1872.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
179 
be thus pic wed, and if the ridges are split in 
the spring, the same quantity of work may be 
done, so that really a saving of work will be 
made, as one and a half acre per day will on 
the whole have been plowed; and the land 
can be worked earlier, and is in excellent con¬ 
dition for spring crops. In preparing for roots 
the manure may be thrown into the furrows 
and covered when the ridges are split, when it 
will be in fine order to cross-plow in the spring. 
A Good Wool-Box. 
Mr. P. M. Bugbee, Ohio, sends us the accom¬ 
panying sketch of his wool-box. It is com¬ 
posed of three boards, each three feet long, 
m-U- 
i 
Enas' 
4 
1SJ_ 
4 
« 
Eh} 1 -— 
m-*- 
HI 
c 
Fig. 1.—- WOOL-BOX OPEN. 
one inch thick, and twelve inches wide. The 
center one (fig. 1) is divided at equal distances at 
a, a, and connected with hinges opening up¬ 
wards. The two outside boards are joined to the 
center square by hinges at b, b, b, b, also open¬ 
ing upwards. At c, c, c, c, screw on the springs, 
cutting away the wood underneath so that they 
may lie flush with the boards when pressed 
down. At d, d, d, d, make a cut one inch deep 
with a thin saw, to hold the ends of the strings. 
Make a hook (<?, fig. 2) of hard wood, one inch 
thick and fourteen inches between the jaws, 
and the box is done. 
To use it, first fix the strings from the cuts 
d, d, d, d, in the direction of the dotted lines 
on fig. 1. Lay the fleece with the clipped side 
downwards on the boards, bring up the sides, 
which secure by placing across them the hook, 
as in fig. 2; then close the ends, which the 
springs will keep in their places; tie the ends of 
each string tightly over the wool; then remove 
the hook, and the box will fall back, leaving 
the fleece tightly packed and tied. 
Our correspondent claims the substitution of 
the springs instead of using pegs as a great im¬ 
provement. And such is the case. But it is 
not new, as we have used a similar box for 
several years. It may, however, be new to some 
of our readers, and we present it accordingly. 
The use of some such contrivance in packing 
wool is always to be recommended, as it leaves 
the fleeces in a more presentable shape, and en¬ 
ables them to be packed more closely in the 
sacks. With wool, as with all farmers’ produce 
when sent to market, the best price is gained 
for that which not alone is good but looks well. 
Disease in Calves. 
Several have inquired about a disease to which 
young stock, particularly calves, have been 
lately subject. The symptoms are, falling olf 
from feed, rough coat, bloodshot eyes, dry nose, 
a cough, and a highly fevered condition. On 
examination after death, small thread-like 
worms are found in the air-passages. It is often 
supposed that these worms are the cause of the 
trouble. This is a mistaken idea. This com¬ 
plaint is undoubtedly influenza, and the conse¬ 
quence of exposure to damp and cold, with an 
enfeebled state of the system. It is not neces¬ 
sarily fatal, if proper attention be given. Warm 
gruel of bran, middlings, or oatmeal is of service, 
a warm stable is necessary, and generally a care¬ 
ful restorative treatment will bring about a cure. 
The worms seem to be one of the last results 
of the disease, and are found not only in the 
air-passages, but also in the lungs. This com¬ 
plaint prevailed amongst the lambs last spring, 
and some of ours were attacked, but recovered 
by the administration of a little warm gruel, 
with a few drops of peppermint-water added, 
fed to them with a spoon. We notice that it 
has also been very prevalent amongst young 
stock in England, of late, but readily yielded to 
treatment similar to that- we have suggested 
above. Prevention would be by means of warm 
shelter and generous feeding. 
The Value of Soot as a Manure. —As 
soft or bituminous coal becomes more exten¬ 
sively used west of the Alleglianies, it will be 
of great importance to farmers of the Western 
coal districts to understand the value of the 
soot which is left in large quantities as a deposit 
in the chimneys where this coal is consumed. 
Soot accumulates in chimneys so rapidly that it 
is necessary to remove it very often, and it is 
far too valuable to be allowed to be lost or 
wasted. A French chemist has made an ana¬ 
lysis of coal-soot, by which we ascertain that in 
1,000 pounds the following quantities of valu¬ 
able ingredients as fertilizers are contained, viz.: 
A substance resembling vegetable matter, soluble in 
caustic potash.302 pounds 
A substance, soluble in water, containing ni¬ 
trogen.200 
Carbonate of lime and magnesia. 150 
Sulphate and acetate of lime and magnesia.. 112 
Phosphate of lime . ... 15 
Chloride and acetate of potash..... . 45 
Acetate of ammonia.. 2 
Charcoal powder (carbon). 38 
Water and sand.130 
1,000 pounds. 
A glance at these constituents will readily 
show that soot contains valuable fertilizing pro¬ 
perties,while its very fine state of division renders 
it most easily and effectively applicable to crops. 
In Europe it has been used for years as a top¬ 
dressing to all crops, but with notably most effect 
on grass, wheat, amhoats. Its pungent character 
and very bitter taste make it desirable as a pre¬ 
ventive against the turnip-fly and the cut-worm 
and caterpillars, which injure cabbages. As it 
is a new article of use to American farmers, it 
would be of interest to experiment with it on 
various crops, and note its effects, with the pre¬ 
caution to be observed, that in quantities greater 
than ten bushels per acre it is apt to burn the 
crops in dry seasons. It should therefore be 
applied previously to the rains of spring or fall, 
or in small quantities of say four bushels per 
acre, repeatedly. 
Cooking Food for Pigs.— II. J. Fisher, 
Preble Co., Ohio, asks the following questions: 
“ Do you feed cooked food to your pigs ? What 
steamer do you use ? and do you think it pays ? ” 
—We are now feeding our young pigs cooked 
corn-meal and fine middlings, all they will eat, 
and give them sliced raw mangolds in addition. 
They are very fond of the mangolds, and we 
think them cooling and healthy. The breeding- 
sows have only uncooked food—bran and a 
little corn-meal soaked in water for twelve 
hours. We have a Prindle steamer, but when 
cooking only a small quantity of corn-meal, 
•etc., we take off the top and use it as a kettle. 
We think cooking food for young pigs that we 
wish, to push rapidly forward pays -well. Our 
aim is to get them to eat and digest as much 
food as they can assimilate. For old breeding- 
pigs that can digest all the food we allow them 
and more, cooking or grinding is a mere waste 
of labor and fuel. 
The Culture of Peanuts. 
The best soil for peanuts is a light loam, light 
both in texture and color. The plant needs 
the mellow soil for its peculiar habit of growth, 
and a red or dark clay soil gives an undesirable 
color to the nuts, which depreciates their market 
value. The soil should be prepared by one or 
two plowings, so that a perfectly mellow bed 
be prepared for the seed. A shallow furrow is 
considered the best, for the reason that the 
harvesting- of the nuts is rendered easier when 
they are nearer the surface; if the soil is deep 
they will penetrate further than is convenient 
in gathering them. When the ground is pre¬ 
pared in a proper manner, furrows are to be 
laid off twenty-seven to thirty-six inches apart, 
as the land may be poorer or richer. Cross¬ 
furrows are made at the same distances apart. 
In each check a handful of guano or super¬ 
phosphate is to be dropped, at the rate of 150 
pounds per acre. If the land is deficient in 
lime, a dressing of 50 bushels per acre should 
bo given after the first plowing, and harrowed 
in. This is a crop that needs lime for its suc¬ 
cessful growth. The seed should be shelled 
very carefully by hand; the skin must not be 
broken. Two nuts are dropped in each hill 
and covered very lightly, not more than two 
inches, or three at the most. Directly after 
planting, cultivation with the plow commences, 
to be followed with the hoe and hand-weeding. 
The crop must be kept perfectly free from 
weeds and grass, and the soil be kept loose and 
mellow. Constant cultivation is necessary; as 
many as seven plowings being generally given 
until the vines spread and are in the way, when 
hand-weeding- is to be resorted to. No 'hilling 
up is necessary. The stems which produce the 
fruit enter the ground without being covered 
with the soil artificially. Generally the crop is 
ready to harvest early in October. The harvest¬ 
ing should be done before frost if possible, as a 
hard frost destroys the vines and detaches 
them from flic nuts. A plow with a broad, 
sharp share attached to a bar or coulter, so that 
no furrow is turned, is run up and down the 
rows, cutting beneath the plants and severing 
the tap-roots, or the vines are dug up with 
prong-hoes or forks. Hands follow the plow, 
who pull up the loosened vines and shake off 
the adhering earth, and lay them in rows to 
