158 
THE CULTIVATOR 
May. 
Inquiries and Answers. 
Hen Manure. —I have on hand a few barrels of hen 
manure and of lime, and would like to know the best 
method of applying it to my corn crop—whether it is 
best to put it in the hill or on the corn—what propor¬ 
tion to mix them, when to mix them, and the quantity 
per acre? Nassau [Hen manure is ten or fifteen 
times stronger than common yard manure. It may be 
mixed with several times its bulk of loam, stirred well, 
allowed to remain a few weeks, if convenient, to allow 
it to impregnate the loam, and then be applied in the 
hill. Or the hen manure may be sowed broadcast, well 
harrowed into the earth, and then turned under lightly 
with a gang plow or otherwise, and the quantity used 
per acre must be in accordance with this strength. 
The lime may be treated in the last mentioned way.] 
Spanish Chestnut — Orange Quince. —1. How 
large is the Spanish Chestnut when full grown, and 
how far apart should they be set when transplanted 
from the nursery 7—2. Will the Apple or Orange 
Quince start readily from cuttings, and at what age 
does it commence bearing ? A. Babcock. Union Co., 
III. [1. The Spanish Chestnut is only a variety of the 
Castanea vescd, which grows to a great size, very old 
trees being known whose heads are 50 to 70 feet in 
diameter. In open ground, and favorable soil, it would 
probably require 30 years for the head to attain a dia¬ 
meter of 25 feet.—2. The Apple or Orange Quince, al¬ 
though often raised from cuttings, does not grow so 
readily as the large French stock. It usually bears in 
four or five years.] 
Culture of Millet. —I wish to inquire if Millet is 
profitable for feeding stock through the winter, and if it 
is good for cleaning meadow land for setting with timo¬ 
thy, and if timothy can be set with it. Also what 
quantity of seed per acre and what time to sow, and if 
it must be harvested while in a green state. An an¬ 
swer to the above will oblige A Balt. Co. Subscriber. 
[Stock of all kinds are fond of Millet hay, if properly 
cured, and on a good mellow soil three to five tons per 
acre may be produced. It is not a good crop to seed 
down with, as it is sown too late in the season for this 
purpose. It may be sown in Maryland from middle of 
June to the middle of July, at the rate of 20 to 24 quarts 
per acre. It should be cut for hay when the seed is 
about half ripe ] 
Heaves or Broken Wind. —Can you or any of your 
subscribers inform me what will cure a broken-winded 
horse, otherwise in good health 1 I have seen or heard 
somewhere of an effectual cure, but cannot remember 
it. S. Cleves , Ohio. [Heaves or broken-wind, once 
established, can be rarely if ever cured—but if always 
fed on wet, chopped food, it is usually so relieved as to 
be scarcely perceptible. Good, well cured corn-stalks, 
are regarded as particularly favorable for the relief or 
cure of this disease—and corn fed in the cob. A friend, 
whose fine horse we have long known, assures us that 
when young he had decided heaves, but was completely 
cured within five years, by allowing him to have no drink 
but slops and greasy dish-water , sour milk, &c.] 
Locust Seed. —Will you please inform me through 
the Cultivator, whether the seeds enclosed are Yellow 
Locust or some other variety of Locust ? Should the 
seeds be always gathered in autumn, or will they be 
equally good if they remain upon the trees till early 
spring ? Lindley H. Osborne. North Weare, N. H. 
[The seeds sent, are of the Yellow Locust. They may 
be gathered at any time after fully ripe—but will never 
grow till swollen by scalding, and allowed to stand in 
the water till the swelling is completed.] 
Soil for Orchards. —I have a field of 15 or 18 
acres, rolling land, limestone soil, sufficiently fertile to 
produce 35 to 40 bushels corn per acre. It lies high, 
and is dry and mellow, but is, to all intents and pur¬ 
poses, a southern exposure. Will this field do for fruit, 
and what sort would suit it best? I had thought of 
setting it out with apples and peaches, but some of my 
neighbors say it would do first rate for peaches. I 
would like to have your opinion. II. S. Covington, 
Ky. [It would doubtless be fine orchard land—but the 
upper and more windy parts would be best for the 
peaches, being freer from sharp, still frosts, and favor¬ 
ing an earlier ripening of the wood in autumn ] 
Pruning Fruit Trees. —If you will inform me 
the best time to prune peach, plum and cherry trees— 
also grapevines, you will confer a favor. J. M. Hart¬ 
ford Co., Ct. [For young trees, cut off large limbs if 
required, towards the close of winter, and before the 
flow of sap—or early in autumn. Smaller branches 
may be removed at almost any time, but most conve¬ 
niently during tbe growing season. Trees properly 
pruned from the commencement of their growth, never 
require the removal of large branches—“ thumb-prun¬ 
ing,” seasonably performed (rubbing off fresh shoots,) 
will give every tree a symmetrical form and obviate 
lopping. Shortening-back the shoots and limbs of peach 
trees, should be done early in spring before growth 
commences, or at the end of summer. Cherries never 
need much pruning, except dwarfs. Grapes are prun¬ 
ed at the close of winter, and pinched back when the 
fruit is as large as small peas ] 
Length of Eveners or Whiffle-trees. —I would 
like to know the measure of an evener for three horses 
to be used on the plow. I had one made last fall, but 
it does not work. What length is necessary for the 
long evener, and how long should the short evener and 
whiffle-trees be ? In giving me this information through 
the Cultivator, you would accommodate me very much. 
A Young Farmer. [The whole length of the long or 
three-horse evener, from hook to hook, (or from bolt to 
bolt,) should be about four feet and ten inches—or five 
feet two or three inches in extreme length. The two- 
horse-evener should be three feet four inches from hook 
to hook; and of the one-horse whiffle-trees two feet 
nine inches. It is perhaps unnecessary to add, that the 
long evener should be divided into two parts, so that 
one arm shall be one foot seven inches long, (for attach¬ 
ing the two horses) and the other three feet two inches. 
We never heard of but one man who was so stupid as to 
think the “little horse” ought to have the “little end” 
of the whiffle tree, or that the single horse should have 
the short end of the three-horse evener—and he did 
not take any agricultural paper. It was his father 
who, in taking a bushel of wheat to mill on horse¬ 
back, balanced the grain in one end of the bag by a 
big stone in the other ] 
Mowing Machines. —There seems to be a glorious 
but rather embarrassing uncertainty respecting the 
mowing machines, after reading the articles in your last 
three or four numbers on the subject. One writer 
raises the question whether there is any advantage in 
