iadtr 
BEANS —USE AND PROFIT. 
My friend, J. II. H., of Steuben county, 
inquires about beans. I am glad he is on 
that truck. Beans, so various in kinds and 
qualities, and capable of being cooked and 
Served in .such a variety of ways, ought to 
fill a larger space than they do iu our domes¬ 
tic economy. 
“ Siring beans” are about the first of our 
garden products; a little later shelled beans, 
tender and savory, arc among the best of our 
vegetables; and then all through the year 
they take various shapes pie ising to the 
palate, and nutritious beyond almost any 
article of vegetable food. Well dried, they 
endure tropical heats and Arctic colds. The 
experienced wanderer in desert, lands puts 
them into his pack in preference to anything 
else, as his substitute tor starvation. Bean 
soup and a crust of bread make any man a 
first-class meal. 
Let them have more attention in our gar- 
dins, even where their field culture is not 
profitable. It will well reward our pains to 
start early and protect from frost the Lima 
bean and kindred varieties that are Immense¬ 
ly productive and \ ery good to eat. 
I cannot recommend the field culture of 
beans in Steuben county, or any of the 
“Southern tier." The big bean crop which 
J. H. It. inquires of me about was not in 
Allegany county. I have several times raised 
crops of beans that paid the market price of 
the land they grew on. Barley, wheat, corn, 
potatoes, &o., sometimes do the same. Keep 
clear of beans where the frosts come late in 
the spring and early in the fall. June frosts 
use up beans, root and brunch, and early 
Aosta injure them for market and make them 
unprofitable. Beans require dry, rich, warm 
and uniform soil, r,o that they will make a 
quick, vigorous and even growth. 
I have grown beaus on the Pearl Creek 
gravel, and saved them well in a wet season 
by turning and airing them often ; while, at 
the same time, on a colder and more tena¬ 
cious soil, they would cure slower and spoil 
In spite of me. 
Tue cheapest and best way to cure beans 
in unfavorable weather is to pull them when 
dry, mid spread thorn in and under sheds, or 
scaffolds, haymows, &c. With one or two 
days of s in after pulling, you may put in 
beans loosely, a forkful in a place, as I have 
indicated, and they will cure with a bright, 
glossy surface very plea -lug to purchasers. 
Large fields of early, well ripened beans may 
be pulled, gathering the roots together iu 
handfuls, and set down roots up to remain 
till a day or two before drawing, when they 
should lie turned over and promptly secured; 
but the scaffold system is .safest, as far as 
you have room. 
The Marrow is the bean llmt pays m the 
long run, but there are fancy sorts that do 
better for a while. II. T. Brooks. 
-- 
POTATO EXPERIENCE. 
I have read the “ Potato Notes,” that 
have appeared in the Rural with consider¬ 
able interest. Every season [ test and ex¬ 
periment with all the new varieties that can 
be procured. 
Early Rom .—In the spring of 1868 I re¬ 
ceived one pound of this popular variety; 
was rather unfortunate, as the Colorado 
Potato Bag were so numerous us to lie un¬ 
manageable. Tlie yield under their discour¬ 
aging influence was fitty-fold; tested them 
and found their quality goa l. The present 
season they have proved themselves very 
prolific. One pound was experimented with 
separate from the rest, as a field test, aud 
produced ninety-six pounds. 
Willard. — Received of this variety one 
tuber; weight four ounces. Cut to single 
eyes and dropped two pieces to each hill; 
they received field culture, one hoeing; yield 
sixty pounds.; quality excellent. A luili'- 
early variety and vigorous grower. I also 
received the following varieties:—The Ex¬ 
celsior, Philhrick's Early While and Shakers’ 
Fancy. I am very favorably impressed with 
the Excelsior as a table variety. 
Climax. — I received one pound of this 
early variety. The specimens were beauti¬ 
ful, and were planted and cared for the 
same ns the Willard. Yield one hundred and 
eighty po quality good. 
Bresee’s Prolific and the Worcester or 
Reilly I shall try another year. The eye of 
the Worcester is too deep.—W. II. M., Little 
prairie , Wis. 
Willi ilie German Method. 
The following I submit the Rural in refer¬ 
ence tn a neiv method of planting potatoes, 
originated by Guiibtsn of Pinnoberg, Hol¬ 
stein. Tlic leading features are: 1st, turn¬ 
ing up the soil to a good depth ; 21, choosing 
as seed large and many-eyed potatoes; 3d. 
giving each a space of twelve square feet ; 
4tii, laying the budding side down, and. 1 
add, as an English recommendation, (the 
philosophy of which I don’t account for, but 
which I am satisfied from experiment is 
“ wholesome,”) cutting off a thin slice from 
the butt end. Those engaged in raising only 
potatoes in England, contend it hastens ger¬ 
mination. The advantages claimed are a 
decided saving of seed and a very large in 
crease in produce—claiming (according to 
my calculation) an equivalent to, say live 
hundred and fifty bushels to the acre. 
The following are the results of my experi¬ 
ments the past season, following the direc¬ 
tions as above given :— I selected twenty po¬ 
tatoes, weighing seven pounds, average five 
and a half ounces; made twenty lulls, lour 
by three feet apart—the whole occupying 
two hundred and forty feet. When the sea 
son was well advanced, I pulled one lull to 
I show a neighla>r, and obtained thirty pota- 
I toes, weighing seven pounds, consisting of 
twenty-five table and five small potatoes I 
then pulled anoLlier hill in another part of 
my ground, seeded with a slice from the seed 
end only, and planted in drills one foot apart, 
from which 1 took twelve potatoes—eight 
table and four small The whole twenty 
hills on the GunLisn plan, foot tip one hun¬ 
dred and twenty pounds good, perfectly 
smooth and sound potatoes, or, according to 
my estimate, at the rate of three hundred and 
slxty-thrcc bushels per acre. 
1 also planted fifty pounds seed (halved 
potatoes) and dug nine bushels, from slips 
from seed, and ninety pounds planted in 
drills, (one foot apart, throe feet in rows) — 
twenty-two bushels. It should he borne in 
mind our season here was unexampled for j 
drouth. As a specific, aud as a plan 1 
strongly recommend on light lands likely to 
be subject to drouth, I placed the seed in the 
drill and covered with line manure, causing 
retention of moisture round the seed. The 
proportion in favor of table potatoes over 
small are, on the Gl'llLTSH, five sixths; on 
halved potatoes, three-fourths; and on seed 
ends, two-thirils. Join* Collin. 
Shelburne, N. H. 
-444- 
WHEAT-VARIETIES IN OHIO. 
Wincn is the best variety of wheat? has 
been a question of much interest to the 
farmers in this section, the past lull I 
notice an article in the Rural, from a cor¬ 
respondent. in a latitude more southern than 
this, who s iys the Diehl is later there than 
t lie Lancaster Red; and, on the whole, bis 
article would discourage the raising of the 
former. One year ago, through the recom¬ 
mendation of the Rural, 1 purchased some 
of tiie Diehl wheat, and sowed it. It proved 
entirely satisfactory to me. When sowed 
side by side with the Lancaster Red it ripen¬ 
ed from a week to ten clays earlier, and 
yield. 1 i illy oi.e-lnarlh more. The millers 
like ic, and It nakea good bread. Perhaps 
the difference in latiludv may have some¬ 
thing to do with this difference in our ex¬ 
perience and st at cm • Mb. The “Treadwell ” 
w.-.s another variety spoken of bv the Rural 
at the same time. This baa been tried here j 
the past season, aud now has many friends. 
Greensburgb, O. Trumbull. 
- — ..»«■» — - 
Ui'ei Kii.-nr In WLcoiihIm.—F rom the Oshkosh 
Times we collate a brief notice of the sugar 
works of Slussrs, Boncsi isiu., Otj o & Co., Fond 
du Luc, Wisconsin. During the pant year this 
company have cultivated soKjo eighty acre.- of 
vVtiiiG Silesian Sugar fleets, unto# French ti-U. 
Tllft season has not boon f.tvtnutihi, and was 
shortened hy an early frost, dlmlul-hlng Hie 
quality mid qihuitiiy of the [Iiodnet. The yield 
approximates ten tons per noro, winch it is 
claimed will makel.OOO lbs. of sugar, or some 1:1% 
per cent, The pulp, after cxlrnuling the saccha¬ 
rine nun ter, is used fur fattening cuttle, for 
which it la well adapted. They tiio now imAiio 
eight hundred pounds of sugar every iwty- 
cighl hours, employing- twenty hands, most of > 
thoui buys and girls. The sod in tins vicinity is 
said to produce bools comparatively free from j 
sail sand alkali, and containing about five per 
cent, more saccharine mutter Chun those grown ! 
In Central Illinois. 
Remedy fur Rest In Wheat.—The folio- tug. 
from a distinguished German Agriculturist, 1*5 
taken from a Bremen paper: -For thirty yours 
I have found tills method successful in prevent- [ 
in# rust tn whoa*: Some hours, at the longest 
six or eight, before sowing, prepare a steep of 
three measures of powdered quick-lime and ton 
measures o! cuttle urine. Pour two quarts of 
this upon a pock ot wheat, stir with n.spade un¬ 
til every kernel is covered white with It. By 
using wheat so prepared, rust of every kind 
will be avoided. I have often noticed while in 
the neighboring fields, a '.rival part of the crop 
is affected by rust, tn mine, lying closely by it, 
uoi n single ear so affected could he found. The 
same wriier s.;> s he lakes Bits sheaves and lieuls * 
off tlie ripest kernels with a stick, and usee the 
grain thus obtained lor seed. 
--- -4 *v->- 
(Sowed Corn.—I experimented with sowed corn 
the past season in throe different ways, and got 
the best results from sowing In rows three feet 
apart and tin; lolls eighteen Inches apart in the 
row, each lit 11 containing from fourteen to 
eighteen kernels ot corn. Sowed tho 20th of 
Muy.-P. N. M. 
. —---— 4*4 - 
AMlte Clover.—Correction.— Tn my nrtielo on 
Alsiko Clover - Rural Nov, 27. page 758 Mr. 
ilAi.tmiDOii of St. Charles, is made to recom¬ 
mend seeding lands at tho rale of “forty-one 
pounds seed to the acre.” This Is an error of the 
types. It should tie four pounds Med to the acre, 
as stated iu manuscript,—x. a. w. 
--»•»» 
Wheat at St. John's, Mich, —AV. N. C. writes: — 
“The Diehl wheat yielded the host here the past, 
season, and has been sown more than any o her 
kind. The Treadwell cymes next in favor here." 
l&nft 0*paxtntent 
MORE ABOUT FLORIDA: 
Trip I'p I be Hi. John’a—Towns, Topogra¬ 
phy. Scenery. Gnitie. Iniiuiurnius, &c..— 
Answers ro Inquiries About Lands, Pro¬ 
ducts, Prices, Insects, Etc* 
Jacksonville, Fla., Nov., 18G3. 
I continue my notes to the Rural, hav¬ 
ing loti you in my former communication at 
Palatka, seventy-five tiles (as the Si. John's 
Iiivcr runs,)from .Jacksonville. I omitted to 
state that there arr. two at earn saw mills at 
this place, and the largest class steamers do 
not go further up the river. Staying over 
night here, to discharge freight and some of 
our passengers, in the early dawn our steamer 
(the Darlington,) was on her way for Enicr 
prise. To those who have traversed the 
Mississippi there is the same repetition of 
stoppages to leave the mail and tal>c on 
wood and passengers. Boon after leaving 
Palatka the character of the river under¬ 
goes considerable change, in being somewhat 
smaller in its main channel, with more and 
frequent branches, islands, and bayous mak¬ 
ing into it, its waters frequently spreading 
over t.m surrounding country for two or 
three miles—flowing among the cypress and 
undergrowth — and along the margin are to 
ue seen many cuttle feeding on wild lettuce. 
The general level of t he country along the 
banks of this river is relieved hy occasional 
elevations of live to fifteen feet, upon which 
the growth of timber is mostly pine and live 
oak of a large growth, ami these are gener¬ 
ally taken advantage of for places of resi¬ 
dence and stores to supply the back country, 
or planted with orange trees. Along the 
banks of the river there is some fever and 
ague, which is not severe, yielding readily to 
treatment, aud would be much less frequent 
were any care exercised as to exposure anil 
living. The houses are as open as any corn 
crib at the North, and I lie cure for change of 
diet is nit. It is not desirable, however, 
to live immediately on the hanks of the river. 
Going hack front two to three miles, the 
“ Pine Hummock” lands arc reuched, where 
the most, excellent health prevails. The 
country abounds in game; deer, of which 1 
aw four on tho river bank, less than ten 
ro<ls from the boat; wild turkeys, (some 
were shot from the deck of our vessel,) and 
partridges and quail in abundance. 
Although Florida is in tlie popular mind 
generally regarded as the home of the alli¬ 
gator, I have, only had brief glimpses of 
them in a Journey of two hundred miles, and 
not as many* T /taw ’.r,± in small streams in 
yfi-ximjqii a it LentZifca The St. John's 
River, as T have stated, is n chain of lakes, 
and the opening into them from the more 
narrow and forrio.s course cf the river is 
agreeable, and compensates somewhat for 
the more bold and elevated shores of our 
Northern ri vers. Lake George is most beau¬ 
tiful, and probably as large as Cayuga Lake. 
Making a brief stop at Volusia, where 
there are two stores—taking in our quantum 
sufficit of light wood, and chickens, and 
waving our castors in farewell to the man 
hers of country people who had congre¬ 
gated there with their looms, and to whom 
the arrival and departure of the steamers is 
about tht: only change and excitement in the 
monotony of plantation life—we pass on 
again through the wilderness of tropical 
vegetation lining each shore until we enter 
the most beautiful lake of all, Lake Monroe. 
Tarrying at M< llonville to discharge a large 
amount of freight and several passengers, 
and with time to go up the long dock, we 
find a store, a new and large hotel in pro¬ 
cess of construction, and some seventy-five 
of the planters of the back country, who 
have come down to gel their mails and their 
freight, take a look at the arrivals from I 
town and cities, and to greet with right 1 
good-heartiness Major Maker, whose genial 
acquaintance I made in coming up the river, 
and whose most agreeable company I shall 
greatly miss on jny future travel. I may 
say, cn pusmnl, the Major and fitly 
or sixty families, have moved over into 
Florida from Georgia, and arc entranced 
with it. He is commencing to slaughter 
and pack heel'at tiiis point; also setting out 
a grove of five hundred acres of orange trees. 
But I must bring this long letter to a close, 
and make my treatment of very many mat¬ 
ters of interest brief, too brief to afford any¬ 
thing like justice to the State, and many 
matters of interest, and which opportunity 
may offer to refer to hereafter. Crossing 
the lake we make the Darlington fast to 
the dock at Enterprise, as the curtains of a 
tropical night fall gently about us, and bid 
you good-night n. m. s. 
P. 8.—Since writing the above I have re¬ 
ceived the queries sent you by C. W. W., of 
Washington, Kansas, and will give them 
here, with brief'answers: 
Will N. M. S., Jacksons ilie,Fla., tell us through 
the Rural— 
1. How much of the territory of Florida is 
United StiUesGovernment land and is subject to 
the Homestead Law ? 
2. Poes the Government of Florida do anything 
for the actual settler, and what? 
3. Wliut portion of Florida is swamp, and what 
Is the character of the swamp land ? 
4. What is tho mosquito or other insect incon¬ 
venience in Florida? 
5. What are the current prices of all kinds of 
cattle, meats, grains, fruits and vegetables? 
B. what influence has the Cuban war In 
Florida? 
7. How are schools and churches there? 
8. W hat is an average yield of tho various cere¬ 
als there an aero? 
It is difficult to give satisfactory replies to 
the many questions as to the price of lands. 
In fact, lam! is from one dollar twenty-five 
cents to one hundred dollars per acre. There 
arc several million acres of United States 
Government lands, all which are open to 
entry under the Homestead Law The State 
has a large amount also which is open to 
purchase :il from one dollar twenty-five cents 
to five dollars. Il is not true that Florida is 
infested to an unusual degree by reptiles or 
insects Solon Robinson, in one of his let¬ 
ters, says that he has known litem as bad 
North and West, and even worse,in the im¬ 
mediate vicinity of New York. They arc 
an undeniable nuisance, but no more so 
in Florida than in half the United States. 
The Hon. J. S. Adams, Commissioner of 
Emigration, Jacksonville, Fla., has prepared 
and published a book for the State, entitled 
“ Florida , its Climate, Soil, Productions, etc., 
etc.” whicU is a most complete official work, 
and your correspondent can obtain the same 
from him, and more specific information as 
to the State than from any other source, 
from which I make the above extracts. At 
the risk of making this letter too long, I will 
add that, the tide of emigration is turning 
rapidly to Florida,—property is advancing 
as rapidly in value, which will he greatly 
increased as its advantages of climate, soil, 
productions anti proximity to the great At¬ 
lantic markets become known and appreci¬ 
ated. N. m. s. 
ifrbsimtn. 
dumc-lkrtr. 
SWINE MANAGEMENT. 
We let our sows have pigs twice a j r ear, 
always aiming to have them drop them 
in April and August. Wc keep those 
dropped in August, over winter. Some are 
fed for the spring market, but most of litem 
for the fall market, when they weigh from 
three hundred to four hundred pounds gross. 
Some of the spring pigs are fed at eight 
months and some at eighteen months, weigh¬ 
ing from two hundred to five hundred 
pounds gross. 
As soon as the pigs can crack corn it is 
given to them on the car—not cooked. 
When the grain fields are ready for them 
we turn them on. Some sow large fields of 
rye for hogs; if the beards arc rotten they 
do well; if not, they lose more than they 
gain. When we go into the winter with 
them we allow front four to six care of corn 
to each hog per day. Some keep them in 
good warm quarters, while the herds of 
others make them beds in the woods with 
leaves 
When clover blooms we turn them into it 
and give them about two ears of corn each 
per day until the small grain is ready for 
them, after that we give them about two 
barrels of corn. They are then ready for 
market In feeding we allow a barrel of 
corn per month—twenty-eight days to the 
month. Fifty pounds of pork is a very good 
gain for one barrel of corn. Young sows 
are bred at eight and nine months old. We 
have principally the “ thin rind” breed. 
Boone Co., Ky. W. J. K. 
---4-4-4-— 
GOOD HOGS. 
Herewith find the dressed weights of 
several good porkers slaughtered in this 
neghborhood: 
Pounds. 
Daniel Colby, one weighing. 580 
Joint C. Colby, one of 558 1t>s.; one 490 tbs.. .1,018 
Isaacfignborn, “ ooo “ “ 570 ** ...i,i»a) 
Stephen Pmgrcc, “ 550 “ “525 “ ...1,075 
John C. Carter, one weighing 1 . 430 
Frank Sanborn, “ “ . 387 
Total weight 0 hogs. .4,650 
A Mr. Chase of Andover, N. II., has also 
slaughtered a pig, 8}~< months old, which 
dressed 437 lbs. In this section hogs arc 
confined in small pens during the year. 
They receive as food, milk, whey, kitchen 
slops, boiled pumpkins, in the season of 
them, boiled potatoes, fall and winter, with 
more or less cooked corn meal. The fattening 
is generally finished with clear meal, cooked. 
West Salisbury, N. H. J. S. Blaisdell. 
--«~*-4- 
Imported fovlne Wanted. — ROBERT FEAUN, 
Huntsville, Ain-, writes:- “ Will you toll me. In 
your next issue, the cost of one pair of pure¬ 
bred Berkshire pigs, dud one pure-bred Essex 
sow willi ply by a premium boar of same stock, 
aud from whom they eun bo obtained?" Wc 
should bo very glad to do so if we could. We 
must refer tlie matter to our readers. 
-44.4- 
Suffolk Pigs.- We have inquiries for full-blood 
Suffolk Pigs. Let those who have them for sale 
advertise. 
CARBOLIC ACID. 
A Remedy for Cows with Sore Legs and 
Udders. 
The Rurals of Oct. 30 and Dec. 4 contain 
notices of what is called a new disease among 
the cows of Monroe Co., N. Y. Mr. Curtis 
thinks flies arc the cause of the sore legs and 
mosquitoes of the sore teats. It is true that 
those insects work more voraciously, favored 
by a wet season. They also operate more 
vigorously where the skin is broken, or on 
small wounds. Cows need grooming in such 
season*? as the past nearly as much its horses. 
This sore leg does not, probably, differ mate¬ 
rially from scratches on horses, which are 
usually occasioned by being driven in the 
mud without, proper grooming. All t he bad 
effects mentioned in this sore-leg disease are 
sometimes experienced with horses. 
A simple, safe and effectual remedy, we 
believe, is to be found in carbolic acid. We 
wrote an article upon this acid, published in 
the Rural of Oct. 31, ’68, designed to call 
the attention of fanners to its remarkable 
effects In arresting contagious diseases—foot 
rot and scab in sheep, &c. Since that time 
many experiments have been tried with it m 
a great variety of diseases of men and ani¬ 
mals. It has been used successfully to arrest 
and cure the bite of venomous snakes, (Lon¬ 
don Chetn. News, Nov., 1868,) applied as a 
caustic to the wound, and ten drops of pure 
acid administered, internally, in brandy and 
water every few minutes. 1 1 . has been found, 
in a weak dilution of less than one per cent 
of acid, to possess the power of coagulating 
the albumen of the blood, thus rendering it 
insoluble, and is supposed to envelop in the 
coagulant the spar idea or animalcules of dis¬ 
ease, and thus depriving them of the power 
of further contaminating the blood. 
Where a more concentrated solution is 
applied to a wound, it produces, in a short 
time, a tough, horny covering and effectually 
excludes the air and all circulation through 
it, but does not prevent the circulation of the 
vital fluids under it and thus enables nature 
to heal the wound. 
We have found that a slfce of beef soaked 
in carbolic acid diluted with thirty times its 
bulk of water, is preserved from the attacks 
of insects for weeks in August, aud without 
any apparent change. We have applied it 
to the cure of scratches on horses, and found 
it an infallible remedy. Wc have no doubt 
it will prove a perfect remedy for the so re-log 
disease of cows in Monroe county. For 
ordinary chapped or sore teats, wc have up- 
plied it with great success, and this sore ud¬ 
der mentioned by Mr. Curtis cannot differ 
in nature and must be cured by this acid. 
This new agent deserves the attention of 
the farmers generally, as it is the most re¬ 
markable deodorizer, disinfectant and anti¬ 
septic yet discovered. Its application by the 
stock feeder will he found very extensive. 
Prevention is said to he better than cure; 
and in furtherance of this wise practice, car¬ 
bolic acid will enable the farmer to prevent 
all those diseases occasioned by vitiated air 
in the stable, or the keeping a large number 
of animals in single herds or flocks. One of 
its important qualities is its volatility. When 
sprinkled about a stable diluted thirty to 
fifty of water to one of acid, it rises and dif¬ 
fuses itself through tiie air, deodorizing and 
disinfecting the premises. Its vapor destroys 
all animalcules floating in the air. This will 
enable tho stock feeder to keep a hundred 
cows in one stable without endangering 
their health, and also large flocks of sheep. 
As carbolic acid is now being used exten¬ 
sively to deodorize the offal of slaughter¬ 
houses and the garbage of cities, preparing 
all tiiis offensive waste as fertilizers, it must 
soon become so cheap that every farmer can 
afford to use it freely in purifying his premi¬ 
ses, saving his manure and promoting the 
health of his animals. 
It is also claimed that fertilizers treated 
with it are so offensive to insects that they 
abandon a garden or field where it is used. 
If this prove to be well founded, it will he a 
great boon to market gardeners. 
E. W. Stewart. 
When to Parf-liaae Tcnw Cottle.—In answer to 
your correspondent. W. R. T„ West Va., in the 
Rural of October 9, about “ Investing in Texas 
Cattle," I wish to say that the best time to pur¬ 
chase beef steers here is in the spring, say March 
or April. They are generally driven to points in 
Kansas and postured along tho route through 
the Indian nations and Southern Kansas. At 
Aballne, Kansas, which is a great, shipping point, 
they are transported by rail Into Towa and Illi¬ 
nois where they are corn-fed during the fall and 
winter, and then shipped to any desired market. 
There are thousands of cattle driven from (his 
State annually and managed in this manner. 
Should W. It. T. desire further Information as to 
cost of cattle here and t he best manner of in¬ 
vesting tits $1,000, 1 will bo glad to correspond 
with him on the subject. I Will here say that I 
will invest from $3,000 to $5,01)0 In stock eat tie, 
and keep them in a good ranch here from three 
to five years, l'or one-half t he increase, and guar¬ 
antee a profitable investment.— C. U. Miller, 
Dallas , Texas. 
