224 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[Mat, 
of lime, has been studied. The subject is one 
worthy of careful investigation. For placing the 
eggs in the pickle, a tin basin, large enough to hold 
six or eight dozen of eggs, is used. This is punched 
with many inch holes; its edges are covered with 
leather, and it has a handle about three feet long. 
The basin is filled with eggs, immersed in the 
pickle, then turned so as to let the eggs fall out, and 
they go to the bottom without breaking. 
When limed eggs are sent to market they are 
washed, dried, and packed in cut straw in barrels. 
There has been some inquiry about what is called 
a “ Havanna Recipe ” for preserving eggs, for which 
a peculiar western poultry journal makes great 
claims. A copy of the “ recipe ” has been sent us, 
and a most amusing muddle it is. Lime-water and 
salt are the basis, and very small quantities of sev¬ 
eral common chemicals are added. For example, 
this precious document puts bitartrate of potash 
and carbonate of soda in the same mixture, and 
there are other ridiculous combinations. The 
added materials are in too 6mall quantity to have 
much influence, and if the “ Havanna ” pickle pre¬ 
serves eggs, it will be in spite of the stuff added to 
the lime-water and salt. 
The Blue Racer Snake. 
BY PliOF. J. B. STEERE, ANN ARBOR, < MICH. 
The “Blue Racer” is considered by experts to be 
a variety of the eastern Black Snake (Baseanion Con¬ 
strictor). It iuhabits dry woods and fields, seeming 
to prefer sandy banks, frequently taking possession 
of an old stump or hollow tree. Blue Racers have 
been abundant in the oak openings of Michigan. 1 
have never seen one in low, swampy ground, where 
most of our other snakes are found. Tljeir food is 
small birds and mammals—mice, chipmunks and 
squirrels. They have a reputation for chasing 
children, and many a berrying party has been stam¬ 
peded by the appearance of one of these snakes. 
They are swift of motion, and a man has difficulty 
in out-running them even in open ground. They 
raise a foot or more of their body with the head 
above the weeds, and seem in many cases to run 
upon the low bushes and undergrowth, instead of 
beneath it, partaking to some extent of the habits 
of the tree snakes of the tropics, which they re¬ 
semble in shape. I have never known them to 
climb trees, as the black snake of the Eastern 
States does, but they probably have this habit with 
their relative. The Blue Racer is a large snake, 
reaching six to nine feet in length. It is slender, 
and the scales wonderfully smooth and shining. 
Its color is ashy blue, lighter beneath. Though 
more abundant in the newer parts of the State, it 
seems to bear the presence of man well. I have 
known of two being killed lately within the city 
limits of Ann Arbor. The Blue Racers are not at 
all related to the poisonous snakes, and have no 
hollow or grooved fangs for the purpose of throw¬ 
ing poison into the wound. They have simple, 
solid, conical teeth, like all the other harmless ser¬ 
pents, with which they seize their food. They be¬ 
long to Southern Michigan and Northern Ohio and 
Indiana, but I do not know how much farther 
they extend nor where they give way to the tropical 
Bascanion Constrictor of the East. 
Some of the Phoenix breed of fowls have been 
brought from Japan, and are now in the Jardin d’ 
Acclimation in Paris, France. The tail feather on 
one of them measures 2 metres and 85 centimetres 
(8 feet) long. IIow it can carry this clear from the 
ground we do not know, but unless it does, it will 
be a continually soiled draggle, instead of a fine or¬ 
nament, however gay the plumage. We tell our 
readers of this as a mere fowl (foul shall we 
say?) curiosity, and not for the purpose of induc¬ 
ing them to take up the breeding of such a worth¬ 
less excresence. We have the long gorgeous pea¬ 
cock tail among us at present, and we think that 
quite enough for all poultry fanciers, without add¬ 
ing any more enormous appendages to their birds. 
Many Watermelons, —Dr. Oemler writes 
us that there are, this year, adjacent to the railroad run¬ 
ning to Florida, seven thousand (7,000j acres of land 
devoted to the cultivation of watermelons. A fair crop 
from an acre is a thousand melons. A little ciphering 
shows that the negro has some reason for calling them 
“ millyuns.” While a large share of the fruit is shipped 
to New York, Boston, and other Eastern sea-ports, the 
numbers sent inland are yearly increasing. 
White I5cd (ledar I*osts.—I 
have seen it asserted recently, that white cedar is just as 
lasting for posts set in the ground as red cedar. The 
contrary, however, is the case, as I have experienced 
myself, and as old farmers have often t dd me. White 
cedar, if cut in winter, as is usually the case, and then 
set early in the following spring, will rarely last over 10 
to 12 years, while the red cedar will endure from 40 to 60 
years, and perhaps longer. If the white cedar should be 
cut in summer, the bark peeled off, and then piled up, 
cob-house fashion, clear ofthe ground, to season all sum¬ 
mer, and then planted in the ground, they will last twice 
as long as when put in green. The same treatment of 
red cedar would make its posts more lasting. One 
who knows. C. T. 
Jissg;' <S>veir»fe«l Animals. —At¬ 
tention is at length aroused to this pernicious practice, 
both in America and Great Britain. Over-fed animals 
are spoiled for breeding purposes, and being in a fever-, 
ish state, their meat is notfit to eat. In fact it is loaded 
fat, instead of tender', well-marbled lean. We have seen 
cattle so fat at the Agricultural Shows that they could 
not be driven a single rod without wheezing, and sheep 
and swdne so overloaded, they could not get up without 
being helped by their attendants, and when up, could 
not stand alone a single minute. We hope animals 
hereafter exhibited in such condition will be ruled out 
of the show-yards, or the judges instructed to pass them 
by, and not award them any prizes. 
SHarrel ff'eertisa;; Sul*. —Mr. “A. F. T.” 
sends us a sketch of a feeding 
tub for poultry, made from a 
flour barrel. The hoops are 
nailed to all the staves before 
cutting the slots, which are 
three inches wide and six inches 
long. The cover projects two 
inches, to shed water. This is 
a very cheap feeder for the poul¬ 
try yard, and one that can be 
easily made. 
A Horse Ailment. —“D. A.,” Bettsville, 
Md., writes us: One of my horses appeared to be hun¬ 
gry, would chew its food, and then reject it; it drank 
sparingly, with some difficulty. The throat was not 
swollen, and there were no indications of fever; there 
was a considerable discharge of mucus from the 
mouth, but none from the nose. The back part of the 
tongue was excoriated considerably, longitudinally, and 
swollen. On thrusting the hand well back in the 
mouth, a portion of a large corn-cob was found lodged 
across the roof of the mouth, and withdrawn, when the 
horse soon recovered. It showed no droopiness during 
its ailment. Had the cob not been discovered and re¬ 
moved, the horse doubtless would have died. 
Profitniile Slioi-tlioi-ii Caatle. —The 
Holker herd, belonging, if we mistake not, to the Duke 
of Devonshire, has netted within the past few years 
£40,000 clear profit—nearly §200,000 of our money. The 
Duke paid very high prices for his choicest breeders, six 
to nine years ago, which enabled him to sell their su¬ 
perior yield at corresponding high prices. This is, 
however, rather a risky business, and should be left to 
be carried on by rich men only, for fancy stock is liable 
at any time to depreciate rapidly in value, and those 
then embarked in it may sustain heavy losses, instead 
of making great gains. Prudent farmers should be 
very wary of such things. 
ISrecd Clisn-acteristics of Cattle. 
— The Jerseys and Guernseys excel in richness of milk 
and fine butter qualities. The latter are larger than the 
former. Herefords are not large milkers, but the milk 
is rich. The bulls make good crosses on native cows, 
and the steers fatten rapidly. The Ayrshires are good 
milkers, and will do well on short pastures. Their milk 
is better for cheese than for butter. Shorthorns are 
eminently the beef breed, being of large size and early 
maturity. Besides being profitable for either butter or 
cheese making, the cows, when dried off, fatten remark¬ 
ably easy, and make beef of prime quality. The bulls 
are handsome, and excellent to grade up native stock. 
The Devons are quite similar to the Herefords in respect 
to milking qualities, but smaller in size, and of a deep- 
red color. As working oxen, they are celebrated, being: 
muscular and active. They are thrifty growers, and. 
mature early; their beef is of prime quality. The- 
Polled cattle are profitable for beef, especially in the 
prairies of the West, and their meat is superior in 
quality. The cows’ milk is rich, but it is not produced 
in very, great quantities. The Holsteins or Dutch cattle 
are noted for excellent milking qualities, coupled with 
the capabilities of making good beef. Their peculiar 
markings make them attractive to the eye. 
F’eciinKlity of Swine.—A sow under a 
year old, at St. Ives, England, gave birth a few months 
ago to the enormous number of eighteen well-devel¬ 
oped pigs. A half-sister had previously produced fifty- 
one pigs within a year. Her first litter was seventeen, 
the second eighteen, and the third sixteen. A large 
white sow at Cumberland gave twenty-three pigs at a 
birth, eleven of which survived and grew well. At five 
births previously, the same sow had farrowed ninety- 
three pigs. American pork raisers had best send to 
England for a few such breeders, for with them in their 
styes, the country would get rapidly populated with 
pigs, and the price of porkfall to a moderate figure with 
us. At present it is high, considering our large yields 
of the various sorts of grain throughout the land. 
1’lie BScriiDiaidtJs..—The products exported 
from Bermuda to the United States are an important, 
clement in the vegetable markets of our Eastern and 
Northern cities. The leading articles are potatoes,, 
onions, and tomatoes, and altogether the exportations 
have a value of about §500,000. The entire area of the 
Bermuda Islands is only about 12,000 acres, and only 
2,000 acres are cultivated. The population is about 
12,000, and these are supplied with home-grown vegeta¬ 
bles. The Bermuda group consists of 365 islands, many 
of them hardly larger than stepping-stones. Four of 
the islands are large, and are connected by bridges, so 
that a continuous road is made between the two ex¬ 
tremes. The Bermudas are very hilly and rocky. Their 
native vegetation was a thick growth of cedars and a 
thin growth of grass. The tropical and semi-tropical, 
plants so abundant on the islands are exotics. 
Increase of lPastnire I.nnd in 
land, and SJecrease of Cattle. — In conse¬ 
quence of the bad seasons for several years past for 
grain crops, and the great losses attending their cultiva¬ 
tion, the breadth of land for these has been constantly 
lessening, and that of grass pasture increasing. But 
notwithstanding this, cattle have latterly decreased 
784,000 head, and sheep also in large numbers. These 
are great misfortunes for the English farmers, to be cut 
down at the same time both in products of grain and 
domestic animals. American farmers may well be grati¬ 
fied and thankful to a kind Providence, that times and 
seasons have been more favorable to them. 
Natural JFood for Carp. —In reply to 
“C. P. F.,” Kent Co., Mich., and others, I will say that 
besides “Wild Rice,” I know of no suitable seed for 
aquatic sowing which is readily attainable. This can be 
procured in Wisconsin, and doubtless in Michigan. I 
would recommend the transfer of any aquatic plants 
(not too gross,) which are found growing in ponds or 
streams in the vicinity. The best plant is the White 
Lily (Nynvphea odorata ), which flourishes in most Ameri¬ 
can waters. I would recommend many aquatic plants, \ 
grasses, cress, etc., especially such as are indigenous to- j 
the vicinity. Never feed carp artificially while in their 
regular ponds. M. F. P. 
Egg ifslics. —The liens of the United 
States are a highly important feature in the national 1 
prosperity. They produce annually nice thousand mil- j 
lion eggs, and of this number New York City receives 
not less than 500.000,000. For six years the average re- ! 
ceipts at New York in March have been 78,583 barrels., j 
The average receipts in January for the same period 
have been 17,785 barrels. The number of eggs in a bar¬ 
rel is seventy dozeu. 
least Mixture. —Some housekeepers find 
yeast-cakes too slow in winter. I peel and boil 15 good- 
sized potatoes, mash through the colander, with a very 
little water, add one teacupful of flour,one heaping table- 
spoonful of sugar, the same of salt, and add two yeast 
cakes, after being dissolved with a little water. In two 
davs the preparation is ready for use, one-third being 
sufficient for four large or six small loaves. The re¬ 
mainder will keep good until wanted for use. I make 
bread without setting any other sponge, adding a little- 
soda. Mrs. J. M. S. 
