pound. IIo says thorn arc plenty of New York 
families willing to pay an extra price for freak 
butter, made by approved manufacturers. 
[There i* little doubt that farmers may got a 
good deal nearer consumers if they try, intelli¬ 
gently, and save the commissions now paid the 
middleman to themselves. This is not practica¬ 
ble so far as all farm products arc concerned, 
but It ia to a much greater extent than now ob¬ 
tains. -Eos. RURAL.] 
American Fruit* In Germany.—Mr. Fuller 
had received a German nurseryman's catalogue 
of fruits which included many of our American 
blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. lie 
stated that our black-caps were a great novelty 
and a great success in Germany where they know 
nothing of such a fruit until introduced from 
America. 
The Growth and Structure «>r Hones was a 
topic illustrated and discussed by Dr. J. V. C. 
Smith in a most interesting manner. Without 
the illustrations, to refer to tho report of this 
interesting speech would bo almost valueless. 
He hail his doubts if the gelatine of bones served 
the farmer much as a manure. Ho will find 
plenty of gentlemen to disagree with him on 
this point. 
Gas Lime ns a Manure.— J. it. Churchill, 
Feeding Hill, Mass., asks If It will pay to cart 
position, while wheat is consumed and not re¬ 
turned to the soil. But little is used on the 
farm, and none of it restores the earth, except 
when one of a thousand ventures (quietly, for 
fear of stirring up a storm in the sensitive fam¬ 
ily ol' old prejudices.) to use the earth closet, 
while immense quantities are consumed in cities 
and consigned (millions of dollars' worth annu¬ 
ally) to the sewers or some other receptacles of 
less utility, mid our fields become barren ol' 
their most valuable product. If we would con¬ 
tinue to raise corn we must return lta elements 
to the soil. 
I f farmer* would raise wheat they must not 
permit their Holds to become impoverished of 
Us elements; they must, through your club or 
some nther means, organize a plan for saving 
them in towns and cities throughout the coun¬ 
try, and for returning them to the land. Then 
we shall hear no more of the surplus ol - straw 
or the necessity for guano or other foreign sub¬ 
stances. When the contents of sewura or other 
receptacle* of impure subsluucea are generally 
deodmizcit as they may be, ami employed as 
they should be, farms will nut wear out, and 
then whether men plow shallow or plow deep 
they will tic rewarded with abundant harvests. 
I write this because interested in the early de¬ 
velopment ol' means lor utilizing what 1 con¬ 
sider to he a more valuable fertilizing material, 
and dm only one which can restore tn ps Mich 
llelds of wheat as we used to hav The earth- 
closet ia a step in the right, direction, but it 
seems to mo that, agriculturists make haste 
slowly in movements to retard the great waslo 
of a wheat fertilizer, which waste is uuuually 
immense and daily Increasing. 
Import Duty oil Hlootleil Slock. — This subject 
was, a few weeks since, referred to a Committee, 
the chuirmuu of which, Mr. Curtis, reported ns 
follow*; 
I Had upon examination that “animals," mean¬ 
ing farm animals, wore formerly Imported into 
the United States tree of duty, ruder the nec¬ 
essity fora largo revenue to meet liift increased 
expenditures of the government, a duty of twen¬ 
ty per cent, was required on all imported stock, 
and no discount or drawback for societies or in¬ 
dividuals. I . 
tureat Wasliinghi 
Of stock and have Hie duty remitted 
Tomatoes. 
Sow in boxes of about two feet by one 
and a half, six inches deep, in earth of the 
richest kind. Cover the seed half an inch 
deep. If you have a hot-bed, place this box 
in it; if not, set it in a warm room, near a 
sunny window. Water occasionally. When 
the plants are. an inch or two high thin 
them out to about, an inch apart. So soon 
as the weather is free of frost, transplant in 
moderately good garden soil —not rich , as 
that would make fine vines, but poor fruit. 
Early Yorks. 
For these early and delicious cabbages wc 
would advise to cultivate as for the tomato; 
likewise pepper plants. Woodman. 
THE BIRCH TREE. 
iscttssums 
In some districts of our country the Birch 
is perhaps too common to be esteemed as an 
ornamental tree; but he who loves nature, 
or has roved amid birch groves in spring 
time, or read Bryant’s lines: 
*' The fragrant birch above him hung 
Her tassels In the sky. 
And many u vernal blossom sprung, 
And nodded careless by,’’ 
will uot fail to include it in every list enu- 
merative of beautiful shade trees. 
There are quite a number of varieties, all 
possessing branches that form graceful 
curves, and some with a decided drooping 
habit. All are especially ornamental, and 
beautiful groups may be formed with the 
different varieties of the birch alone, al¬ 
though their best effects are shown when 
planted on the outskirts of masses of ash, 
maples and pities. 
As single trees upon the lawn none are 
more gracefully elegant and pleasing than 
the European White Weeping, or perhaps 
tho White AVecping Cut Leaved. Both 
of these varieties are rapid in their growth, 
with long slender drooping branches, and 
with their silvery bark and delicate foliage 
are always attractive to the eye. 
The birch is a hardy tree ami succeeds in 
all soils, even the most barren. It of course 
grows more rapidly in strong, rich soils than 
in poor ones, and makes a larger tree, but 
its graceful beauty is in no way changed 
thereby. 
Onr common white birch, Bdula populi- 
folia, is frequently planted in cemeteries, 
where, the ground beingusually poor, it at¬ 
tains only a small size of say fifteen to twen¬ 
ty feet in height, and as it becomes old the 
branches droop, but uot so much as Europe¬ 
an. Landscapists use the birch in its vari¬ 
eties with great effect iu crowning or mass¬ 
ing some rocky knoll, or barren saml bank 
or liill-side; when combined with the white 
pine, it is always admired. We have ,seen 
the weeping varieties used also on the banks 
of streams of water in connection with the 
hemlock and resulting in most admirable ef¬ 
fect. The common black or sweet bircli, 
Letula lentu, is also valuable in its wood, 
and cattle cat of its branches with apparent 
relish, while Its sap gathered, boiled and fer¬ 
mented with sugar, makes a most pleasant 
drink. 
AMERICAN INST. FARMERS’ CLUB 
We continue our notes of the sayings and 
doings of this distinguished body of scientific 
agriculturists. 
Tea in Tc»,ne*se«.—A. P. Temple, Knoxville, 
Tetm., Avrites the Cluh that ten years ago James 
Campbell of bis neighborhood received some 
tea plants from tho Patent Office, which he 
planted and which are now live or si\ feet high, 
thrifty, and a beautiful evergreen, producing 
excellent tea, properly manipulated. He has no 
doubt tbat the tea can be successfully cultivated 
in that climate. [In November Ave saw in tho 
Experimental Garden ut, Washington, a quite 
large specimen of this shrub, which is hardy 
there. Wm. Saunders says there is no doubt as 
to the practicability of cultivating the plant, suc¬ 
cessfully- Tho question of profit Is the only one 
involved. The price of labor is esteemed too 
great to enable us to compete successfully here 
in its production Avith the foreign article.—E ds, 
Rural.] 
GAS LIME A POISON, 
In the October number of the Floral World, 
Dr. Phipson warns gardeners against using gas 
lime in tho formation of roads and walks, and 
avers that trees and shrubs are frequently 
poisoned in consequence of their roots coming 
1 suppose the Department of Agrieui- 
fUui might import, a small amount 
. . iMtMa I. :i i lea.-t siiell 
has been the ease with the customs duties Unis 
far of that department by the iieeimuuoduling 
Secretary of the Treasury. The value of the im¬ 
ports for i he past lew years are da follows: -Year 
ending June 110,1800, $1,070,887, most of the im¬ 
portations l'or I his year were free; IS!',", $1,(160,- 
17 1 : Pitis, SU, 352, 249. The amount of duties paid 
on the imperial ions of 1807-08 was $862,044. Tho 
Agricultural Department at Washington have 
been trying to >lo away wtl.h ihi* tariff. Early hi 
I sits the commissioner sent, a communication to 
the Congressional Committee on Agriculture 
favoring the policy of admitting tliorongh-lncd 
animals for tile Improvement of farm slock duty 
lice. 'J’hi! commissioner nor the committee have 
yel. .succeeded in obtaining tills alial omont. At. 
a later period 11 ou Calvin T. Jlm.mmn, m I In* 
re prosen i a live m congress of a portion of the 
great, dairy dist rict of New York, tOgothonvlth 
General CAPHON, endeavored to obtain the re¬ 
peal of, or at least a reduction of tho twenty per 
cent, duties on dairy coavs. 
The argument, in favor of this change wag 
that tho production of butter and cheese in t his 
country could lie vastly Increased, thus lidding 
to the wealth ol' the nation, if the farmers Upon 
the other side of (he border shoulil grow the 
calves and raise the cows until they became pro¬ 
ductive machines, ami thus relievo our own 
dairymen from the profitless trouble and neces¬ 
sity ol' growiiiv; their own cowa, 'Tins Improve¬ 
ment Avould, doubtless have been adopted had 
uot our legislative lathers loaded down the idea 
wiili local and personal measures which crushed 
it to the earth. This propensity to saddle 
schemes that Avill not stand alone upon more 
popular and praiseworthy objects, until they, 
too, full by lliolr muchness, is not a now charac¬ 
teristic or practice of legislators. Now that t ho 
country is enjoying 1 the full fruition of pence, 
ami laws are being niude to lessen the burdens 
of the people ami s(imiilalo the groAVth and ex¬ 
pansion ol its material Interests, the! improve¬ 
ment of live stock should come in for it.- share 
of public attention. In my opinion, the inipeiri- 
! ers and breeders of thorough-bred stock are 
on titled to be considered public benefactors, and 
to urge their cause is both right, ami just. The 
Government, should remove a tax which is but a 
very small port ol' the great aggregate Income 
for the Treasury, but an onerous burden upon 
those Avho are willing to venture their capital 
for the public good; for thousands of dollars 
have been sunk by t he importer whore one has 
been made. 
At least twenty-five percent, would bo added 
to ihe value of our neat cat tle aiul to the size of 
the bodies of our sheep, a point in which Ameri¬ 
can sheep eminently fail, by » liberal Infusion Of 
foreign blood; but the high tariff and the great 
risks ut lending importation, couplud Avitii the 
original cost, must necessarily cause tho prieuOf 
thorough-bred stock to be beyond tbo menus of 
tlie grout mass of American farmers, it the 
twenty per cent, could be abolished, a healthful 
and vigorous impulse to importation and breed¬ 
ing would lai creel' d, and in a short tiino 
thorough-bred uuirn.ils would ho universal. Ar. 
present but Littteatock la imported beyond what 
ia required to keep up !he charnel ler and blood of 
our select docks ami herds. "Of course," says 
uncut our lending stock uion, “it, Is lo our ad¬ 
vantage ua breeders, hav ing established our herd, 
to keep ou the present duties, as they not practi¬ 
cally ns a prohibition, aud parties who would 
otherwise Import, now come to us, consequent¬ 
ly, prices are higher iInin they otherwise would 
be for llnsfc-elflsa animals." It is for the great 
public we would speak, uml it Wc must. huAcit 
duty, let it lie specific, (so much a head,) and not 
iuI valorem, which nets as a direct preventive to 
purchasing abroad tho highest priced animals. 
In Canada a more liberal spirit, exists. The 
Provincial Agricultural Society trebles the pre¬ 
miums when won by a male which lias been im¬ 
ported from Europe the previous .tear, and 
doubles them when the successful prize-taker 
comes from the United States. Under the fos¬ 
tering earn of her societies and generous laws, 
enterprising citizens ol the Dominion havo 
pushed the standard of Canadian stock to tho 
foremost rank. There is no awakened spirit 
mining tho husbandmen of tho country. Agri¬ 
cultural papers, Avhlcb tho farmer should prise 
1)0X1 tu III- Bible, me multiplied mid sustained. 
Hotter Ullage follows the footsteps of tlie labor¬ 
er. The home is much more attractive, im¬ 
proved animals are demanded for tho shambles, 
tlie dairy, ami to ornament our fields. Let Con¬ 
gress eat eh tills spirit of progress, aud be ui hur- 
uumy with lts advancing stride*. 
Supplementary to tho report, Mr. LYMAN of¬ 
fered Hie following resolution ; 
, KiMliMt, That it Is the sentiment, of t ill* Club dial 
Congress might, tn repeal the duty of twenty percenL 
. on stock Imported for breeding purposes, and that a 
, committee bo appointed by our chairman to prepare 
u memorial to Congrtbs selling forth tlie roqulre- 
i meats of the Case, uml tlie reasons for repout, or an 
i hnportuul reduction ui tlie duty. 
[ The resolution was adopted aud tho committeo 
appointed. 
1 Management of Milk. 
How to Pack Eggs for Market. —“A Woman * 
Spectator" usks haw she shall pack eggs fur t lie ; 
New York market—Avhether iu barrels or kega i 
and in elm IT or sitlL'f Mr. Cuims and others say 
in barrels and iu oats. 
Egg Outs for Horse*.—Mr. Fuller asked if the 
oats in which eggs are packed for market are 
sold by dealers, If so somebody would ho likely 1 
to bo “sold " If be bought such grain to feed to 
horses. Mr. Quinn said he had boon so sold. 
Ho had purchased egg oaks, hi Avhlch unsound 
eggs had been broken, and found that his horses 
would not cnl. them; he had been compelled to 
wash such oats thoroughly and dry them before 
horses would touch them. 
Emigrant Girls WullteiT. ROI.LIN M. RICH¬ 
MOND, Lebanon, N. Y., wants a competent 
emigrant girl to aid him iu the dairy business, 
and ask* how he can obtain one. Tho Com¬ 
mander ol' the Club stated that, by applying to 
the Commission^’ of Charities, Corner of Ninth 
and Stuyvesanl. streets New York City ho could 
secure one free of charge. That bureau prov ides 
places for about two thousand persons per 
month—without cost to employer or employe. 
Conover'* Coluwml Aitpurngm, — II. W.AXN- 
wriqht, Eariningdale, N. J., asks whether this 
asparagus (See last. Vol. RURAL, page 617) is all 
that has been claimed for it- Dr. Hu.vamek said 
that he had grown it, and Avith him it promised 
to be something extra. 1 le had found one-year- 
old plants of it to be as large as any Lwo-yonr- 
old plants of Iho common variety be ever grew. 
It is of good flavor, fit for market n year sooner 
than the old variety, and double tho quantity of 
it can fie produced on an acre, lie regards it us 
a decided acquisition. Mr. Quinn indorsed the 
statements of Dr. Hkxamek. Mr. Thompson 
also spoke highly of it, and said it should be 
planted at least three foot.apart in the rows. All 
asparagus must have plenty of mauuro. 
Wood \*li«!* n* Mauuro.—C. H. CONE, New 
Lyme, O., lias wood ashes made from while ash, 
hickory, hooch, etc., and asks if ho had better 
sell them at- eight, or uiuo cents per bushel, or 
apply them to his land. Mr. Cuims said that 
such nshosure wort h twenty-five cents per bushel 
to apply to laud; aud their effect upon crops is 
observable u long series of years. Mr. Rkadk 
had paid eighteen cents per bushel, carted them 
eight to fifteen miles, and regarded them cheap¬ 
er than any commercial manure ho could pur¬ 
chase. 
SnwduHt for Fertilizer*.—C. H. Cone asks if It 
Avill pay to draw sawdust one mile. A member 
replied Yes, to use for bedding animals and ns 
an absorbent of liquid manure. 
Henry Plgu, - Emulating eminent examples, 
Char. L. Luce, Somerset Co., Mo., tells the 
weights ol' two pigs, nine months and seven 
days old, avIiIcIi ho fattened, viz.: respectively 
415 and IW1 pounds. 
A Deserved Castigation of Many Western Far¬ 
mer*.—A. Ali,vn, Topeka, Kan., writes: 
“ Westward ho! is the great maxim of the age, 
and it Is all right.; for any mail that can once 
place himself and family—however large -upon 
the rich prairies of the West, it be have good 
health and industry, can be sure of a good liv¬ 
ing and something more. Hut what, I protest, 
against ia that nine-tenths of those farmers in 
tho West Aviic have got farming stock, improved 
farming tools, &e., arc so abominably shiftless. 
Cattle, horses, sheep, aud hogs are crouching 
and squealing, and vainly trying to find some 
nook or corner to shelter them from the pitiless 
storm or the piercing wind. Mowing machines, 
reapers, drills, plows, wagons—everything, scat¬ 
tered about tho yards and fields, exposed to 
the elements. Gentlemen, you are worse than 
‘WMliug your substance;' you arc throwing 
away Ood'B gifts and bounties; and that, too, 
without any excuse. You havo straw enough 
aud hay, for the cutting, to make shelter and 
comfortable protection for stock and tools, un¬ 
til tho thrift that must necessarily result from 
such a course will enable you to mako more 
permanent structures.” 
[This picture is not overdrawn, as tho condi¬ 
tion of things on many Western (as well as 
Eastern) farms. We wrote long ago in the 
Rural of tho extraordinary leaks of Western 
farming from the wnut of Care of Implements 
alone. The waste annually avo believe to be 
fully fifty per cent, of the value of the imple¬ 
ments annually purchased. El)S. Rural.] 
Why tho Wheat Crop Fails. — W, A. LEWIS, 
East Saginaw, Mich., writes: 
The falling off in the Avheat crop continues to 
bo lamented, as it over has been. I have 
thought much of the fact, and wondered that 
practical fanners had not long since solved the 
j problem and applied the remedy. Corn, oats, 
hay and most or the vegetables are consumed 
and returned to tho soil to nourish and reia- 
vigorate it Avith the very elements of their com- 
arbeuer 
EARLY VEGETABLES 
Many readers of the Rural doubtless 
know how to obtain a few “ messes ” of early 
vegetables; many do not, or if they do, 
rather shun tlie little extra care which is 
essential to their production. I propose to 
offer a few hints here as to the manner In 
which I always manage to have early kinds 
iu advance of many of my neighbors. 
Early Peas. 
Get a few papers of the very earliest kind 
—say extra Early May. Select the warmest 
day in February or March you can, spade 
up as much ground, in a sheltered spot, as 
you desire to plant—say a south-side fence 
row or wall—plant your peas thick, three 
inches deep; cover with warm, dry leaf 
mold, or chip manure and on each side of 
the row lay corn stalks, piling them up a 
foot on each side so they will not full over on 
the row. Scatter straw lightly over the row 
so as not to fully exclude the sunlight. If 
very rough weather sets in, (which will be 
the case, in all probability,) covet over the 
rows with plank or hoards until the rough 
weather is over. Remove when the sun 
shines warmly. In this way you can have 
a few “ messes” a month or more in advance 
of those planted at the usual time. The pea 
is quite hardy, as I have had them covered 
with suow when two inches high without 
injury, when protected as above directed. 
Cucumber*. 
Early in March procure some sod about 
eight inches square and four inches thick. 
Turn them over and cut the soil so the seed 
can be stuck in an inch or so deep. Plant 
onlj’ the “ Early Frame.” Set the sods in a 
pit or hot-bed, if you have them; if not, set 
them on a shelf in a room where there is 
fi. water with milk-warm water occasion¬ 
al ly as the sod gets dry; and when warmer 
v r Lor.iL*, remove them to the garden 
audpla*’ ■ ll boxes a foot square, having 
neiiiirq . .itoris nor tops over them. At 
in a nni.i! tlie young plants get “ hardened,” 
plac a pan' f glass over them. Remove 
the i . he ground and the air gets 
warm nd you will have line early 
cucurft. 
Lettuce. 
Make a hot-bed in the usual way, about 
four by eight feet. Sow any early kind of 
seed you prefer; keep it covered with sash ; 
air and water every bright, pleasant day. 
Thin out the plants as you use them. Such 
a bed will furnish an abundance, quite early, 
for a family of a dozen or more. 
THE WHITE WKEl’INU EUROFEAN B1KUH 
in contact AVi th the lime. He says:— 1 * Gas lime is 
lime which has boon used to purify street gas, and 
it has absorbed a certain number of highly pois¬ 
onous ingredients. Tlie chief of these arc sul- 
phocyanlde of calcium, sulphocyanidc of am¬ 
monium, sulphide of calchim, a green and blue 
compound of iron and lime, containing sulphur 
am ini trugen, besides certain byd roearbons sim i- 
lar to benzole, napht haline, creosote mid carbolic 
acid, &c., which are highly injurious to vegeta¬ 
tion. Recently 1 have seen t wo Hue cedar trees, 
aud some smaller fir trees of various kinds, at¬ 
tacked by the noxious influence of gas lime, 
spread under Hie gravel walks of a large garden 
about live months ago. One of the cedars began 
to recover after an Interval of lour months; but 
the other still appears with blackened leaves, aud 
to all appearance quite dead. It is doubtful 
whether it wll] recover. The large roots of t hese 
trees spread under the gravel walks in all direc¬ 
tions, and the poisonous compounds contained i u 
the gas lime, some of which tiro very soluble, are 
carried down to them by the rain. As soon as 
they come in contact Avith the roots, the effects 
produced are almost its sudden as those of light¬ 
ning. Cedars, and certain kinds of Abies, appear 
to bo particularly sensitive iu this respect. On 
gravel walks treated as above large blood-red 
patches appear in the course of a month or two; 
they are caused by sulphocyankle of iron, which 
results from tlie union of the sulphocyanic aotd 
of the gas lime with tho iron oxide contained iu 
tho gravel.” 
The above corresponds with my experi¬ 
ence, and as it is possible others may as I 
was, he induced lo haul and apply gas lime 
under an impression that it will be beneficial 
to the crops, 1 send you this for publication. 
In 1854 I applied a light dressing of gas 
lime to grape vines growing in a gravelly 
clay, resulting in checking growth and al¬ 
most entirely destroying them for two years 
thereafter, and I know not, if at this day 
they would have been alive, had not the 
ground been abundantly supplied the third 
season with barn-yard manure. I have t ried 
gas lime, mixed and composted with ashes 
and manure, and also with loam; but in no 
case have 1 found any benefit, but rather in¬ 
jury, from its addition. Audi. 
Preserving Egg*.—E. Trimble, Wheeling, West 
Va., has a sister avIio coats fresh eggs wi,h cold 
fresh lard, packs thorn in stone jars, and covers 
the jars with muslin clqth, thus the eggs are 
perfectly preserved. Mr. Whitney says a 
French method is to rub tlm eggs with fresh 
butter until all the pores of the shell arc filled. 
Tho Professor of Chicken Fixings puts eggs 
down in October in fine salt, the little end of 
the egg down— aud they keep avoII until late in 
spring. He knows also that seamen latch them 
in the same manner to carry tong voyages, and 
do it successfully. Mr. THOMPSON said that for 
family use, or for market, every one Avho keeps 
liens ought to have fresh eggs at all times of 
year. This may be done by hatching chiekuns 
earlier in tho season than is now done. They 
should bo hatched, in February, March and 
April. Ity this means they begin to lay the 
same season, and yield eggs until the time 
of moulting the following season, avIior thole 
heads should bo out off and another brood take 
their place. Ho knows a poulterer who so man¬ 
ages to havo fresh eggs for market the year 
round, and loses no time or feed upon non¬ 
productive chicks. The moment they cense to 
produce eggs off go their heads, and their car¬ 
casses go to market. 
Ten Culture in Virginia.—Mrs. J. II. SHIPMAN, 
Culpepper C. II., sends a sample of (lie soil of 
that region, aud asks some one to tell her whoth- 
cr it is adapted to tbo production of the tea 
plant, If so, whore she can get the seed. [No 
answer avus given to these questions, but there 
is uo doubt that the Culpepper soil will produce 
tea. We do not knOAv Avbcve seeds can be ob¬ 
tained, but she may possibly obtain a plant or 
tAVO by addressing t ho Commissioner of Agricul¬ 
ture, Washington, D. C.— Eds. Rural.] 
Apples in North Carolina. — Mr. LEWIS M. 
Hatch exhibited an apple from Western North 
Carolina in a lino state of preservation for which 
a name avus asked. He 3tated that apples suc¬ 
ceed admirably in tho locality named, three 
thousand feel above tho level of the sea. Tlie 
Limber Twig and “ Buck ” were named as thriv¬ 
ing iu the locality named. [Although we did not 
taste the fruit exhibited, Ave judge it to bo Ort- 
lcy.—E ds. Rural.] 
Westchester Co. Butter.— Dr. He.xamick exhib¬ 
ited a sample of Westchester county butter, for 
which lie obtains the same price per pound that 
the bes(tPhiladelphia butter brings in the Ncav 
York market. Tills price he obtains, delivered 
at the express office; and tlie added cost to the 
consumer per express is five to leu cents per 
Aaron Killman of 
Mexico, N. Y., writes: 
J. H. Woodbuhn says his cow has averaged 
eighteen quarts of strained milk per duy, from 
AYtiioh Avert) made eight pounds of lmiii r per 
week,—that would be n pound ui butter from 
about thirty-two pounds of milk. I will give 
you some of my small experience in the sum¬ 
mer of 1863. 1 Was milking ten cows; in May 
the milk was weighed for tAvo weeks, and kept 
In tin pans in ,m dry pun try. tin: cream wits 
ebumod and tho butter prepared for market, 
found on Aveighing tbo butter wo bad n pound 
from twenty i wo pounds of milk. The 1st of 
August I guv the milk tlie same lest ; result, 
one pound of butter from twenty-eight pounds 
of milk, the oroaiu not 'ill rising before Use 
milk would sour. I then added one pint of cold 
water to each pan of milk as soon us strained; 
result, one pound of butter from twenty-six 
pounds of milk; the last two weeks in Sep¬ 
tember we gave another lest without ttie water; 
result, oue pound of butter from twenty pounds 
of milk. 
Conover's Colossal Asparagus.—]{. G. D. is re¬ 
ferred for answer to inquiry to the experience 
of practical gardeners given in this number. 
