They are strung together into the desired 
shape on strong twine, just as beads are, iu 
the fancy baskets in the stores. The rustic 
appearance of the burrs is very pleasant to 
the eye--pflt'ticitlarly in houses that have little 
or none of the charms of rural scenery about 
them. If dropped, they are not broken or 
injured in any way ; and if the twine breaks 
and some of the bulla are lost, they can be 
replaced with others picked up in the next 
walk in the country. The baskets arc so 
simple in construction that any lady can 
make them. The town in which I live is 
furnished by the poor, who make them and 
bring them in at juices from twentv-flve to 
fifty cents, according to size.—F. N., North 
Carolina. 
•ttfir ©raps. 
WHITE DAISY IN MEADOWS. 
Tiie white daisy is getting to be the prin¬ 
cipal pest of our dairy land. Unlike the 
thistle, (Canada,) it thrives in grass land, and 
deteriorates when much plowed. Hence, a 
fallow r is good for it. But the grass crop 
may be made an advantage over the white; 
daisy. Get an early heavy crop of the June 
clover and cut early, and wliat daisies may 
he in, will not only he comparatively of small 
amount, but afford good feed second only to 
clover, and preferred even by some to that 
plant. Blaster the clover—and if ashes in 
large quantities are used, all the better— 
and there will be another fine crop, of 
clover principally, the daisies affording good 
feed us before. 
Here is no loss; but, if anything, an ac¬ 
tual gain. It is true, we would rather have 
the daisies out because they are a weed. But 
in meadows they are of no harm, particular¬ 
ly when cut early. Two crops should he 
taken, and the aftermath will find them 
harmless. 
Orchard grass may take the place of 
clover with success, as it is as early and 
grows as rapidly as the clover. But be care¬ 
ful of the second cuttings, and cut as soon ns 
the daisies aspire. Out (at. each t ime) when 
all is in a tender condition, before the grass 
is in full blossom,—when just getting into 
blossom is the time. 
In this way the daisy can he kept, down 
and harmless. In pasture it. is different; 
here the plow would do well to summer fal¬ 
low, the crop of weeds making a good ma¬ 
nure bed. This is the best, way to treat pas¬ 
ture land overrun with daisies. Now is the 
time to see to these things.—F. a. 
-- 
FIELD NOTES. 
Frosted Mnnirel XVurstel Poison. 
An English publication says :—“ It would 
appear that frosted mangel wur/.el nets 
almost sis a deadly poison to cows and pigs. 
The Messrs. Uosken & Son of Ilayle, who 
have been so successful as breeders of those 
animals lost, a few days since, three very 
valuable brood sows (two of them in farrow) 
in the course of an hour or two, through 
eating some of these roots, which had been 
thrown over the dung heap. Mr. Blamky 
also, of Carraclose, Very an, has lost some 
cattle from the same cause.” 
How to Grow Sweet PoJmioos Without 
Usiiut the Hoe. 
An Amity Co., Miss., correspondent of 
the South Land writes:—“My plan is to 
flat-break, with two horses, early. In April 
or May lay off rows four feet with a subsoil 
plow, which makes nothing more than a 
mole trace; drop the potato and sink it. into 
this trace with the foot; then run a harrow 
ami Continue to run ollcn enough to keep 
down the grass until the potatoes are up 
When up to a pretty good stand, throw two 
furrows with a turning plow, covering them 
up entirely. Let them remain until they 
commence coming through, then run a sub¬ 
soil in the lust furrows and throw two more 
furrows with the turning plow, which will 
cover them slightly and cover up the grass, 
leaving them in a nicely hilled condition. 
Before they commence running, break out 
the remaining balk with a turning plow and 
run about three furrow's with the subsoil. 
When you dig, use the plow. I say nothing 
of the use of manure; of course a liberal 
supply of that ia indispensable.” 
Orchard Gi’bhw lor Soiling. 
At a recant meeting of the Little Falls, 
N. Y., Farmers’ Club, Judge Graves of 
Herkimer, gave his experience with this 
grass for soiling, which demonstrates what 
has often been urged in the Rural New- 
Yorker that it should he more generally 
•sown by farmers. He said that, last year he 
soiled one horse from early in July until 
grass ceased to grow iu the fall, from one- 
' eighth of an acre. The land was in fine 
condition, and was seeded with orchard 
dv grass. He mowed the land four times over 
during the season, and it thus provided all 
that the horse needed for feed in addition to 
his oats. The horse was fed but a peck of 
oats a day. His custom in mowing the 
grass was t.o cut early in the morning, while 
the dew was on, enough to last the horse 
until the next morning. In this way the 
grass was kejit damp throughout the day, 
and liis horse would cat it eagerly, and 
would drink but little water, not more than 
half a pail full a day. He thought that 
orchard grass the most rapid in growth, 
and will produec the largest crop of any of 
the grasses. It, however, needs, to be cut 
befort I he stalk becomes large and matured. 
It should be cut several times during the 
year- _______ 
Tin- Culture of It-amfe for Fiber. 
A New Orleans correspondent of the 
Rural Carolinian says, in reference to the 
announced shipment of ramie fiber to Eng¬ 
land and the profit of ramie culture for its 
filter: 
“Now in regard to that. ‘ small lot sent 
this summer 1o England.’ I have inquired 
of Mr. Lkfkanc, but 1 cannot find who 
sliijtpcd it or raised it, or how much there 
was, or wliat was received for it. per pound, 
or if there was as much as a pound in it. 1 
have before me a very kind and gentlemanly 
letter, in which he states that the fiber is 
worth COO per ton in England, but that there 
is yet uoiueansofrleaningi.hu fiber in this 
country, and no market for it. None has 
yet been sold here. Now, after it is cleaned, 
if it can he cleaned, it, appears that it will 
bring from thirteen to fourteen cents per 
pound—2,240 pounds for £60, say $300. 
Broom corn sells in this market (and (lie de¬ 
mand lias never yet been supplied) for from 
fifteen to seventeen cents per pound, and no 
deduction for foreign freights and charges. 
“ Bo even if ramie is not a pernicious and 
dangerous plant, (1 maintain and fully be¬ 
lieve it is,) and if il will grow and produce 
filler, aild if the fiber can be cleaned by ma¬ 
chinery, and if lit at machinery does not 
prove to be incomplete expensive and imper¬ 
fect, and if England will buy at £00 per 
ton, even then the culture of ramie liber is 
very doubtfully profitable.” 
Jrertti vrronomn* 
1 _ 
PLASTER AND ITS USES. 
A subscriber in Seneca Co., N. Y., asks 
information in regard to sowing plaster, its 
benefits, and the best season for sowing. 
This question lias been very elaborately dis¬ 
cussed by the agricultural chemists, and also 
by writers of much practical experience, so 
that little if any, new light can be expected 
upon the subject. 
Gypsum, or sulphate of lime, when pure, 
contains of sulphuric add over forty parts, 
thirty to thirty-three parts of lime, the bal¬ 
ance to make up the hundred being water. 
The ordinary plaster of commerce contains 
a porLion of silica and carbonate of lime. 
Applied to soils, it acts as ft direct food 1o 
some plants, the analysis of which shows 
they contain appreciable quantities of the 
substances of which plaster is composed. 
This is true of red clover, rye grass, turnips 
and lucerne. From the absence of these in¬ 
gredients in wheat, barley, oats, beans and 
peas, it lias been concluded that its applica¬ 
tion to these crops would result in little or 
no benefit. Applied to clover its effect, as a 
rule, has been satisfactory, and in those dis¬ 
tricts where clover has been uniformly used 
as a preparation for the wheat crop by plow¬ 
ing it Under iu a green state, it has been 
largely employed, and thus been made to 
add much to the yield of this cereal with 
undoubted success. 
Liebig concluded that the benefit of jfins- 
ter consisted mainly lit giving a fixed consti¬ 
tution to the nitrogen or ammonia brought 
into the soil, and which is indispensable to 
the nutrition of plants, and that one hun¬ 
dred pounds of plaster furnished as much 
ammonia as would be yielded by over six 
thousand pounds of horses’ urine, His the¬ 
ory was, that it. acted mainly as an absorb¬ 
ent, fixing and holding the ammonia until 
needed for the growing plant, and that as 
plaster decomposed slowly, this furnished 
the explanation of its benefits being seen tor 
several years. lie has, in his later works, 
slated that it acts directly and beneficially as 
a fertilizer, though the mode by which il acts 
is not very distinctly pointed out, except to 
chemical students. The reason assigned, 
with a fair show of truth, why its effects are 
not. perceptible on certain soils, is that they 
already contain us large quantities of sul¬ 
phate of lime as is required for the growing 
crops, and an application, being in excess of 
Hie needed supply, would add nothing to 
tlieir growth. 
Of the proper time and method of its ap¬ 
plication there are various opinions. It. is, 
however, generally understood that its effects 
are soonest seen, if apjfiied to the growing 
grass, so as to come in contact with the 
leaves, the application to be made in damp 
weather. It is hardly possible that its value 
can be materially lessened or lost if applied 
to plowed land at time of seeding and har¬ 
rowed in with the seed. This has king been 
practiced by good fanners familiar with its 
use and the benefits derived therefrom. Its 
application to old meadows and pastures, in 
spring time, rarely fails to increase their pro¬ 
ducts, and often develojts a good growth of 
white clover aud other grasses, the presence 
of which was hardly to be seen before. 
Where obtainable at moderate prices, the 
use of two hundred and fifty to three hun¬ 
dred pounds per acre will, in the main, be 
found good economy. We Lave heretofore 
spoken of its use in the formation of com¬ 
posts and around the burn as an absorbent 
of valuable fertilizing matter in the form of 
gases, which, without the aid of plaster, 
muck, or porous soil for their absorption, 
would be lost for Hie time; for in the wise 
economy of nature it may be doubted if any¬ 
thing is ultimately lost. 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
]>ly MiiNtnrU Field. 
An Agent writes“ What shall I do with 
my mustard field V 1 have about five or six 
acres which are pretty thoroughly peppered 
with that dreadful j>est, wild mustard. The 
field was last year sown to flax, and pro¬ 
duced a good crop. It has not been plowed 
this season. My plan is to plow soon, thor¬ 
oughly, and again in the latter part of June, 
sow to buckwheat, and, at the same time, 
sow one and a -half bushels of rye to the acre; 
also one peck of herd’s-grass seed per acre. 
1 would l>e glad to hear from some one ex¬ 
perienced in the matter. I have been told 
Hie two kinds have been sown together with 
good results, the rye ripening, of course, next 
season.” 
We have never had experience with rye 
and buckwheat together. 
Tile for Drnlnino:. 
Ernest Wright writes:—For all ordi- 
nary purposes 1 used tile with one and a-half 
inch bore, and found it sufficient. The first 
tile I ever laid I laid in the month of August, 
preparatory to sowing wheat. Tile were 
something new then, and 1, like a good 
many others, had my doubts about the merit 
of Hie thing. However, my drain worked 
admirably until in November, when the 
water almost ceased flowing, and the ground 
became as wet as ever. Concluding some¬ 
thing was wrong, l took up the drain and 
found that sixty frogs and toads bad taken 
up their winter quarters in the tile, com¬ 
pletely stopping it up. The drain was relaid 
and the last tile fitted closely into a box, the 
outlet of which was grated by driving spikes 
tbvrmgh Hie lizards. 1 had all my drains 
finished in this way and had no more trouble. 
Will It Pay la Summer Fallow? 
Charles W. Hubbard asks “if it will 
pay to summer fallow land that has been 
overstocked and is somewhat wormy ? If 
so, tell how it should be done.” If land has 
not been plowed iu a long time, and is foul, 
it will pay to summer fallow it. The first 
plowing should be done from the last of May 
to the last of June, when the grass has made 
a good growth. The sod should be careful 
ly turned under, and, if practicable, Hie sub¬ 
soil plow should follow the surface plow, cs- 
jieciully on stiff soils. It will pay to roll the 
land with a heavy roller, immediately after 
plowing. Let it lie then until the green sod 
lias fermented and become rotten; then 
cross harrow thoroughly and cross plow. 
Let. it lie until the last of September, when, 
if you want to seed with winter wheat, cross 
harrow, again cross plow, and seed. But if 
it is Intended lor ti spring crop, it may lie 
till the middle of October, before plowing 
the third time. Jf spring grain is to lie sowed 
upon it, Ave should seed in spring without 
plowing; if corn is to be planted, we should 
plow and subsoil just before the time to plant. 
Application of Manure. 
In the Rural New-Yorkero!' May 28th 
appeared an article from the pen of a Wis¬ 
consin subscriber, criticising somewhat the 
system of G. W Humphrey iu spring ma¬ 
nuring for corn, apparently on the following 
grounds:—First, that manure loses much of 
its fertilizing properties by being exposed to 
Hie rays of the sun. He says:—“ I have 
found out that a load of manure left, in piles 
until plowing time is worth two loads that 
have been spread and allowed to lay in the 
hot sun a fortnight.” 
Now, as this is the part of his communica¬ 
tion which I do not quite see, and as there 
arc many farmers in this vicinity who will 
hardly leave a load of manure uncovered for 
a single night, lest some of its richness es¬ 
cape, (while 1 am so careless as to leave 
much of mine spread broadcast, for some 
days previous to barrowing,) the question I 
wish answered by some of our scientific men 
who have the means of telling the exact facts 
is this:—IIow much of the real fertilizing 
properties of manure do we lose by drying 
it perfectly dry, and wliat becomes of what 
is lost V Dm s not the true secret of manur¬ 
ing accord with his statement when he says: 
“ Wherever a pile of manure lies there you 
can raise the largest corn." Is not wliat is 
true of a large amount also true of a small 
amount of manure? In short, do not the 
rains and dews of Heaven commit the 
strength of the manure to the soil, instead 
of its ticing absorbed by the atmosphere?— 
0. B. Fisk, Brookfield , Vt. 
lorscntan. 
FARMERS vs. HORSE JOCKEYS. 
Should farmers be horse jockeys? We 
ask this question iu all candor; for now that 
Dexter and other fast trotting horses bring 
almost fabulous prices, many farmers liave 
caught the trotting ffVer, and are led to 
suppose that by the proper training a colt or 
horse in their possession, tin animal will be 
produced that for speed will vie witli Dex¬ 
ter, and command au extra sum of money in 
the market, thus placing the farmer, after a 
year’s experience in horse training, far on 
the road to fortune. 
The very idea that a man who has spent 
the better part of Ids life in his legitimate 
pursuit, fanning, should undertake, with 
even a ray of hope of success, Hie proper 
training aud skillful management of the 
horse, with the ultimate object of producing 
an animal that will be celebrated for speed, 
is absurd. What must the practice be? It 
is unnecessary to state the loss that will be 
sustained by a neglect of farm duties while 
training Ids “boss.” And if lie is not. strong- 
minded, the baneful habits he will contyu t 
while in the society of men who practice 
the calling he steps from the jilow to imi¬ 
tate, will prove a positive injury. We like 
to see the speed of the horse developed un¬ 
der proper trainers; but when farmers, or 
men in other callings, who cannot tell the 
pedigree of even their own horses, and have 
not made, the horse a study, get such a 
foolish notion in their heads that they can 
train a horse that Will show extra speed, we 
feel like warning them of the error of their 
ways. If a man is a farmer, let that remain I 
Ids pursuit. But few men succeed with two 
or more distinct avocations.— l. d. s. 
Remarks. -It. does not by any means fol¬ 
low that because a man seeks to train a 
horse to t ravel fast, that he must necessarily, 
nor that he will, associate with men whose 
society is demoralizing, any more than it 
follows that because a man has plenty of 
money he will necessarily imitate Bonner 
and buy all the fast horses lie can hear of. 
If a farmer has a colt be should train him so 
as to make him as valuable as possible, just 
as lie should train a pair of steers to become 
docile, useful, and most valuable as oxen. 
The farmer who attempts to train a qolt to 
be fast is very likely to learn something that 
will be valuable to him and his neighbors. 
Nor need lie neglect other legitimate duties 
to do it; nor need he become a jockey any 
more than he need become a prize-fighter, 
because he lias got a pair of big, calloused 
fists. 
--- 
COLLAR BOILS ON HORSES. 
A “ Veterinarian ” writes to the Chi¬ 
cago Tribune as follows, in answer to a 
question as to the cause of swellings and 
collar boils on horses“ The swellings and 
collar boils you complain of are not caused 
by feeding salt, and ashes, though the latter 
seems to me to be useless. These swellings 
Occur most frequently In spring time, and 
especially then, when the horse either is 
rapidly improving or fulling off in flesh, thus 
rendering the collar either uio narrow or too 
wide. Have the collar always well fitted to 
the horse’s neck, keep your harness clean 
aud smooth, and take care that the traces or 
tugs are always of exactly the same length, 
and you will liave no cause to complain. As 
long as the skin on those swellings is not 
sore, you may use cold fomentations. As 
soon, however, as the same gets sore, and 
the ejiidermis taken off, you will soon effect 
a cure by applying, three times a day, or 
when the horse lias to work, each time the 
harness is put on or taken off, on the sore 
places, a mixture of pure olive oil and lime 
water, equal parts.” 
--♦♦♦- 
TO EXAMINE HORSES’ EYES. 
A correspondent of the Chicago Tri¬ 
bune says“ For the purpose of examining 
the eyes, the horse ought to lie led into a 
room which admits but very little, or better, 
no light at all, on three sides, and is open on 
the fourth one; in most cases a stable, barn, 
&e., the main door opened and all others 
closed, will answer the purpose. We have 
to lead the horse with liis head toward the 
light, so that by advancing or backing liim 
we can let fall into his eyes just as much or 
as little light as we please, and thereby ob¬ 
serve the expansion and contraction ot the 
pupils, and as we have at the same time his 
eyes sufficiently illuminated, we are able to 
look into the interior of the eyeball. In an 
open space, where the light comes from more 
than one side, this is impossible. 
“ To avoid mistakes, we have to examine 
all the different points of the eye, singly and 
collectively, and strictly to compare them 
with the corresponding parts of the other 
side, commencing with the auxiliary organs. 
Of course, a clear sky facilitates such an ex¬ 
amination ; a cloudy sky sometimes makes 
snow storm, or twilight, renders it impos¬ 
sible. 
“Glittering or white objects being just 
opposite and reflected in the eyes to lie ex¬ 
amined, or the approaching of persons with 
white dresses, while hats, glittering buttons, 
&c., to the horse should not be allowed, for 
sometimes it is rather difficult to discrimi¬ 
nate such reflections from white or opaque 
specks in the crystaline lens, or its capsule. 
We must, also be careful in examining the 
eyes, when the ground is covered with snow, 
or when white-painted houses, fences, &c., 
windows with white curtains, or windows, 
&e., reflecting the light, are just opposite. 
Bridles with blinkers should be taken off, as 
they prevent a close examination. 
“ If the above rules are Complied with, 
nobody who has ft correct eye and a little 
talent for observation, will fail to delect even 
the slightest delects.” 
-♦♦»■■■ — 
Inqurlcs for lloriemen to Answer.—A corres¬ 
pondent asks la mv to prevent a colt snekiiig its 
lips.—8. W. J., asks, 11 What effect lias the past 
breeding of a mare upon her future brooding? 
For example I have a mure that was bred to Jack 
last season ; this season to horse. Will the last 
year’s breeding: have any influence on Hie pres¬ 
ent foal N. .J., Skanealeles, N- Y., writes: “I 
have a tine five-year-old colt affected somewhat, 
though not exactly, like ono described in the 
Rural a fetv weeks ago. At times when he is 
walking along, he seems to give out in his stifle 
joint as though the Joint, slipped out of place; 
and eomelhnea after lie has been standing still 
quite .a while and attempts to step he acts as 
though he cannot move his feet; when he does 
move them they twitch up quick and high. lie 
seems to bo the worse in the morning alter hav¬ 
ing been worked the day before, but after stiring 
around a few moments ho gets over it and I sec 
nothing of the twitching up of his legs while at 
work. Sometimes it is in one himl leg and some 
times In tho Other and sometimes in both. When 
he backs up he draws his hind feet back instead 
of lifting them up. He has been thus affected a 
little more than a month; he was also affected 
the same way for two or three days a year ago 
this spring. Will it injure him permanently? 
Will it hurt him to use him? I have worked 
him the most, of the spring. What is the matter 
with him ? Wliat the remedy ?’’ 
[ubusfml (Topics. 
PUBLIC HIGHWAYS. 
Sound the timbrel! let the hew-gag re¬ 
sound to the music of the Brooks, and let 
all our people say, Amen and Amen, toward 
a full requirement of duties devolving on 
those who assume the position of street or 
road supervisors. Let us all, every reader 
of the Rural New-Yorker, do what we 
can, Individually and collectively, toward 
inculcating upon our road guides or direct¬ 
ors, from year to year, even almost to the 
point of enforcing the fact, that we “ pay 
our money, and hereafter we don’t like the 
choice they give us.” 
Let us get rid of the road fences any how; 
they are of no use, only as each one may 
need them to keep his own cable in due 
bounds. The Brooks move to use panels, 
with books fastening to posts set on a frame, 
is the. one for all farmers to adopt, because 
in reality it. is Hie cheapest in first cost, is 
the most desirable, the most available, and 
avoids necessity of Hie use of capital in 
fencing beyond the present active wants of 
the owner. 
Let us gel up road-side clubs in every dis¬ 
trict for planting shade trees; let us study 
at. wliat distance they shall stand from the 
center of the road to give us a good effect, a 
shade from the heat of summer, aud leave 
us abundant, and yet not. too much, of road 
breadth, and yet not so to shade the road as 
to cause it to lie continuously damp and 
muddy. Who will report a club ?— Tyrus. 
-- 
MANUFACTURING AT THE SOUTH. 
The Farmer and Artisan, Athens, Ga., 
reviews some of the advantages developed 
in the South, for manufacturing jmrjioses as 
follows;—“ The report on Cotton Manufac¬ 
tures made to the late Agricultural, Manu¬ 
facturing and Immigration Convention in 
Charleston brought to light the shirt ling fact 
that yarns can be manufactured in South 
Carolina, be transported to the North, pay a 
commission of five per cent, for selling, tie 
sold at the cost of Northern yarns, and yield 
a net profit of five cent* a pound. Again, the 
Saluda Factory of this State, in April, 1809, 
shipped ft lot of No. 20 yarn to Manchester, 
England. These yarns sold at 10d., which 
was equal to 43% cents L idled Stales cui- 
rency. The total cost of the yarns, including 
freights and commissions, was 39K cents, 
leaving a net profit ot cents a pound. 
We repeal, and the report submitted to the 
Convention confirms our statement, that 
South Carolina can manufacture cotton 
yarns, and certain classes of colored goods 
better, and far more cheaply than they can 
he made in New England. We can meet 
Manchester on even ground, and we can 
make a large profit at prices which would 
drive the Rhode Island mills into bank¬ 
ruptcy.” 
