1372 .] 
AMERICA N AGr III CULT URIST, 
87 
the same way, one bud at the surface, mulch with leaves, 
and water if need be. Some varieties of grape can not be 
.grown in this way, such as Delaware and Norton. Do 
not set cuttings where they are to grow, but give them 
their first year in a bed. 
S*ls»e=>XVoo4l Avisos. — “J. M. \V. K.,” 
Morristown, finds that Dana in his “Muck Manual” 
states that pine-wood ashes contain four times as much 
potash as lmrd-wood ashes. Dana, on the authority of 
Bcrthier, certainly says this; and J. F.'W. Johnson (John¬ 
son’s Agricultural Chemistry), on the authority of Spren- 
gel, says that beech-wood ashes contain ten times and 
oak seven times as much potash as pine ashes. Sprengel, 
and not Bcrthier, is correct; we never saw or heard 
of potash made from pine ashes, while it is largely 
made from those of hard wood. No backwoods house¬ 
keeper would think of using pine-aslies for her soap. 
Vsilsie of 'ikanajoj's’ Refuse.— “ C. S. 
E.,” Peabody, Mass. Tanners’ refuse is composed of lime, 
.hair, and some animal matter, and is useful as a top¬ 
dressing to grass lands, or for orchards. It can hardly be 
compared with stable-manure, as it contains no potash or 
phosphoric acid, and is rich only in lime and nitrogen. 
Value of Marl.—“ G. A. P.,” Charlestown, 
W. Va., has a bed of marl, composed of the following: 
Organic matter, with traces of ammonia, and water, 15.60 
per cent; carb. of lime, 54.G0; peroxide of iron and 
alumina, 2.40 ; silica and insoluble silicates, 27.40. What 
is its value as a manure, and in what quantities should it 
be used?—This marl is of value only for the lime and 
ammonia ; it would make agood material to compost with 
swamp-muck as a dressing for grass lands. Alone, three 
or four tons per acre would be a proper quantity to apply 
on a meadow. Its value is about one dollar per ton, but 
might be increased by burning. 
Men. Manure. —Yindex, Long Island, lias 
ten barrels of hen manure, “ and now the question occurs, 
‘ What will I do with it ? ’ ” Poor man ! we aro sorry for 
you; head up the barrels tight and pay the freight to our 
place and it won’t trouble you any more. When itarriyes, 
wc shall mix it with two or three times its bulk of the 
driest earth at hand, shovel it over and mix thoroughly, 
and put it in a heap, with a few inches of earth over 
that. If it does not heat in a few days, we shall make 
the heap over, and wet it as we go, and cover the new 
heap with earth. If any ammonia escapes, put more earth 
on the heap. It will soon disappear as hen-manure and 
be incorporated with the earth, and we shan’t buy any 
guano this year. Wo shall use it for corn and all sorts of 
quick-growing crops, top-dress cabbages, and anything 
.else for which we would use guano. As it is very strong, 
it will not do to put it in direct contact with the seed. 
If he chooses to take the trouble, “ Yindex” can do this 
himself, but we should be glad to do it for him. 
Swindled. in Eggs.—A correspondent in 
Wisconsin wishes us to expose the manner in which an 
individual in Chambersburgli, Pa., swindled him in an 
egg trade. He ordered geese, duck, and hens’ eggs, and 
sent the money to pay for them. The hens’ eggs came, and 
not a single one hatched. No duck nor goose eggs were 
received, nor has our correspondent been able to get the 
money back. We are always ready to expose swindles 
when we have the documentary evidence to back us. 
While we have not the least doubt that the case is as our 
Wisconsin friend represents, we should be subjected to 
great inconvenience were we called into court to answer 
for publishing it in full. The Chambersburgli man has 
■long been denied admission to our advertising columns. 
Manufactiiriiig ISone lUaniire.— 
C. H. Stolfers, Knox Co., Teun., wants to engage in 
making bone manures in a small way, and asks what the 
machinery would cost. It will not pay to engage in this 
business in a small way; the mill for crushing bones 
alone would cost $150 to $600. The mill figured in the Agri¬ 
culturist, November, 1871, p. 417, might be built for $150, 
without the power. The vats for dissolving the bone, and 
machinery for pulverizing and preparing the superphos¬ 
phate, might cost $150 more for a small manufactory. A 
power of six to ten horses is necessary to grind so tough 
an article as bone. 
Seeding Stoivn Corn witli Clover 
Is sometimes adopted with excellent results. Cultivate 
the corn on the flat, and after the last cultivating, say in 
July, mount a horse, and with a Cahoon’s broad-cast 
sowing machine sow five quarts of clover seed per acre. 
If the ground has been thoroughly cultivated and is moist 
and mellow, the clover will soon start; and if it should 
not, go over the field again after the first rain, and sow 
six quarts of timothy seed per acre. We would suggest 
this plan to J. T. B., of Maryland. His fivo-field rota¬ 
tions would then be: 1. corn, seeded with clover in 
July; 2. clover, pastured; 3. pasture or summer fallow, 
and sow with wheat in the fall; 4. wheat, seeded with 
clover; 5. clover for hay and seed, or pasture; G. corn, 
etc. If clover seed is grown, sell it and buy manure, or 
bran, cotton-seed cake, or other food with the money, 
and keep a flock of mutton sheep. 
§tenm - Engine. — “Subscriber.” Why 
don't you sign your name ? Do you and a thousand others 
think wo will answer matters of an entirely private na¬ 
ture in these columns? Your name and a stamp would 
have given you a reply. 
Rotation of Crops in Maryiand.- 
“ J. T. B.,” a young Maryland farmer, whose soil is light 
but not sandy, wishes our opinion as to the best rotation 
for five fields. lie has hitherto raised nothing but corn 
and wheat, but thinks this brings the land too frequently 
in wheat and corn. We suppose the present rotation to 
be—1. corn, 2. wheat, 3. clover, 4. clover, 5. clover, 6. corn, 
7. wheat. If the corn-stalks, wheat-straw, and clover 
are all consumed on the farm, the above is not an exhaust¬ 
ive rotation. If the land is well cultivated when in corn 
and is clean, we do not see how to better the rotation. 
If the wheat crop will not average 30 bushels per acre, 
we should be inclined to use some artificial manure, say 
Peruvian guano, or nitrate of soda, and a phosphatic 
guano or superphosphate. 
XJne Wild Onion. —A correspondent in 
Albemarle Co., Ya., asks how to destroy the wild onion. 
If this onion is one which propagates by seed, putting 
the land in grass, and mowing, would certainly destroy it 
in time. If it propagates by offshoots from the roots, 
nothing but plowing, harrowing, and gathering the roots 
will avail, so far as we know. We have heard that 
trenching the ground and thus burying the roots deeply 
will kill them. As this is a serious trouble in some 
localities, we should be glad to hear from those who have 
had experience with it. Fortunately wc have had none. 
I5ranelaiaig Corn. — lVc have published 
testimony adverse to the “Branching Sweet Corn,” and 
we now give the only favorable report that has come to 
us. Mr. J. M. Beckwith, Norwich, Ct., who planted 
the corn and raised from two to five ears to the stalk. 
Some of the hills had from five to ten ears each. 
Catal jsa*» anti Magnolias.—“ L. D. S.,” 
Hudson,O.,asks which are the best varieties. The common 
Catalpa is well known ; it is barely hardy at New York. 
C. Kaempferi seems to be hardier. It is more dwarf, very 
leafy, and a free bloomer. C. Bungei is recommended, but 
we have not tried it. All the native Magnolias (except 
the Southern M. grandijlora) arc hardy, and the Chinese 
varieties are likely to bo so with you, though the spring 
frosts may catch the flowers. J/. conspicua, white; .V. 
purpurea, purple ; and M. Soulangeana , a hybrid between 
the two, aro old sorts. M. Lennei is a newer variety, and 
the finest, but scarce and dear yet. 
Evergreens.—“ L. D. S.” Both Cupressus 
Zaivsoniana and Thuyopsis borealis are generally hardy in 
the Middle States. They sometimes get badly injured 
near New York. 
Burned Swamp Laml.—“E. G. II.,” 
Lake Co., Ind., asks how corn, oats, potatoes, or onions 
would grow on a tract of peaty soil, which has been 
burned over from six inches to two feet deep. Such soil, 
when plowed and mixed with the ashes, would grow corn 
or potatoes exellently ; oats would probably lodge on it 
until two or three crops have been taken off’. 
Ibiseases of Cattle. —“ S. C. B.,” Topeka, 
Kansas, asks for the best work on cattle diseases. “ Dadd’s 
Diseases of Cattle” is a useful work, and as good as any. 
Colorado.—“ G. E. S.” wants to know all 
about the climate, soil, etc., of Colorado. The climate 
is dry, healthy, and cool on cloudy days and at nights ; 
during winter there are occasionally severe storms, dur¬ 
ing which cattle need feed and shelter. Crops need irrigat¬ 
ing, and then yield about equal to a good farm in New 
York or Pennsylvania. There is a colony near Pike’s 
Peak—we do not know the name of it. 
Tlie aiest IBeelhCattle.—“ A Subscriber” 
wants to know which is the best breed of cattle for 
beef? For a hilly country with light pasture, the Devon; 
for a moderate pasture, the Hereford ; and the Durham or 
Shorthorn is best for the richest pastures on level plains. 
Cotswold is the hardiest and largest mutton sheep. South 
Down is the choicest quality, but medium weight. 
See Page 
Measuring; Bay in tile Stack.—“G. 
W. B.,” Lafayette, Ind.—Hay is measured in the stack by 
the same rule as hay in the mow. See American Agricul¬ 
turist for January, 1872, page 7. 
Mow to Feed Carrots.—“P. P.” says 
his horses will not cat carrots; how shall he feed them ? 
Cut or chop them with a sharp spade in a box, and 
sprinkle a little salt and ground feed over them. Roots 
are often refused at first, when fed whole. 
Eolling ©1" tlic Tongue ill Horses. 
—“O. W.,” Newfane, N. Y., asks for a remedy for the 
unsightly habit in a horse, of hanging the tongue out of 
the side of the mouth. A bunch of small links of chain 
fastened to the center of the bit is sometimes used to 
prevent this habit, by occupying the attention of the 
horse, and causing him to champ the bit; a strong bitter 
decoction, as of gentian root, rubbed on the outside of the 
mouth will sometimes make him withdraw his tongue. 
!*aint for Tools.—“ Mechanic ” says there 
is difficulty in procuring crude petroleum in some cases, 
and recommends Yenetian red or French yellow and 
boiled linseed oil as cheap paints for implements. 
Massing Moots. —V. Vaunier has sandy, 
warm, black soil, and asks which would be the most 
suitable roots to raise. Wo would recommend him to 
raise a variety—carrots, sugar-beets, mangels, and ruta¬ 
bagas. They can be grown side by side, and cultivated 
together. Manure is needed for all roots, and bone-dust 
and guano are especially useful. Artichokes are not to 
be recommended as a farm crop, unless the land can bo 
given up to them. 
Arc Twin Eattle Barren ?—“Sub¬ 
scriber” has a valuable twin heifer, which has shown no 
inclination to change her condition, and asks if this is 
inevitable. Not always. Some believe twin animals aro 
necessarily barren. We do not believe it, having had a 
cow which was twin-sister to a useful bull. 
Maying Food for Mogs.— W. S. Pay- 
son, 111., writes : “Ogden Farm Papers say that a man 
can afford to buy food for stock if he can afford to feed 
what he has raised. Is this always a safe rule? If so, 
would it pay to make a specialty of pig-raising, calculat¬ 
ing to buy all or most of the corn for fattening? Could 
such a business be depended on as profitable through 
a series of years ? Will hogs do well in warm sheds or 
houses without straw ?”—To answer the first question, 
the rule is always a safe one. Whether it would pay to 
make a specialty of raising pork, is another proposition, 
but it is one that is not at all affected by the question of 
raising or buying corn. The profit of such an operation 
would be very much affected by the value of manure in 
the locality where it is carri'ed on. The question is a 
purely commercial one, in which the prices of pork and 
of corn and the value of manure are the factors. It is, 
we think, fair to assume, that no staple article like pork 
will sell, one year with another, for less than the cost of 
producing it. It is from the profit made by the production 
of staple articles that the population of the world mainly 
gains its living. The chances of success would probably 
be very good, if the business were carried on on a largo 
enough scale and with sufficient care as to details. Hogs 
should have some sort of dry bedding, either straw, dry 
earth, or something else, that will keep them out of the 
mire, especially in cold weather. If many are kept to¬ 
gether,their quarters should be very thoroughlyventilated. 
Ca1>l»ngcsi for Eat tonisag-.—“ G. B.,” 
Lodi, O., asks if cabbages are profitable to raise for fat¬ 
tening sheep and catttle. No. Ruta-bagas, with the 
manure needed to grow a good crop of cabbages, would 
make a heavy crop and would be a much more valuable 
feed for fattening. 
Yorkshire Swine. 
The modern improved Yorkshire hog is an instance of 
what may be done in improving a breed by care and ju¬ 
dicious selection for a series of years. Originally, the 
Yorkshire breed was reputed to be the worst in England, 
but by crossing on another race, and by care in selecting, 
it has been brought up to be one of the best. They are good 
feeders and quick growers, and readily attain a weight 
of four hundred to five hundred pounds at twelve months 
old, and eight hundred pounds when full grown, and are 
very prolific. Prize animals have been fed up to 1100 and 
1200 pounds. The specimens represented in the engrav¬ 
ing on the first page, arc the property of Brodie, Son & 
Co., of Rural Hill, N. Y., who took four prizes at the 
New York State Fair of last year, on their Yorkshires, 
