340 
THE CULT 1 VATOR 
Nov. 
Various Hints. 
Weeds. —It is very important to get rid of the seed3 
of all weeds which may have fallen the present sea¬ 
son. All land intended for hoed crops nest year, should 
therefore be harrowed after every rain, to start the 
weeds. Most of them may in this way he destroyed, 
if done before plowing. 
Wheat. —Scattering old well rotted manure over 
wheat after it has come up, especially on the most ex¬ 
posed knolls and on clay soils, is a great protection 
against winter killing, and will give the plants an 
early start in spring. 
Potatoes. —If these are buried in heaps out-doors,, 
and plenty of straw can bo used,, the- safest mode of 
keeping, most economical, and most secure from rot¬ 
ting, is to put 50 or 60 bushels in each heap, cover 
with straw a foot thick when it is packed , and with 
only three or four inches of earth. The straw absorbs 
moisture, &c., from the potatoes, and this mode is 
greatly superior to the common practice of using less 
straw and more earth—so says thorough trial. 
Fattening Animals. —Whatever may be the food 
given, two indispensables must be observed, namely, 
cleanliness both of animal and food, and regularity, 
We have known half the value of food wasted,, by 
filth and discomfort,—worse than throwing away cash; 
and we have known animals to waste more flesh by 
fretting long for an expected meal, than the food re¬ 
stored. 
Paint Tools. —Carts, plows, wagons, and other ar¬ 
ticles, should have a good coat of paint early in every 
autumn. They are now dry, and all cracks will ab¬ 
sorb the paint and prevent the ingress of water at a 
later season. Wash them perfectly eleam, of course. 
A light colored paint is best, as it absorbs least of the 
sun’s rays. Dark paints cause the wood to become hot 
in the sun, and warp and crack. Now is the time. 
Cleaning out an Obstructed Drain. —This has 
been successfully effected by using a large eel, which 
works itself slowly through, followed by the water. 
Cheap Farm Cisterns. 
Messrs Luther Tucker & Sow—I notice your re¬ 
marks relative to, and directions how to construct wa¬ 
ter cisterns, as repositories of rain-water for farm uses. 
Cisterns constructed upon this plan, will obviously 
he permanent and require no repairs. But a cheaper 
plan has been adopted in this village, which is found 
to answer admirably well. A pit of the required di¬ 
mensions is dug, leaving the sides nearly vertical, 
when a thick coat of hydraulic cement or water-lime 
is spread upon the bottom and sides, up to within about 
three feet of the surface of the ground. The earth 
above this point is thrown back, so as to allow of lay¬ 
ing timbers across the pit or cistern thus formed, upon 
which is laid a plank floor. This floor is then covered 
with earth, and the surface of the water, when the 
cistern is filled, being below th© aetion of frost, the 
structure is not liable to derangement or injury, until 
the timbers, from decay, require to be replaced. 
Several of these cisterns have been constructed in 
different parts of this village, for the use of the fire 
department, containing from 150 to 250 hogsheads 
each. They prove to be perfectly water-tight, and al¬ 
though some of them were constructed eight and ten 
years ago, the timbers over them are yet sound. E. F. 
St. Johnsbury, Vt. 
Curing Corn Fodder. 
Mr. Dolsen’s advice in regard to stacking corn-fod¬ 
der (Co. Gent., March 11,) reminds me to send you an 
item of my experience. Year before last we thought 
our cornstalks were well cured in the field, and drew 
them to the barn-yard and stacked them. They were 
much injured by mould and damp, especially in the 
centre of the stack, which, I should have remarked, 
was a large one. Last year we drew in a few loads of 
stalks and placed them ©a a scaffold, with plenty of 
dry straw between the layers. Both stalks and straw 
were nearly spoiled by rotting. A few loads- more 
were stacked around three poles set up a little distance 
apart at the foot, and meeting at the top ;• these cured 
and kept well. So also did some remaining in the 
stack in the field where grown, through the win¬ 
ter. In small stacks, with an opening through the 
centre, I think stalks will generally keep well,, if left 
in the- field until cold weather comes on. J. Niaga¬ 
ra Co , N. Y. _ 
Rural and Domestic Economy. 
Sore Necks op Oxen. —Every farmer is aware that 
the necks of working oxen are apt to become sore in 
wet weather. To prevent it, occasionally rub a little 
tallow on the yoke and bows. 
Hard Cement. —Pulverized brick (which has been 
well burnt) 13 parts; well ground letharge 1 part— 
made to a paste by linseed oil. Apply as a plaster, 
previously wetting the surface with a sponge, to pre¬ 
vent the cement being toomuch absorbed. It becomes 
hard in. three or four days. It may be applied to wood, 
but also to stone or metal, and resists water. 
To Keep Dust from Cream— hoops useful for once. 
—Take rattans, and make hoops a little larger than 
the pans,—stretch thin muslin across, thin enough to 
admit some air, but not flies and mites. Cover the 
milk with these as soon as it is cool, and they will 
prove of great value. 
Moths in Carpets. —The following remedy is better 
than camphor or any other volatile repeller. Wring 
out a crash towely and spread it smoothly on the 
carpet, wherever moths are suspected or detected. 
Then iron it dry with a hot iron, repeating if necessa¬ 
ry. The hot steam will penetrate the carpet (not in¬ 
juring the color at all,) and kill both worms and eggs 
Fruit Trres near Barn-Yards. —We have known 
peach trees to grow four feet in a year when planted 
on the margin of a barn-yard„ and others every way 
else alike, away from the barn-yard but eight inches- 
Fine crops of peaches and apples may be had by set¬ 
ting the trees around such yards. 
Inverted Posts. —A correspondent of the Wiscon¬ 
sin Farmer says that in 1802, his father set two bar- 
posts,, cut of swamp white-oak, the stick being split 
into halves, and one set inverted, the other not. The 
latter was decayed twenty years afterwards—the in¬ 
verted one, when he last visited the place forty years 
after setting, was as sound as ever. 
Chip Manure. —Fine waste chips may he always 
used profitably. If the garden or farm is of a clayey 
character, apply the chips at once, and they will ren¬ 
der it dryer and lighter. If gravelly or sandy, the 
chips will make it worse, unless previously well work¬ 
ed up in the barn-yard with the manure, or well de¬ 
cayed in the compost-heap. 
