AUG 5 
S4E 
repeat the other two, as a variation in the 
seasons has a modifying influence on all our 
experiments. Hence the importance of re¬ 
peating them to acquire the knowledge which 
will enable us most wisely to direct our en¬ 
ergies. Theron Loomis. 
Waukesha Co’, Wis. 
CLOVER HAY. 
SIR. JOHN BENNKT LA WES. BART. LL.D. F.R.S, 
I have always felt somewhat doubtful as 
to whether hay which has been heated in the 
rick, has gained any increase in its nutritive 
properties. We know as a fact that it has lost 
more or less of one of its most valuahle ingre¬ 
dients, that is, sugar; but we do not know as 
a fact that any substance which was before 
perfectly indigestible lias been converted into 
food. 
It would be by no means easy to arrange a 
series of experiments which would decide a 
question of this kind. In our country we are 
in such a hurry to get our hay out of the field 
for fear of rain that the loss in the rick from 
heating—if it does occur—is preferable to the 
much greater loss that takes place if rain 
comes on while the hay is out in the field. In 
England if we have a tropical Summer—as 
we do now and then—there are more very hot 
ricks than at any other time, and for this 
reason that, in most cases, the farmer is 
deceived by the dry feeling of the hay, and 
proceeds to carry it to the rick before it has 
lost its internal moisture. 
There can be but little doubt that the diffu¬ 
sion of moisture through the rick adds to the 
leaf of the clover some of the water which it 
had lost in the field. I have on my farm a 
field of clover which was cut two days ago, 
(July 4. Ed. K. N. Y.); the stems are quite 
succulent, and the clover will not be fit to be 
carted for another two days; the leaf, how¬ 
ever, already crumbles into dust in the hand, 
though before the time arrives for cutting the 
hay out of the rick—six or possibly twelve 
months hence—this leaf will have gained a 
considerable amount of moisture. 
Assuming that the United States clover is, 
when first cut, equal in quality to our own, it 
seems a great pity that so valuable an article 
of food should become deteriorated for want 
of a little more care and attention in the 
making. 
In the district where I reside, and in all dis¬ 
tricts where the best hay is made for the Lon¬ 
don market, the practice of curing hay in 
cocks is never adopted. The clover, after 
being cut by the machine, is not touched until 
the upper surface is dry; it is then turned 
once, and when dry is carried direct to the 
rick, which is made large enough to hold from 
30 to 40 tons of hay. The great art consists 
in deciding upon the right moment for carry¬ 
ing ; and the hotter the weather and the more 
scorching the sun the greater will be the 
danger of over heating. 
With a temperature of 90® it must be very 
difficult to select the exact time when a crop 
is fit to carry; that is to say, when the mois¬ 
ture to be generated in the rick, will be suf¬ 
ficient to moisten the dusty leaf, but not be 
in such excess as to convert the product into 
charcoal. With regard to this point it is quite 
possible that by enabling the farmer to shorten 
the time between the cutting and carrying of 
his clover, the exhaust fans which are now 
coming into use iu England may be of con¬ 
siderable service. 
As regards the relative value of clover and 
meadow hay, the market price is, of course, 
the only correct basis on which to form an 
estimate; but it must be borne iu mind that 
the town consumer only regards their re¬ 
spective values as food; while the farmer 
should look both to the food and manure 
value. I am one of those who have always 
opposed tho idea that the feeding value of 
ordinary foods can be measured by the nitro¬ 
gen which they contain; for some purposes, 
however, I think that the larger proportion 
of nitrogenous compounds possessed by clover, 
as compared with meadow hay, is of im¬ 
portance. 
It is now well known that in such succulent 
plants as roots, a large proportion of the ni¬ 
trogen is not in the form of albumeu. In a 
series of investigations which we carried on 
at Rothamsted with reference to this question 
we found that as regards mangels, two-thirds 
of the whole of their nitrogen might be in 
other compounds; this would leave the albu¬ 
men far too low in proportion to the sugar 
and other uou-nitrogeuou9 compounds. In 
feeding stock with roots, clover hay could 
therefore be used with great advantage. 
Corn is somewhat low in nitrogen, and al¬ 
though it is probable that almost the whole 
of the nitrogen is in the form of albumen, I 
should still be inclined to think that working 
horses fed on corn and clover might do better 
than where they were fed on corn and Timo¬ 
thy. 
The question appears to be that v hether the 
dry leaf—which does the injury to the ani¬ 
mals, and must necessarily be produced under 
a special character of climate—might not be 
rendered harmless by some difference of 
management in the rick. 
-«-*-♦- 
CURING MILLET FOR HAY. 
The increase in area of this crop, and the 
favorable reports of those who have fed it in 
quantities so as to test its excellent qualities, 
are now causing it to be counted in this 
State an important factor in our agricultural 
economy: for its great producing, and feeding 
qualities are becoming better known, and its 
coming in at opportune times tides many a 
farmer over a time when otherwise he would 
have to buy feed very largely. Being easily 
raised, and—if one knows how—harvested, it 
is truly an economical feed, and a first-class 
one besides. 
Strange it is that one is continually hearing 
of the difficulty of curing it, but the trouble 
is, that under a wrong impression a “ big job ’’ 
is planned, when one no greater than the cur¬ 
ing of a heavy crop of Timothy hay is needed? 
and so to meet this “ demand,” much useless 
labor is performed. The idea is that it must 
be made “ as dry as tinder ” by stirriDg, rak¬ 
ing, cocking, airing, recocking and airing 
again before setting up, when the fact is that 
it will go in as green as any hay, and does not 
need more work. 
The last week in August, or any time after 
the 20th of that month, if the weather is clear, 
is my time, and as I have cut millet every year 
for the past 12 years, I begin to think I am an 
“ old stager ” at the business. When the wea¬ 
ther promises fair for a few days, 1 cut down 
about four or five acres, and let it lie until the 
third day. Tueu, as soon as the dew is off, I 
put it into large cocks of 200 or even more 
pounds each. Then, the fifth or sixth day as 
the work may direct, it is pitched directly 
from the cocks into the barn. Iu the inter¬ 
vening days I cut more, arid work it also 
towards the barn, by the same means. 
If on the second day the weather betokens a 
foul turn, the millet is raked up and put in 
smaller and higher cocks, and when the wea¬ 
ther again becomes fair, the cocks are simply 
“whopped” bottom upwards, and in the 
afternoon one large cock is made of two, and 
then when their time comes they are drawn 
either to the stack or barn. 
Two things are peculiar to millet; if it 
does get rained upon before it is dry, no visi¬ 
ble damage is done, and when put in cocks, it 
settles down very compactly, .and the long 
stalks of millet make a very complete thatch, 
and it takes a very heavy rain to wet into 
them. 
It needs judgment when pitching, for its 
weight is always underestimated. A ten-hun¬ 
dred pound load by estimate will always 
weigh a few hund'ed pounds more on the 
scales, and in pitching, small forkfuls will be 
amply large before night, Iu securing, the 
barn is preferable to a stack, and one hand¬ 
ling is thus saved. 
Cured and secured in this way, I do not see 
how any large crop can be gathered with very 
much less labor, and when, in March and 
April, one has a big mow of well cured millet 
to feed, he laughs at snow storms, throws 
down an extra forkful of blossom-cut millet, 
and iu return, “old Brimlle,”—now known as 
Coowassie Jersey, I think,—gives a Summer's 
mess of milk, and her owner declares that he 
will plow up that old north meadow in April, 
and put the whole lot into German millet. 
Aurora, Ohio. John Gould. 
- ♦-*--•- 
BERMUDA GRASS. 
Bermuda Grass, better known here as 
Wire Grass, is destined to act an important 
part and eventually work a revolution in the 
agriculture of the South. Some one has said, 
“Be sure you want it before you plant it," 
w hich is souud advice, but never fear but if 
you are anywhere in the Cotton Belt you 
are sure to get it in time, and when it comes 
it comes to stay. The Southern planter con¬ 
siders it a nuisance, and well he may, so long 
as cotton and tobacco are his staple products— 
the main money crops raised to the neg'ect of 
almost every other product: but experience 
teaches that this continual plowiag and 
planting year after year soou removes all the 
fertility from our soils, and at the present 
rate the time is not far distant when the last 
acre will have been worn out, and what then? 
Let the soil rest a few years producing only 
pities, and it will become as good as new ! True 
to a certain extent, but the fertility thus ac¬ 
cumulated is exhausted by about three crops. 
The only thing this section lacks to make 
it one of the best for grazing has been 
grass. This desideratum Bermuda Grass will 
supply. It is gaining ground slowly but 
surely, taking possession in patches here and 
there, thriving on the poorest of worn-out 
land, stopping washes, binding banks, creep¬ 
ing in all directions, but slightly affected by 
drought, furnishing a continual supply of 
highly nutritious food which is eaten with 
avidity by all grazing animals. It must 
finally drive cultivated crops from the field 
and force us into becoming a stock-raising 
people. M. B. Prince. 
Henderson Co., N. C. 
- * » ♦- 
Planting Potatoes. 
The largest yield of potatoes that I have had 
was from “seed” planted on moist land three- 
and-one-half feet apart in hills. I did not 
guess at the distance, as is usually the case 
when the land is marked oat with a plow; 
a marker was used that marked three rows at 
a time and swept a track five inches broad 
and one or two inches deep. After cross¬ 
marking, two pieces of potato were dropped 
•from four to six inches apart in each hill. 
How far apart shall we plant our potatoes, or 
whether they should be planted in hills or in 
drills, is not so important a question to us 
as whether we shall plant them on the surface 
or four or eight inches beneath it. It is evi¬ 
dent that, if the land is dry and we wish to 
plant near together, say from one to two-and- 
a-half feet apart, the potatoes should be 
planted deep—deep enough to secure a suffi¬ 
cient amount of soil above the seed-bed for a 
hill wheu the surface is left nearly level. In 
case of moist land, where it becomes neces¬ 
sary to plant on or near the surface, it would 
be quite impossible to raise a sufficient amount 
of soil between the rows to hill the potatoes, 
and leave a proper base for the hill, unless 
they were planted at a fair distance apart. 
Cherry Valley, N. Y. e. d. c. 
* * »■ 
The Washington (?) Oats. 
A year ago last Spring I received from the 
Rural New-Yorker a small package of 
Washington Oats. I examined them and pro¬ 
nounced them the same variety I had in West¬ 
ern New York. They were brought over to 
this country by the British Minister for a rela¬ 
tive and called the Early Somersetshire. I 
raised them one year and they weighed 45 
pounds to the bushel and only one oat or 
berry in a place. They were very plump 
end the straw was very stout. From the few 
seeds the Rural sent I sowed about 20 feet 
square in my garden. From this little plot I 
got about 12 or 13 quarts. These I sowed 
this Spring on about one-fourth of an acre 
and they are looking fine and I should 
judge they would yield from 80 to 100 bush¬ 
els per acre. I measured a stalk to-day and it 
stood six feet high and bad 180 oats on it. I 
am now fully satisfied they are the same va¬ 
riety viz: Early Somersetshire. O. K. Rice. 
Qlrborijculturai. 
SHADE—AN AMENDE. 
Under the heading “ Miscellaneous ,” on 
page 454, in the Rural of July 8th, one of 
your writers seems to have misapprehended the 
ideas in respect to shade in his personal refer¬ 
ence to some previous communication, from 
your correspondent on Arboriculture. 
All will agree with him as to the health¬ 
giving influence of free circulation of air about 
our dwellings, and will believe in the purify¬ 
ing influence of bright sunshine. But the 
fierce glare of the Dog-Day’s sun, unbroken by 
the shadow of tree, or bush, or vine, as so 
often found about the wooden houses that 
stand in their bald loneliness on the broad 
expanse of the open prairie, that is the object¬ 
ionable feature of the landscape that was 
referred to. Such an exposure to the scorching 
rays of Old Sol is certainly most undesirable, 
how vivifying soever and ozone-producing 
such rays may be; a planted shade is earnestly 
desired by the sett'er who has any but the 
crudest notions of home comforts,—and he 
will soon provide it. 
In planting about our houses, all are warned, 
however, to avoid setting the trees too close 
to the buildings: they are advised to consider, 
in their selection of species, the size that, in a 
few years, will be attained by many of our 
favorite trees. If set within a few feet or even 
yards, they will soon extend their branches to 
a dangerous proximity, when they must be 
trimmed, or entirely removed, to keep them 
from becoming injuriously iutrusive. In the 
older settlements this error is frequently ob¬ 
served ; the little trees that were set out in the 
door-yards by a previous generation, endeared 
to their owners perhaps, by loving associations, 
have grown too large, and have encroached 
upon the space that should be kept free and 
open for the air and sunlight so necessary for 
the healthfulness of a country home. 
Under too dense a shade of overhanging and 
crowded trees, the conditions referred to by 
the writer, do too often occur, and they may 
be found about many an ancient homestead in 
the older States, but are as yet less frequently 
observed in that uncertain region, loosely 
styled the West, which, indeed, like an ignis 
fatuus is ever receding from the Orient with 
the swelling tide of immigration towards the 
setting sun, so that our own Ohio, which was 
western and wild enough in our childhood, 
being now near the great center of the 
population of our republic, can no longer be 
reckoned as a Western State, and she points 
her Anger, aye, and already sends out her 
thousands of sons and daughters as immi¬ 
grants to found new homes and new States on 
the boundless plains beyond the great livers, 
still toward the West. 
By all means plant trees for shade and shel¬ 
ter about your homes, but plant them appro¬ 
priately and with judgment that shall prevent 
their ever becoming obnoxious to the charges 
preferred by your correspondent. If set too 
close to the buildings, or if planted too thickly, 
cut them down and thin them out—be sure to 
permit the vivifying rays of the sun to have 
“ free access to the kitchen, to the open win¬ 
dows,” and indeed all around the house. 
When not bound to observe the cardinal 
points of the compass, in locating the dwelling 
and where the surface of the ground will 
permit, it will be well to locate the building 
so that every wall may receive the direct rays 
of the sun at some hour of the day. This is 
done by placing the diagonal of its squares 
nearly on the meridian. John A. Warder. 
J^uslnmirnj. 
THE SHEEP SCAB. 
For Illustrations—See page 416. 
The scab is, without exception, the most 
troublesome disease to which sheep are subject 
and the most annoying to the shepherd, when 
once it takes possession of the flock; for not 
only are the sheep infected, but so are the very 
ground and every bush, tree, fence, post, 
stone and other object against which the 
sheep can rub themselves to relieve the intol¬ 
erable itching or to which a shred of loose 
wool may become attached. The reason for 
this may readily be seen when the nature of 
the disease is understood. 
A scabby sheep (Fig. 237,) is a wretched 
object. It is poor and thin, and its wool 
hangs in tatters owing to the continual rub¬ 
bing of the sheep against any object which 
can serve its purpose, or the nibbling of the 
skin by the sheep itself. When the poor 
animal is examined, the wool is found matted 
in places and the skin encrusted with hard 
scabs which may have cracked in places, and 
there they bleed or exude a thin yellowish 
matter which dries and adds to the substance 
of the scab. In other places the skin is seen to 
be red and covered with small vesicles or 
watery blisters, which, when broken by the 
rubbing or biting of the sheep, exude the same 
yellowish matter which dries and forms a 
crust in course of time, as above described. 
When the blisters and the scabs are closely 
examined they are found to contain small 
insects very much like minute spiders, but in 
reality mites of the same family as those 
which are found in cheese, and are called 
cheese mites. When a lock of wool from one 
of these scabs on the sheep is laid upon a piece 
of white paper, small crawling things, like 
3peeks of dust, are seen with ease by the naked 
eye. If these are examined under a magni¬ 
fying glass they appear as in the illustrations 
here given. They are known as Acarus 
Scabiei, or otherwise as Dermatodectes ovis. 
These minute insects burrow under the skin 
forming galleries, much in the same way as 
moles do in the soil, and the irritation thus 
caused produces these watery blisters and the 
matter which in time gathers into the hard 
crusts and scabs. These are also found to be 
perforated iu every direction with burrows 
which give them a spongy texture. This 
family of Acari is a numerous one; one genus 
is the cause of itch in mankind, another pro¬ 
duces mange in horses, dogs and cats; one 
is found in fowls; others in raw brown 
sugar, flour, cheese, among seeds in seed 
stores, in the tissue of leaves of the pear and 
other trees, in birds, bees, house flies and so 
on, illustrating, in fact, very completely the 
lines of the humorous poet who wrote: 
“Big (leas have little tleas 
Upon their skins to bite 'em. 
Ami little fl-as have lesser lleas 
And so ad injlnitum.” 
The mites are excessively prolific. The 
female at the age of 10 days begins to lay eggs 
by thousands, and these are Hatched in a few 
days, or may remain in a dry state for even 
two or three years, ready to hatch and become 
living mites. The mites themselves will also 
remain torpid and dry for at least two years 
attached to stones, trees and fences where they 
have been rubbed off by the sheep, and thus a 
pasture may become infected, and so infect a 
healthy flock, or the mere passage of a stray 
diseased sheep may infect miles of ground 
over which other sheep may wander and so 
contract the disease. 
[ From these facts it may appear how difficult 
