nor cattle break down. The back-furrowed 
bed, being thrown up in this way, fs ready 
for a hedge. Thus, the old, broken-down, 
zig-zag fences may be made into a substan¬ 
tial fence, using less than half the material 
and occupying less Ilian half the land; and 
by the time the post and rail fence is gone, 
a good hedge will bo ready to take its place 
The ground should bo plowed in the fall, 
and the hedge set m the spring. 
Mtihlnu III it pie Sliutii', 
O. S. Bliss, Georgia, Vt.., writes:—“ It is 
all nonsense to talk about wooden buckets be¬ 
ing better than tin. We use both kinds, but 
the wood must go out. It is Literally impos¬ 
sible to scald wood so as to get. all Ibo taints 
out. The evaporating apparatus described 
In Hitilvl March 5, is at least twenty years 
behind our time. Forty-gallon pans degrade 
three times as much of the sugar as is done 
by the continuous process of boiling. \Yc 
use Corky’s Evaporator, after having tried 
the method of connecting several small pans 
by means of Smkao’s siphons. That arrange¬ 
ment was a very great improvement upon 
the pans recommended by your correspond 
ent, lmt Corby’s is still another improve 
mont. It is an object to make all the cane 
sugar possible, as that is two and a halftimes 
sweeter than the. degraded article, which 
colors the mass and runs out in molasses, 
and therein is the advantage of the modern 
over the ancient methods of making maple 
sugar. I have no interest in the apparatus.” 
MiliiaH iik Com in ilie llill. 
In answer to inquiry in Rural as to“ the 
best method of applying hen manure to com 
in the hill,” the writer offers the results ol 
his observations and experience This is a 
subject of no little importance to farmers, 
living remote from villages or cities, for m 
such locations stable manures cannot be 
purchased, and the artificial fertilizers are 
thought too expensive. Carefully saving 
the droppings from the hen roost, and the 
water from the sink spouts, and properly ap 
plying these wastes, would be much more 
remunerative than the purchase of super¬ 
phosphates, guanos, or poudrettes. 
The writer lias managed with hen manure 
tlm past ten years, in the following manner 
Ilis farm consists of fine, loamy land, lying 
on the hanks of the Merrimack In 1859, 
at the suggestion of an aged uncle, he made 
his first experiment in applying hen manure, 
with moderate expectations of an improved 
crop of corn and potatoes. Tim ground in 
thick sward, was broken up the previous 
fall, thoroughly harrowed in the spring and 
planted May loth, with an early eight-rowed 
corn, one acre by measure. The hills were 
opened by a man with a hoe. Six barrels 
of ben manure compost was evenly distribu¬ 
ted in the 3,600 hills, giving a fair-sized 
handful to each hill, dropped by a man car¬ 
rying i* in a basket. This compost was 
covered three-quarters of an inch with a hoc, 
and patted lightly. Then the corn was 
dropped and covered one inch with a hoe 
Two men planted the acre in one day. 
That spring was unusually dry, and corn 
came up badly and unevenly. But on this 
piece every bill, and apparently every ker¬ 
nel, came up in seven days.—J W. S., 
Franklin, N. II. 
faith to the manufacturers to sustaiu it in its 
meaning and spirit. 
We do not intend to cast blame on the 
National Association of Wool manufactu¬ 
rers, for keeping free-traders in wool in their 
ranks. Wo knew their constitution ad¬ 
mitted of this, when we entered into co-ope¬ 
ration with them. We disregarded that cir¬ 
cumstance, because there was no prospect 
that these, free-traders would obtain the as¬ 
cendancy in their councils, or in shaping 
their official action in respect to tile wool 
and woolen tariff. Nor can we censure 
them because they have been deserted or 
opposed by a body of wool manufacturers. 
This was a matter beyond their control. 
But we have a right to expect and do ex¬ 
pect, that the body of their Association who 
adhere to the doctrine of “ mutuality of in¬ 
terests” proclaimed at Syracuse, in 1865, 
will as firmly uphold the wool tariff of 1867 
in its true meaning and intent, and conse¬ 
quently all legislation necessary to carryout 
that intent, as the National and State Wool 
Growers’ Associations have upheld, on all 
occasions, the meaning and intent of the 
woolen, tariff. 
usbantrrn 
arm trcommit 
SUBSOILING IN MISSOURI 
H. S. RANDALL, LL. D., EDITOR, 
Op Conn, and Villas*, Cortland County, New York. 
I wish to ask a few questions about sub¬ 
soil plowing. In the western part of this 
county arc thousands of acres of prairie 
land, which many people have tried in vain 
to make yield fair crops, and yet the land 
seems good. The surface is generally gently 
undulating, and in a wet season the land is 
too wet, and in a dry season our crops have 
always been poor. Now, the soil is a still' 
sand, which, after a heavy rain, becomes 
packed together very hard, the furrows all 
being leveled down ; hut the laud does not 
bake. It is very bard plowing after this 
land has lain any length of time. The mins 
cause it to run together and pack, and in 
dry weather it becomes as solid as a road. 
But on the knolls that the gophers have 
raised, and in the ridges which 1 have thrown 
up for hedge rows, the corn grows finely, so 
that 1 think there is really some strength in 
the soil. Now let me ask:—First, is the 
subsoil plow what is wanted for this land? 
Second, If so, what crops need it most? 
Third, What kind, make or style of subsoil 
plow—if there are any—is best and cheap¬ 
est} or, at least, where can a good plow of 
this kind be obtained ? I see this matter 
mentioned a good deal in agricultural papers, 
but nothing full in regard to it, An answer 
to these questions will be of interest to 
many in this section.—A L. Momtrr, Jas¬ 
per (Jo., Mo. 
Ykh, that land needs subsoiling. There 
should he no crop put on it until after it. lias 
been subsoiled ; and the subsoil plow should 
be used every time it is plowed. The best 
subsoil plow we know of is that known as 
Makes’ patent. It is made in the West by 
Deere & Co., Moline, 111., and probably can 
ho obtained at St. Louis. There arc now 
two or three patent subsoil attachments to 
surface plows, some of which we know t,o be 
effective. The advantage in using them is 
that it does not require an extra hand and 
team to prepare the land — one man with 
three or four horses being able to surface 
plow and subsoil at the same time. These 
attachments can probably be had of Western 
implement dealers. We do not happen to 
know the address of any manufacturer. It 
is our opinion, also, if your subsoil is at all 
clayey, as we suspect, that it would be found 
profitable to use a mole ditcher upon it, to 
train it; but not. unless the subsoil is a stiff 
clay, so that the mole formed would remain 
intact. Another thing, such land as you des¬ 
cribe cannot be stirred too much, especially 
for corn, potatoes, and other hoed crops; 
and in Southern Illinois, where wc have seen 
similar land, it has been found profitable to 
drill in wheat, using every other drill; and 
then, when the crop is well started, drop the 
drill-teeth not used and lift those used, and 
cultivate the wheat. In a few instances that 
have come under our notice, remarkable re¬ 
sults have been obtained. 
PRESENT TARIFF ON WOOLEN 
MANUFACTURES. 
LETTER FROM HON. MR. KELLEY 
On Hie Skin-Wool Aineinlmcnt anil on 
Good Faith. 
The Hon. Wm. D. Kelley of Philadel¬ 
phia, one of the Committee of Ways and 
Means of the House, in Congress, and one of 
the most able and eminent members of that 
body, writes us: 
Washington, D. C., March o, 1870. 
L)r. Randall —Dear Sir: Yours of the 
28th, containing a slip from the Rural 
New-Yorker, came duly to hand. I am 
heartily in favor of the amendment to the 
wool tariff you suggest, aud have so written 
to every manufacturer who has addressed 
me on the subject. I regard resistance to 
the amendment by a manufacturer as an act 
of bad faith, and have not hesitated to say so. 
Yours, very truly, 
STATISTICS OF THE WOOL TRADE 
OF NEW YORK. 
COMPILED BY JAMES LYNCH, NEW YORK, 
Stock ol' Wool in New York 
ECONOMICAL NOTES, 
Western Wastefulness Defended. 
G. W. Hart of Minnesota protests against 
our correspondents berating Western farmers 
whose machines arc exposed to the weather 
and wishes a few of them would “ try it on,” 
that is, doing better under the same circum¬ 
stances, we suppose. He says ” many begin 
on an apparently small capital though two 
good strong arms are better than $1,000cash 
to start on. They go on a new place. Every¬ 
thing is to he done- houses, fences, breaking, 
(all on prairie).stables, &C.; meantime some¬ 
thing (in many eases) must bo canted to live 
upon and supply the man and team at home. 
A man may scratch every minute, do only 
that which is absolutely necessary first, and 
if he has come to slay he must do everything 
substantially, or he will have to spend as 
much time tearing down, removing,&c M and 
he will soon make up his mind it don’t pay. 
1 know whereof I affirm; lhav* * pioneered” 
I know we all Hindi i (uko too much ; but it ts 
such fun. to roll r the prairie sod that we 
let that get, alien . of all the r<SBk All 1 sk 
is considerate fair play.” 
Management «r Peaces. 
J. II o. takes the oli 
fences and re-builds them into a -.traigH , ' t 
and rail fence. lie plows on the line ierr 
he wants the new fence, back-furre,wing 
heavily four feet wide up to the posis Ihat 
are sftt for the new fence. These , wl in 
the ground eighteen inches, and elc 1 ' 
apart. 
The hack-furrowing leaves the post two 
feet and six inches in the ground, with a little 
shoveling from the outside furrow. This 
outside furrow is plowed deep, the plow 
being run in it a second time, so as to secure 
plenty of soil for leveling tip the top of the 
bed for the new fence. He puts at every 
jitosl a good-sized stone for the rail to rest 
on; then, when stones and bottom rail are 
in place (taking care tlmt the bottom rails 
are the strongest and best in size and quality, 
so that the stake can set near enough to the 
post to prevent the rails above from drop¬ 
ping by each other) the stake is driven in 
and wired to the top of the post (and at the 
bottom, if one chooses,) and lay in the rails, 
and one lias a fence that wind will not blow 
A Wagon “ Booster.” 
R. 11 S., sends us a sketch of a “No 
Patent Wagon Booster” which lie says is a 
slight improvement on Mr. Snook’s for the 
reason that it is simpler and lighter. Il ex- 
plains itself. It may he made of light 
material and can be handled and a wagon 
lifted with it by a boy eight years old. lie 
has used it several years and found it very 
convenient. 
Kmut in Wheat. 
J M. M. prevents smut in wheat by “ soak¬ 
ing the -ced in clear water, or in brine, skim- 
mu; "11 e light grains, and rolling the seed 
in air lacked lime. This seldom fails to 
pres. nut in Sussex county, Del.” Wc 
have triei this repeatedly, and always with 
satisfactory results. 
FREE TRADE ARGUMENTS 
At the free trade meeting held in New 
York, Feb. 24th, C. II. Marshall reported 
the following 
FUF.E TRADE LEAGUE TREASURER’S STATF.MENT, 
FROM JAN. t. 1869- TO DATE. 
Credit. 
subscription account. $30,859 50 
Debt. 
Tatii for lecturers and agent*’ sala¬ 
ries. Including tmveUng expenses 
Of same .$9,621 28 
Rent, clerk hire, postage, and other 
office disbursements. 6,026 07 
Printing account, comprising print¬ 
ing and distribution of tracts and 
other documents, including the 
Circulation of neurly 500,000 publt- 
cations of the League..... 5,315 50 
Free Trader excess of expenditures 
over receipts. . 2,307 89 
Public meetings’ account, being the 
excess of expenditure over ain’t 
raised tn each locality towards ex¬ 
penses of meetings, including net 
cost of holding over 60 meetings 
during the year....:.. 1,806 71—25,580 48 
Bill an ... $5,279 02 
E. E. New York, Fob. 24,1876. 
Charles h. Marshall, Trees. 
The following sums were subscribed at 
tile meeting: 
Mahion Sands.. $5,000 
C. II. Marshall. 5,000 
Stuart Brown. 5,1X10 
K. It. Mint,urn. 8,500 
H. B. Richards. 1,000 
B. 11. Button. 1,000 
Arnold, Constable & Co. 1,000 
Thomas Holland... 500 
Alfred Pi'll. 250 
K. A. Hnsenderor. 250 
John Griswold. 
Jackson Schultz. 500 
Total.$22,500 
The Chairman was authorized by resolution to ap¬ 
point a committee for the purpose of collecting fur¬ 
ther subscription. The names of the committee will 
be announced in a few days. 
re uitiical Inquiries.—A subscriber asks some 
us proved its accuracy by actual tost 
to thocorrect method of measuring com in 
tho crib.—“An old Subscriber" has manure 
containing quack grass seed, and ask how it 
can bo destroyed so that It will not grow, wants 
to use it about first of Juno.-IV. asks the best 
and cheapest way to dissolve bonus for a fertil¬ 
izer; bow and when toappJy them, and whether 
l>o!K*s long exposed lo tho weat her are of any 
value.—B. <J. I), asks if any broom corn cultiva¬ 
tor will describe the process of making brooms, 
so that a man who has never seen it can learn. 
l*atont Cow Milker*.—“ A Subscriber" at Dnn- 
ury, Conn., is informed that we do not know 
here any “jxilenl cow milker' can bo ob- 
lined; nor do wo believe one wasover invented 
ait was of any practical value whatever. 
V K » - | 
3'; A Tf 
Mai S*ii o 
M\r BJ jjji 
