«Vf 00 fi£'S RURAL NEW-¥©R5<ER. 
11. 
tho ancient coins of Syracuse and Tarentum. I of the animals themselves *>, . 
Aristotle seems to have known all the of cireumstauocs which tbose bieml'ht from 
principal kinds of cephalopoda living in the 1,1,1 North are required to undergo but to 
eastern archipelago of the Mediterranean. 1? tnu,Mnd ' constitution and 
Some of his successors dealt more in fahu- .i.!'**. e , ir ., l l 0st *' rlt J r * Stock rams 
Some of his successors dealt more in fabu- should be deicciidi^W^' 1 ^' , St<,ok n 
lous tales than in accurate and careful in- jug those qualities; llm'^dTSSTySS 
vestigations. Thus, according to Oppian, 1 '"'in themselves; and should have beet 
the polypus is ho voracious that when it as to develop instead of impi 
keeps its den in the winter ah a shelter from TlikTmnairl.ur nf o,» „ 
storms, and can procure no food, it devours been prodded, In imuo insuinces bv 
its own arms, wiiich soon grow again, so as keep, too careful non-exposure to 
tube always ready to appease its hunger; ^ w*nt of exercise, and excess 
and Sometimes, in the summer, it climbs Huossf.ld^n 1 /!^' Dur, " w the " iir * 
olive trees to get at the fruit! ,Eu a s tells STS? g && st 
us that a polypus, which had grown to the f,ir market ” became u science. Van 
size of a whale, crept up a sewer into the dropped inclose., warm stables, moot 
house of a merchant, at Puteoli, and devour- | v h ® U!iUal I ,eriod . and fore 
«dbi.tto.krt» lt «. a,*... !,i>» 
in modern tunes was De.w.h i.j; Montfort, ;‘‘‘ d they wore afterwards painpereifihrii, 
who represented a“ poulpo colossal ” in the u *. th © utmost verge of safety, to give , nan or it 
act of scuttling a three-master. Victor Hr> hili ™ ”W I 
go's sensational account of Gilu ax’* light pSci ^ o<?knd'rolk^ f .““ ' ' 
with the - pieuvre,” Octopus vulyarls, in unwunhetl there w!« theiidtaghreg Sin 
hia ‘ 1 ravailleura de la Mer,” is more ex- ‘V ,d lt did not matter how much the > o 
cusable, because he does not pretend to bo a ,V,, — KToaseaud gum”; contributed i 
naturalist. i ,l T^ rve aU the latter i 
This species occasionally attains a largo purpose of giving the'de’eS^hat^lrk m 
aize. One, described in Paulsen’S MSS., * eru . wl color which was also a high print , 
w'hich was east ashore on tho Danish coast, ‘ adllo 'L neither raiu nor snow wcreallowe 
measured three and a-half fathoms in the or the danger rfit preVwnt tljii 
body, and the tentacles reached t hree in their stable# almost tL/mVtTrVwiutej 
fathoms, giving a total length of thirty- aad at night and In rainy weather In£ 
nmc feet. Another Avas found at the Skag, ”? er » a, ‘ a ' v,iC ' 11 out to pasture in sumruei 
in Jutland, which filled a large cart. It, . U h *?. all { Placed in small fields con 
parrot-Uke b«k . ui.» iuolic, j 
tentacles were sixteen feet long; the pedal < Italy 111 case of a sudden dash of rain. Thu 
arms about half that length; and the mantle j <e P.t * u bigh condition and restricted frou 
sac seven feet; the suckers three-quarters JL lV* i l ? tur ^ oxer ciso, they became slug 
rt an tool, in dim Til... „,ok.r« are *• siSSdSn?Wo month, in , - 
strengthened by a horny ring around the the usual time, and often ‘StubbieSheared 
margin of each. As Dr. Johnston remarks, at ,lutt < a “d fitted up in other respects as w< 
It must be u fearful thing for any living ani- V.^5 rib ?V. the8 ? artificial animals, at 
nml to come within its grasp; for, entangled inm-e re n*/' | ‘! ,e 1,1 / ad aud winter, no 
in the serpentine folds of its arms, and held quality, treated iu°the ordinal way ^Ku 
by the pressure of hundreds of suckers, es- us ( lf ’bey did not belong to the same breed • 
cape is hopeless; and the struggles of the °*‘» *** lojjnst, an if the former were a quarter 
hapless victim, by bringing its body in cm- nreveimmP’ of 4 tto ®/ ,t j lers ll ‘ bn- 
.»« t with ,he fresh suehers, Ohly acooh r- ihl.<S“ry^CSfrwkSMalu 
M,uuu - _ 
| STIic Sii'inf-licrd. 
'.'iVS CIECD1AE 10 >WIHE.HEB^ == 
ititm themselves; mid should have been so - 
managed as to develop instead of impair- , foll °wing circular has fallen into our 
fti,£, CJ V . . ' I ha,ld ** Jt being forwarded by the com- 
been ™;T 1, ,r 1 f, 0f the .constitution has m *ttee to prominent breeders throughout 
weather, want of exercise, and excSsive a,,d ful1 responses thereto. 
scramble to attract buyers, ‘‘fitting aheon f&SSSS. ? ub of th - Amerieun HwtJbitlf u 
for market” became u science. K Lamb» loarrt the °Pbi- 
S"*iss &~$s2&7i£g* swja*as“k8aFS waSS 
?* t . of carcass and fleece as was possible - h«iaetmsti«s, anil is bred to a considerable fir. 
a id they were afterwards pampereathrough v l p r, . t i, b fL?',f r ?^ > . America (ceteemingany breed to 
verge of safety, to l^PorUon L life individ- 
them that rotunditv whisi. . r-IJr ■ wU k If property mated. inn fhi.it* 
ble to fruitfulness 't 
which occurs to us. 
a question 
m and learn the opin- 
Intereeted and engaged 
y mated, reproduce their 
x-g to learn, at your enr- 
views upon the follow- 
i “ ,UJl niauer how much the yollt 
' • ol ^ as ® BI <i contributed to 
rnut weight. Jo preserve all the latter in 
mirr^a 0 i 0/ \ t ! J!U object, and also for the 
°. f k'viug the fleece that dark ex- 
tei uul color which was also a high point of 
labhiou, neither rain nor snow were allowed 
to Vi ash any of it away. To prevent thi, 
or t he danger of it, the sheep were to nfined 
in their stable# almost the entire winter 
and at night and In rainy weather in sum' 
'“' I , and When out to UaStUtO ill HUmtU 
they were usually placed in small fields oon- I 
t l t .!‘ elr .. 8ta . b , lea 80 . th ®/ could be run 
fit-ido r „ , . S® useful to breeders to haven 
w aceumnit 1 ? 1, ® acl i breed of swine, made 
yjSS «<xrurati<iy, ix; conforuiity witli thv* vir wn 
linee f r rV 0 ^ oT ,)l0 best breeders, lor the guul- 
£ ai * a ° r Judges ai Fairs? K 
ft wale /n,Vi> fto<1 ’ ariJ forward to us. 
ircuLtV.no for the breed with which you 
wUth-T^ ° f 1Joiut * fyr ll, c Various breeds of neat 
nn;.,i‘V' U i r 1,10 vi vwa Of diUVrent breeders. at>- 
womu vnn , yOU 5 0VT a * e. have be^n^ffitSE 
the nuLZ^‘ r !. r ‘‘\ u i' <,f willing ft eon vet! Uon of 
‘ Growing Potatoes Under Straw,-An 
Illinois correspondent of the Rural New- 
nriKER asks if any of our readers have, 
the past year, produced a crop of potatoes 
»y dropping the seed on the surface of 
- meadow or pasture land-without plowing 
■ -and covering it with straw, giving it no 
cultivation? If so , with what result, and 
how deep was the seed covered, and when 
Planted? We shall be glad to publish any 
such experience. 
I Broom Corn Culture,-An Iowa corre- 
| l ' , 7“ <Jent who W!int * to 6o into broom corn 
cuiture, asks if any of our Iowa readers can 
give hirn, from their own experience in that 
•-tate, some idea of the profit of the crop as 
compared with corn, tho kind of soil be-t 
adapted to its growth, the variety to plant, 
and when and how to plant it. 
Tennessee Evergreen Broom Corn.— 
1 saw a statement in one of the daily papers 
that this variety is grown exclusively in 
Ifiinois. Cau any of your readers say any¬ 
thing of its merits as a variety for market 
compared with others ?-S. VV. F., Cohoctou. 
” Snow ” or Hominy Corn, Mrs. R. 
the more proim,^;^Hominy Corn, Mrs. R. 
tWelv? n ' lif and 8ellliQ fir these points authorim- I • Allison writes us can be obtained of 
Hoping to receive a u. M. Erwin, Marion, N. C. 
conveniently, and nin in tmnmU- th?Sonm-/rf r S5? lvc a 'i" lc k «v--ponse, wc have 
ntcly in case of a sudden dash of raiu Thus ae honor of subscribing ourselves 
kept in high condition and restricted from y° uxi9 > 
sSSdT;Sv”J erc “°' lhc> ' b, ’ c ““' £ S: & l c. 
; 11 hut, and htted up in other respects a# we Clty ‘ 
he .. ,1 m C i rib i H, Vi thes - e nrti,lcisd animals, at “-“♦**- 
I 'f 1 «» etime in fall and winter, no PIG-PEN PAPERS. 
,;. | ; “ b w thyso of the same blood and 
f; A- Chase, C Committee. 
at n t»i M ' C. WEi.n, ) 
man K i , ad ' J l' c '® answers to the Chair- 
Vmk city' CtJIiTls ’ Grt * Iia Ceutml Hotel, New 
#ti[m (!fronomt). 
* i 
PIG-PEN PAPERS. 
Keeping Breeding Sows confined to a 
sumll pen is a very bad practice, Amos 
K im: hum, and no good and much injury 
comes of it. They need both freedom and 
exercise. 
She’SnSlSftJ bim weIl 1 "'itted.'- from a , Thumps in Pigs.-Some of our slioats 
i n bj ddiel, at a rouud price—not dream- kave what I call “ thumps." In three dava 
ig tliat lie hud ever seen him before! And a, H*r the thumps appear, they die. They 
iustanoes of fit- to be fuller white worms Can yoj 
lppearance to tile 6*ve me a remedy?—n. r. a. 
igpkkcdmnirum’ Wesiould b^tTi «T kU ° W "° tbiuK about ‘ 
alter a year of the should be glad if our correspondent will 
give us the symptoms in detail—how the 
issoHsed a super- bog acts from the outset until death. 
northern rams for southern and 
SOUTHWESTERN FLOCKS. 
A correspondent at Edgcrtou, Colorado, 
writes us that a lot of rams procured by him 
ill Michigan, last fall, (Oct 10), are doing 
poorly, and some of them have died. JIo 
suggests that this may be due to their change 
of situation so late ill the season. This is too 
limited a statement of the facts to enable us 
to form any opinion of the disease or the 
proper treatment in these particular oases; 
but sheep, aud especially rums, taken from 
Northern to Southern and Southwestern 
States do often become unthrifty, debili¬ 
tated and finally die, from causes not, wo 
think, universally understood by those who 
purchase them. 
We know, from abundant opportunities 
to ascertain the facts directly, and through 
a longterm of years, that Northern Merinos 
possessing l In: full native hardiness of the 
■cone treatment. 
Mud not the Merino possessed a suner- 
abuuduut hardiness And fixity of type, eosud- 
den ami extreme a change_'oi management 
would have speedily destroyed its cousritu- 
i ion and health. As it was, degeneration had 
4icld Ofrojjs. 
breed uneuervatod, by pampering and non- 
exposure, will endure this change in climate 
and other olroumatanoes without injury 
Dili it is an entire mistake to suppose that 
sheep, til these warmer regions, do . 
quire at least as strong const ii utions and as 
hurdv habits to withstand the unfavorable 
neHH Tr ^\ eiUia y 1tllH Ol.inu.,., without 
ait liuat food and shelter, as they ( | 0 to 
withstand the unfavorable conditions of 
Northern ollmatua, with artificial food and I 
sheltot. A I ox as norther ” does noi often 
reduce the temperature below :H) -mild 
winter weather in the North —but it re- 
duces it from a previous temperature of TO’ 
or ,.) with Huch astonish Lug rapid it \ in 
some rare cases at the rate of a degree a 
nnnuto for twenty consecutive minutes, that 
sheep exposed to its full fury undoubtedly 
S, 1 *‘' ur V acu V :1 >' f rt»>u its cold* than 
sheltered sheep do m any kind of storm or 
aiiy extremtty of cold ever known In tne 
Ncirtli. And these northers, usually milder 
but occasionally violent, occur nearly once 
a week, through live mouths of the vi ur ! 
lo say nothing of protection from ox 
of temperature—i’ar more^T’)^ ftnges 
sssiyjf" si r 7 !sr«stesa k 
trim «i«!KS^®“rt*Sn!SSS 
in s»»p ' 
M.^iv, Wvery numerous. The celebrated 
• slock rams, fed to the extreme to utimuiate 
0 1111 1 overta sked sexual powers, usually died 
. early. J lie ewes did not continue to breed 
i us formerly. Highly lies by, wholly 
inactive and plethoric (wo use the word iii 
its medical sense) during pregnancy, t hey 
could noit, m the natural course of things lie. 
, j expected to bring forth normal, sound off- 
i rin nig. Congenital diseases, aud others . 10 - 
pcaring soon after birth, in Samba-some <d 
them of very rare previous occurrence aud 
some previously unknown— became com¬ 
mon, and in certain cases assumed the char¬ 
acter of widely prevalent and destructive 
• pizootics. And where great cure, great 
^ ! KJ-'-al “good luck ' kept along some 
docks of these artificial sheep free from an 
parent disease, none the less did they manl- 
kst their decay of constitution and liardi- 
iiess, u put under ordinary treatment—the 
treatment tinder which the Merino vigor- 
| ouHly■ flourished for half a century iii ijur 
cooutrv. Subjected to , his, t hese munufac- 
Mt ouOoTS’rroJu llke M»U,» 
the sheep-growing States of the Union, 
; ,*j s , ucl1 ’ 1,1 judgment, have been the 
ch < f reasons why such a multitude of rams 
t niusporti'd from the North to the South 
survived 1 ? Wl i1 t hilV<? H I J,, . , ‘ dll J r Perished, or , 
. uivivcd to disappoint the expectations of 
1 heir owners. Many ot them doubtless have 1 
possessed improved points, and have been 1 
greatly superior to ordinary Merinos, apart ’ 
Bora their artificial appearances. Hoi the v 
sanie improvements and excellencies are to 
round in Merinos which jioshcss the full 1 
native hardiness of the breed, unenervated 1 
b> any ot the praotiocs we have held no to ti 
« Ucb f.aangtin* case, it would ] 
FIELD NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Corn Culture. —There was an edifying 
talk at the Fanners’ Club recent ly on corn 
culture. Should corn he hilled ? Some said 
no; others yes. One member hud found it 
profitable to furrow his corn field, plant in 
the furrow, cover lightly, and as the plants 
grew the cultivator would do all the neces¬ 
sary hi.ling. He had found that corn so 
planted resisted drouth better than that 
planted on the surface; ami then in culti¬ 
vating to keep down t he weeds, the roots of 
the corn Were not disturbed by the culti¬ 
vator and the growth checked by breaking 
them. Another member indorsed ibis view, 
asserting that it is an injury to tin* crop to 
break the roots. But if the corn is planted 
on the surface, ho would hill It; for with 
every hilling new roots were put out; and 
the more roots tho better, because the more* 
nutriment tiie plant receives. 
Department of Agriculture Seeds.— 
A circular from the Commissioner of Agri¬ 
culture announces that he is receiving for 
distribution, principally in the Smith, vari¬ 
ous kinds of seed, which lie names, and that 
he has ordered oats and barley from Scot¬ 
land ami Germany, and has distributed 
wheat grown in Oregon to the Northwestern 
States and Territories. He also advert isos 
a new early corn, which he has obtained 
from Ohio. Wherefore? We protest again, 
as we did in the Rural New-Yorker of 
i)ec. L>3, 1871, against this gratuitous seed 
DISSOLVING BONES. 
W. II. W Reading, Mass., in Ilorticultust, 
says:— My mode of doing this is very sim¬ 
ple and very effective. I have a large wa- 
ter-tight hogshead standing out doors, near 
the kitchen. In the spring I cover the bot¬ 
tom about six inches deep with dry soil, 
Un this I put a layer of bones of about the 
same depth, and cover them entirely with 
unleached ushes. On these another layer 
of hones, then ashes, and so on till the hogs¬ 
head is full. I leave it then exposed to the 
mins all summer and winter, until the next 
I spring. Then, on removing the Contents of 
the hogsheud. I hud nearly all the bones so 
soft that they will crumble to powder un- 
der a very slight pressure, aud mixed with 
22“ 1Uo 80i1 ’ thoj * fire m ° a uice 
little pile of most valuable manure, ready 
' ls '-- Al ‘J' of the bones not 
uffichntly subdued, I return to the hogs- 
n-ad again for another t wel i o month'# slurn- 
xi. I„ this way 1 have had no difficulty in 
transforming all the hones 1 can get into 
bone meal. I buy them directly Horn tie 
butcher at a dollar a hundred pounds, for 
tin. purpose of turning them thus into man¬ 
ure and consider them the cheapest fertili¬ 
zer I can obtain." 
economical notes. 
f 0 ^.^ 041 Ashe **- A correspondent 
asked the Farmers’ club something about 
t he value of soft wood ashes. It was replied 
that while soft wood ashes are not as 
valuable to apply to soils as hard wood 
be disputed among 
o.., 7 ; V ■ * mb . It!l )( c-' iiKliaptnisablc. Tliov 
L ll * dls IX ! ugable not onlv to save i In* 1i\, 
health and consequent power of procreation 
or Tcxn# to 
power of the wind- vVftuornMnn f* !'«*aillatly drying 
me Skin | 
the expediency of extensive wool growers 
engaged in the pastoral system of sheep 
husbandry, depondlng upon profosslomd 
bre eders for their supply of stock rams. 
i* 8 * aovriXTe clipped close, and left lonoer in 
plueoH where thoro wus any natural deUule&e^ ora 
hliotv point could be ltnprovect. lency, r 
for Con »bini Wool.-Will some of 
Nevv fv,?K™ C D r r S1?0UdeUt . 8 of t ,u ‘ 
( Msss?:Kax’ 
—-v iiiiuu uauos are not ; ; ,s 
valuable to apply to soils as hard wood 
asm*#, they arc always worth saving and 
using. In connection Mr. Weld said that 
ut large saw mills, where there are large ac¬ 
cumulations of saw dust, it is often burned 
to get rid of it; and the ashes are valuable 
especially when, as is often the case, tho 
saw dust is not consumed but converted 
uilo charcoal, which is always a most excel¬ 
lent application to soils And lasting in its 
influence, acting ns a continuous absorbent 
of gases which it yields up to growing 
plants. This is an important practical sug¬ 
gestion; lor it will pay farmers to buy tho 
saw dust, if necessary, nt. least haul it away 
ami Char it by burning for just (his use 
Where steam mills are run, most of the 
saw duet is now consumed in the furnaces- 
but the ualies — where the draft is not so 
great as to prevent accumulation —are well 
worth securing. 
Leached Ashen.—L. Burbank : We do 
not think louched ashes a cheap manure, at 
twentv cents iiw <■ . ... ’ r 
.m. n suomu Turman all farmers with seeds. 
11 it is going to keep up a Government seed 
store at the expense of the tax-payers, all 
tax-payers should be supplied. 
Tearing up the Roots of Corn.-In a 
discussion on Corn Culture by the Bloom¬ 
ing Grove Farmers’ Club, two members an¬ 
nounced themselves great friends of the 
fihovel plow; "believed in working close up 
to corn; tearing the roots did not injure* 
lt/ ’ ° u strong soils where the growth is 
largo, and when the plunt is nearly full 
grown, is root pruning necessary or profita- 
wve value must depend upon tho kind of 
soil to which they arc to be applied aud 
the cost of other manures in your locality. 
The Mud of the Coves, mentioned by 
a Hampton, Va., correspondent, will, in our 
judgment, bo found very useful, both for 
composting with other manure and to apply 
to light, soils hi the autumn or winter, with¬ 
out composting. It will harm no general 
Un* Lime, (to L. B,,) 
fully, if fresh, would, we 
roots of plants near walls. 
applied plenti- 
think, kill the 
