224 
THE CULTIVATOR 
July. 
Inquiries and Answers. 
Drying Rhubarb — Hoo-sung, &c. — 1. Have you 
had any experience in drying rhubarb for future use ! 
Is there anything peculiar in the manner of drying and 
preserving it I 2. I have not seen that promised “ ar¬ 
ticle on the insects that infest currants and gooseber¬ 
ries yet I wish to know how to keep my gooseberries 
from being eaten up by worms this year. 3. I would 
like to inquire what this foreign herb, named Hoo-sung, 
is, and how eaten. What do you think of it 7 E. G., 
Jr. Ashfield , Mass. [1. We have never known rhu¬ 
barb dried for future use. 2. The promised article on 
the insect which infests the currant and gooseberry has 
never been received. 3 The Hoo-sung should be cook¬ 
ed and served up the same as asparagus. To be eat¬ 
able, it should be grown on a rich warm soil, that it 
may have a rapid growth, and be used while young. 
We think it hardly worth cultivating ] 
Ag. Papers in Illinois. — Will you inform me 
through The Cultivator of the name and address of 
some of the best agricultural monthlies published in 
Illinois! A Subscriber. [The Illinois Cultivator , 
published in Springfield, is, we believe, the only month¬ 
ly agricultural journal now published in Illinois—at 
Chicago there are two good weekly agricultural jour¬ 
nals—the Prairie Farmer , and Emery's Journal of 
Agriculture. The monthly is SI a year, and the 
weeklies $2. Address the Editors at the places named.] 
Black Ants. —Can you, or any of your readers, tell 
me an easy, effectual mode of ridding a house of small 
black ants, when they have become so plenty that 
nearly every room is swarmed with them 7 If you 
will state it in your paper you will, I doubt not, great¬ 
ly oblige others beside myself. A Constant Reader 
—[A gentleman at our elbow, says that fifty cents 
worth of camphor will drive them from any house. The 
powdered gum may be putin the places where they are 
most frequently seen, or rags, thoroughly saturated 
with dissolved camphor, may be placed about the cup¬ 
boards or rooms they frequent, and a portion of the 
liquid poured into their holes. They dislike strong 
scents, and our friend assures us that if the remedy is 
thoroughly applied, they will entirely disappear ] 
The Best Plow.—I would like to have you or your 
correspondents inform me which of the many plows in 
use, is absolutely the best to turn fat furrows upon 
uneven surfaces, and requires the least power to draw 
it. [We are really unable to answer the question—it 
would require a thorough and careful trial of many 
hundred patented plows, used in all parts of the coun¬ 
try—a trial which no one person could well make.] 
Also, when is the proper time to sow Orchard grass 
seed! [Early in spring] Alfred Crum. Goshen. 
Mask for Threshers. —Can you inform me through 
the columns of the Cultivator, where I can obtain a 
mask or covering for the face, to be used when I am 
threshing with a machine, to keep the dust out of the 
mouth and eyes, and also the price. A Subscriber. 
[A common veil, drawn from the bat downwards, is of¬ 
ten used, but it excludes the coarser particles of dust 
only—the finer pass through. Can some of our readers 
give a better answer!] 
Hen-Manure — Raspberries—Celery, &c. —( R. 
J. II., Cook Co , III.) We would not recommend mix¬ 
ing ashes with hen-manure—but would prefer pulveri¬ 
zing it finely, and then mixing it thoroughly with the 
soil at once. The ashes may be applied afterwards. 
This will prevent the escape of ammonia. Or, the hen 
manure might be first thoroughly mixed with several 
times its bulk of soil, and after remaining a few weeks, 
applied to the land. A quarter to half a ton of the 
original hen-manure, would be a heavy application per 
acre. Wilson’s Albany strawberry is likely to prove 
one of the very best varieties—possibly it may not suc¬ 
ceed so well at the west. The plants may be had of John 
Dingwall, or John Wilson, Albany. Houghton’s is the 
most reliable gooseberry, although the berries are not 
large. It is extremely productive, and rarely or never 
mildews. The Fastolff and Franconia are excellent rasp¬ 
berries—the Orange, perhaps, the best of all, although 
rather soft for marketing. The New-Rochelle blackberry 
(the name Lawton is rejected,) is large and productive, 
but not high-flavored. Our early spring numbers of 
this journal, furnish the best directions we can give on 
the culture of celery. 
Pears on the Hornbeam. —Will you inform me 
through your valuable journal, whether the pear will 
succeed well engrafted in the hornbeam tree ! This 
tree grows to a limited extent in our forests. I have 
been informed by a gentleman that such is the fact, 
but not feeling entire confidence in the assertion, I take 
this method of gaining more light on the subject. S. 
Gr. Davis. Lexington, Mass. [We have never known 
the trial to be made; but we do not see how it can 
possibly succeed. The two trees belong to totally dis¬ 
tinct natural orders,—the pear to Rosaceac, the horn¬ 
beam ( Carpinus ) to Amentaceae—and they are more 
unlike in their nature than the pear is unlike the 
pumpkin, or than the hornbeam is unlike the hedge 
nettle. We would as soon think of grafting a red-pep¬ 
per on a currant bush ] 
One-Horse Mowers. —Will you inform me in your 
next no. where I can obtain a one-horse mowing ma¬ 
chine, (the best in market is the kind X want,) and the 
cost! Samuel Langdon. Jonesville. [We do not see 
any one-horse mowing machines advertised, nor do we 
know where they can be had.] 
Gr allow ay Callle.—I see that you want the ad¬ 
dress of some of the breeders of Galloway cattle in 
Canada. The address of the first importance, and I 
believe still the largest owner of any in the Province, 
of Galloway cattle, is William Roddick, Port Hope, 
C. W. Mr. George Roddick of the same place, is also 
an importer and breeder. There are also breeders of 
that class of stock in the township of Yaughan, C. W. 
Their names are Mr. Graham, Mr. Torrance, and Mr. 
Fleming, but I do not know their exact post-office ad¬ 
dresses. I write in extreme haste, else- I would have 
given some particulars of that breed of cattle. W. R. 
Cobourg , C. W. [We should be pleased to hear from 
our correspondent on the subject ] 
Saccharometer. —Can you inform me where I can 
procure the instrument called “Saccharometer of 
Beaume,” and at what price, so that I may know 
where to send for it. A. s. [We cannot ] 
Cure for Corns. —Among your “Inquiries and 
Answers,” there is a seeker after a cure for corns. A 
remedy has been used in this city and vicinity with 
considerable success. It is Arbor Vitse. If bruised 
and bound upon the corn, it gives speedy relief, and in 
i most cases it removes the sore. The hard or callous, 
