142 THE CULTIVATOR. Mav 
said to be peculiar to our climate and practices, have 
an agency in producing it. Must we not suppose the 
disease to be connected somehow with place rather than 
condition? It matters not where our trees or seeds 
come from—Liverpool, Flushing, Newburg, western 
New-York or Ohio—if planted out in New-Haven or 
its vicinity, either in light sand, or deep, rich loam, 
they die of the “yellows;” some in one, some in two, 
all in three or four years. 
The inference from all this seems unavoidable, that 
the cause of the disease has existence independent of the 
constitution of the trees. What this cause is, where it 
is, what it is attached to, what it emanates from, thou¬ 
sands besides myself are waiting and watching with anxi¬ 
ety to know. Many facts, which cannot now be detailed, 
show satisfactorily that the presence of a diseased tree 
among healthy ones, has some deleterious influence, di¬ 
rect or indirect, upon the health of its neighbors—but 
in what way, we are as yet unable to say. Our best 
mode of guarding our trees against this destroyer is in con¬ 
formity with this idea of a communication of disease from 
one tree to another; which is, to exterminate diseased 
trees , and replace them with such as are healthy. It is 
found in practice desirable that the extermination should 
extend to all affected trees, leaving none. And the 
greater the territory over which this measure is en¬ 
forced, the better. I cannot, from my own experience, 
say confidently that it makes any difference whether the 
trees are rooted up when in full leaf, or after the leaves 
have fallen. Noyes Darling. 
New Haven, Ct ., Feb. 10, 1846. 
CORN AND COB CRUSHER, &C- 
Mr. Tucker —Suffer me to say a few words— 
1st. In regard to “Hussey's Corn and Cob Crusher.” 
I purchased one from the maker two years since, but 
from various causes, did not get it in operation until 
last fall. I am much pleased with its performance, and 
believe it will accomplish all that is promised for it. 
In addition to the crushing of the corn and cob, I have 
made a hopper for it, by the aid of which I have for 
several weeks been grinding shelled corn and peas for 
my fattening hogs. It grinds beautifully and rapidly, 
and by putting the hominy in soak with boiling water, 
my hogs eat it more readily, and I think fatten faster 
than they have ever done by any previous process. I 
think the machine worth the money and trouble ex¬ 
pended, if for no other use than this. I see that a com¬ 
petitor has entered the lists with Mr. Hussey. I mean 
Pitts, and he promises much for his Crusher. I have 
seen an account of it but not of the manner of its ope¬ 
ration or its price; should like to see both. 
While on the subject of crushers, 1 notice a remark 
of yours in the Dec. No., in reply to .“A Subscriber,” 
(Greenville, S. C.) p. 389, where you say that you 
“ presume it is better to grind the article in mills cal¬ 
culated for the purpose,” and the idea is suggested, that 
the “cob injures the mill stones.” I only notice this 
to say, that there is an invention in North Carolina, and 
for sale by the Comptroller of the State, which profes¬ 
ses to grind cob, corn, and shuck, all together, which is 
adjusted upon the ordinary mill stone, and which the 
inventor says, I think, will not only not injure the 
stone, but will accelerate its speed in grinding meal. 
I have not seen one of them in operation, but from the 
statements made, must be valuable. 
THE SWEET GUM 
2nd. Please say to your correspondent Solon Robin¬ 
son, whose “ Notes of Travel ” always interest me, that 
iffhe will visit me in North Carolina, I will prove to 
him by occular demonstration that the sweet gum’s 
only value is ” not for making tea for “ bowel com¬ 
plaint,” but it is well adapted to other purposes. Du¬ 
ring the past summer I have made considerable use 
of the timber for building, and it is one of the prettiest 
woods, and is susceptible of as fine a polish as any wood 
in the southern states. There is now before my eyes 
some panelling of this wood, and the beautiful waving 
of the grain is almost equal to Mahogany. There is 
indeed an objection to it, and that is its tendency to 
warp, but by proper attention, this may be guarded 
against. . 
SOAKING SEEDS IN AMMONIA. 
3d. Permit me to corroborate g, statement made by 
a correspondent of yours at Princeton, N. J., p. 311, in 
reference to the soaking of seeds in Ammonia. Like 
him, I was induced to take the bait, and like him, found 
by experience, that every new born theory is not redu¬ 
cible to successful practice. At the time of sowing 
oats last spring, I steeped one bushel in the prescribed 
quantity, and endeavored to follow the directions of 
Mr. Campbell as literally as possible. The result was, 
that not one fifth of the seeds came up, and those that 
did, were but little if any better than their neighbors.’ 
I think Mr. Campbell, and the Highland Society, must 
try again. But I do not regret the experiment, as it is 
the only way we are to find out the excellent and the 
worthless. I hope your friend at Princeton will not 
be discouraged. Truly yours, 
Will: H. Wills. 
Rocky Hill, N. C., 27 th Dec., 1845. 
SPECIAL MANURES. 
No one who has expended the large sums required by 
stable keepers for manure, can fail to be interested in 
the subject of special manures. The idea conveyed by 
this term is that certain fertilizers are peculiarly adapt¬ 
ed to particular plants or soils. Thus we know that 
plaster of Paris is often extremely beneficial to clover. 
Experiment and the better established opinions of 
practical men have shown that clover is not the only 
crop that is brought forward in a marked degree by a 
particular and simple manure. There is an abundance 
of evidence to show that potatoes if not increased in the 
crop produced, are at all events much improved in 
mealiness and flavor by a free use of lime. Ashes, and 
especially those which have been leached, are well 
known to ’mprove the grass crop in a marked degree. 
Other instances of less agricultural importance might 
be cited, as the action of salt on asparagus, and of lime 
on apple and pear trees. 
From the preceding remarks will be understood what 
is meant by a special manure; but there are several 
points pertaining to this subject worthy of a short con¬ 
sideration. 
In the first place—are the special manures economi¬ 
cal? This is with the farmers o£the sea-board, of pri¬ 
mary importance, for our soils cannot dispense with ma¬ 
nure, and that from the farm-yard is so expensive as to 
consume all the profits. To answer this important ques¬ 
tion, it is necessary to consider what yard manure in its 
agricultural operation really is. It is a compost made 
up of organic and saline parts, or, in other words, of a 
very rich vegetable mould, and of common salt, plaster 
of paris, bone earth and mild lime, or salts similar to 
these. In the form that it comes to the farm it also 
contains much water, and is liable to fermentation, 
which gives out heat, useful in market gardening, but 
of less importance to the farmer. One hundred parts 
of yard manure in the ordinary state, contains 79.3 
parts of water, 6.6 parts of earthy and saline mat¬ 
ters, and 14.1 parts of vegetable mould. ( Gard¬ 
ner's Farmers Dictionary .) So that when we haul out 
1000 weight of first rate farm-yard manure, we carry 
to the field 793 lbs. of water; 66 lbs. of earthy matters 
as salt, gypsum, and bone earth, and 141 lbs. of vegeta¬ 
ble matter. It will therefore take 1333 lbs., or two 
thirds of a ton, to yield one hundred lbs., or less than a 
bushel of saline and earthy matters. The exact pro¬ 
portions of the salt, gypsum, &c., in the earthy matters 
of yard manure will depend upon the litler used. In the 
case of wheat straw there will be in 100 lbs. only about 
8 pounds of bone earth, 3 pounds of gypsum, and 2 
lbs. of salt, 15 lbs. being mild lime, and the rest com¬ 
mon sand. The composition of the ashes of oats, hay, 
and other fodders, is also given in Gardner's Farmer's 
