192 THE CULTIVATOR. 
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June 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
FARMING IN OHIO. 
A subscriber at Williamsfield, Ashtabula county, 
Ohio, gives us an account of the farm of J. Kennedy, 
of Wayne. Mr. K. is said to be a Scotchman, and is now 
settled on a farm of one hundred and seventy acres, im¬ 
proved as a dairy farm. 
“In company with two friends, I called on Mr. K. 
on a fine morning some two weeks since, and found him 
with his sons clearing out his sugar bush, (as we term 
a collection of maple trees,) from which he manufac¬ 
tured nearly one thousand pounds of sugar the past sea- j 
son. With a true Highland, welcome, Mr. K. met us, j 
and took us over his grounds, showing us his flocks of 
sheep, mostly Merinos, of good size, and in. fine condi¬ 
tion; among them he has some half dozen South Downs, 
purchased from the Germans at Economy, Pa. We 
visited the barn and sheds, and saw the sheep quarters, 
which are very convenient, and show Mr. K.’s regard 
for these valuable animals. We looked into his shop 
for all work, where his boys find plenty to do on 
stormy days. He has, what every farmer should have, 
a set of carpenter’s tools, but as the carpenters and 
wheelwrights live so near, many seem to think they do 
not need them. The corn house and piggery were next 
visited, which are kept very clean. 
Mr. K. takes great pleasure in domesticating his 
stock, while most sheep, pigs, and cattle, run at the 
presence of their master, his wait his accustomed recog¬ 
nition, and express their grateful sense of their master’s 
regard. Although it was winter, a time for broken 
fences, and such like marks of neglect, Mr. K.’s garden 
was so neat and free from these incumbrances that 
it w'as a pleasure to visit it. 
His fruit trees are well cared for, being often cleansed 
in the summer season with soap-suds. One of my 
friends noticing the polished bark of an English cherry 
tree, asked me if that was its natural color? I replied 
yes; brought out with good care. We passed through 
a meadow which a few years since abounded with stumps. 
Mr. K. being a great enemy of these, has cleared the 
field of them. His orchard, too, is in good keeping I 
with the other grounds—not a limb, broken rail, or 
any such thing to mar the beauty of its clean sod. 
On entering the house, we found Mr. K. provided 
with abundant resources for his leisure hours, in his 
books and objects of natural history. Here, with his 
family, he passes the winter evenings, too frequently 
passed by the younger members of other families at the 
store, or other places of resort. We left Mr. K. highly 
gratified with our visit, wishing that we might see 
many following the good example he sets them.” 
CIDER MILLS AND CIDER. 
A correspondent of Erie county, Ohio, says— £t I 
should be glad to see in the columns of the Cultivator a 
plan and description of a cider-mill, considered by you 
to be best adapted for the purpose; likewise the best 
method to pursue in making cider, so that it will retain 
its flavor for years, and also what kind of apples are 
generally considered to be the best for making cider. 
The mills in use about here are composed of two or 
three wooden nuts, which grind fruit very imperfectly, 
and the cider generally in the course of a few weeks 
turns hard, and becomes unpalatable.” 
We should be glad to receive communications in re¬ 
lation to the above. In the meantime would refer to 
our volume for 1844, page 302, for a mode of manufac¬ 
turing good cider. 
HEAVES IN HORSES. 
A correspondent says, after trying various modes, he 
has found the following the best treatment for horses 
having the heaves, viz:—To feed no hay, but plenty of 
bright , whole (or uncut) straw, with all the oats they 
would eat, (the latter soaked in cold water three or four 
hours,) with a pint of oil-meal [flax seed] daily. On 
this feed they have worked well, and were troubled but 
little with the disease.” 
THE SEASON IN ALABAMA. 
Extract from a letter written by A. McDonald, 
Esq., Ala, dated April 24th, last. 
“ Thus far the spring cannot be said to be favorable 
in this section. The large quantity of rain that has 
fallen during the present month, followed by a continu¬ 
ation of cold weather, has prevented the cotton from 
coming up well. Upon the whole the stand is a very 
bad one. Indeed the month of April is a complete an¬ 
tipode to April of 1845; for while we had no rain last 
year during that month, we have the present year been 
literally drowned. Either extreme is unfortunate for 
the farmer. Vegetation is some 10 days later the 
present than last year. We had green peas on our ta¬ 
ble last year on the 20th of March; this year on the 1st 
April. It is however too early to begin to predict as 
to the crop of 1846, only so far as it is always known 
that the industrious, prudent, and intelligent farmer 
will always succeed.” 
THE SEASON IN MISSISSIPPI. 
Extract from a letter written by A. M. Mayo, of 
Richland, Holmes county, Mississippi, dated April 23:— 
We have now radishes, mustard, onions, peas, &c., for 
our table, and as for roses we have only 15 varieties, the 
greater part in full bloom. The jasmine and wood¬ 
bine look lovely.” 
SIDE HILL DITCHING. 
A “ Delaware Subscriber ” wishes some further 
explanations respecting the level system of ditching or 
plowing, as practised on the plantation of Captain Eg¬ 
gleston, of Mississippi. He says—“ I wish to under¬ 
stand how the rows of corn can be parallel when fol¬ 
lowing the undulations of hill-sides, where the slope is 
irregular. Again, when you come to the fence, at the 
head or at the foot of a field, there must be many broken 
rows. Having on my farm several side-hills subject to 
be washed, I have for some years adopted a plan of 
ditching somewhat similar to that of Capt. E.; but 
owing to the defect of parallelism of the ditches, I make 
my corn rows straight and parallel to one of the fences. 
This mode, although it answers a good purpose, re¬ 
quires lifting the cultivator over the ditches wherever 
they cross the rows. It also requires the clearing of 
the ditches every time, after the corn is worked.” We 
should feel obliged for any information in reference to 
this subject. ...... 
PRESERVATION OF POTATOES. 
A correspondent at New-York, who signs “ Germa- 
nicus,” has been so kind as to forward us the following 
extract, which he translated from a German publica¬ 
tion, on the subject of the potato disease. 
“ Take 3 large tubs, place them near to each other, 
and fill them with cold water. In the first tub leave the 
water pure. In the second put one lb. of chloride of 
lime to each 12 to 13 galls, of water, and in the 3d one 
lb. of soda to each 12 to 13 galls, of water. Then wash 
the potatoes perfectly clean (the diseased and sound 
ones together) in the first tub; then put them for 
one half hour, in the 2d tub, in which is the dissolved 
chloride of lime; from that, put them in the 3d tub, in 
which is the solution of soda; where, after leaving 
them 20 minutes, they must be taken out, and washed 
in fresh cold water, and then dried in the air.” 
In reference to the above, our correspondent observes: 
“ Although I am well aware that for a farmer who 
cultivates large quantities of potatoes, this process will 
be hardly possible; yet by them it can also be employ¬ 
ed for the seed potatoes, as they are perfectly safe, so 
that even where the potatoes, so prepared, are put in 
the same cellar with other diseased potatoes, they will 
not rot, and it would also be for the poorer classes who 
cultivate enough only for their own use. 
MUCK AS A FERTILIZER. 
A correspondent at Castleton, Vt., says:— f£ For the 
last ten years I have had some experience with swamp 
muck as a fertilizer. For meadows, used in the form 
