1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
321 
The Treatment of Night Soil.— 
“ J. H. S.," Morris Co., N. J., gives us his method of 
managing night soil. His vault is 5 by 7 feet, and 5 feet 
deep, with the walls laid in stone. In the botton of the 
vault he places a two-horse load of road-wash or road- 
scrapings. This is used by the family, and the chamber 
slops are emptied into it. Every few weeks more earth 
is added to absorb the liquid portions, and sufficient 
plaster to disinfect the mass. The contents were first 
removed at the end of four years, and now r at the end of 
a like period he is about to empty the vault a second 
time. He proposes to add to the contents sufficient 
wash or road-scrapings to make it fine and dry enough 
to use, and to add about 400 pounds of plaster When 
thoroughly mixed, lie proposes to use this manure in 
the hill, upon four acres of corn. Mr, S. thinks that 
this manure from a family of six persons is worth more 
for his corn crop than any artificial fertilizer he could 
buy for $20. while the cost in labor, etc., will not exceed 
$5. This is an excellent method of treating night soil, 
which is often neglected on account of the difficulty of 
handling it. Mr. S. does not say whether his vault is 
cemented or not, but much of the trouble with such de¬ 
posits is due to the entrance of water from without, and 
cementing will prevent this. 
Prize Agricultural Essays. — The 
Board of Agriculture of Manitoba offers prizes of $50 
and $25 respectively, or medals of equal value, for the 
best and second best essays on the most judicious system 
of farming in Manitoba. 
Peas for Pigs.— “D. L. S.,” Grand Rapids, 
Mich. There is no better food than peas for growing 
pigs. They can be sown with oats, and the swine turn¬ 
ed in while the vines are still green and before the peas 
are ripe. Ground peas also make fine food for pigs. 
INew Hybrid Violets.— The European 
“Horned Violet” (Viola cornuta), from the Pyrenees, 
was some years ago introduced as a plant especially use¬ 
ful for edgings. It has good foliage, and its pale-blue 
flowers are produced in succession all summer. Of late, 
European florists have, by hybridizing this with other 
species, produced a number of new varieties, which have 
much larger and darker-colored flowers than the origi¬ 
nal; some of these are of great size, and really beauti¬ 
ful in their shades of dark colors. Should these new 
hybrids endure our hot summers as well as the original 
V. cornuta , they will become popular. 
“A Hollow Tail.”— “R. S.,” Hanover, 
N. H. “ Hollow tail ” and “ Wolf in the tail ” are ex¬ 
pressions that have no other significance beyond the 
fact that there is something wrong with the cow. Do 
not cut off the tail, as the trouble is elsewhere. 
Hocks.— “L. M. G.,” Adrian, Mich. The best 
thing to do with docks is to pull them. This is easiest 
done with the aid of a long-handled chisel when the 
ground is moist. 
Preserving; Egg;s.-“R. L. G.,” Aurora, 
N. Y. The aim in preserving eggs is to keep the air 
from the contents of the shell. Liming is a common 
and satisfactory method, and consists in immersing the 
eggs in a creamy mixture of lime and water, which 
forms a thin air-tight coat upon the shell. Oil may be 
used in the same way. 
Manure for Fruit Trees.— “J. B. G.,” 
Orange Co., Fia. Fruit trees, like all other plants, re¬ 
quire a number of food elements, and no special fertil¬ 
izer can be recommended for any tree. There can be 
no “pear tree manure,” or “peach tree fertilizer.” 
The condition of the soil determines the substance that 
may be needed. The leading essential elements that 
are usually lacking in a poor soil are potash, phosphoric 
acid, and nitrogen. If the soil is deficient in only one 
of these, it may be a waste to apply the others. Barn-yard 
manure supplies all the needed elements of fertility, 
and can be spread in the orchard with reasonable expec¬ 
tation of profit. Many trees do poorly from a lack of 
proper drainage of the soil. 
Ensilage.—Ola M. Nelson, Pierce Co., Wis. 
It is well demonstrated that fodder can be kept in a 
green and wholesome state for an indefinite time. The 
success depends upon the exclusion of the atmosphere 
and the prompt feeding of the fodder after it is removed 
from the silos. A small silo, that will hold and keep 
only enough fodder for a single cow, is much desired by 
the mass of small farmers. A pit in the earth, holding 
ten tons of ensilage, can be built for a few dollars, and 
will preserve *he fodder perfectly. This does not differ 
materially .'nm a root-pit, and is within the reach of 
all. Any green crop may be ensiloed. The last we saw 
thus treated was the cow-pea, grown in Orange Co., 
N. Y. Corn gives the largest yield in tons, and is usu¬ 
ally the most satisfactory. It should be cut before the 
frosts touch it, and put into the silo or pit as rapidly as 
possible, when once the work of filling is begun. 
Caponiziiig’ — Fowls. —Skinner Brothers, 
Massillon, O. For a full description, with illustrations, 
see American Agriculturist for April, 1879. 
NVliat Eire is Destroying’. —“Fire is 
a good servant but a bad master,” says the proverb. 
There are few who have not seen it as master, and 
known what it is to helplessly look on and witness the 
vanishing into air of a house or barn and contents that 
have cost say a round Thousand Dollars. Think of a 
hundred such fires, of two hundred of them, or enough 
to destroy a whole village of considerable size. Now 
imagine four hundred and fifty (450) such villages, or 
enough to place one every mile between New York on 
the Atlantic and Buffalo on Lake Erie, and all on fire 
and destroyed. Yet this would be no greater loss than 
what has, on the average, been occurring every year in 
the United States and Canada for eight years past, at 
least — or $720,000,000. Take good care of the matches, the 
careless use or storage of which has been the most fruit¬ 
ful cause of fires. A Church Burned Every Four 
Bays /—During the past eight years, 640 churches have 
burned down, or more than one every four week days in 
the whole period. A Hotel Burned Daily /—During 
the same period, 2,872 hotels have been burned, or 
nearly one for every day, Sundays included I 
Rho«le Island at the Front.— The 
very first “ Premium List ” for fairs in 1883 to reach us, 
is that of the Washington County (R. I.) Agricultural 
Society. This is not only to be commended for its 
promptness, but for its judicious arrangement. The 
premiums, which take precedence of all others on the 
list, are those for Farm Crops. While Horses and Races 
are not, as some would have them, ignored ; they are 
not given undue prominence as if they were the chief 
object of the Fair. They very properly come in as a 
part of the regular programme. 
A Precocious Cow. —A. Ellis, Orange, 
Tex.,, sends us a photograph of a Jersey heifer, only 
eighteen months old, that “gives eight quarts of milk 
per day, and the strange part of it is, she lias never had 
or been with a calf.” The milk, Mr. E. says, is very 
rich, yielding a pound for each four quarts. We have 
before heard of such freaks as this, but they are rare. 
The Cow-Ti •ee.— The Palo de Vaca, or Cow- 
Tree, grows in large forests in Venezuela, and in some 
other parts of South America. It reaches 100 feet in 
hight, and its trunk, when tapped, yields a liquid of an 
agreeable taste, like that of sweet cream, with a slightly 
balsamic odor. It is somewhat glutinous, but nourish¬ 
ing and wholesome. The celebrated chemist, Boussin- 
gault, on analyzing this liquid, found that its composi¬ 
tion is much like that of the genuine milk of the cow. 
Seeds of this tree have been sent to Bombay, others 
germinated at Kew, in England, and the plants were 
distributed through the warm parts of the British pos¬ 
sessions. The trees thus produced are said to be flour¬ 
ishing. It would be well to procure seed or plants from 
Venezuela to experiment with in Florida and lower 
Texas, for if the tree grew well there, its acclimation 
would be a boon to our Southern States. The botanical 
name of the tree is Brosimum galactodendron ; it be¬ 
longs to the family of Urticacece, which, if it were not 
the “Nettle Family,” might be called the “ Bread and 
Milk Family ” of plants, as it furnishes the useful bread 
fruit of the tropics, as well as the milk to go with it. 
Cows Eeaking- Milk.— “E. L. T.,” 
Worcester, Mass., and several others. This is a com¬ 
mon defect in cows. It is not well to place any elastic 
band around the teat, as the compression may lead to 
more serious trouble. A safe practice is to cover the 
end of the leaking teat with collodion after milking. 
This hardens almost instantly, and, shrinking in dry¬ 
ing, closes the orifice so gently as to produce no harm. 
The film is easily broken at the next milking. 
Tlie i\'ew Varieties of Narcissus.— 
Very few, aside from florists, are aware of the great im¬ 
provement that has been made within a few years in the 
different species of Narcissus. Not only have new kinds 
been produced, but some of the old sorts have been 
greatly improved. One of the oldest of garden plants 
is the “ Poet’s Narcissus ” ( Narcissus poeticus), large 
clumps of which are to be found in all old gardens. 
This species, well known by its pure white flowers, with 
a small yellowish cup or crown, bordered with red or 
purple, is often incorrectly called Daffodil and Jonquil. 
Almost every spring, specimens of abortive flowers of 
this are sent to us, with the complaint that they fail to 
bloom. The trouble is due to exhaustion of the soil 
and the crowding of the plants. They are left in the 
same place many years in succession, and only need 
taking up, dividing, and setting in new soil, to bloom 
as well as formerly. The Poet’s Narcissus has lately 
been so modified, that it would not be recognized as the 
old garden favorite. In .the variety called coronarius, 
the central cup is pure white, and many times larger 
than in the original. There are other new varieties of 
this, all beautiful, and as they keep a long while, and 
are fragrant as well as showy, they are popular with the 
city florists for bouquets and floral designs. 
A Growing State.— CharleS Hallock, the 
author, writes us: Texas has now a population of two 
millions. She can easily support fifty millions of people. 
Everybody in Texas works,and yet one-fifth of last year’s 
cotton crop still stands in the field unpicked. Enough 
cotton has gone to waste in a single harvest to furnish 
every inhabitant of the United States with a new shirt. 
Even the penitentiary convicts, several thousand strong, 
are impressed into the field. Experiments have demon¬ 
strated that a vast extent of lands, heretofore regarded 
as sterile, or fit only for grazing, will yield handsomely 
almost any crop planted; but Texas requires no more 
agricultural soil. She would not have it if she could; 
for then she would have no wide ranges for her cattle, 
or pastures for her r.heep. There are now five million 
head of cattle in the State, and two million head of 
sheep. Of the latter, one million belong to the three 
counties of Webb, Dimmitt, and Encinal, on the Rio 
Grande, and half a million to the Abilene district, on 
the Texas-Pacific R. R., embracing some fourteen coun¬ 
ties in the center of the State. There are also a great 
many large herds of goats, which produce a silken fleece 
of the longest staple and most delicate texture. I have 
seen the fleece of sheep whose staple measured sixteen 
inches. 
Green Drops for Manure.— “H. F. 
L.,” Marshall, Mich. Some land is too poor to grow a 
crop to be turned under for manure. Use some kind of 
fertilizer to start the first crop, after which each growth 
will produce a better one until the land is able to grow 
a profitable crop. The buckwheat plant is a deep feeder; 
that is, has long and fine roots, and will thrive on soil 
unfit for most other crops. This may be sown during 
mid-summer, and plowed under when in flower. Some 
farmers who use this method of “building up” their 
worn-out land, sow a second crop, and follow it with 
clover. As soon as a sod can be established, pasturing 
is a good method of accumulating plant food in the soil. 
In this way only a small per cent of fertility is removed, 
while the larger part is returned in a superior form, as 
dung. When a field has once been brought to a good 
crop-producing condition, it should never be allowed to 
become poor again. It pays to keep the fields in “ good 
heart.” 
Freaks of Fasliion. —The new colors to 
be worn this season, according to a Paris journal, are: 
Frog-green (vert-grenouille); Lobster-red (rouge-ho- 
mard); Toad-gray (gris-capaud) ; Changeable-prawn 
(creoette-changeante); Mouldy orange, Faded rose, and 
Grocer’s blue. The last named is the color of the paper 
in which white sugar is packed. 
The Toad as a Weatlicr Prophet. 
“ J. F. T.,” Ada, Tenn., writes us that the common toad 
serves him as an excellent barometer for foretelling 
rain. He says the natural color of a toad is rusty-brown 
in dry weather, and turns to a dark mottled shade just 
before a “ wet spell.” The longer the rainy weather 
continues, the darker the toad becomes. When fair 
weather returns, the toad resumes his rusty-brown coat. 
Pi •aii’ie Roads.- —All who have lived or 
travelled West, know the terrible condition of the pub¬ 
lic and private prairie roads, when not frozen or thor¬ 
oughly dry. After a few passages of heavy wagons, 
deep ruts require going on to a new line, and the widest 
roadway is soon covered with almost impassable ruts. 
At some seasons there is no driving over them. We 
have known of farmers carrying grists to the mill, and 
taking coal home, a dozen miles, on the backs of horses. 
When hard soil or gravel is accessible underneath, or 
within reasonable distance, enough of this can be put 
upon the center to make a fair road bed. Are there any 
places, except on wide river bottoms, where suitable 
material can not be obtained? On navigable streams it 
can be brought from a distance. We solicit communi¬ 
cations on this topic—on the best means and methods 
of securing good roads on the prairies, and on bottom 
or low, muck lands elsewhere. 
