to Europe. The Jesuit missionaries after¬ 
wards carried it to Home, and thus it ac¬ 
quired the name of Jesuits’ Bark. It was 
also called D© Lugo’s Powder, after a car¬ 
dinal of that name, who was particularly 
active in recommending and distributing 
it. It attained great celebrity in Spain and 
It aly, but curiously enough the Protestants 
would have nothing to do with it. Falling, 
however, into disuse in Europe, it was again 
brought into notice by Sir Robert Talbor, 
or Talbot, who brought it to this country in 
10K3, and soon became famous for the cures 
he effected by its means. The new remedy 
was adopted by both Morton and Byokn- 
HAM, the most celebrated physicians of the 
age, and its use booh after became general, in 
spite of the opposition of the medical fac¬ 
ulty in France. 
The discovery of the alkaloids, on which 
its properties mainly depend, was a new era 
in the history of this medicine, and did not 
take place until the beginning of the pres¬ 
ent century. The chief active principle is 
quinine, the quantity varying in different 
specimens from 3 to 1 per cent. Quinine is 
very insoluble in water, and is therefore 
generally used In the form of sulphate or di¬ 
sulphate, which dissolves readily in alcohol 
and water, and is prescribed in almost all 
the cases to which the bark was supposed 
to be applicable, the use of the bark itself 
being almost entirely discontinued. 
-- 
ARBORICULTURAL NOTES. 
Rabbits and Mice Eating Trees.— 
Please give in theRuRAi.NEW-YoRKER the 
best methods of preserving young apple 
trees from the rabbits and mice in the Win¬ 
ter.—J oiin D. Pakkkii. 
Almost every kind of animal matter ap¬ 
pears to be offensive to rabbits and they 
will not touch the bark of a tree that has 
recently been smeared with blood, grease 
or offal of animals. Several of our corre¬ 
spondents have written us that they pro¬ 
tected their trees by smearing the stems 
with blood, saved for the purpose at the 
time of killing animals In Autumn. Any 
old lard or soap fat will probably answer 
the same purpose, but if mice are abundant 
then a little poison should be added; but 
it would be necessary to keep your fowls 
out of the orchard, for they w'ould be sure 
to pick up any small pieces that were drop¬ 
ped or found adhering to the trees. This 
rabbit and mice question is an important 
one to those who undertake to raise an or¬ 
chard in a new country, and if any of our 
readers know of a*better preventive than 
those given above we should be pleased to 
give it in our columns. 
Large Chestnuts.—We are under obli¬ 
gations to Mr. James IT. Ricketts, New¬ 
burgh, N. Y., for extra largo specimen of 
native chestnuts. Wo have often urged 
those who desire to grow chestnut timber, 
or the trees for ornamental purposes, to 
select the largest varieties to be found. A 
few generations of selected Hcedlings would 
result in our having in this country varie¬ 
ties of American chestnut that would equal, 
if not surpass, the European sorts in size; 
and it is well known that the American is 
far the best in flavor. 
Green Worm on Evergreens.—1 no¬ 
tice in Rural New-Yorker, Oct. 19, p. 
356, a gentleman is having trouble with a 
green worm on his evergreens. If he will 
prepare a strong solution lye and tobacco 
and syringe his trees thoroughly with the 
same in the afternoon, and again in the 
morning with clear water, he will have no 
further trouble with the worms. I have 
had trees infested with green lice and I 
think with the same green^worm he speaks 
of and the preparation being used properly 
destroyed the pests entirely.—,T. Z. C., 
Ontvrgoy Til. _ 
Hedging along Railroads,—Two hun¬ 
dred and lifty miles along the lino of the 
Chicago & Alton Railway have been planted 
with usage orange hedge, and it is all doing 
well, A part of it is four-year old, and will 
be ready to 41 plash ” in February or March 
next. The Jacksonville branoli uf this 
road is to be planted with hedge in the 
same manner, at the rate of fifty miles per 
year. The estimated cost of this hedge up 
to the time it is four years of age, when it. 
will he reaiiy to turn out. is seventy-five 
cents per rod. 
Wash for Emit Trees.—The Western 
Farmer says:—Win. IIakxden, Esq., near 
this city, has for years used with very good 
success as a wash for fruit trees, a compound 
of clay, cow manure, and ashes, mixed in 
Boap suds and applied with a brush to the 
trunk and branches as high as can he 
reached. lie finds it drives away bark lice, 
and cleans the tree of moss, etc. 
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE. 
Will farming pay? I have a decided 
penchant for farming, but as I have a liv¬ 
ing to earn, and a fortune to make, if possi¬ 
ble. my friends have always insisted that, I 
could not afford it — that it wouldn’t pay. 
Two years ago 1 started on a “trial trip” 
(not'making it my entire business), and on 
rented ground, too. I have kept accurate 
accounts of everything, aud know that 
farming, well done, will pay. 
A Profitable Investment.—One of the 
first things that I did, when I began, was 
to subscribe for the Rural New-Yoricer, 
and have since then paid five dollars and 
fifty cents for it. In looking over my dairy 
lean see how that has been my most profit¬ 
able investment. 
My Potato Crop.—Two or three weeks 
ago “ Daily Rural Life ” devoted two-thirds 
of a column to his potatoes. I will mention 
mine. My soil )h, apparently, similar to 
his—light, sandy and dry. My system of 
culture was exactly similar to liis—1st, con¬ 
centration; 3d, deep ooverlng; 3d, thorough 
cultivation; and I am glad to see that the 
plan that 1 have adopted Is endorsed by 
one so competent to judge of what is the 
best, as I believe him to be. 
This is said to be no “ potato country,” 
one hudred bushels to the acre being a good 
yield. My ground 1 had used for two or 
three years as a garden ; when I took it, it 
would scarcely raise weeds. On the 39th of 
March I laid off one-thirteenth of an acre; 
it was liberally manured and t wo bushels 
(twice too much seed) of Peach Blow pota¬ 
toes planted. 1 gave them two thorough 
workings, and, by the way, had two attacks 
from what 1 supposed to be Colorado Pota¬ 
to Beetles, the first that I ever saw. I 
found a faithful boy with a basket, supple¬ 
mented by a good fire, the most efficient 
remedy. 
On the 5th of Hep temper I harvested 
twenty-six bushels. Across the road from 
my garden is a piece of ground naturally as 
good as mine, cultivated by a man who 
never allows a bit of manure inside 47* 
fences, and feeds his cows on the creek bank 
to “save cleaning bis stables." Replant¬ 
ed one-fourth of an acre to potatoes, and 
dug twelve bushels. To give the thing a 
fair test, I selected a plot of ground as 
much like what my garden must have once 
been as possible, that had never beou 
cleared, and had it cleared, measured, and 
planted. There was two-fifths as much 
ground as I had in the other piece. 1 gave 
it precisely the same culture (saving ma¬ 
nure) that l did the others, and harvested 
four and one-half bushels. Isn’t new ground 
called the best for potatoes? 
A Disadvantage of Renting.—I have 
no Cool, dry cellar here, fit to keep any¬ 
thing in, and, as I am on rented premises, 
1 cannot afford to build one. Now, will 
some one who knows about it, till me 
which would be the best thing to do under 
Buch circumstances, with a crop of pota¬ 
toes ripe on the 1st of September; leave 
them in the ground until time to store 
them for winter, and run all the attendant 
risks, or dig them and have ’em kicking 
around, in lofts, on the barn floor, in the 
corn crib, etc., for two months? 
One Excuse for Time-Wasting.—This 
brings me to an article, “ What are the 
Profits!’’ published in the Rural New- 
Yorker Oct. 36th. I think that lack of 
means is frequently a cause of the waste 
of so much time on farms. A young man 
hasn't the convenience for saving work 
that he needs, and is obliged to do the best 
that he can, frequently doing the same 
thing over and over again that might have 
been better done, and finally done, under 
other conditions, at lirBt. If I “ estimated’' 
things, I should think that those potato 
bugs had been a good deal of bother; but 
as I don’t, I know that they have cost me 
$3 in handling and re-handling that might 
have been saved had there been a good 
cellar on these premises. a. r. k. 
Charleston, lva., C. H., W. Va., Nov. 6. 
Who next? We like this article! 
•-- 
FIELD NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Topping and Digging: Roots.—Two 
years ago I saw it suggested, in the Rural 
New-Yorker, I think, that the quickest 
and best way of topping roots was to do it 
with a sharp hoe before digging them. I 
have found this to be true; but I am in 
doubt whether I save more time by this 
process of topping than I lose in digging. I 
dig with a spade. Is there an easier and 
more rapid method? If your readers know 
any, let them impart their knowledge.— 
Norris Holmes. 
We have found along-handled spading- 
fork a good implement for digging roots— 
far better than a common spade. A fur¬ 
row with the landside of the plow run close 
to the row of roots, facilitates digging won¬ 
derfully. __ 
White Beans for Hard Soap.—I have 
heard it remarked by different parties that 
they have got to using the common white 
field beans in the manufacture of hard soap, 
which I cannot believe; for 1 certainly 
think I would have seen mention made of 
it in some of the agricultural journals be¬ 
fore this time. If such should be the case, 
please make mention of it in the Rural, 
and oblige—G. O. Pattisox. 
We know of no such use for white beans. 
Corn Wanted in Euro DC. —Mr. Mecht 
makes this prediction : — I am no alarmist, 
but I believe that, we shall have to pay for 
foreign corn, in quantity and price, 15,000,- 
000 to 30,000,000 sterling more than in a 
good wheat season. Threshing machine 
owners, who thresh for hire, are despond¬ 
ing; for while in a good wheat season 80 
qrs. have been threshed in one day, from 
15 to 45 are now the usual quantities. We 
may reasonably infer that there will be less 
employment for the laborer, and that rail¬ 
way companies will suffer much loss of in¬ 
come from the diminished conveyance of 
corn. 
<di}arm ^Implements. 
DITCHING MACHINE WANTED. 
I take the liberty of addressing you 
to ascertain from you what machine is con¬ 
sidered the best for ditching lands. The 
land we desire to ditch is level prairie, 
where nothing can interfere but the grass 
sods. Any information given will bethauk- 
fully received, as we are in need of such a 
machine; if you have not such information, 
please hand this letter to some reliable 
party who will advise us.— E. F. Russell, 
Portland, Oregon. 
We know of no machine that we can rec¬ 
ommend for open ditches, though many 
such machines have been invented. We do 
not assert that there are not those that are 
not practical, but we do not happen to 
know them. Tf your subsoil is a stiff clay, 
we can recommend the mole-ditchers that 
have been used successfully in Illinois. Wo 
have seen hundreds of acres of land with 
such subsoil drained by means of these 
ditches. They are operated comparatively 
cheap, and if one owns a machine and the 
drain fills up, it is easy to make another. 
But they are of no use uuless the subsoil 
is a stiff clay. Where they are manufac¬ 
tured now we do not know; if any of our 
readers do, let them address Mr. Russell 
as above. 
-- 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Bean Harvester.—Noticing an adver¬ 
tisement in the columns of the Rural 
New-Yorker of a reliable bean harvester, 
I wrote to the man to get the particulars, 
but as yet I have heard nothing. Now, if 
there is such an implement invented for 
pulling beans, except by hand labor, and 
that will not shell them any more than in 
pulling by hand, I should bo pleased to see 
more mention made of it in the columns of 
the Rural; also, the price of it, aud how 
much land one can go over with it in a day. 
I saw this advertisement in a July number 
of the Rural, 1 think. I also understood 
the Americans hud a machine for threshing 
beans, which I made mention of to you 
some three years ago, and to which yon 
replied that there was no such machine 
invented. If there should be any now, in¬ 
form me where they are manufactured, 
stating price, etc.— George O. Pattisox, 
Crowlund , Out. 
- -•»■»■»-- 
Practical Potato Planter.—A corre¬ 
spondent at Cooper, Mich., asks, — “Will 
you, or some of your correspondents, tell 
me whether there is now in use a practical 
potato plauter, and where it can be found, 
aud at what price." The only one we ever 
saw-, called a “potato planter," simply 
dropped the potatoes, but did not cover 
them. It required a man aud horse to do 
the dropping, and we would be willing to 
drop potatoes a week for nothing if we 
could not drop more potatoes in a day than 
the man and horse could. The largest po¬ 
tato cultivators manage to cover with a 
plow. If some of them would give their 
mode in detail it would be profitable read¬ 
ing from readers who are potato growers. 
<®he Sitiine- 
EXPERIMENTS IN FEEDING SWINE. 
Last year 1. P. Roberts, Superintendent 
of the Iowa Agricultural College Farm, 
tried some experiments in feeding swine, 
some of the results of which we condense as 
follows: 
On Sept. 4, in each of five pens were put 
two pigs each about four mouths old, each 
rather below the average of the litters to 
which it belonged, in a sixth pen one older 
hog was placed. To each pen was fed the 
same quantity of food, in neither case 
equally full feed, but rather better than the 
usual feed to ordinary store hogs. In 35 
days to eaoh pen was fed 7K bushels of new 
corn. The pigs in No. 1 were Natives; No. 
3, Berkshires; No. 3, Chester Whites; No. 4, 
if Berkshire, % Chester White; No. 5, % 
Suffolk, % Chester White; No.fi, tf Suffolk 
•)i Chester White. 
We give the combined weight of the pigs in 
each pen when put in, the number of pounds 
gained, and the price realized for the grain 
per bushel at a uniform standard: 
No. 1, weight 109; gullied 93; grain 43 cents. 
No. 3, “ 144; “ 123; 44 57 2-5 
No. 
It 
111 i 
178; 
44 
100; 
41 
40 
No. 4, 
41 
184; 
44 
flfi; 
44 
44 4-5 
No. 5, 
44 
148; 
14 
102; 
44 
4 i tJ-o 
No. 6, 
44 
330; 
44 
00; 
44 
28 
Experiments with other kinds of feed 
were tried with somewhat varying results, 
but all showing larger results in the cases 
of the Berkshire and the cross of the Suf¬ 
folk and Chester Whites. 
PIG-PEN PAPERS. 
Pigs— Live and Dead "Weights.—In an¬ 
swer to an inquiry—“ What proportion does 
the live weight of pigs bear to the dead 
weight ’’’—the Irish Farmers’ Gazette says: 
“ The proportion of dead to live weight of 
pigs is generally three-fourths of the live 
weight, when well fattened; but the dead 
weight of the improved breeds, when very 
fat, is frequently four-fifths or more of the 
live weight."_ 
Sale of Swine.—Mr Daniel Groome, 
near Groveport, O., made his first annual 
stock sale Oct. 3. He sold about 300 swine, 
receiving thorefor about $1,400. lie pro¬ 
poses another sale next year. 
Lice on Spring pig a.—A correspondent 
at Liberty, Ind., asks our readers to tell him 
what will exterminate lice from Spring pigs. 
Scientific niul tlsifful. 
HAI R SNA KES. 
Please tell me what the inclosed snake¬ 
like thing is. I found it in a new will that 
1 had just, dug, but which contained no wa¬ 
ter.— j. 11. Gums, Ma costa Co., Mich. 
It is the well-known Hair-worm (Gordi¬ 
us), which is often found in water and moist 
places, and the very thing that gave rise to 
the old notion, still popular among igno¬ 
rant people, that hurse-liuirs, when thrown 
into water, will turn to snakes. 
This hair-worm is parasitic in insects, 
aud in its young state is often found in the 
intestines or crickets, aud occasionally in 
those of the spider. Only a week ago we 
procured one nearly a foot long from the 
intestines of a largo black cricket which 
happened to fall into our wash bowl—the 
worm leaving the cricket for the water 
within a few moments, which appears to be 
their natural habit. When the eggs first 
hatch the worm makes its way into insects, 
whether it be grasshopper, cricket or spi¬ 
der, and there lives and feeds, coiled up 
among the viscera; and when it arrives at 
maturity it leaves its habitation and crawls 
away to some pool of water; but should 
the unlucky cricket or grasshopper jump 
into a well or water elsewhere, as the one 
did into our wash bowl, the worm takes ad¬ 
vantage of it and departs at once. 
There is a species— Gordias —which in¬ 
fests the honey-bee, and it is supposed that 
the young worms get into the bees while 
they are visiting ponds for water. The his¬ 
tory of these worms is quite an interesting 
one to those who delight in the study of 
nature. __ 1 f _ 
Trapping Rat*?.— I have found that a 
few drops of extract Anise, rubbed over 
the trap (after it has been thoroughly rinsed 
in water), will induce other rats to enter 
as readily as did the first.— H. K. Gilbert. 
Scientific and Useful Inquiries.—A 
correspondent asks if there is anything that 
will cleanse old window sash so that putty 
will adhere ? 
