1872 .] 
313 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Condensed Agricultural Items. 
There arc sixty-one starch factories in the State of 
New Hampshire, and over three thousand tons of starch 
were made last season from potatoes alone.Western 
farmers have quite an easy time on their prairie farms; 
just now they are fighting the potato-bug, the chinch- 
bug, cutworms, wire-worms, army-worms, gophers, 
ground-squirrels, meadow-moles, grasshoppers, locusts, 
nnd are looking out for fighting fire by and by.J. C. 
Allison, of Missouri, sheared an average of nine pounds 
of wool per head of his flock of native sheep. W. L. 
Victor sheared 154 pounds from 15 Coiswolds, which sold 
for $77.Extensive cattle-yards are now building at 
Atchison for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa F6 R.R. 
.E. L. Davidson, of Kentucky, has sold twenty-eight 
young Shorthorn hulls to Mr. Guthrie, of Montana. 
Corn and cotton promise to yield very abundantly the 
present season. _At Col. King’s sale of stock at Min¬ 
neapolis, thorough-bred Ayrshire bulls sold for $08 and 
cows at $122.Thomas Jackson, Chautauqua Co., 
N. Y., made 378 pounds of butter from 35 cows in seven 
days.Hiram Thayer’s cow (of Carroll, N. Y.) lately 
produced three calves at a birth, and all are doing well. 
.The farmers of Hannibal, Mo., get their fun by 
means of ox-races held weekly through the season. 
Prairie-schooners still navigate the plains of Nebraska. 
The present summer large numbers of these emigrant 
wagons have been seen, mostly accompanied by more or 
less stock.In Iowa, the average wealth of the State 
is $601 for each individual.Plowing up fall wheat in 
the spring lias not been profitable in Kansas this season. 
Those who permitted their wheat to grow have gathered 
a much better harvest than they expected.In Cowley 
Co., Kansas, a premium of $5 is offered at the Agricul¬ 
tural Fair for the best baby.At Ottumwa, Iowa, an 
Artesian well seventy feet deep discharges at the surface 
a stream of pure water equal to one gallon per second. 
......The Illinois farmers near Freeport are growing 
sugar-beets for a new sugar-factory lately established 
there, and are to be paid $ 1.50 per ton for them.In 
Illinois, on farms worth $60 per acre, wheat costs 91 cts., 
corn 21 cents, oats 26 cents per bushel, and hay $1.75 per 
ton.The Champaign Co. (Ill.) Farmers’ Club offers 
$100 for the best thirty acres of corn raised this season 
in that county .The sheep in California have doubled 
in number since 1SG9. There are now in that State eleven 
millions of them.A man in Illinois has counted up 
the Canada thistles in that State, and finds they cover 
exactly ten thousand acres.A New Hampshire far¬ 
mer who soils his cows believes millet to be the most 
profitable fodder crop he can raise.Plant walnuts 
and chestnuts ; they are by far the most profitable trees 
for all uses a farmer can raise.Hops are looking well 
in this country, but are not very promising in Europe. 
.Wisconsin raises more hops than any other State. 
___Osier-raising and basket-making is now becoming 
a favorite specialty with some farmers.A farmer who 
can not make a good living on his farm, should hire out 
with a good farmer and learn how he docs it.Early 
Rose potatoes appeared in the Kansas market on June 
8th.T’he “Heathen Chinee” wants 50,000 tons of 
our cheese every year after this.A great deal of poor 
American cheese is sold in England for hog feed; so says 
an English paper; if so, why do our dairymen make such 
cheese, and such a reputation along with it?.Cistern- 
water may be kept free from insects and leaves by having 
a strainer of wire-gauze on the inlet pipe.Chain- 
pumps and water-drajvevs serve to aerate the water of 
cisterns and improve its flavor for drinking purposes.... 
Horace Greeley has a lot at Greeley, Colorado, which he 
has caused to be planted with walnuts, chestnuts, and 
hickories successfully. It is now more than probable 
that all these nuts can be grown in Colorado, but Mr. 
Greeley’s perseverance should have due credit.Mon¬ 
tana claims to have produced the largest crops of wheat 
ever harvested in any country; oats, rye, and barley 
yield bountifully, and all varieties of grass flourish sur¬ 
prisingly, while the crops of roots of all kinds produce 
enormously.There are eighteen millions of fertile 
acres waiting for occupiers iii Montana.Minnesota 
is fourteen years old, and has a population of half a mil¬ 
lion; there is room for more yet.In California they 
claim that fifteen sheep can be fed on an acre of Alfalfa— 
their name for lucern.At Bakersfield, Cal., an irri¬ 
gating ditch, eight miles long, twenty-four feet wide, and 
three feet deep, was dug by a co-operative colony of far¬ 
mers in six weeks. It waters sixteen thousand acres of 
land, and runs a grist-mill.It costs $10 per acre in 
Tulare Co., Cal., to prepare the land for a vineyard and 
plant the cuttings; at seven years old, the granes will 
produce 1,000 gallons of juice per acre, worth $200. 
In Tulare Lake, Cal., the hogs wade out half a mile in 
shallow waters, and dig clams and mussels.In an 
English agricultural paper, it is stated that “ the wretch- 
edest being under the canopy of heaven is an English 
agricultural laborer,” which is stating the thing strongly 
certainly.The Mark Lane Express, an English paper, 
says when cows are fed high the milk product increases, 
but it soon begins to decrease, and no amount of feed 
avails to keep up the quantity.The root crop of 
England is being largely increased by steam cultivation, 
with the curious effect of increasing the production of 
brandy, which is made from the surplus potato crop; 
sixteen million bushels being thus used.Steam- 
plows are used now quite largely in Germany, and it is 
said that the average of the crops of barley is already con¬ 
siderably increased by their use.The system of 
summer-fallowing is now going out of use in England. 
The farmers,'to pay their nigh rents, are obliged to keep 
more stock to make more manure, and keep their land in 
continual cultivation. 
At a farmers’ meeting at Durham, N. H„ Mr. Bedee, 
of Fremont, said one load of fine manure at the surface 
was worth three loads covered nine inches deep; he uses 
800 pounds of ground bone per acre when seeding 
down.In Boston ripe timothy hay from Illinois has 
sold for $26, and unripe, or that from which the heads 
will not strip, at $32 per ton.In Pennsylvania the 
deep milk-pans have long been in general use, and ex¬ 
periments with shallow pans have shown that deep 
setting is far more profitable; the pans or crocks used are 
of the common red earthenware.A pound of peat 
freshly dug contains fourteen ounces of water. A cord 
of peat therefore contains only one eighth of its weight, 
or five hundred pounds of dry matter.Vermont pro¬ 
duces more beans than any other State.A Massa¬ 
chusetts farmer made a profit of $12.25 from a dozen 
light Brahma fowls last year; they consumed in that 
time 31 bushels of grain and 69 pounds of scraps. 
The farmers of Rutland, Vt., lately tarred an.l feathered 
a peddler who had come on a swindling tour in that neigh¬ 
borhood.Horace Greeley will deliver the address 
at the next State fair in Vermont.Mr. Whitman, of 
Fitchburg, Mass., has imported five valuable Shorthorn 
heifers from a noted English herd, for the purpose of 
improving his own stock.A Pennsylvania farmer has 
found the capital invested in draining to be returned 
every five years in the increase of his crops.Dr. 
Warder, of Ohio, lately stated that he had planted some 
land in locust timber fifteen years ago, and had sold last 
year from one acre 4,030 fence posts at twenty-five cents 
each, clearing $1,000 from that acre.Col. Sweet, of 
Paris, N. H., seven years ago put V0 bushels of ashes on 
an acre and a half of grass land, and has mowed an 
average of a ton and a half per acre every year since. 
A farmer of South Hadley. Ct., is the owner of a sow 
two years and a half old, which has produced and 
brought to maturity forty-one pigs, and now has a litter 
of twenty, all doing well.A turkey killed by D. O. 
Fisk, of Shelburne, Mass., at seven months ol 1, weighed 
twenty-one pounds.A sandy farm is sometimes a 
valuable one ; sucli a one at Red Bank, N. J.. was lately 
sold to the United States Government for $25,030 on 
account of the immense quant ity of sand itcontained. 
Henry Dow, of Pittston, Maine, has a pair of oxen 
which weigh, in working order, 4,600 pounds; they draw 
usually at a load two and a half cords of green wood on 
a pair of 6leds, and often, when the roads are good, three 
cords_A farmer in Lichfield, Maine, lately killed a 
sheep whose four quarters dressed 154 pounds, and the 
tallow weighed 80 pounds tried out....Isaac Rowell, of 
the same State, has fed during the past winter 100 grade 
merinos on hay morning and night, with twelve quarts 
of corn at noon, salt and ashes always at hand, and run¬ 
ning water in the yard constantly ; they came out this 
spring in good condition_E. S. Wood, of Pomfret, Vt., 
made from three grade Jersey cows in one year 930 
pounds of butter_A heifer owned by S. Hills, Wind¬ 
sor, Ct., now weighs 3,009 pounds, andis still growing_ 
H. S. Porter, of Connecticut, has used 2,200 pounds of 
guano on an acre of tobacco, the tobacco was bad quality; 
with 3,000 pounds of barley meal per acre the quality 
was superior_G. F. Beebee, of New Hampshire, sows 
millet In July on a plowed sod, and cuts two tons of 
fodder per acre in September; he thinks it the cheapest 
feed he can raise... .Dr. Dana, of Lowell, Mass., thinks 
he has found by observation that a cow in consuming 
one ton of hay makes one cord or four and a half tons of 
solid manure.... A cow in the course of a year produces 
ten tons of solid and four tons of liquid manure... .In a 
sale of fourteen head Shorthorn stock in Massachusetts, 
the average price was $330; in Illinois, the average of 
eleven head was $520, and in another sale the average of 
twenty-one head was $378_Mr. Chenery, of Boston, 
Mass., has sold in all forty-two head of Holstein cattle at 
an average of $730_Joseph Harris, of Moreton Farm, 
Rochester, N. Y., lias sold to parties in fourteen States 
73 head of Essex pigs for $2,605, or an average of over 
$35 each.Shephard & Alexander, of Charleston, 
Ill., report sales of 387 head of Poland-China hogs at an 
average of $27.50_Some years since a breeder of Berk¬ 
shire swine defined pure-bred animals of that breed ns 
those having three white feet and three white hairs in 
the tail. 
The best crop of rye last season was grown in Massa¬ 
chusetts. It produced 54 bushels per acre.The ex¬ 
perience of many fancy farmers is summed up in that of 
one who said his cattle ate up his crops, ana his hired 
men ate up his cattle.Make a roller; all crops are 
improved by rolling at the proper season—winter grain 
and meadows in the spring, and sown crops immediately 
after sowing.It is economy to feed Western corn on 
Eastern farms; it enriches the manure, and when, as now, 
it is equal in price to hay, in many places, money is made 
by buying corn and selling hay.Six thousand acrc3 
of tobacco were grown in Rock Co.,Wis., the past sea¬ 
son.A Western farmer has come to the conclusion 
that wheat when injured produces chess and chess pro¬ 
duces timothy. The same man believes mules will breed 
together. A few more discoveries of this nature will 
make him famous.The heaviest lot of hogs in the 
Chicago market at any time was marketed January last ; 
they amounted to 100 head, averaged 528 pounds, and 
were fed by one feeder in Page Co., Iowa.J. Whang, 
Maine, thinks 12 hens equally profitable as one cow. He 
cleared $36 last year from a dozen fowls, and from three 
turkey-hens, in two years, cleared $147.A farmer at 
Fort Scott, Kansas, has a grove of soft maples on his 
farm, one year from seed, which are four feet high. 
In New Hampshire, farms are being deserted very rap¬ 
idly; a traveler, in passing twenty-six miles on a main 
road, saw twenty-six deserted farm-houses.Miss 
Fanny Campbell, of Bozeman City, Montana, has en¬ 
tered 160 acres of land, fulfilled the conditions of settle¬ 
ment, got her deed, and is farming successfully. Miss 
Ray, of the same place, raised on her farm 60 acres of 
wheat last year.The prospect of a large yield of 
wheat this season in California is excellent. Generally 
in all other localities reports of serious injury are cur¬ 
rent.The wool crop of California last year amounted 
to over twenty-four million pounds.A lecturer at 
Cornell University recommends a variety of grasses in 
seeding meadows. English farmers often sow as many 
as twenty-six varieties'when laying down pastures. 
A meadow irrigated by running water is said to be 
double the value of one irrigated by flooding, a flood¬ 
ed one double the value of a rich loam not irrigated. 
A speaker at a fanners’ club said if farmers determined 
to stick to their farms and fight it out on them, there 
would he fewer makeshifts to be seen, and more im¬ 
proved farms.At a New York State agricultur.il 
meeting, T. S. Gold said, “For the production of milk 
from an equal amount of food, the Ayrshire cows stood 
first. Dutch cattle were enormous eaters, although good 
milkers.” Mr. Goodale had an Ayrshire cow which gave 
forty-seven pounds of milk per day. Another speaker 
said the use of machines saved a great amount of time 
to a farmer, which he could use profitably in considering 
how be could improve the productive capacity of his 
farm.At the Onleans County (N. Y.) farmers’ meet¬ 
ing, Mr. Smith said the laws oi New York did not com¬ 
pel a farmer to fence his farm. He thought the appear¬ 
ance of the country would be improved if fences were 
abolished. Judge Sawyer said if this were done and 
grass grown to the edge of the road, and mown, the pro¬ 
duction of weeds would be reduced very much, if not 
altogether prevented. Mr. Tripp thought in such cases 
the road-sides cou’.d be planted with fruit profitably, as 
cattle would not then destroy them. A. Onderdonk said 
it would pay a farmer better to pasture a cow for a poor 
villager free than have it on the road.The calf of a 
cow that has been kept poor all winter will never make a 
good cow. ...A Vermont farmer says sheep are the most 
profitable sto. k he can keep; hay fed to sheep has 
brought him $18 a ton in wool and lambs, while that fed 
to cows yielded only $11, and t’-icrc is less labor in sheep- 
raising than in dairying.W. M. Place fed eighteen 
liens with sour milk mixed with meal (in winter scalded). 
They produced, in the year, a profit of $30, besides eggs 
and chickens used in the family. 
An excellent compost for grass-lands is sods, lime, and 
earth from fences and ditches, piled up for fourteen days, 
then well mixed and spread in spring.In England, 
by the use of a steam-engine, one pound of coal will turn 
over nine tons of earth in the shape of furrows. On 
the Duke of Northumberland's property plowing is done 
by steam, at two dollars per acre; the land is then culti¬ 
vated 30 inches deep, the first time for one dollar, and 
the second time for fifty cents per acre. It is then har¬ 
rowed, with harrows with 12-inch teeth, for thirty cents 
per acre. This had been done for three years satisfacto¬ 
rily, on fields of twenty, thirty, and forty acres. 
Hereford cattle are gaining in favor in England. During 
ten years the number exhibited at the principal agricul¬ 
tural fairhad increased from 211 to 574 head. Four 
hundred plows have been distributed amongst the farm¬ 
ers of Michigan rendered destitute by the great fires of 
last year... .'. .The colony at Longmontj Colorado, has 
planted fifteen thousand larch-trecs, which are succeed¬ 
ing very well.Bone-dust is being adulterated with 
raspings of vegetable-ivory and ground dried flesh. These 
ingredients may be detected by"calcining the bone, when 
a loss will occur in burning over and above the 45 per 
cent of organic matter naturally contained in the bones. 
.Forty barrels of pop-corn have been shipped from 
Illinois to England. The English people have found a 
novelamusementin poppingit.In Ohio farmers arc 
averse to pasturing meadows at any time.Charles 13. 
Leonard, of Woodbury, N. J., has twelve cows which 
last year averaged 288 pounds of butter each. They were 
fed corn-meal and bran all the year round.William 
Knight bought sixteen calves, which were fatted by six 
cows, and realized $401.88 for the veal. He fed his cows 
one quart of corn-mcal and two of bran, each, per day. 
The calves averaged 230pounds each.Cooper Cloud 
made liis cows bring him in $35 each, by fattening pur¬ 
chased calves.A New Jersey farmer sold milk at five, 
cents a quart, and made $125 per cow In the year. He 
found it a slavish business.W. Tatum fed his steers 
twelve quarts of corn and cob-ineal each day, aud 
thought it better than pure corn-meal.At the Che¬ 
nango County (N. Y.) fair, H. Crain received a premium 
of $25 for the greatest produce of butter in one week, 
from one cow. The cow was a grade Shorthorn, and 15J 
pounds of butter were churned in the week. The second 
premium of $10 was taken by Yf. L. Moon, who made 14 
pounds in the week from a pure Jersey cow. Both cows 
were on pasture only.In Washington Territory there 
were raised last year, and exhibited m New York, a tur¬ 
nip weighing 34 pounds, which measured nearly four 
feet iu circumference, a ruta-baga which weighed 30 
pounds, and carrots 18 inches long.__The Sacramento 
Beet-Sugar Company last season raised 2,000 tons of 
beets, which they are now profitably working up, at the 
rate of 39 tons per day. Some of their beets are said to 
contain 18 per cent of sugar... i.. .Draft-horses in Franco 
and Belgium are becoming scarce, and the probability is 
that few will be exported for some years.The Ohio 
Dairymen’s Association elected the following officers for 
the ensuing year, viz.: President, D. L. Pope, of Geauga 
County ; Vice-President, Lucius Bartlett, of Geauga Co.; 
Secretary and Treasurer, Coi. S. D. Harris, of Cleveland ; 
Cor. Secretary, Anson Bartlett, of Madison County. 
The Ohio State fairs for 1812 and 1873 will be held at 
Mansfield, Richland Co. The next fair will commence 
Sept. 2d, and continue one week.On the 18th June, 
the Ohio State Board of Agriculture held a trial of plows 
and earth-working instruments at Springfield.... Califor¬ 
nia is becoming a wine-producing couniryof respecta¬ 
bility ; they now have vats sufficiently large to give balls 
in, and findroom not only for the dancers, but the musi¬ 
cians, and seats for spectators in them.The products 
of California now include large quantities of castor-oil 
and mustard '; 709,000 pounds of castor-beans and 13,000 
bushels of mustard-seed were produced last year, besides 
$ 10,000 worth of wild-mustard seedwas gathered in one 
county alone. 
•Tobacco is said to be injured in quality by strong 
animal manures... .In some parts of Germany and Eastern 
France, 2,590 pounds of guano per acre is used as a 
fertilizer for tobacco.Another Chester Co., Pa., 
swindler has been detected in receiving money for stock, 
and keeping it without forwarding the stock ; inall cases 
when parties are unknown, it is safest to inquire of the 
postmaster, or to deal only with known responsible 
parties, although their prices may he higher than those of 
swindlers.Mr. R. R. Seymour, Bainbridge, Ohio, 
has purchased a half-interest in the young Shorthorn 
bull, 3d Duke of Oneida. This bull will divide his lime 
between Ross and Licking Counties for the future, and 
will, without doubt, leave his mark/.An Ohio farmer 
keeps his hogs healthy by furnishing them, in a covered 
trough, with a continuous supply of soft stone coal, salt, 
and ashes; this assists their digestion.A New York 
farmer saved a calf which was choking with a potato in 
its throat, by bending a fence wire, putting it down the 
calf's throat, and working it behind the potato, which he 
was tints enabled to draw out.A farmer of Kane 
Co., 111., lately sold 14,000 pounds of woo], which was 
the clip of five years past, at 65 cents a pound, amount¬ 
ing to $9,170. He made money by holding on to. bis 
wool. He keeps 800 sheep.A farmer of Linn Co., 
Mo., with the help of his two young sons, raised last 
season over 10.000 pounds of tobacco, which brought 
him over $800 net profit. 
