286 
Sept. 
TIIE C U L TI V A T 0 R. 
Inquiries and Answers. 
Cement Cellars—Ice House.—1. Could I cement 
the walls of a cellar so as to keep water out ? 2 
Which is the better way to build an ice-house above 
ground. These inquiries answered would much oblige. 
D. p. K. Prairie Farm , Term. [1. Water may be 
excluded from a cellar by coating the bottom and sides 
with water-lime cement, making a perfect cistern, 
with the difference that a cistern is to hold water in¬ 
side, instead of excluding it. The cellar must not be 
allowed to freeze, as that cracks the cement. 2. An 
ice house is easily built above ground, by inclosing a 
space between two board walls, of about a foot, and 
filling this space with sawdust—providing free drain¬ 
age, but preventing the admission of air from below— 
packing the ice in saw dust—and allowing free venti¬ 
lation above. A want of the latter, is often a cause 
of failure. We have known fee to be well kept in a 
small coarse barn with a single boarding, by carefully 
inclosing the ice with a foot of sawdust on every side ] 
Seeding to Timothy. —Will you please inform us 
the best method of sowing timothy seed—whether by 
hand or by machine—if by machine which is the best 7 
We want to get about fifty acres of meadow, that is 
mostly blue-grass and clover, into timothy this fall. 
Will we “have to raise a crop of corn on the land 
first 1 ]” J. & G. McCammon. Kelvin Grove, Carroll¬ 
ton, Ky. [We have never found any machine that we 
prefer to the hand for sowing timothy seed. If the soil 
is sufficiently moist to plow well, turn the whole over 
well, roll heavily the sod, harrow it, and then early in 
autumn, or as soon as the weather is wet enough to 
cause growth, sow the timothy seed and brush or har¬ 
row it lightly in, and it will yield a good crop next 
year. It will do if sown later, or even very early next 
spring; but the crop will not be quite so heavy the 
first year. It is very important to use plenty of seed 
—about double the usual quantity—and the increase 
of the crop will return ten-fold.] 
Virginia May Wheat. —In a recent visit to Vir¬ 
ginia, I had the exceeding good fortune to fall into the 
society of Gen. John H. Cocke of that State. Among 
other inquiries about northern agriculture, he asked me 
if I knew anything about the “ Virginia May Wheat.” 
He said that about the year 1826 he sent a barrel of 
it to Gen. Van. Rensselaer of Albany. It was then 
the favorite wheat of Virginia. Gen. V. R. distributed 
it throughout the state of New-York. What Gen. C. 
wants to know is this: Does it exist yet in this state 7 
Will some of your correspondents please reply? j. 
G. w. 
Wine Making. —Could you, or any of your corres¬ 
pondents, through your valuable journal, give a re¬ 
ceipt for making wine, (if it be possible) from the 
common frost grape. It would I presume oblige others, 
as well as your obedient servant, Owasco. 
To Destroy Bugs in Peas. —I observe in the 
“ Country Gentleman,” in reply to an inquiry of 
“ how to kill bugs in peas,” an answer of “pour on 
boiling water,” &c. This would be troublesome and 
dangerous to the germ. My rule, proved for several 
years, is to mix with the peas gathered for seed a 
small quantity of any aromatic seed or spice ; ground 
allspice is convenient and effectual. They can then 
be kept in a bag. Even after the bugs have made 
their appearance this remedy will kill them. Further 
it is a great mistake to say “ the bugs don’t injure the 
pea.” Experience proves that about one-third are 
destroyed. (Mrs.) C. Clarkson. Eiiisville, Mo. 
Inquiry—Effect of Guano on Tobacco Lands.— 
What will be the probable effect of the application of 
guano for a continued series of years, upon a few acres 
in the Connecticut River valley, which can be much 
more profitably used in growing tobacco than in any 
other way, and which it is consequently desired to em¬ 
ploy for this purpose, if it can be done safely ? Will 
the guano maintain the supply of substances withdrawn 
from the soil by the tobacco, or will exhaustion ensue 7 
Will some experienced reader of the Co. Gent, reply 7 b- 
Mask for Threshing. —If “ A Subscriber” will 
procure a fine sponge—large enough to entirely cover 
the mouth and nose—secure a string on each side to 
tie it on with ; saturate it with as much water as it will 
hold without dripping, and tie it over his mouth and 
nose, he will have a cheap “ mask,” and one that I have 
found greatly superior to any veil. Practice will teach 
him how often to wash out and wet the sponge. If he 
finds any thing better than this , he will greatly oblige 
the public by communicating it through your columnsl 
J. C. T. New-Jersey. 
Farmer’s Guide. — Inquirer. For this work ad¬ 
dress the publishers, L. Scott & Co., New-York. The 
price is $5—sent post-paid by mail, $6. 
§3^ I am building a carriage-house, and have 
thought of having a large scuttle in the roof, or some¬ 
thing equivalent to it, for the purpose of pitching in 
hay with a horse fork. Can any of your subscribers 
furnish any information on the subject, and tell about 
how large it should be, and to what the upper pulley is 
attached, when pitching ? s. E. T. 
Lice on Poultry. —Tell A. L. Wood to white-wash 
his hen-house twice (or at any rate once in May or 
June,) a year. If he can get oil soap, apply it to his 
roosts, and on the boards adjoining them, where they 
hang—one pint of the soap to a gallon of water. If 
his hens are tame enough to allow it, dip a feather into 
a vial of spirits of turpentine, lift each wing and pass 
the feather through, and I will ensure them from lice. 
This is to be done when they are at roost. A Jamaica 
Plain Farmer. 
To Remove a Wart from a Horse’s Foot. —In the 
Country Gentleman of the 15th inst., D. H. asks for a 
cure for a wart on a horse’s foot. Let him apply a few 
drops of nitric acid, with a small stick, to the wart two 
or three times a week, and be careful it does not run 
on to the surrounding skin. As the wart dies, cut off 
the dead part, and apply until it is removed ; then ap¬ 
ply some oil to soften the sore, should there be one. A 
Jamaica Plain Farmer. 
How Thickly should Corn be Planted 7 —A 
reader thinks that Mr. Douglass’ largo corn crop re¬ 
cently mentioned in the editorial correspondence of the 
Co. Gent., was raised after all nearly on the true prin¬ 
ciples—in other words, that thick planting at least to 
a certain extent is better than thin—that, for exam¬ 
ple, from a stalk every six inches in rows four feet 
apart, a larger crop may be obtained than from four 
stalks in a hill, and the hills three feet apart. What 
is the experience of successful corn-planters on this 
point 7 Another point is—whether should the 
corn run from north to south to admit the hot 
from east to west so as to exclude it. 
