a 
paying for the same $3,935 85. The vacant places between - ^ 
the rows of trees in the nursery was the land devoted to (A, 
the rows of trees in the nursery was 
the growth of the crop. 
