400 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[September. 
—- 4 
\m„ & 
OUR | 
BASKET. | 
IjRCiilltsaUors. — A correspondent, who for¬ 
gets to sign his name, asks where an incubator can bo 
bought, and the price. Several makers of incubators 
have, for many months, conspicuously offered their wares 
in our advertising columns. 
Toads anti Frogs.—Alice E., Brooklyn, 
Iowa. Both the “ nasty toad. ” and t c frog are, in their 
young state, “pollywogs.” There are—to answer your 
letter—different kinds of pollywogs. Some become 
frogs, and others develop as toads, according to their 
parentage. 
Fecundity of am Ewe.—A 
black-faced ewe in New Galloway dropped six lambs on 
the 28th of May. Four of these were alive, but one died 
shortly after birth. The other three were still alive 
when last heard from. The same ewe gave birth to five 
lambs last year. We should not care, however, to own 
such stock, a single lamb to the ewe being better, 
though twins are passable from extra strong, hardy ewes. 
Plastered 'Walls 5na Men Houses. 
—“ Will the hens pick the plaster ?” Yes, if the plaster 
is poor, and the hens are not supplied with ground 
oyster-shells, or other form of lime, and gravel. No, if 
the wall is laid up of good cement concrete, or is firm, 
solid, and smooth, even though no cement be used. It 
is best, to use some cement in any case, to keep the 
walls well whitewashed, and to keep plenty of ground 
oyster-shells always accessible to the fowls. 
Wolf iai alie Tail. —W. A. Clark, of 
Texas, is in doubt, because we advised “R. S.,” in the 
July number, not to cut off his cow’s tail. You had 
better give your cow a good dose of salts, say a pound 
of Epsom or Glauber Salts, with one ounce of powdered 
ginger, and then, when the salts operate, feed gener¬ 
ously to bring her up. Give, for instance, bran, ground 
oats and ground corn mixed, in equal quantities, a 
little at first, and increasing. Her tail will get well. 
“By Kcturn Ilail.”—We every now 
and then receive a postal card asking us to reply “ by 
return mail” to this or that inquiry. In old times, 
when mails left at rare intervals, “by return mail” 
may have had a meaning. But at the present time, to 
ask one in New York City to reply “ by return mail ” is 
asking an impossibility. In the present rapid exchange 
of mails, there is no such thing as a “ return mail.” 
We observe that the more trivial the question, the more 
general is the request for a reply by “return mail.” 
A Slieep Market.— 1 The largest 
sheep sale was held at Ilsley, Berkshire, England, in 
June. It is said that eighteen thousand to twenty 
thousand full grown sheep and lambs were then penned 
there for sale, all of which were sold off rapidly. What 
would our flock-masters say to such a gathering, and 
especially when these were bred and sold for mutton, 
and not for the production of fine wool like the Merino ? 
All probably were the surplus of some four or five of 
the southern counties of England, which, on the high- 
rolling Downs, are bred there by the thousands. It is 
undoubtedly one of the finest sheep-breeding regions in 
the whole world, 
Save the Bones.—ThomasD. Rand, Green¬ 
ville, Ky., writes us : Bones reduced to a powder are an 
excellent fertilizer, and can he easily and cheaply ob¬ 
tained. Save all the bones of beeves, hogs, and those 
from the table, and store them in barrels. In the win¬ 
ter, place a layer of hard-wood ashes on the bottom of 
the barrel, or any convenient vessel ; then a layer of 
bones on the ashes, and add another layer of ashes, 
filling tlie space between the bones with ashes, and so 
on, until the vessel is full, finishing off with a thick 
layer of ashes. This mixture must be kept moist, if 
done with chamber lye and soapsuds all the belter. The 
holies will heat and soften, so that they can be crumbled 
with a stroke of the spade. 
Devon Cattle on Western BSanclt- 
es.-Wc had supposed the Devon cattle were too small 
to suit ranchmen, but the contrary seems to be 1 the case, 
in some instances, at least. We' often notice accounts 
of their being sent oh to the Great Plains for the pur¬ 
pose of improving the native stock there. A short time 
since, fifty-one head of Devon cattle were purchased in 
Connecticut and Massachusetts, and sent West. The 
Devons are admirably suited for ike hill pastures and 
lower grassy spurs of the Rocky Mountains, being quick 
and active in their movements, hardy and thrifty even 
on the shortest pastures. The Devons will do well on 
grass where the Shorthorn, Hereford, and other large 
cattle would nearly starve. 
ESLoi-serad-isli. snail Willows. — J. P. 
Peck, Hampton, Iowa, asks us “what will kill Horse¬ 
radish and Creek-Willows.” If the patcli of Horseradish 
is not too large, spade the ground thoroughly and deep¬ 
ly, picking out all the roots that are’found. The small 
fibres that escape will throw up leaves, hut if some 
crop is put upon the land that admits of frequent hoeing, 
and tlie Horseradish shoots are cut as often as they ap¬ 
pear, they will give up after a while. By “ Creek-Wil¬ 
low.” Mr. Peck probably means any willow that grows 
along streams. The treatment of these must be essen¬ 
tially tlie same as described in an item on destroying 
Elders, but modified as occasion requires. 
Hrass foa* a Name. —W. P. Smith, Mo¬ 
bile Co., Ala., sends a specimen of Italian Ray-grass (or 
Rye-grass), and wishes to know about it. Though 
called Lolium Italicum , it is a variety of perennial Ray- 
grass (L. perenne), which has become annual, or at most 
biennial, in cultivation. It is regarded as a valuable 
grass wherever it has had proper cultivation. In some 
parts of Georgia it has been grown with success, and it 
may he inferred that it would be equally valuable in 
Alabama. Sown in August or September, at the rate of 
ten pounds of seed to the acre, it will afford abundant 
grazing in February, or it may be allowed to grow for 
hay. If it is desired to make a continuous pasture, a 
sowing must be made every second year, first scratch¬ 
ing the soil with a harrow, and rolling after sowing. 
f«a»i Lime in tlie Garden.—H. H. 
Allen, of Mo., writes that an application of gas-house 
lime upon cabbage plants, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, 
etc., killed them. Of course it did. It is very poison¬ 
ous to plants, and even fatal to them in small quanti¬ 
ties. It contains valuable manurial substances, notably 
ammonia, in combination with sulphur or some acid of 
sulphur, and sulphate of lime, besides more or less 
slaked lime. The sulphur compounds, except sulphuric 
acid (which is innocent, nay, valuable, when combined 
with the lime), are all poisonous to plants, but exposure 
to the air causes them all to become harmless. It is 
best to apply gas lime upon the surface of the ground 
in winter, and thus give it thorough exposure to the 
weather for several months. There will not be much 
ammonia left in it, hut the lime and the sulphate of 
lime, equivalent to land plaster, will be of value, espe¬ 
cially on clayey.or loamy soils rich in vegetable matter. 
About Feldspar. —James Rideout, Ma¬ 
con Co., N. C., asks us if Feldspar is used as a fertilizer. 
Feldspar, in a state of decomposition, occurs in his lo¬ 
cality, and he has observed that where the blocks have 
been thrown out, the vegetation around them is very 
rank. His soil needs a fertilizer; it costs too much to 
bring lime, and, though he does not say so, he evidently 
intended to ask if he could use Feldspar instead. There 
are several kinds of Feldspar, differing greatly in com¬ 
position. The most common Feldspar is a silicate of 
potash and alumina ; another has soda in place of pot¬ 
ash, and others still have lime in combination with soda. 
It will be seen from this that Feldspar is a term for a 
very variable mineral. Some of Its forms readily de¬ 
compose and make a very fertile soil. Our correspon¬ 
dent must he governed by local conditions. If he has 
decomposing feldspathic rock at hand, and it can be 
distributed upon his soil at a small outlay, it may pay 
him to use it as a fertilizer. It is doubtful if any form 
of Feldspar can be available commercially, as the same 
elements may he had in a much cheaper form. 
Tlie Mange Ibi Swljie. — T. Tuttle, 
American Fork, Utah, finds his pigs troubled with a dis¬ 
ease of the skin, which, from his description, wo take to 
he mange, also called itch and scab. Like several other 
skin diseases in animals, it is due to a minute insect, 
which burrows under the skin and breeds there. It is 
contagious, as the insect may be readily conveyed from 
one animal to another. If any of the pigs are still free 
from tlie disease, separate them from the rest. If the 
crusts upon the skin arc hard and dry, rub tlie parts with 
soft soap, and after a while wash it off. After this, apply 
an ointment made by stirring half a pound of flowers of 
sulphur into a pound of lard, partially melted, or made 
very soft by heat, and adding Half a pint of crude pe¬ 
troleum, or if that can not be obtained, half as much 
kerosene. - Two days after the application, wash the ani¬ 
mal thoroughly wilh soft soap and water. Give the dis¬ 
eased pigs a plenty of sulphur in their food for several 
days. All pens which tlie affected pigs have tenanted 
should be thoroughly cleansed, and these, as well as- 
posts and other places against which they have rubbed 
themselves, should he washed with chloride of lime,, 
made thin enough with water to apply with a brush. 
Money Sent Cheaply a nil Safely 
Dy Mail.— The new postal regulations make it very 
convenient to remit, safely and cheaply, anywhere 
within the United States, even to or from the most dis¬ 
tant territories, any sum of money, from a single dime 
up to three hundred dollars. Three postal orders of 
one hundred dollars each can be purchased on the same: 
day by any one person. The charges are : 
Orders from any sum up to $10.Scents. 
Over $10, and not exceeding $15.10 cents. 
Over $15, and not exceeding $30.15 cents. 
Over $30, and not exceeding $40. 20 cents. 
Over $40, and not exceeding $50.25 cents. 
Over $50, and not exceeding $G0 .30 cents. 
Over $00, and not exceeding $70.35 cents. 
Over $70, and not exceeding $S0.40 cents. 
Over $80, and not exceeding $100.45 cents. 
This covers cost of order and return of receipt for the 
money. These orders arc payable only to the order of 
the person to whom they are sent. Small sums, as for 
newspaper subscriptions, seeds, and for any other pur¬ 
pose, are thus sent for from less than half a cent on the 
dollar to four-fifths of a cent for ten dollars and under. 
Tour Signature.— Frequently we receive: 
a letter in which every word is plain, each letter in it. 
being well formed and distinct. When we come to the 
signature, there are several scratches and a flourish,, 
which it is impossible to decipher. It would appear as 
if the writer, fatigued by careful writing, had found 
relief in making the signature as carelessly as possible. 
We have several letters, the writers of which ask for 
information by mail, but the signatures may he Jones, 
Smith, or Robinson, or neither. Often important let¬ 
ters, relating to business, are so blindly signed, that 
they are passed from one to another in the office, in the 
hope that some one may be able to guess at the name. 
If all fail to make it out. there is nothing to be dona 
hut to place the letter with others of its kind, and wait. 
Usually there comes a letter of complaint, or one asking 
if the former letter was received, and this usually 
helps to make out the name. With an immense corre¬ 
spondence like ours, the time expended in the endeavor 
to decipher tiling signatures is no small item. Tha 
signature is the most important part of a letter, and 
there is no reason why it should be the least legi¬ 
ble. Every child should he taught to write its name 
plainly, and be impressed with its importance. Many 
signatures remind us of the description some one gave of 
Rufus Choate’s, “a small gridiron, struck by lightning." 
Save your Melon Seeds.— When: 
one meets with an especially fine melon upon the 
table, he is desirous of securing the seeds. Indeed, 
the only way in which a strain of melon can be kept up- 
to its standard or improved, is to select seeds from the 
best specimens. In raising melon seed for the market,, 
the growers allow the fruit to get much riper than is: 
desirable for eating ; this gives a greater yield of plump- 
seeds, which are more perfect than if the fruit were 
taken in its best condition for eating. In the operations 
of the kitchen, the contents of the melons are sure to 
he thrown away, and whoever would save seeds from 
them, must attend to the opening of the fruit himself. 
Place the contents of the best melons in a bowl op 
other convenient vessel, cover them with water, and 
allow them to stand for a few days to ferment. They 
should be looked to and stirred every day, and when it, 
is found that the seeds fall from their attachments toi 
the bottom of the vessel, the refuse is to be removed* 
the seeds washed, and spread out to dry upon boards or 
a cloth. The seeds of watermelons are much less likely- 
than those of melons to be perfect at the time the fruit 
is in eating condition; hence seed-growers allow water¬ 
melons to get dead-ripe, or rotten-ripe, before they sep¬ 
arate the seeds. Of the seeds separated when the fruit, 
is eaten, a share will grow. Such seeds should be col¬ 
lected, washed, and dried. In sowing watermelon seeds 
of any kind, it is well to recollect that a large majority 
are worthless, and to be liberal accordingly. With cu¬ 
cumbers, allow a few of tlie earliest and best shaped to 
ripen on tlie vines for seed.. All others, if not wanted 
for use, should be removed, and not allowed to exhaust 
the vines uselessly. When thoroughly ripe, gather the 
cucumbers and cut them lengthwise, scrape out the con¬ 
tents into a vessel, and allow them lo ferment until the- 
seeds are freed from mucilage which surrounds them* 
and can be- washed and dried. 
