1872 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
273 
Please Observe.—It often causes much 
dolay when matters that relate to busiuess and those that 
belong to the editorial department are included in the 
same letter. All business letters should be directed: 
Orange Judd & Company. Letters relating to editorial 
matters only should be directed to the Editor of the Amer¬ 
ican Agriculturist , 245 Broadway. When one wishes to 
write about buiincss and editorial matters at the same 
time, he should write upon separate sheets, and direct 
to the publishers. Many answers to questions are de¬ 
layed until too late for the answers to be of use because 
the questions are included in business letters. 
How to Trap Moles.— V. D. Van Nest, 
Hightstown, N. J., writes: The trap a man or boy, time 
from 5 to 7 and 10 to 12 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. First plow 
the field, then harrow and roll; if the piece is so large that 
it can not be all rolled by 10 a.m., roll three or four times 
around it. Then at the hours before named let the per¬ 
son walk carefully around the field, and he will find the 
moles at work. Place the foot on the burrow, two or 
three feet behind the mole, and dig it out. The mole is 
very sensitive, and will turn back at a slight noise; so, to 
be successful, it requires care. As the mole lives along 
the fences and under stumps and trees, they should be 
looked after in the walks. A man can catch more moles 
in one day, working as here described, than can be caught 
in one month with a trap. 
Protection to Orchards. — A large or¬ 
chard near Girard, Pa., of several thousand trees, is pro¬ 
tected on the north and west by a tract of woodland, and 
during fifteen years there has not been a failure in the 
crops on this orchard. This may be due to other causes, 
but it is very doubtful if anything other than the pro¬ 
tection of the woodland should be credited with it. 
Steam Plows and Tackle.— The new 
tariff bill, which goes into operation August 1st, permits 
the free importation of steam-plows and necessary en¬ 
gines and tackle for individual use on farms. 
“ Corner ” in Grain-Bags. —The Cali¬ 
fornia harvest is progressing with rapidity; but the 
larmers are laboring under a difficulty arising from a 
scarcity of bags. Bags are the farmers’ barn and granary 
in California, for the wheat is cut, thrashed, and bagged 
on the field. If, therefore, bags are wanting, harvesting 
is seriously interfered with. The Eastern markets are 
receiving large orders by telegraph, and by and by the 
“ comer ” will be turned. 
The Wheat Market.— It is a singular 
fact that the condition of the weather in England just 
now is a sufficient cause for the rise or fall in value of 
wheat over the whole civilized world. A week’s rain 
there lately caused an advance, and now a week’s favor¬ 
able weather checks the rise, and falling markets occur 
all over Europe and America. 
Buying a Farm,—“M. W.,” New Preston, 
Ct., asks if it would be advisable to run in debt for a 
farm, which would be sufficient to keep a horse, cow, 
and ten sheep, and leave five acres for market-gardening, 
and bow much land would be required, and lastly, if it 
would be better to buy land with a house, or without 
and build one ; he has $500 to start with.—This depends 
altogether on the kind of man Mr. W. is. For some men 
it would be quite safe to go in debt for a farm, while 
for others it would not; of this he must be his own 
judge. Fifteen to twenty acres of fair land would be 
sufficient to keep the stock mentioned, and generally 
farms with buildings can be purchased relatively cheaper 
than without them. 
Tree Planting. — The champion tree- 
planter of Nebraska, and doubtless of the world, is J. D. 
Smith, who lives near Lincoln in that State, who planted 
on “ Arbor day ” one tree per second for nearly ten 
hours. The result is a grove of 33,550 trees. Thus says 
the Nebraska Herald. 
Value of Farms in England. —At a 
sale of estates in England lately farms were sold at $230 
per acre. These farms rented at $5 per acre, or less than 
2J per cent on the value. Few good farms in New York 
or Pennsylvania could be purchased or rented for any less. 
Fancy Stock Raising.— “J. G.,” Ida- 
ville,Pennsylvania, puts the following question: he has 
100 acres of land worth ten thousand dollars, not all paid 
for, but by raising grain clears only three hundred dol¬ 
lars per year; could he make more by selling his farm or 
by raising fancy thorough-bred stock ?—It is very doubt¬ 
ful ; after paying interest on part of the cost of the farm, 
he has rent and all expenses paid and $300 left and a safe 
business, and this is better than many other professions 
can secure. Raising fancy stock is a poor business, ex¬ 
cept to a few men, and to them it is profitable because 
they are few. J. G. is better off on his farm ; if he will 
keep and sell more stock he can improve in this direction. 
• A Wclfcn.se of tke Goplier. —W. Q. 
White, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., writes that he. thinks that 
“ the gopher ” has been unjustly' accused of being very 
destructive to vegetation. He examined the contents 
of the stomach of one, and found the remains of a large 
bug, eleven cut-worms, and two kernels of com. He 
thinks that when the animal pulls up the corn, it is to 
get at the grub at the root. The true Gopher, or Pouched 
Gopher, about the destructiveness of which there can be 
no doubt, as it will kill a whole row of young trees, is 
not found in Michigan. The animal to which our cor¬ 
respondent refers is probably the Striped Gopher, or 
Leopard Sphermophilo, which is not accused of the 
serious mischief committed by the larger and more 
western Gopher. It is unfortunate that the name Go¬ 
pher should be applied to three or four squirrel-like 
animals and to a tortoise, as it often leads to confusion. 
Old Blaster.—“ J. C. G.” wants to know if 
old plaster is worth hauling two miles to put on his land, 
and if it will do to mix in mortar to plaster a log-cabin 
with.—Yes. If the old plaster is finely broken up and 
mixed with some fresh lime, it will make very good 
mortar for this work. 
„ Lime, Salt, and Blaster.—“ L. C.,” 
Laurel, Md., asks if he is doing right to top-dress his com 
and clover with lime, salt, and plaster.—Yes; butacropof 
clover should be plowed in occasionally; this dressing 
will not do always alone; it is good as a help. 
Bropagating tke Ivy.— Mrs. S. T. M., 
Garden City, Minn. Nothing is easier. Make cuttings 
six inches long and set them in a moist, shady place, 
or you can set out a plant and layer the branches, each 
of which will be a good plant by fall. 
Sulphur in Fruil-Troes. —The gen¬ 
tleman in British Columbia who writes us an account of 
boring his fruit-trees, filling the holes with sulphur, and 
plugging them up, must excuse us from publishing his 
communication. This medicating trees by introducing 
foreign substances into their trunks, is one of the old 
fallacies that is every now and then revived. Sulphur is 
quite insoluble, and sand would have answered just as 
well. The sulphur being placed well into the center of 
the tree, is beyond the circulating sap, and if it were 
soluble, would not be- taken up. Besides, it is an un¬ 
necessary mutilation of the trees. If, as our corre¬ 
spondent states, his trees regained their health, some 
cause must be looked for other than the sulphur. 
Hedge for Texas. —“E. H. C.,” Hous¬ 
ton, writes that the China Tree, recommended by a cor¬ 
respondent in February, makes a good ornamental hedge, 
but will not turn cattle until it has. grown very strong. 
He thinks that the best hedge-plant for Western Texas 
is the Pyracanth Thorn. 
Mulching Grapes .- 11 S. M. F.,” Hanni¬ 
bal, Mo. We do not think it advisable to use a mulch 
upon bearing vines. The soil needs all the sun’s heat, 
in order to produce the best fruit. What say your Mis¬ 
souri grape-growers ? 
How to Kill Hocks;. —“T. S. S.,” of 
Yenango Co., Pa., writes us that, in his experience, the 
only certain method of destroying docks is to “dig 
them up, root and branch, and burn them.” He thinks 
John Johnston’s plan of mowing them early in clover 
while they are in blossom will not kill them, no says 
he had a patch near the barn covered with docks, and he 
has mown them at least half a dozen times every year, 
and has cut them up below the crown time and time 
again with a hoe, and all to no purpose. In his door- 
yard he has dug them up with a mattock, and then in 
some places put two feet of earth on top of them with a 
scraper, and after thus being dug up, the roots that 
remained in the ground grew as • thrifty a crop as ever, 
and worse than before, for now they run down or up so 
much deeper! 
We are well aware that where docks once get full 
possession of the soil they are a very troublesome weed 
to kill. But still, in ordinary farm practice, the plan 
recommended by Mr. Johnston is certainly a good one. 
It prevents the docks from going to seed, and if the 
method is persisted in, and the laud is thoroughly 
cultivated when under the plow, and no docks, are 
suffered to go to seed, a few years of such treatment 
will unquestionably rid the farm of this troublesome 
pest. We do not think that mowing alone will kill 
them, but mowing in conjunction with thorough culti¬ 
vation will in time do so. 
Time <m Garden Land.—“ G. R. V.,” 
Williamsport, Va., has been advised to put a hundred 
bushels of lime per acre on his garden, which is rich 
with horse manure, but wants to hear from the Agri¬ 
culturist before he acts. We would rather use fifty 
bushels now, and fifty bushels in three or four years, 
than a hundred all at once. 
Rye-Grass.— “E. P.,” Milltown, N. J., 
wishes to know all about rye-grass, and which kind is 
best. Italian rye-grass (Lolium Italicum) is the best of the 
rye-grasses. It needs a rich moist soil, is not suited to 
sandy thin soils, makes good hay, and requires two 
bushels of seed (18 lbs. per bushel) per acre. It is in¬ 
ferior to timothy or orchard grass in some respects. 
Rape or Coleseed. —“A Subscriber ” asks 
us to tell him something about that rape or coleseed 
mentioned in the March Agriculturist, and where the 
seed can be procured. Rape is a plant related to the 
turnip, but has not a root like that. It is grown wholly 
for the green fodder, or for the seed. It is, like the 
turnip, a biennial, and flowers in the second year. It 
thrives well on black peaty or mucky soils, and is useful 
for bringing such soils into condition for other crops. A 
rich sandy loam is also very suitable. When sown early 
in July, it will be ready for sheep to be turned on in 
October and November, and they will get it during 
winter from beneath the snow if it is not too deep ; it 
may be fed again early in spring, and the refuse should 
be or may be plowed in when not completely fed off 
before it seeds, when a crop of wheat may follow with 
advantage. It is often grown for the seed, which pro¬ 
duces rape-oil, and the cake left after the oil is expressed 
makes a rich feed for sheep or cattle. The haulm 
or stalks furnish very good dry feed. It would be a 
valuable winter fodder crop for sheep where the snow 
does not lie deeper than a few inches. A peck of seed 
per acre is needed when sown broadcast, three pounds 
when in drills. The seed can be purchased at most of 
the large seed-stores. The black seed fed to canary- 
birds is rape-seed. 
Farming on the Eastern Shore, Md. 
Thos. G. Reynolds, Talbot Co., Md., writes us a very 
interesting letter on his mode of cultivating the flat level 
lands of the Eastern Shore. The soil is a rich, heavy 
loam, underlaid by a compact clay, which necessitates 
surface-draining. His rotation is the “three-field sys¬ 
tem”—corn, wheat, and pasture—chosen mainly to keep 
down the blue-grass or wire-grass. The corn is cut and 
carted off, and the wheat sown and covered with a three- 
furrowed plow, by which the land is thrown into four-foot 
ridges with water-furrows between them. The wheat is 
harvested with the reaping machine, one wheel running 
in the furrow, and a four-foot swath is cut. The next 
year the field is pastured, and then the ridges are reversed 
for corn, the land being heavily manured for this crop, 
and none given to the wheat. The corn is sown with the 
drill, and the furrows between the ridges (being cleaned 
out, the planting is complete. On this system crops arc 
made of 50 bushels of corn (sometimes 80 bushels), and 
30 bushels (sometimes 50 bushels) of wheat per acre. 
Now, he asks what is our opinion of this mode of culti¬ 
vation, and especially if we would recommend under¬ 
draining.—In reply, wo have no fault to find with this 
system of cropping, believing that certain special rota¬ 
tions are well adapted to certain localities and circum¬ 
stances. But, as regards the question of drainage, we 
should certainly in this case advise underdraining, not 
only to get rid of the water, but as a means of preventing 
the rampant growth of grass, which is the chief source of 
trouble. If ever there was a soil t hat needed underdrain¬ 
ing this is one, and it is one also which freed from sur¬ 
face water would soon admit of deeper cultivation being 
gradually brought in. We have known of similar cases 
in which draining led to an effectual cleansing of the 
ground from grass, especially couch-grass, a nuisance 
equally troublesome as wire-grass. Having some per¬ 
sonal acquaintance with the Eastern Shove, we have 
greater confidence in making this statement than if we 
wrote only on general principles, knowing that a want of 
drainage is the great trouble generally., in this particular- 
district. With a fine climate, a rich soil, and teeming 
wealth of luxuries in and on their numerous bays and 
creeks, and water communication to almost every con¬ 
siderable farm, the farmers of this district yet need one 
thing—which is drainage. 
