This recent product of coal tar has been fre¬ 
quently mentioned in connection with the cattle 
plague, but we have seen no systematic discussion 
of its qualities and e fleets in the agricultural jour¬ 
nals. And as it is most important to the farmer, as 
well as the arts and medicine, we will endeavor to 
make The subject easy of comprehension to the gen¬ 
eral reader. 
This substance was first distilled from the light oils 
of tar, composed of carbon and hydrogen, treating 
them with a concentrated solution of potash, by 
Laurent ; but his method was too expensive to 
render it an article of commerce. About 1850 it was 
used to preserve animal bodies from putrefaction. 
In 185'J, Dr. F. C. Calvert of Manchester, England, 
discovered a process ol manufacturing it from im¬ 
pure benzine or naptba with a weak alkaline solu¬ 
tion, and thus greatly cheapened its production, and 
from this time it began to be extensively used in¬ 
stead of anaiine in making those beautiful colors. 
Up to this time it had not, been produced com¬ 
mercially in a pure state, and had not been used 
much In medicine; but, in 186<J, Calvert produced 
in large quantities a pure phenic aicohol or carbolic 
acid. Yet it still possessed a sulphuretted odor, 
which rendered it unpopular with the medical pro¬ 
fession ; but It iB stated that he has since produced 
it freed from all disagreeable odor or tarry flavor. 
The most important office of carbolic acid is as 
a disinfectant and antiseptic. A deodoYlz$r removes 
noxious gases and odors from organic matter, in a 
state of decay or putrefaction, but does not arrest 
the decomposition. A disinjwta/nt arrests and de¬ 
stroys infection, which exists in organic matter, but 
does not prevent future infection, whilst an antisep¬ 
tic destroys every source of decay and decomposi¬ 
tion — destroys the germs of putrefaction and fer¬ 
mentation, so that putrefaction cannot afterwards 
lake place. 
M. Paste™ has discovered and proved that all 
fermentation is due to the presence of microscopical 
vegetables or animals, which affect the decomposi¬ 
tion of organic substances: and carbolic acid is 
supposed to destroy these microscopic and primitive 
sources of life, and thus acts as an antiseptic and 
disinfectant. Carbolic acid is also volatile, and 
Lemaire says it meets with and destroys the germs 
or sporules which float in the atmosphere and 
vitiate it. 
Mr. W. Crookes of London, proved by a series 
of experiments that the gases exhaled from the 
lungs of diseased cattle, contained the germs or 
sporules of microscopic animals, which have also 
been discovered in the blood of such cattle. Mr. 
Grooves condensed the germs found in these gases 
from the lungs of diseased cattle upon cotton wood, 
and then Inoculated the blood of healthy animals 
with them, and they were, at once, attacked with 
the disease. He says: —“I have not met with a 
single instance in which the cattle plague has spread 
on a farm where the acid had been freely used.” 
It has also been found equally effective in pre¬ 
venting the spread of cholera. Prof. Chaxdblon of 
Liege, says, that out of 185 nurses who were em¬ 
ployed to attend upon the cholera patients, only 
AflftlGUJEiTUBAL 
HOP GROWING AND HOP PROSPECTS, 
On several occasions, during the. past year, allu¬ 
sion has been made to the great expansion of hop 
culture— especially in some of the Western States 
— and the probability suggested that the business 
was beiug so overdone a3 to bring certain loss to 
hop growers. This point seems to have been speed¬ 
ily reached, for, though a large portion of the crop 
appears to have been rendered worthless by the at¬ 
tacks of the hop louse, especially in Wisconsin, 
the prevailing report is low prices and tardy sales. 
When hops sold at about sixty cents a pound, mul¬ 
titudes were severely attacked with what is denom¬ 
inated the “hop fever,' 1 causing them to desert 
wheat, corn, oats, and the root crops measurably, 
for hop roots and poles. Now hops range in the 
market at from live to twenty cents per pound, and 
sales at these rates are slowly made. It would natu¬ 
rally he inferred that if the hop louse had done any 
considerable injury, the prospect of a diminished 
crop would raise the price and impart firmness to 
the market, and such would have been the result 
but for one circumstance, and that is this:—With 
the increase of the hop mania came over-production 
to such an extent as to divest insect ravages of their 
customary influence on the market. 
As pertinent to this subject, and of possible ad¬ 
vantage to farmers who may have had an eye to a 
hop yard, in the immediate future. 
i, we give a sum¬ 
mary of a communication of; J. C. Chandler in the 
Wisconsin Farmer of recent date. He claims to 
have survived three severe attacks of the hop fever, 
embracing the types of the disease as furnished by 
the Eastern and Western States. At present, with¬ 
in the scope of his own observation, there are many 
who forsook grain for hops who were severely press¬ 
ed to raise money enough to pay for picking the 
crop, owing to a sluggish and plethoric market and 
the low ruling of the article in it. In addition to 
this, statistics are furnished showing that, in two 
Western States alone, hops enough have been 
grown, after making deductions for insect depre¬ 
dations, to supply the home demand — great and 
increasing as this is conceded to be —leaving as a 
surplus the product of all the other States. This 
is not a comforting aspect of the case to those who 
have expended largely In hop cultivation, but it 
seem= to be a true oue and, if so, ignoring or deny¬ 
ing it can serve no useful purpose, either to pro¬ 
ducer or consumer. 
It is assumed, by the party referred to, that the 
consumption of the whole country the ensuing year 
will be twenty millions of pounds. A partial return 
of the hop bearing acreage of Sauk Co., Wisconsin, 
alone, was 5,588, while seven other counties, which 
have grown hops heavily, are credited with 7,000 
acres more—making a total in round numbers in 
these counties alone of thirteen thousand acres. It 
is assumed, as a fair average, that an acre will yield 
1,500 pounds which, multiplied by the acreage, gives 
but a trifle short of the twenty millions of pounds 
The use for building purposes of unburned brick, 
or blocks of clay dried bard in the snu, is old as his¬ 
tory, and in sunny climes and with proper material, 
it may be both practical and economical. The cir¬ 
cumstances attending the early settlement of our 
country, dictated to us the selection of building 
materials. But who constructs Jog houses now? 
And who doubts that, in the course of time, the 
use of wood, as a prominent building materia), will 
be entirely renounced? Possibly then we may fall 
back, to some extent at least, to the employment 
of the simple materials of xhe earliest ages. Com¬ 
binations of day. lime and gravel, and various kinds 
of artificial stone, have already met with favor. 
Many farm buildings may be constructed of cheaper 
materials than brick or cut stone, and of more dura¬ 
bility than wood. The Mexican adobe, which an¬ 
swers a good purpose in that climate, is a large block 
made of good stiff clay, sometimes having an ad¬ 
mixture of straw, and dried bard in the sun. These 
blocks are cemented together with clay mortar, and 
the outside of the building thickly whitewashed. 
Low walls constructed thus are durable and strong, 
and the coBt is low. 
growing States of the West. Recent experiments 
there have demonstrated that the midge has meas¬ 
urably disappeared, rendering it sale to again in¬ 
clude wheat growing in tbe circle of farm opera¬ 
tions. It was considered that the midge had heen 
starved out, in consequence of the discontinuance 
of wheat growing for so long a time, and that it 
will take an equally protracted one to bring them 
back, if in fact they come at all, in sufficient force 
to render wheat growing non-remunerating. 
mill. It will be found equally as valuable when at¬ 
tached to cider and wine mills, small hand presses, 
and in fact any portable machine that requires to be 
stationary while in use. 
tity to thoroughly wet the surface after it dissolves; 
double the flesh side in and roll it up closely, put it 
in a cool place out of the way of the frost, and let 
it remain three or four days, perhaps more, accord¬ 
ing to the thickness; then unroll, and when it gets 
nearly dry. with a dull knife remove the fat that may 
adhere in spots, and a little rubbing may make it 
pliable and fit for use. 
Pumpkins for Stock. 
P. F. Haines, Wayland, Mich., writes“ I am 
boiling pumpkins for my hogs, and some of my 
neighbors say they are nearly worthless unless tbe 
seeds are taken out. What da you think ? ” That 
they are not “nearly worthless” if well cooked, as 
that process diminishes or nearly removes the bad 
effect of the seed. It is common experience that 
pumpkins fed liberally to stock, in a raw state, cause 
animals to urinate freely, but also fattens them. 
“ In the routine of farm operations the lumber 
wagon occupies a most prominent position, and not 
the least unimportant of the parts of this vehicle is 
a good seat. The one shown in connection with this 
article is cheap), convenient, strong, and durable. It 
is intended for the occupancy of but one person.” 
Mnnure Cistern. 
R. R. Pierson, Pavilllon, N. Y., asks—“What is 
the best method of building a vat or cistern in a 
barn-yard for collecting the liquid manure, and what 
is the best way of applying it to the soil ?” In the 
last volume of the Rural we illustrated and de¬ 
scribed a plan of a yard for piling manure with vat 
attached to collect the liquid. It is simply to lay a 
water-tight floor with stone and cement, or clay, 
with slightly raised edges, and slonintr to the center 
P'ood of 51au. 
“Elliott" writes;—“It is amusing to hear a 
man speak of such and such food as being unsuita¬ 
ble or unhealthy, etc., and that if people would 
only eat thus and so their lives would be prolonged, 
no sickness would come, or any of .he ills of life 
Thickening the Base of Osage Hedges. 
W. H. Mann, Gilman, Ill., writes:—“If it iB de 
sirable to make a hog-proof hedge, it is not advisa- 
about to fall, exerts a powerful influence in sending 
it in the right direction and avoiding others in the 
vicinity of the line of its declination. A half a cen¬ 
tury ago, when the object was to destroy the forest 
as fast as possible, the case was different. Then, 
slashing and cutting, in any direction, was deemed 
legitimate; but times are changed now, and forest 
timber is becoming an object of special care, not Tor 
timber and fuel only, but as a shield from the career¬ 
ing winds and Btorms of winter. Cut out the de¬ 
caying portions, as they are discovered and wanted 
for use; but, in doing this, avoid damaging such as 
are not required for present consumption. Care, 
in this respect, is highly remunerative. 
tcdmc J $3.00 PER YEAR. 
( Single Copy, Six Cents. 
ROCHESTER, N, Y„ AND NEW YORK CITY. 
ncc ip pc (.82 Buffalo St., Rochester. 
j Park Row, New York. 
YOU, XIX. NO. 44.1 
FOR THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, 0GTDRER 31, 1888. 
j WHOLE NO. 080. 
required for domestic consumption — leaving the en¬ 
tire product of other sections as surplusage or over¬ 
production. Even should this estimate be dimin¬ 
ished one-half, there would still be a supply equal 
to the prospective demand for the ensuing year. 
- The teaching implied in this, however disagreeable 
it may be, is that hop planting cannot, for a series 
of years at least, be profitably extended, and that 
some other industry more remunerative should be 
preferred to it. Oue thing is clear—that hop raising 
investments, at present prices, cannot give promise 
of remunerative results. The better plan would 
seem to be to let those who are in for hop 3 hold 
the ground done, till a remunerative point is reach¬ 
ed, rather than, by added competition, to increase 
their embarrassments without any resulting advan¬ 
tages to tbe new competitors. 
- - - -»•«■» «♦-»■ -- 
WHEAT RAISING IN MAINE. 
At the recent State Fair in Maine —the first held 
there since 1SG0—the farmers held evening meet¬ 
ings for the discussion of themes connected with 
their calling—particular attention being paid to 
the subject of wheat growing. The Hon. Seth 
So amaion, President of the State Society, adverted 
to the growing of wheat there in former times 
and why it was discontinued for a series of years. 
The prevalence of the midge prevented the growth 
of wheat tiU within a few years, when the business 
was resumed with flattering success under an im¬ 
pulse furnished by legislative aid to the town and 
county societies. This stimulated competition, over 
the State, and the result has been a better yield of 
wheat in Maine the pa6t year than in the wheat 
—• --n > — v.uv vvu o'- j 
of one side. Underneath this lowest point build a 
cistern, with suitable conduits. The liquid will find 
its way to it, and may be pumped thence, from time 
to time, on the heap. Perhaps as economical and 
effectual a way of applying it is in conjunction with 
| the hne, rotted manure,——but a tank may be ringed 
on wheels which will distribute it to the crops. 
Fanning Mill Anchor — Wagon Scat. 
L. D. Snook, Barrington, N. Y., sends us the fol¬ 
lowing sketches of convenient little things for farm¬ 
ers. He writes“ Fanning mills, when in nse, are 
continually changing their position, by reason of 
the vibratory motion of the shoe, and the unequal 
applying of the power to the crank shaft. This is 
not only annoying, but consumes valuable time, 
/yj besides causing a mix 
_ ffj e£ * con( HUon of grain 
after the process of 
a33---- —1 — ^ m cleaniug. It is not an 
rence to see fanning 
~~ | mills with their lower 
portion filled with 
^3? a—— -. nails, driven in for the 
-— purpose of keeping 
the mill in a desired position on tbe floor when 
in use. The accompanying engraving represents 
a cheap and simple device, attached to one of the 
standards of a fanning mill, by the nse of which 
the mill is held firmly In place. It is so simple as 
to scarcely need a description. Two small staples 
are driven in the standard, through which is passed 
an iron slide live inches in length and of the form 
shown. There^should be one at each side of the 
cuumiGH iv ujjiLutu ©jssLcru, yytj gay sucq re- 
marks are t,o U3 amusing, and only exhibit a want 
of good common-sense thought as to the demands 
of the system and the consequent varied occupa¬ 
tions and labors of man, — one man whose labors 
are at physical strain from 6ix to six often requiring 
double the food of another whose occupation is 
mainly with his pen. Again, exposure to air, 
whether cold or hot, requires a accessary and 
accordant supply of food to meet the daily wants of 
the system. We could write a long homily on this, 
but have said enough when we hare said that any 
attempt at directing a certain class or style of food 
for universal use exhibits in the promulgator a 
want of common knowledge of Lis fellow men.” 
Karaites of White Grub*. 
D. Stephenson of Pittsburg, Fa., writes in an¬ 
swer to a recently published inquiry about these 
pe6ts, advising farmers to turn the hogs into the 
field and leave them till near winter, and then plow 
the field as late 36 possible before winter sets in, 
letting the soil lie up to the frost until spring. Then 
sow with oats and seed to clover and timothy, and 
the meadow will be as good as ever and will not be 
bothered with grubs. 
Tamiiusr rdmill Sklu*. 
Wb have two or three inquiries regarding the 
tanning of small skin3 with the hair or fur on. The 
Boston Cultivator gives the following recipe:—Any 
one can succeed in doing so by taking two parts salt¬ 
peter, and one of alum, pulverizing them well to¬ 
gether, spread the 6kin carefully fur side down, 
before it has got dried, apply the mixture evenly, 
being careful to touch every pari, in sufficient quan- 
bie to cat the young aedge off at all, but when it 
attains sufficient age it should be plashed.” 
MANGLING THE FOREST. 
The Ohio Farmer calls attention to the necessity 
of exercising more care in the preservation of forest 
timber. It says: “Wagons are thundered over tbe 
roots without mercy; marks of the ax may be 
seen on the most thrifty trees, and when felling, 
one, two or three others are mangled and torn from 
lack of care.” This is all true, and results, in most 
instances, from employing men in the forest who 
have no experience with the ax, and, from lack of 
instruction and practice, no correct idea of the 
way to fell a tree without bruising, and destroying 
the branches of contiguous ones. Many persons, 
not deficient in judgment and calculation in other 
rural matters, placed in the forest are as destructive 
as a bovine in a China shop. A tree is designated to 
be felled, and at it they go without u thought of any¬ 
thing but prostrating it upon the ground. No at¬ 
tention is paid to surrounding and neighboring 
trees; to the inclination of the top and body of the 
one to be felled, or, to the chance of throwing the 
tree down without overturning or marring others. 
Practice alone can give certainly to the chopper, in 
felling trees in the precise position wanted, but due 
observation and care, at tne start, will do much to¬ 
wards preventing damage to trees in the vicinity of 
those devoted to the ax. Some ax men, green in 
the business, chop round the tree, as in the process 
of girdling, especially if the boll is of considerable 
diameter. In doing this the chopper loses all con¬ 
trol over it; whereas, if the work is properly done, 
the ax, acting as a wedge or lever when the tree is 
one nurse died, but the nurses were washed and 
their clothing sprinkled with carbolic add. Dwell¬ 
ings used for cholera patients, and in which many 
had died, after being washed and cleansed with car¬ 
bolic acid, were filled again with fumilles, and in no 
ease was any person attacked with the disease who 
went into such purified house. 
The antiseptic properties of carbolic acid, are 
found to be so powerful that 1-1,000 or even 1-5,000 
part, will prevent the fermentation, decomposition 
or putrefaction for months, of urine, blood, solution 
of glue, Hour paste, feeces, &c., and its vapor alone 
is sufficient to preserve meat in a close room, for 
weeks, and also in the open air for several days and 
prevent its being fly-blown. Dr. Lbthkly says, that 
1-10,000 part has been found sufficient to keep the 
filthy contents of Bewers sweet. This quantity was 
found to nearly deodorize the sewers of London 
during the existence of cholera last year. 
It appears likely that the use of this agent will 
revolutionize medical practice in contagious and 
pestilential diseases, and with foiled and purulent 
sores, ulcere, gangrene, .fee. In small pox the use 
of carbolic add will entirely prevent the spread of 
the disease. In hospitals it prevents all oflensive 
and repulsive odors. 
The following extract from a paper in the London 
Lancet of September '25, 1867, by J. Lester, will 
6how the importance of its use in hospitals: 
“The first class of cases to which 1 applied it, 
(carbolic acid,) was that of compouud fractures, 
In which the effects of decomposition in the in¬ 
jured part were especially striking and pernicious. 
The results have been such as to establish conclu¬ 
sively the great principle that all local inflammatory 
mischief and general febrile disturbance which fol- 
“ PROGRESS* AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN obigtnal weekly 
AGRICULTURAL, LITERARY AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
CONDUCTED BY D, D. T. MOORE, 
With a Corps of Able Associates and Contributors. 
Terms in Aiivance — These Dollars a Yeah:— Five 
copiee for fit , Seven, and one free to Club Agent, for *19; 
Ten, and oue free, for *‘,’5 — only *2.50 per copy. As we pre¬ 
pay American postage, *2.701s tbe lowest Club rate to Canada 
and *s.50 to Europe. The beat way to remit is by Draft or 
Post-Office Money order, —and all Drafts and Orders made 
payable to tbe Publisher may be mailed at his bisk. 
US'” All Business Letters, Contributions, <6c., should be 
addressed to Rochester until otherwise announced. 
CARBOLIC ACID. 
