4885 
533 
the treatment to the kidneys. Every night 
give a drench composed of the following in¬ 
gredients, mixed: Niter, four drams; pow¬ 
dered resin, three drams: ginger, one dram; 
spirit of nitrous ether, 1)^ ouuce; warm 
water, one quart. If weakness is the cause, a 
dram of sulphate of Iron given in the feed 
twice a day will strengthen the system and 
with it the legs. 
GRASS QUERIES. 
S. D. R. Brookfield, Mass. —1. Last Spring 
I seeded a field with barley; it is now not 
more than half alive; how would it do to har¬ 
row the ground aud sow more seed—soil, a 
sandy loam. 2. I have a field that was in 
meadow and burned over so deep as to burn 
all the turf and nothing but flags (cat tails) 
grow there now. It is under water in Spring, 
what sort of grass would grow on it now? 
A ns. 1.—It would do first-rate to harrow 
and sow the seed just Itefore a rain, if possible. 
Apply 200 pounds of muriate of potash per 
acre if you would have the grass extra nice. 
2. We fear this is a hopeless case, unless the 
field can be drained. The growing of the flags 
would indicate too much water for any valu¬ 
able grass. If the water can be let off, it is 
likely that by plowing, Red Top (Agrostis 
vulgaris). Rescue Grass (Brooms Schraderi) 
or Water Meadow Glass (Poa aquatica) es¬ 
pecially the last, would llourish. AlsoAlsike 
clover might be tried. 
LIME AND LIME8TONE. 
A. A , Otter Tall Co , Minn.— 1. There is on 
my land a kind of limestone, also a substance 
that contains many fresh water shells mixed 
with silica. ' Both will make quick ime by 
burning: can this be used for manure? 2. If 
good for manure, would it be good for sandy 
laud? 3, If to be burned, how can it be done? 
Ans —It is probably a species of shell marl, 
but as to its mauurial value, no one can tell 
without either a trial on the soil or an anal¬ 
ysis of it. The best way is to try it. The 
rock (if in rock form) would have to be 
crushed or burned before it could be of use. 2 
If good for manure at all. it would be partic¬ 
ularly valuable for sandy land, as that is very 
liable to be deficient in lime. 3. Without know¬ 
ing anything of the surroundings or of the 
fuel supply, it would be impossible to give any 
specific advice. If wood or coal is available 
tor burning this lime, a kilu can be construct¬ 
ed to answer a temporary purpose by laying 
up a wall of stones, two teet or more thick, in 
a circular form, having the inclosed space of 
any size desired up to 12 or 15 feet in diameter. 
Aiches should then be constructed in the 
bottom of loose stones connected w ith feeding 
holes from the outside. The kiln may be of 
any bight, the higher the better, and when 
finished it should be filled with the rock 
broken into such pieces as will handle conven¬ 
iently and till the space moderately close. 
Files should then be built and run night aud 
day until the stones on the top are red-hot, 
when the kiln may be closed up and allowed 
to cool. The lime will then slake on the ap¬ 
plication of water, and will be fit for use. If 
found valuuble, more elaborate and scientific 
kilns should then be built. 
“WASHING" OF LAND. 
C. H. B., JRockport, Texas. —1. Will under¬ 
drawing prevent land from washing? 2' Is 
there any other way to prevent it? 
Ans. —1. Laud washes because more water 
falls than can pass iuto the ground, aud it is 
therefore obliged to run over the surface. It is 
very doubtful whether undordraining would 
enable the land, In all cases, to take up ruin as 
fast as it falls. It would no doubt aid it very 
much by iuereusing its porosity, preventing it 
flora becoming saturated; but we doubt wboth¬ 
er, iu all cases, it would besutlicient. 2. ’1 hero 
is no better way than to keep the bottom of the 
ravines or draws seeded down, and then plow 
so as to have the dead furrows aud open drains 
inclined only a very little downward so that 
the water will not acquire too rapid a current. 
SUNFLOWERS. 
C. F. D., Sarnia, Out. —When should sun¬ 
flowers be cut, and how can they be saved 
from birds 1 
Ans. —Examine the heads and cut as soon 
as the seeds, just about the center of each, are 
mature, and, of course, before auy shell out. 
Cut the beads with a corn knife or heavy 
butcher's knife, and spread on a scaffold or 
floor so thinly us not to mold. After they 
lmve become thoroughly dried, they can be 
thrashed out with flail , or be treaded out by 
horses, aud may be cleaned up and stored the 
same as other gram. Birds are not very apt 
to trouble them so loug as they do not become 
broken down m the field. 
THE COLEUS. 
O. T.S., Savannah, Ga. —What is the proper 
spelling Coleus or Coleas, aud when did it 
originate ? 
Ans. —The correct orthography is Coleus. 
The Dame comes from the Greek word koleos, 
meaning sheath, and lefers to the character 
of the stamens. It belongs to the Mint fam¬ 
ily, and is a near relative of the common cat¬ 
nip. The varieties in cultivation come from 
C. Blutnei, which was supposed to he intro¬ 
duced from Java. It gained much of its pop¬ 
ularity from Mr. Verscbaffelt, a German flor¬ 
ist, in whose honor a variety of it is named. 
It is now raised in an almost endless variety of 
colors, some of which are very beautiful. 
RESETTING STRAWBERRIES. 
T. S. K., Brookwayville, Pa.— 1. Which 
strawberry plants are the better for reset¬ 
ting a bed—the old or the new ones? 2. How 
long w’ill a bed do well without resetting, if 
kept clean and no runners are allowed to 
grow? 
Ans. —The only plants worth hothering 
with are those that grow from the runners. 
These, if well rooted, may be taken np the 
first season by using a spade and removing 
plenty of soil with them, without disturbing 
the roots. They are usually left until the 
Spring following their rooting, and then they 
make the best plants. Under no circumstan¬ 
ces are the old plants that have once fruited 
worth resetting. 2. There is a great differ¬ 
ence in varieties; some will bear several 
years, and others can hardly be made to bear 
a second good crop. As a rule, it will not pay 
to grow more than two crops on any variety. 
A tied may be kept, however, if highly man¬ 
ured and kept clean, by annually allowing 
new runners to take root, and as often spading 
out the old plants^ 
MAKING “UNFERMKNTED WINE.” 
0. T. S., Savannah, Ga .—What is a for¬ 
mula for makiug unfermented wine from the 
Scuppernong Grape? 
Ans. —Unfermented wine is a misnomer— 
wine is fermented grape juice, so “unferment 
ed wine” would be simply fresh grape juice. 
You can sweeten the juice to taste, put it into 
porcelain kettles and bring it to a boil, skim¬ 
ming off any impurities that may arise : 
then put it boiling hot into glass bottles and 
cork aud seal tightly. In this manner, if keut 
cool in a dark place, it will keep any length 
of time and make a very wholesome drink or 
medicine, but it is not wine. 
Miscellaneous. 
J. B., Parsons, Kan.— 1. Our upland is 
composed of 12 inches of sandy loam, not too 
rich, on from one to three feet of clay, and 
below that hard-pan, thence limestone; will 
it pay to underdraiu such land, when it has 
good surface drainage? 2 If so, at what 
depth? 3. Is sweet corn, when sound, good 
tor food and seed, when the stalks are smutted ? 
ANS.—The question of whether uutlerdram- 
ing will pay is merely a local one. It would 
pay to drain such land where good farming 
land is worth from $»>0 to #1U0 per acre; but 
it would not pay when as good land and dry 
enough could be bad for the Government 
price. There is no doubt that underdraining 
would make it more productive, aud our 
friend had better make the experiment by 
trying a small field, keeping account of the 
cost, aud then watch it aud see if the advan¬ 
tage of earlier working and better yields 
would pay the interest on the cost, or a little 
more; if it will, then drain the whole farm. 
2. The drains should be from to 3 feet 
deep, according to the outlet available. 3. 
Smut on the stalk alone will in no way injure 
corn not affected, but for seed we would pre 
fer to soak it in strong copperas water or a 
solution of chloride of lime in water. This 
would kill all smut spores and prevent the 
future crop from being attacked. 
A. II. F., Neligh, Neb.— 1. What is the Ru¬ 
ral's ideal potato hook. 2. How are peanuts 
cultivated? 
Ans. —1. The best potato hook has five tines 
about seven inches loug, flat on the flout side 
aud oval on the back. The tines are bent and 
not the shank. It is light, and strong, and 
does not injure the potatoes. 2. Peanuts 
should be planted in rowsaboulS)^ feet apart, 
on very light soil, w hich should be kept very 
mellow, as the nuts form under ground ou the 
stalks that beur the blossoms. They blossom 
very like a pea, after which the peduncle 
bends over aud pushes the pod below the sur¬ 
face of the ground,where it comes to maturity, 
hence the need of having the surface light and 
mellow. 
A’. J. V , Bull's Gap, Tenn.—l. When one of 
my cows comes from the field at night, milk 
is dropping treely from every teat. Can any¬ 
thing be done to remedy the defect ? Is the 
Ivory Soap good for toilet use, or is it ouly 
intended tor washing clothes ? 
Ans.— 1. We know of no way by which the 
evil can be cured. Tbe most practical thiug 
is to milk as soon us possible alter the cow ex¬ 
pects it, or iu case she is a very large milker, 
milk three times u day. 2. ivory Soap is a 
fine soap for w ashing clothes, and also very 
desirable for the toilet, being very pure and 
clean, aud mak'ug a fine, creamy lather. 
11. G., Center Family, Mo .—Should the 
sulphide (not sulphate) of carbon be used as 
soon as tbe peas are ready to put away, and 
how long can they be subjected to its act'on 
without injury ? 
Ans. —Notice: the substance to be used is 
sulphide of carbon. It should be used as soon 
as the peas are dry enough not to mold, and it 
will not injure their germinating capacity 
however long they may be confined with it. 
L. M., Clermont, Pa., sends us a box con¬ 
taining specimens of a white raspberry which, 
he says, he found growing wild among the red 
ones in a fallow, and asks if it would be likely 
to prove valuable. 
Ans. —It might pay to transplant a single 
bush iuto the garden and see what cultivation 
will do for it. One could then tell better 
whether it is worth more extended notice. 
There are many white (yellow) raspberries. 
J. B. W., Charleton, Mass .—What ails the 
inclosed quince limbs and fruit, and what is 
the remedy ? 
Ans —Accompanying the above were speci¬ 
mens of quinces, fruit and limbs. They were 
attacked with the red rust which a few years 
ago wa3 very prevalent inWestern and Central 
New York. Cut off and burn the diseased 
limbs and fruit. It is net likely to become 
troublesome. 
I. V. H., Fulton, Ind.— Should old rasp¬ 
berry canes be cut out as soon as they have 
finished frailing, or in Spring ? 
Ans.—I t makes but little difference so far 
as the plant is concerned; hut it is usual to cut 
them out as soon asthey are through fruiting 
and then cultivate and sometimes hoe and 
manure, which is the best plan; and then, they 
can be cut more easily before they get too 
dry. 
C A. K., Bethlehem , Pa .—Is Moore’s Arctic 
Plum curculio-proof ? 
Ans. —Not by any means. Like the Rich¬ 
land, it is a great bearer, and hence, unless tbe 
pests are too thick, enough fruit escapes their 
attacks to form a good crop. 
Subscriber .—1 would like to ask Mr. A. L. 
Crosby how old is his bull which he tethers 
out, and if the chain is put around the horns 
or through the ring in the nose. 
DISCUSSION. 
C., Bergen Co., N. J.—It does not accord 
with your usual good taste to print such a 
loose article as that of D. S. Hicks, on page 
482, about Crimson Clover. He is a slasher. 
W. F. B , Oxford, Ohio.—On page 484 of 
the Rural 1 notice an inquiry about the Ever¬ 
green Blackberry. When will our farmers 
learn not to purchase trees or plants from 
strangers? They exercise more common sense 
in most business transactions; but in the pur¬ 
chase of fruit trees aud vines, where swind¬ 
ling is both common aud easy, and impossible 
to detect until the vender has had Dime to go to 
the antipodes, there always seems to be plenty 
of customers. One curious thing about it is 
that they will pay the traveling agent twice 
the price asked by reliable nurserymen of 
their own neighborhood. 
1 am familiar with the soil and geological 
formation of Southern Indiana, and whatever 
T. B,, of New Albany (who asks what mixture 
to sow ou his wood lot), sows there. Blue Grass 
should uot be omitted. No other grass will 
equal it for growing in a dense shade, and 
when once it gets a foothold, it will crowd out 
all others. Usually there are worthless varieties 
of trees, or decaying ones, which may be cut 
to admit the sunshine, and tbe clearing up of 
the wood lot will give profitable employment 
in mild winter weather. 
B., Newark, Ohio.— I think there is a bet¬ 
ter way to use liquid manure thau that 
recommended in the Rural of July 18 . The 
drawing out and applying of liquid manure 
is a “nasty” busiuess. It is far better to dip 
it back ou the manure heap, or if you wish 
some Hue mauure lor the garden, mix sawdust 
and rich mold—chip dirt is good—and dip the 
strong liquid oyer it. 
Usiug a drill with grass seed attachment is 
broad-casting the Timothy’ seed, and if, as 
with my drill, the seeder is put at the rear, 1 
consider it the best way to sow Timothy, as 
the seeding is uniform and there is no possibil¬ 
ity of missing strips, as is often the case when 
sown by hand. It saves the time of going 
over a second time, and puts the seed just 
where it is wanted—at the surface. 
A. C. Nellis & Co., Canajoharie, N. Y., 
complain because we do not know them; or 
rather because we confess our ignorance. In 
the Rural of July 27, a Michigan corres 
pondent complaiued that he had sent tbe firm 
money lor goods, ami bad received, neither 
goods, money, nor a reason for the omission, 
though he had written more than once. To 
his inquiry whether we knew anything about 
the firm, we replied, quite truthfully, that we 
did uot. They inform us that the trouble was 
due to the dishonesty of a local post office 
clerk, who was accustomed to steal remit¬ 
tances from letters to residents of the town, 
and that several sums sent to them through 
the mail were “lost” in this way. They have 
sent, to our correspondent a “certificate” for 
$2, tbe amount of his claim, which he is told 
practically relieves him from all loss. Wasn’t 
it Mr. Wilkins Micawber who used to find 
joyful relief from indebtedness by giving his 
“notes of hand” in payment of all honest 
debts? 
W. L. H., Steubenville, Ohio.—If I had a 
cow that would make tbe amount of butter 
S. S. W., of Hickory Grove, reports on page 
485, I would value her at a high figure, aDd 
breed her to a thoroughbred bull of the best 
milking strain I could command, and not part 
with the heifer calves. A friend of mine with 
a half blood Jersey made 53 pounds of butter 
in a month, but be has made 65 pounds in the 
same time from a calf he has raised from 
her. 
In the F. C. of the issue of July 11, J. J., of 
Buckhorn, Col., asks at wbat stage in the 
growth of corn can rye be cultivated iu, without 
injury to the corn. The answer is “At the 
time of the last working, or about the time it 
tassels out,” While rye can be sown without 
damage to the corn as early as tbe last work¬ 
ing, I have found that it does not do well, and 
that a more thrifty plant and satisfactory 
growth will result frern September seeding. 
It is the nature of the plant to flourish best in 
only moderately warm weather, and the fierce 
heat of July and August permanently in¬ 
jures it. 
W. W. F. Wellsville, Ohio, in the same 
issue, asks when can Red Clover lie sown, in 
the Fall, on sandy loam soil not liable to 
heave. The answer is, “As soon at the sum¬ 
mer drought is broken by the first heavv rain.” 
On the soil in most parts of Ohio, summer or 
fall seeding of clover is not reliable. Many 
farmers have tried it but failure has been far 
more common than success. I rarely fail to 
get a good stand when sown in the Spring, 
and by not pasturing at all after harvest, I 
usually get a heavy growth to plow down. 
F. D. C., Charlton, N. Y.—The Rural 
correspondent, J. B. B., borrows trouble, on 
page 408, when he talks about the losses of 
manurial elements by “evaporation,” when 
land is summer-fallowed. The power of absorb- 
tion, as well as of evaporation, is increased by 
mellowing the earth; and it is the nature of 
the Tresh earth to absorb and retain the gases 
brought io contact with it by the dews, rains 
and through the medium of the air. I would 
rather take the chances of theabsorbtion both 
of moisture and enriching gases, and choose 
that balance, than tbe opposite of less tillage. 
Summer-fallowing is tillage only in another 
form. It is tilling a crop before it is put in. 
It is really scientific land preparation. Our 
fathers did know a thing or two, and the gain 
to land by this summer tillage was realiv a 
choice bit of wisdom. In some countries the 
same idea is carried out in another form called 
j “land rest,” and every few years the land is 
allowed to rest, that is. no attempt to raise a 
crop is made. My father used to say he could 
take poor land, and by summer fallowing it, 
he could make it. produce a good crop. He 
was right. The more the land is stirred and 
turned up to the air, clews and rains, the more 
good it will absorb, and the more will its dor¬ 
mant riches be made available. Does J. B. B. 
know how mellow earth stands the drought 
the best? His science is in the wrong end, I am 
afraid, in this respect. He says a number of 
most excellent things,sound and practical; but 
this is not one of them, to wit, “All working 
of the soil is au exhaustive process.” I admit 
it may be costly, and it may be rutty. Our 
fathers had to take more time to accomplish 
that which we can do in a much shorter time, 
because their tools were crude. Our cultiva¬ 
tors will do more now iu a day than their 
plows would in a week, bo now a weekly cul¬ 
tivating, after the laud is once plowed, will 
do more iu a mouth than they could in all 
Summer; hence we need not begin the sum¬ 
mer fallowing till August; but it should be 
done all the same, or the tillage which the old 
system included, The laud will stand all the 
absorbtion without growing “roots and ver¬ 
dure,” and there is no danger of its getting 
over loaded or losiug those “nutritious 
gases.” They won’t run through the soil 
aud be lost in one brief season. Let them get 
down in and all through, up and down—no 
fear of too much, or ot land getting too full. 
COMMVSICATtOSS RkCKIVSB FOR TUB W'KKK ENDING 
Saturday, Aliens* l. I8si 
Rev. A. S. B.—E. C. W. J. J.. have written.—G. H. 
ami J. H. H.-G. Sl.-C. W.-M. H. M.. will tie illus¬ 
trated soou.-.J. P. M. — F. C\— B. B., the twig was so 
dried we could not tell, in regard to the person 
mentioned you express truth.—F. H. G.—J. B.—P. 
A. W.-K. H. W., thanks.—R. W. £.—W. J.G.,thanks. 
—K.C.C., thanks.-E.B. F.-K. M. 1>. IV. G.—J. C. 
a , thauks.-J. H.-L.G.-M. s.—J. W. B.—F. E. L. 
—W. S. D.-D. C. McP.—T. V. M.—L. 8. E.—G. F. T.— 
A. K. F.—M. B. P„ thanks.—J. A G.—L. G., thanks.— 
A. S. P., thanks.—J. H. D.^J. S. F.-D. ft. B.—T. J.— 
H. B—O. E. F.—E. T.—A. B. C. S—C. V. R.—W. F. B.— 
E. E. W.-J. H. W., thanks.—A. JIcD. 
