MOOBE 6 S EyBAi WfW-YORKEB. 
(Jicld (Crojifi. 
AMERICAN VS. RUSSIAN HEMP. 
Ax officer of the United States Navy lias 
made some inquiries as to the relative merits 
of American and Russian hemp and gives the 
following as the result: 
Iris the general idea that rope made of 
Russian hemp is stronger than rope made of 
American hemp, but tests made at the U. S. 
Naval Rope Walk, at the navy yard, as shown 
by the enclosed paper, which shows the re¬ 
sults of the tests made of the various sizes of 
rope, prove, quite the contrary, and that the 
American is much the strongest. 
You will observe that, the tests referred to 
were made of rope tarred and rope not tarred, 
and that the rope made of dry hemp is much 
stronger than rope made of tarred hemp. 
The A mcrican hemp does not take tar equal 
to the Russian hemp, and for some purposes 
is preferable, while the Russian hemp is pre¬ 
ferred for others ; which hemp is the best for 
ship purposes it is impossible to say, us suffi¬ 
cient tests and experiments have not been 
made to decide the question satisfactorily. 
From what I have seen, however, the 
American hemp for some purposes, on ac¬ 
count of its superior strength, is preferable 
to the Russians. 
Owing to the very large amount of wire 
rope Tu id mauilla rope used at the present 
time on all sea going vessels, the demand for 
hem] i has decreased greatly. If these facts 
are sufficiently interesting to publish, you are 
at liberty to do so. 
Size Rope, a 
Circumference L r - 
Dry Hus 
Tarred 
Am’ciin 
j arrui 
Russian. 
2% inches. 6760 Ub»J 
6320 1 6510 
030J1 lbs. 
6110 \ 6305 
6626 Ubs.,5360 • lbs. 
6175 < 6500 5300 ( 5300 
214 inches.5510 \ .,-«t 
|6G40< 
$3 {5188 
$00 s wJjm ‘ lyty) 
•>37U / i7W 
2 inches.6120 \ ,,,,,,, 4300 < 
43001 |4330 1 
1300 \ iM*. 1360 ) docij 
inches. 4000 ( ..,,,, 4140 J JftSn 
4420 ( 4 “ 1(l 8020 i 10,10 
3U30 ( 
iw{ 2yl ° 
18 tbl ea<J . j 3205 jj|g | 8026 
2640 j 
24021"“* 
15 tblead. 2300 > 2360 j 2065 
am** 
88 
12 “ .|® Jig*™, 
1376 J , 1200 1 
lA86l 13l5 | 1205? 1202 
9thrCad .'1 Ik| U «>|i08o1“ ! »I 
1025 V i/irnr 1025 S jivkQ 
1085 W5 l ,UUU 
0 thread*. G45 j h»ce 
865? “** 
S ftorj t »D/i] 046 j rn* 
645 1 88j | 045 < (iW, i 546 ( • ,9 - 1 
The above figures show the tests made of 
hemp rope, made of American and Russian 
hemp ; both of dry and tarred hemp ; of rope 
varying in size from2ty inches to rope made 
of six (rope yams or threads). The rope is 
measured by taking the circumference. Two 
tests were made of each size of rope and the 
mean taken to show the average strength, 
and in all cases the figures give the preference 
to American hemp for strength. 
•-« « ♦ 
RAPE ON FALLOWS. 
I have seen various kinds of grain recom¬ 
mended in your paper to be sown on fallows 
to plow under. Last year I resolved to 
experiment a little in that direction. I ac¬ 
cordingly took afield of iiftoen acres, plowed 
it about 10 inches deep, with a double plow 
and three-horse team ; finished about the last 
of Junc ; harrowed five times ; sowed two 
bushels of peas on about an acre, and sowed 
the rest to rape seed at the rate of five pounds 
per acre ; harrowed once and went over it 
with the roller. The seasou being dry, it 
was very slow incoming up aud finally came 
up spotted. When about eighteen inches 
high, on an average, it was plowed under and 
sowed to wheat. While it was growing, my 
sheep were kept on it and got fat. The win¬ 
ter was so severe that it killed the wheat so 
that I thought best to plow it up and sow it 
to spring wheat, on the 25 day of April, with 
a drill. The month of May wasvei-y cold and 
the m nth of June very dry till the lost week, 
when copious showers fell, and, notwith¬ 
standing the unfavorable weather, it now 
presents a fine appearance. What the final 
results will be I cannot tell with certainty. 
With me the sowing- of rape is an experiment 
which 1 think will give satisfaction. It is 
easier to plow under than peas, as it does not 
hang together. It is also valuable as pasture 
for sheep and cattle that are to be fattened. 
I have sowed ten acres this year and intend 
to sow fifteen more soon to pasture, and plow 
under. The seed cost, in Brantford, eleven 
cents per pound, making it cheap seeding. 
Brantford, Ontario. T. D. Crawford. 
--- 
FIELD NOTES. 
Seeding on Sod. —Mr. H. R. Wood of New 
Lenox, Will county, recently gave the Prairie 
Farmer an account of some experiments he 
tried last spring with seeding on an old pas¬ 
ture sod. On the second day of February, 
when the soil was only thawed one and 
a-half inches, he run the harrow over two 
acres of tough sod and sowed thereon one 
peck of clover seed, afterwards going over 
the ground with a roller. Notwithstanding 
the seed was of the crop of 1870, he cut a 
heavy crop from tins land, and at the time 
he talked with us, the second crop was nearly 
ready to be cut for seed. He also put in 
considerable Alsike clover seed, a few days 
alter the common red clover wits sown, which 
produced an excellent crop. In this instance 
he used the cultivator instead of the hamow 
in preparing the land. 
Bouton Marrow Squashes us a New En¬ 
gland Field Crop.—A correspondent of the 
Vermont, farmer writing from the seaside, 
says :—1 saw in the cornfield every ninth 
row planted to Boston marrow squashes, 
instead of corn. Tliis Farmer has practiced 
this for six years, and while every year 
squashes sell well, two years out of the six 
the squash crop was worth more than the 
good crop of corn on eight-ninths of the land. 
How to Improve Corn. —A Western corn 
grower says :—“Plant early on the best 
ground you have. Plant but two kernels to 
the hill, or at least let only that, number of 
stalks mature. Mauure liberally, cultivate 
thoroughly. Tliis treatment will give a ten¬ 
dency to produce two or more cam to the 
stock. Again plant all such double ears. 
Continue t his for a number of years, and the 
result will be a new variety of corn, aud 
very prolific.” 
Cirsium Lanceolatu m. —J. T. R., Flat Gap, 
Jefferson Co., Term., sends “the leaf of a 
weed” which he says, “is becoming, very 
plenty here,” and asks its name. We have 
given it above. It is a common thistle, and 
we recommend our correspondent to destroy 
it before it matures and distributes its seed, 
whenever he finds it. It will prove trouble¬ 
some, though it „is not so bad a weed as the 
Canada thistle. 
How to Save Seed Corn. —Will you allow 
me to ask your farm readers to give their 
respective methods of saving seed com ? Do 
they select it before cutting the com ? If so, 
how ? And how do they preserve it through 
the winter?—W. M. B., Vermont. 
J?arm OToitomir. 
COMPOBTING MANURE. 
I want to see the manure question well 
ventilated through the columns of the Run a a 
New Yorker. 1 hear of compost heaps; 
and we have in this county things called com¬ 
post heaps. Let us hear all about them, the 
manner of /unking them, what with, how 
long before the manure Is fit. for the soil and 
crops. The greatest portion of the people in 
East Tcnnesce let their horses stand and 
tramp their manure in t he stall six mouths 
and then haul to the field ; and a portion of 
the fanners throw their mauure out into the 
bleaching rains and sunshine until they have 
to haul it away to get to their stables. A few 
compost their manure or do something called 
composting. We formers of East Tennessee 
know how to -wear out land and we ought to 
loam how to enrich laud. 1 know of no bet- 
ter way than to get every farmer to subscribe 
for the Rural New-Yorker. — j. t. r. 
The object of composting manure is to save 
all its fertilizing properties in a condition for 
llio immediate use of plants when it is applied 
to the soiL Decomposition must take place 
with all solid manures before they are avail¬ 
able for tbo use of the plant. We therefore 
save the fertilizing material and the time 
required to decompose raw manure when 
applied to the soil in the fresh state by com¬ 
posting it properly before applying it. 
The compost heap should he under shelter. 
Neither the rays of ttye sun nor rains shoidd 
reach it. (True, compost heaps are made 
without such shelter, but. always at a loss of 
fertilizing properties.] If the floor upon 
which the compost is to be prepared is water- 
tight, all the better. A good stiff clay bot¬ 
tom, scooped out in the center so as to hold 
the liquids, will answer ; or the floor may be 
(Often is) so constructed that the liquids 
which drain from the heap flow from it at 
one point into a cistern or rank, and are 
thence drawn and used direct upon plants. 
It is important the liquid portion of the ma¬ 
nure should be carefully saved and used. It. 
is most valuable. 
The best foundation for a compost heap is 
a bed of muck, one foot to eighteen inches 
thick. This is an absorbent, bolds the liquids, 
or the ammonia they contain as they filter 
down through it. If muck is not available, 
leaf mold, dry leaves, rotten wood, chip ma¬ 
nure from the back yard, straw, or even 
clayey loam soil should be used. On this 
bottom layer of muck, leaves, etc., put a 
layer of manure, a few inches thick; then 
another layer of muck and again manure, 
until the manure is all incorporated with the 
muck. Be sure to have a layer of muck on 
top of the manure always. 
On this compost heap should be poured all 
the liquid manure that can be obtained, in¬ 
cluding the drainings from the stables, cham¬ 
ber ley from the house, soapsuds, greasy 
water from the kitchen. It will be well, if 
there is not liquid enough to thoroughly wet 
this heap once or twice a week, to give it a 
good wetting down with rain water. But in 
either case, care should l ie taken to save the 
liquid that filters through the mass. The 
heat resulting from fermentation is reduced 
by tliis wetting process and does not. essen¬ 
tially retard decomposition, for it, furnishes 
a fresh supply of oxygen to the mass ; and it 
is a substitute for forking over the mass 
thoroughly once to five times, which is im¬ 
portant where liquids are not thus supplied, 
and which many farmers do, even when they 
do supply liquids. If the liquids have not 
been supplied in the way indicated, then 
after the compost lias laid two or three 
weeks, the farmer should begin at one side 
of the heap and carefully pitch it over with 
a manure fork, making another heap and 
working the moss together thoroughly. Two 
or three such forkings over are generally 
sufficient; and when the whole mass has 
become homogeneous in character and thor¬ 
oughly decomposed, it. is ready to apply to 
any crop at any time iw/d in any manner 
desired. 
It is an excellent plan to mix lime and salt 
with the muck as it is hauled out of the 
swamp and piled up, before adding the stable 
manure to it. It decomposes and sweetens 
the muck and does not affect its absorbing 
qualities. But lime should not be added to 
the stable manure unless it is completely 
covered with muck. It hastens decomposi¬ 
tion, and liberates the ammonia ; and unless 
there is absorbing material enough covering 
it, it almost destroys the value of manure. 
As a rule it is better to apply lime direct to 
the soil. 
-♦-*♦- 
WASTE OF PLANT FOOD. 
There cannot be a greater instance of na¬ 
tional folly than England exhibits. In future 
ages it will be scarcely credited that a city 
like London with nearly four millions of in¬ 
habitants, should have expended tons of gold 
1 in poisoning the water of the beautiful river 
running through it with millions of dollars’ 
worth of the richest manure to be found in 
any part of the world and at the same time 
as this pollution is continued millions of gold 
is expended in procuring substitutes for what 
is thus wantonly cast Into the sea through 
the river Thames. America has proved her 
inventive ability to be extraordinarily active, 
and if some of the talent on tliis quarter of 
t in- globe could be directed to the formation 
of companies to collect tliis valuable and 
mercantile matter without injury to health 
or offense to the olfactory nerves, the exam¬ 
ple of turning tliis plant-food to account by 
transfer to the soil requiring it, instead of to 
the waters which need it not. fortunes might 
be made and a shameful and wicked waste 
prevented. Working Farmer. 
• -» »♦- 
ECONO MICAL NOTES 
Burning Sawdust. —W. asks, “could saw¬ 
dust that has lain in a pile for two or three 
years lie handily burned ; if so, what value 
would the ashes have as manure ? ” Wheth¬ 
er it can be “handily burned ” or not, must 
depend upon its dryness and upon the facili¬ 
ties for burning it. If used to feed a furnace 
with a strong draft, it could be quickly 
burned. But whether it would burn in bulk 
or not, our correspondent ought to know a 
great deal better than we. The ashes will 
be valuable lor soil; but their relative value 
will depend upon the kind of wood of which 
they are made. Hard wood ashes contain 
more potash than the ashes of pine or other 
light woods. 
How the Time of Cleaving Lumber Lund 
Affects Crops. —A correspondent of the 
Country Gentleman asks a question which 
our experience answers in the negative, but 
upon which we would be glad of our readers 
experience. It is :—“Is there any truth in a 
statement I have heard that timber land 
cleared in mid-summer will have its soil 
spoiled for years, which soil would have 
proved highly fertile if the timber had been 
out off in mid-winter ? Does the sudden ex¬ 
posure of a shaded surface to the heat of the 
mid - summer sun impoverish the soil 
thereon!” 
Cotton Seed Meal for Cows and Sows. —A 
North Carolina correspondent of the Journal 
of the Farm says :—For some time I fed both 
cows and sows with hulled cotton seed, from 
which the oil had not been pressed. The 
result was that for a whole year my cows did 
not have a calf nor my sows a pig. Believing 
that the cotton seed meal was the cause of 
the difficulty, T discontinued its use, and in 
about six months my sows brought pigs, and 
in about eighteen months my cows brought 
calves. I have conversed with several gen¬ 
tlemen whose experience coincides with 
mine. 
Pole-Rolled Tobacco. —We notice that dur¬ 
ing a recent discussion by Pennsylvania farm¬ 
ers, buyers complain that much of the to¬ 
bacco has been pole-rotted—spoiled by hang¬ 
ing it too close on the poles. Some farmers 
get SO cents per pound for their tobacco, 
while others find it difficult to sell it at any 
price in consequence of pole-rotting. 
Charcoal , remember, is one of the best 
absorbents ever used ; that, applied to any 
kind of soil, its influence is marked upon 
crops for years afterward. Tt is one of the 
best mulches for plants that require moisture 
we know of. 
Hand-Mill for Crushing Grain for Slock. 
—W., Gibsons, O., asks if there is a hand- 
mill that will grind or crash grain for stock. 
If so, where it can be found? We know of 
none. 
She Horseman. 
THE PURCHASE OF DEXTER. 
The Turf, Field and Farm gives the follow¬ 
ing as the true story of the purchase of Dex¬ 
ter by Mr, Robert Bonner. It says 1 There 
having been wilful misrepresentation in re¬ 
gard to the purchase of Dexter in 18(17, it 
may not be amiss to put the public in full 
possession of the facts. Dexter was matched 
to trot a race of mile heats, J in 5, with Ethan 
Allen and running mate at Fashion Course, 
June 21, 1807. A few days before the event 
a party of gentleman standing on the stoop 
of the Dubois Club House were discussing 
the match. George B. Alley remarked that 
Dexter would beat 2:18, but be found nobody 
to agree with him, the majority thinking 
that 2:20 would be nearer the mark, Mr. 
Robert Bonner, who was present, took Mr. 
Shepherd F. Knapp aside ami after a few 
explanatory words, authorized him to pur¬ 
chase Dexter in ease the white legged gelding 
beul Ethan Allen and running mate and 
trotted one heat in the race below 2:20, “How 
high shall I go?” asked Mr, Knapp. “Go 
as high as forty thousand dolla rs provided he 
beats the team and 2:20,” was the response. 
The race came off at the proper time, and as 
is well-known Dexter did not win it,, although 
he trotted remarkably fast, being not more 
than a second from the score when Ethan 
Allen crossed it in 2:15. As it was stipulated 
that Dexter should beat Ethan Allen and 
running mate, Mr. Knapp did not open nego¬ 
tiations. Several weeks later Mr. Bonner 
made a direct offer for Dexter through a 
friend of Mr. Fawcett’s. That friend, in a 
few hours, brought Mr. Bonner and Mr. 
Fawcett together for the first time iD then- 
lives. In the interview which followed, Mi-. 
F. said that he could not sell Dexter then, 
but would ugree to sell and deliver him on 
the 10th of September. Some days after the 
first interview the following agreement and 
receipt, embodying the facts, was signed: 
“Received, New York, August o. 1S67, 
from Robert Bonner, one thousand dollars 
on account of the trotting horse Dexter, 
which I have sold to Mr. Bonner for thirty- 
three thousand dollars—said horse to fie de¬ 
livered to Mi-. Bonner, sound, on the 10th of 
September next. In the meantime he is to 
trot as my horse in the races—one at Roches¬ 
ter, one at Buffalo, and two at Chicago, one 
in Harness and one in wagon. 
A. F. Fawcett.” 
-♦-*♦-- 
BREAKING COLTS. 
The gentling of colts should begin when 
they are but a few weeks old. Frequent 
handling and occasional salting or feeding 
them from out of your baud and stroking 
their necks are all good practices. From two 
to three, years old they should be accustomed 
by degrees to the saddle and bridle. Thus 
treated, breaking becomes an easy task. 
When first being driven they should be har¬ 
nessed with a good, steady horse. In fact, 
kindness and firmness, together with good 
common sense, is what is needed in breaking 
colts. And if they are rightly managed they 
will seldom, if ever, play any tricks. In the 
first place they should be made to understand 
what is wanted of them and then in the 
proper way make them perform accordingly. 
/ w. G. 
