mki m 
arm fcrortnntj}* 
COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS. 
The following from the Boston Journal of 
Chemistry needs no emphasis of ours to give 
it interest and importance to every farmer 
and gardener who buys fertilizers:—It is 
difficult to repress a feeling of indignation 
when we learn of the numerous ways and 
methods by which husbandmen are cheated, 
confused and hindered in their work. They 
are defrauded by those who furnish them 
with fertilizing agents, and by those who 
purchase farm products; they are confused 
by the conflicting statements of those who 
presume to advise regarding the best method 
of cultivating the soil, and hindered by being 
led to try experiments which can only result 
in failure. It is true, indeed, that all the in¬ 
dustrial dosses are deceived and worried 
more or less in their dealings and intercourse 
with men; but it is certain that the farming 
community expcrieuac more losses and an¬ 
noyances than any other class. Every wide¬ 
awake fanner is naturally desirous of increas¬ 
ing his crops, and hence he is ready to listen 
to advioe and engage in undertakings which 
appear plausible or hopeful. lie is ready to 
resort to any expedient which will enable 
him to restore fertility to his fields. Hence 
lie becomes an easy victim to charlatans and 
cheats. 
Our thoughts have been more specially 
drawn to this direction by some recent in¬ 
vestigations into the character of certain 
agents largely used as fertilizers, which have 
hitherto passed unsuspected through tlie 
channels of trade. 
Unleached wood ashes, when pure, are of 
the highest service to farmers and gardeners, 
and they are diligently sought for by almost 
every one who has lands to till. Hitherto, 
as they have come into the market, the quality 
has hardly been made a subject of inquiry ; 
but manifestly they should pass no longer 
unchallenged. Specimens of dry allies, sold 
as those of wood, have recently been brought 
to us, which upon chemical examination 
were found to be composed ol more than 
fifty per cent, of coal ashes. A. schooner 
load of ashes brought from an Eastern port, 
and purchased by a friend at twenty-five 
cents a bushel, proved to have only an actual 
value of five cents a bushel, We made 
analysis of a specimen of these ashes, with 
the view of purchasing a quantity it they 
prove satisfactory. The examination gave 
the following results: 
Hydrate of Liiuo. 55 parts 
Silica. J3 “ 
Charcoal . 7 “ 
Ashes, mixture of wood and coal. 25 “ 
100 
The large percentage of lime is due to the 
fact that the ashes came from a limestone 
district, and were taken from lime kilns, 
probably. 
Another substance known as fish guano, 
or fish pomace, has acquired considerable 
reputation in this section as a fertilizing 
agent, especially for grass lauds. It consists 
of the dry residuum of the fish oil factories 
on the New England coast, and is made up 
of the crushed hones and integuments of 
fishes, from which the oil has been separated 
by great pressure. When pure and dry, we 
have found il to he a good and convenient, 
plant stimulant, and worth about twenty 
dollars a ton. Probably but few of those 
who have become purchasers of Ibis sub¬ 
stance have suspected that it Is often so 
largely adulterated ns to he comparatively 
•worthless. Some specimens found in the 
market, and probably sold extensively to 
farmers, upon analysis gave the following 
results: 
Water. 1T 2G 
Sand. 4 >: it,, 
Phosphate of Lime. g]g 0 
Organic matter liolding ammonia and 
salts ot potash, soda, etc. 27.84 
100.00 
Here we have sixty-three percent, of sand 
and water, which are worthless materials, 
ami which are paid for at the rate of twenty 
or twenty-five dollars a ton. Another spec- I 
imen gave: 
Water... H1.00 
Organic matter.... 3 i .00 
Phosphate of lime and various sails 
with sand. . 34.00 
100.00 
This is better, hut still one-third of the 
whole bulk is perfectly worthless. A popu- I 
lar super-phosphate, recently examined, 
gave twentv-Lwo per cent, of water, and 
only five and one-half per cent, of soluble 
phosphate. Now, with these facts before 
us, is it necessary to inquire why so small ( 
an amount of benefit is received from the < 
application to our lands of commercial for- 1 
tilizing substances? When a farmer pur- * 
chases and employs, in connection with his 1 
crops fertilizers of unknown value, pray 
tell us of what value are his evneriinnnts to r 
He certainly can form no satisfactory opin¬ 
ion upon the subject. 
When we read in the journals of this 
: one’s failure or that one’s success with this 
or that fertilizer, we give the statements but 
little consideration, unless the actual value 
f I of the agent is known and stated by the 
j | experimenters. Much of the perplexity 
| and confusion connected with farm experi- 
j ments is due to the varying quality of the 
i substances experimented with. 
I-- 
, CHEMISTRY AND AGRICULTURE. 
At a late meeting of the Potomac Fruit 
, Growers’ Association, was discussed the rela¬ 
tions of chemistry to agriculture. Judge 
, Okay, the President, staled that, farmers 
were sometimes at a loss to account for the 
discrepancy which was frequently observed 
between chemical theory and practice. The 
chemist, he stated, set forth that oil was not 
valuable as a fertilizer, whereas the farmer 
found it, to he so, and in proof gave some ex¬ 
amples of the value of oil when so applied. 
Thos. Taylor, in answer, staled that pure 
oil is composed of oxygen, hydrogen and 
carbon, in such proportion as to constitute 
water and carbon. It contained no nitrogen, 
and ammonia, therefore, would not be formed 
by its combinations; yet it might he valua¬ 
ble, as peat is, or other decaying vegetable 
bodies. Butoil and grease, as foil ml in com¬ 
merce, was not a pure hydro-carbon, but a 
nitrogenous body,or rather it contained one. 
When we render fat, the pure oil or grease 
leaves the solid portion, which latter is the 
nitrogenous substance. The consolidated 
portions we give to hogs—the muscle form¬ 
ing portion. The oily or greasy portion we 
give to man, or the nou-muscic forming por- 
■ lion, which is valuable ns a heat producer; 
hut, the former is the more valuable, since 
nature can make fat from muscle, hut she 
cannot make muscle from fat. 
Mr. Taylor next explained the cause 
or causes which lead to the discrepan¬ 
cies of applied chemistry in its relation to 
agriculture. He stated that in the labora¬ 
tory the chemist is enabled to make precise 
combinations; he could weigh every sub¬ 
stance to a grain, and the combinations were 
exposed to a uniform temperature; ho could 
repeal his experiments time and again, suf¬ 
ficiently precise to obtain results of uniform 
character; and so it is in the factory; the 
same general conditions could he obtained 
But the farmer and fruit grower has to 
contend against every form of dissimilar 
condition—heavy rains, heavy dews, hot sun, 
frost preceding snow, high winds, insert 
depredations, fungoid growth; hail storms, 
and the converse of all these conditions. 
No two portions of soil are precisely alike; 
no two analyses will give precisely the same 
results, and the nature of the conditions 
preclude the possibility of their attainment. 
But there are general features which may 
he attained; drainage a\ ill remove sourness 
of soil. The application of lime will effect 
like results by combining with acids and 
forming neutral salts. The application of 
manure will and does stimulate growth. 
The presence of phosphates will fill up the 
seed. Chemistry has been of great value to 
agriculture; but it whatever give continued 
sameness of results. 
-- 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
RuowIciIkl 1 of Plnnt Stipiini-t. 
In a recent report of t he Alton, III., Horl. 
Soc., Mr. Pearson is .reported as saying, in 
effect-, that straw or other course manure 
turned under in spring could nut avail to 
benefit the crop of corn during the same 
season, except, in its mechanical effects by 
loosening of the soil. It may lie Mr. Pear¬ 
son is correct ; but if so, then all ou» leucb- 
ings heretofore arc as nought; for wc have 
been led to believe that straw, or turf, or 
coarse manure, turned to the bottom of n 
furrow slice in spring, by reason of warmth 
and moisture, gave prepared food to the 
corn or other grain or tuber, planted on the 
surface, during the months of July, August 
and September, and thus assisted them in 
| the maturing and ripening of grain or tuber. 
Wc live to learn; and if Mr. Pearson is 
right, then any mechanical agent that will 
keep Die soil loose is all we need for a good 
crop, and the use of line wood cuttings or 
strippiugs—which can be had at, one-half the 
cost of straw, in a majority of locations— 
should he just as good as straw or coarse 
manure.— Addi. 
Boa: AsJies for Uplands. 
Having plowed and burned the surface 
of a hog meadow (preparatory to making a 
cranberry bog), I desire to know if the ashes 
will pay for hauling on upland, the distance ; 
being short, and how much to apply to the i 
acre.— Basse las S. Morey, , 
\\ r K should say they would pay to haul; 
and two hundred bushels per acre, if you 
have them, will do more good than harm to 
iWal Avclnttctnn . 
MR BENNETT’S POULTRY HOUSE, 
Mr. D, Bennett of Paineaville, Ohio, has 
sent us a plan and description of his poultry 
house which we have deemed of sufficient, 
importance to have engraved fur the benefit 
of those desiring information on the subject. 
The plan looks to us as a feasible one and 
may answer the purpose of materially assist¬ 
ing those about to build a hennery. He 
says:—“Fig. 1 is designed to show the 
feet wide, square the edges nicely on three 
sides, so they will fit together snugly; now 
lay them about six inches below the surface 
of the ground, one squared edge against the 
building, the other squared edge joined 
together in the manner that pavement is laid 
down; lay the rough edge, which is the 
farthest from the walks, a little the lowest, 
so as to turn the water from the building; 
then keep the space around the building 
clear of lumber plies, piles of rails, or any 
thing that n rat can hide in or under. If his 
foundation walls are not, then rat-proof, he 
will have to get some one else to tell him 
how to make them so, If stone are not easily 
procured, any material that is solid enough to 
prevent a rat from digging through it xvill 
answer.— d. s. 
ft' 
an. 
Flo.2 \ liiiTtCAL Suction.- 1*, pickets; P, (», 
picket i, r ;iti*; K, nests; S. D, slide door; H, 
roosts; 1 Ft., otto foot high each ; V, ventila¬ 
tor; the dotted lines show the rafters cut 
out on a curve; IL ribs to secure roof boards. 
ground plan of the building, while Fig. 2 
shows a vertical section of the same, The 
ground plan shows the position of the nests 
and roosts; size of building 24x10; the roosts 
extend in the main part from the door to a 
pari it ion which is hoarded up to the roof; 
beyond the partition, which forms a room 
10 feet square, and is appropriated to the 
hens with small chicks; I he roosts ale nearer 
the ground to allow the chicks all easier 
chance to ascend to them, the partition is 
entered by a gale composed of light pickets 
which aicahoiu 4 Ibet high, which will keep 
the laying liens from the hens with chicks. 
A tier o( nests, B, is provided for the laying 
hens in the largest apartment; the tier C for 
ihe hens, with chicks in the smaller.- A 
narrow strip of floor is laid in4Yonl of the 
nests, in the smaller appartmont, about, a 
foot "•.,!( ; all the vest of the area is the 
earth. A floor 1$ also laid in the larger apart¬ 
ment over the whole area, except Under 
the roosts. The roosts ill the larger apart¬ 
ment have a foot rise, and the lowest one is 
2 feet flom the floor. The nests are 12x14 
inches square, and have a hoard secured In a 
sloping position over them. At the corner 
ol the building ami entering under the roosts 
is a slide door about 12x14 inches which can 
be closed at night. 
CHARBON OF ANIMALS, 
We find the following article in the Prac¬ 
tical Farmer, contributed by R. McClure, 
M. D., Y. S., Philadelphia, Pa.‘“ When¬ 
ever wc happen to look into any of the Re¬ 
ports from the Agricultural Department at 
Washington, we are not at all surprised, 
but often mil used that the word charbon 
should be used by the Commissioner. It 
was only last week the Associated Press tel¬ 
egraphed all over the country the freedom 
of cattle from ‘ cliarhon,’ as the announce¬ 
ment of the Agricultural Department. This 
would not have struck us particularly, were 
il not that It seems like an attempt to be 
xcknHjk-: but the word ‘ charbon ’ of the 
French to the scientific and English speak¬ 
ing people, is very vague as well as unintel¬ 
ligible to most persons whom the Reports of 
the Department are intended for. Perhaps 
the learned Commissioner thinks the word 
' boil ’ would not sound well, especially 
from Washington; hut if It falls to SOiind 
Well, il would well coHvey the nature of the 
disease he Is pleased to denominate * char- 
bon.’ 
“ The word charbon is very rare in English 
works, whether they he on domestic medi¬ 
cine or veterinary surgery—ami in no book, 
not excepting Hie best and most scientific 
lexicons of medical science, can you find a 
disease described under the title, charbon. 
This very fact, we think, to make all reports 
useful, should require every disease to he 
called by the tiame by which it is best 
known, or, at all events, give duplicates ot 
it, which would be better still; but the word 
* charbon ’ will not even do as a good dupli¬ 
cate, no more than the word ‘black/ for 
that is the meaning, and nothing more, 
“ Moreover, the disease which t he Commis¬ 
sioner denominates ‘charbon’ is not a dis¬ 
ease of this country, and is rarely seen in 
Great Britain, but is a disease of Russian Si¬ 
beria. Notwithstanding all this, the Com- 
• f 
I 1G - 1—Ground Plan.— B, P, hoard partition; B, nests for laying hens; C, nests for setting 
hens; I>, door; F, hour; P, U, picket gate ; It, roosts; W. windows. 
1 he building is well lighted by five large mlssloher Is not justifiable in bis terrain- 
windows, which slide back for llic convent- ology, when other, mole appropriate, and 
ence ol ventilation; size of windows about better names may be given than ‘ charbon' 
the usual size ol a 12 light, 8x10. —(black). Would it not be better to say, 
“In Fig. 2 is shown the general arrange- ‘ anthrax poison’—(black poison of cattle— 
meat of the interior, and also shows the roof black carbuncle of cattle—malignant boil of 
ventilator, which is about 16 inches square; cattle)? or, anthrax pulmomtm, as the case 
the slats are pivoted and can he opened or may he—Siberian boil, plague of cat tie, etc.? 
closed in any covcnient manner. The roof ‘Charbon’ is not a popular medical term, 
is composed of 6 inch siding 12 feel long and end cannot he received, in spite of its vague- 
is arched 18 inches in the center; the siding ness, as it is easier to find belter names for 
is laid double and secured to the longitudinal this disease than even to find fault with it; 
ribs by clinch nails. and changes in terminology, unless made 
“ Size of building, 24x10 feet outside and s; ‘ ,isf:ietor - v - aro Kkely to effect lmrm rather 
8 feet high at eaves; door in end 2 feet 6 inches 
wkfe and S feet high. The roosts arc 2x4 
scantling, as I think the fowls roost easier on 
this size. Amount of lumber:—Studs, 160 
feet board measure; roof, 600 feet, siding, 6 
inches wide inch thick; sides and etuis, 
544 feet % lumber; sills 2x6,80 feet running 
measure; scantling for corner and center 
than promote precision,” 
In the Southern Farmer for June w T e find 
the following, under head of “Charbon 
Cured;'’-- 111 A valuable horse, belonging to 
Col. Moyer, was suffering from this terrible 
disease yesterday, when a speedy cure was 
effected in the most remarkable maimer by 
that well known veterinary surgeon, Dr. W. 
)\ . Jackson, w ho applied his never-falling 
uivuauii: * BIMtllUlIli; UM WHIG!' tUKl ftftlltPl' 1,. f* \ * * •> . . .-© 
posts 4*4 38 feet ram,mg measure; battens, prevent a/.wn^orJ^S’lStru'JSSl^w 
z mches,46 feet, 10 feet long cut onee in two. classed as an epidemic. Dr. Jackson has a 
Cost of building here, for work and lumber rem<? dy which cures the disease almost in- 
about $65.’’ ? staidly. The doctor has his headquarters at 
tell us of What value are his experiments to and two hundred bushels per acre, if you 
himself or anybody else? If he fails of have them, will do more good than harm to 
satisfactory results, upon what, or upon almost any soil. 
is horn, can he lay the blame? If lie secures -- 
a successful crop, does he know whether it Economical Inquiries.- Will not. some of your 
is due to the fertilizer, or to a favorable sea- f* ders "’ h ° h £ e rna , do experiments with marl, 
son or cood 0 L . n tel1 us something about it, giving character 
’ a cul Uue, ot some other agency ? of soil and crop ?—P. r. c. 
Rat-Proof Walks. 
If the Hudson, Mich., correspondent de¬ 
sires to make his walks nil-proof, I think he 
can do it in the following manner;_First 
he must have the foundation walls built so 
compactly that a rat cannot dig through, 
them; then get thin flat stone three or fb*r, 
remedy which cures the disease almost in¬ 
stantly. The doctor has his headquarters at 
Griswold - drug store. No. 423 Main street, 
where he can be consulted and bis charbon 
specific purchased/ ~ 
from the Ledger, a 
Memphis daily, for the benefit of our friends. 
e learned in the office that Dr. Jackson 
catne to our office to have us see the case 
and treatment, but v, o had gone out on busj- 
ncss. Understand, w T e are not paid, or even 
scdtctted to do this nittcb/.' 
amibiun Drparftnrnt. 
CANADIAN INDUSTRIES. 
Our seeding lime opened early, and the 
few warm days in the latter part of April 
gave promise of an early spring, which was 
very desirable on account of the serious in¬ 
jury which the wheat crop sustained by the 
sudden melting of the snow on the first days 
of March. Snow is our natural protection 
tbf our winter crops, amt we are pleased to 
sec it remain until the first showers of April 
shall bring out the plant, vigorous and 
healthy. Many bad hopes, in fact w ere rath¬ 
er confident, that the serious injury to the 
wheat would not prove to he as great as the 
appearance of the fields indicated, hut expe¬ 
rience has proved the unfavorable weather 
of March will diminish our yield of wheat 
ill this section one-half; a full field is the 
exception, while “ badly killed ” is the gen¬ 
eral rule. The margins of our fields and 
sheltered portions give fair promise, indicat¬ 
ing but too plainly the want of a narrow 
timber belt encircling our grain fields for 
winter protection. 
Cbtmritt Wlieni Production! 
For the past eight years the results of la¬ 
bor in the production of wheat, have not 
been satisfactory; the first among the causes 
which has diminished the production, was 
tlie devastation of the midge. It appeared 
along the Niagara frontier first, and gradual¬ 
ly disseminated itself West and Northward, 
and is still 11 marching on j M its effeds are 
yd seriously felt in northern counties, while 
in our immediate vicinity we arc cautiously 
returning to the production of Bottles and 
Dcihl. The early introduction of midge- 
proof wheat or “ Michigan Amber” mitiga¬ 
ted, iu a measure, our misfortune, which 
would have been unnecessarily prolonged 
had we persisted ill the clultnlVOi tb iaisfc 
Dui* old varieties. 
Jllived HiinIhi ndry. 
At the close of the American Rebellion 
there was an active demand in the “ (States” 
for cattle, sheep and horses; and farmers, 
anticipating that the results of the war had 
left a bare supply of that class of stock, en¬ 
tered largely into Its production) relinquish¬ 
ing the unsuccessful effort of producing 
grain; iu this change to stock raising; the 
Canadian farmers have been the gainers, as 
experience has proved; prices have been 
well sustained until the present season; 
mixed farming has proved beneficial to their 
fields in producing a larger amount of fertil¬ 
izing agents, and a degree of rest from the 
severe tax of the land in continuous efforts 
to produce wheat 
iiniriiiiii 
is another branch of farming which lias 
made rapid progress in Canada in the past 
few years, and its success gives indication 
of its being permanently established. There 
is a great question w hether old wheat farms 
now producing butter and cheese will return 
again to the more exhaustive ami uncertain 
production ot wheat. Wheat production is 
the most exliruiBling to the soil, and requires 
unremitting efforts with clover, plaster and 
manure to maintain a paying production; 
and these auxiliaries are so often wanting 
that the results are decidedly unsatisfactory. 
We cannot afford to raise wheat at eighty 
cents to bite dollar liar htisheli with a yield 
Of Icii to twelve bushels per Here ; iiliil as 
we sometimes figure less even than that, 
results are not promising. We sometimes 
think we do not receive that amount of 
sympathy which n knowledge of our pe¬ 
culiar position would entitle us. We copy 
from a Toronto paper, .Tune 5, market quo¬ 
tations!—Soule’s wheat,SI.20vd 1.20; Tr&id- 
Wfell, $1 2b(g l.2d; 1‘ed winter, $1.2-8; spring, 
$1 26(tot 28. New York, June 3.—White 
Western, $170. Chicago, June 3—No. 2 
Chicago spring, $t.3G(ftl.26*£. 
It Will he observed that our wlltte wheat 
in Toronto is worth no more than No. 2 
spring in Chicago, and our white wheat is 
quoted tit fort v-four to forty-one cents less in 
Toronto than in New York. Here is a con¬ 
dition of our market, which is certainly dis¬ 
heartening to the producer of wheat, when 
wc know that this position of our trade is 
the result of ambitious political leaders on 
this side of the lakes. 
Free friidtr with the Slates* 
The people of Canada are ready for a free 
trade with the United Slides if the question 
Could lie fairly ventilated. Will Gaiiaua 
again produce its own bread? The stum \ 
to do so can be scarcely doubted; but witn 
the increase of population and varied me¬ 
chanical industries, which wilt natural!) 
arise on tlie renewal of intimate connnerciai 
relations with the Americans, will eniaig 
the consumptive demand; and W 1 ‘ , 
present strong attractions for diuryfi’S 
stock raising, adding thereto the disc S 
ments attending the culture of wheat, th 
question is a debatable one. Vi e 1)g 
mouse water power, however, an - * 
able to do a large business in g ri, 'd'"° , ort . 
cagoaml Milwaukee Spring wheat for expo-1 
.Arnold’* Hybrid Mid*e Prodf 
Inclosed arc some beads of GAkko^ 
HytoW HWf Amber. The 
between 8ou)c'san«.uu -n. ot bead 
distinctive feature in it is the Jengu-* 
;wid earhuoss. A small fiekl is cicely in 
head, pit lx a considerable portion iu blos^ 
som ; a number of heads were out in May. 
I have none to sell. m. w. b. 
Pru'it:. Out . June 7,1871. 
