328 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[September, 
Tanning' Buckskins. — “ T. S. S.,” 
Coopcrstown, Pa., sends the following directions for tan¬ 
ning buckskin with brains, as practiced by the North 
American Indians: The skins are soaked in water, and 
the hair is removed from them with an old knife, then 
placed along with the brains of the deer or a calf in an 
earthen pot. The contents are then heated to about 95°, 
or blood-heat, which converts the moistened brains to a 
kind of lather, and makes the skins clean and pliable. 
They are then wrung out, and stretched in every direc¬ 
tion, by means of thongs, over a frame composed of 
upright stakes and cross-pieces ; and while drying they are 
constantly rubbed with a smooth stone or hard piece of 
wood, so as lo expel the water and fat. The skins are 
then smoked. For this purpose a fire is lighted in the 
bottom of a small pit, and rotten wood thrown in as fuel. 
Sticks are erected in a pyramidal form around the pit, 
and the skins hung thereon one above the other, their 
position being occasionally changed. The smoking is 
kept up for an hour or more. They are then rubbed with 
chalk or powdered gypsum, and scraped and beaten. [We 
shall be glad to hear further from “ T. S. S.”] 
Wheat.—S. K. Cook, Sevasto¬ 
pol, Ind., asks our opinion of sowing wheat with the 
drill. We have found it to be a saving in time and in 
seed sufficient to pay for the use of the drill, and are 
satisfied that the crop stands the winter better when 
drilled in than when sown broadcast. Grass-seed can 
also be sown at the same operation, which is another 
saving. The ground needs to bo well harrowed before 
the drilling; no after harrowing is needed. Where it is 
not convenient to purchase the drill (which costs $90 or 
thereabouts) one may be hired from those who have 
them for 50 cents per acre. One bushel of seed drilled, 
is equal to one and a half broadcast. 
JPaire Peruvian Guano. —“J. B.,” Ber¬ 
wick, Pa., asks where pure Peruvian guano for drilling 
in with wheat can be purchased.—Any respectable dealer 
in agricultural implements and seeds will sell or procure 
it. Some take pains to guarantee the purity of what 
they sell, and these should be preferred. Those whose 
names appear in our advertising columns are reputable. 
Wheat From Nebraska.—“W. H.,” 
Chamberlin, Jefferson Co., Neb., sends us two heads of 
bearded spring wheat, which he says yields one third 
more than any other variety, but the millers can not make 
good flour of it on account of its dry and flinty character. 
—If this is the only trouble, it may be remedied in a 
measure by wetting the grain immediately before grind¬ 
ing, but the sample sent seems to have a very dark color, 
and is very similar to the Egyptian wheat, which makes 
dark flour. We do not know the name of this variety. 
Cottou-IMckei-. — Mr. W. IT. Irving, of 
Philadelphia, but formerly for some years a cotton-planter 
in Texas, has exhibited to us a model of a machine for 
picking cotton, which he has invented, and which he 
says has been tried successfully in the field. We have a 
favorable opinion of it, and have no doubt that if it does 
not do all that is claimed for it, it can be so improved or 
modified as to be a success. Mr. Irving claims that it 
will pick twelve acres per day with the help of two men 
and a boy and a pair of mules, and put the cotton in bags 
ready to be carried to the gin-house. Tills work would 
.keep 53 hands employed under the present system. 
Wheat nFtcv —In reply to several 
inquiries as to this difficult problem, wo would refer to I 
the article “ Hints about Wheat,” in (he present number I 
of Wvs Agriculturist. It is certainly in a manner an un- : 
desirable rotation, but can hardly be avoided, and the 
trouble must be met and vanquished by better culture of j 
the oat stubble. 
Cost oF NlastMi-e.— 11 Reader,” Newark, 
N. J., asks what it would coit to ship manure from Phil¬ 
adelphia to Cumberland Co., N. J., and if it would pay.— 
It does pay formers in the adjoining county of Glouces¬ 
ter to bring manure from that city, aud to pay six dollars 
a load for it at the landing; and if it can be shipped at 
corresponding prices to Cumberland Co., it would pay 
there. Possibly some of our readers in that locality can 
give information ns to the cost of manure there. 
Grinding' Tools. —Cyrus Wade, Christian 
Co., Ky., asks which side of a hoe or a scythe should be 
ground to a bevel; he has noticed that when he buys 
these tools the bevel is on the side which is under when 
in use.—This is the proper side, ns the cutting in a hoc 
or a scythe should be in an upward direction, and this is 
gained by putting the bevel on the lower side. If it were 
otherwise, the tools would tend to cut into the ground. 
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Wlasit is a Shingle “ Oswego ” asks 
what is a standard shingle.—A shingle is four inches in 
width at the lower edge, and a quarter of an inch thick. 
The best quality are square at the butts, of even thick¬ 
ness, with parallel sides, and shaved or sawn of an even 
taper from butt to top, and quite free from knots. A 
thousand shingles is contained in a bunch, the band of 
which is of just so many inches in length as multiplied 
by the number of courses counted on both sides of the 
hunch will make a thousand times four inches. Thus, 
50 courses (on each side) with a band forty inches long 
will make a thousand shingles. 
Nlillc-NIii-ror. —“ E. E. W.” writes: Please 
explain what the milk-mirror is, and whether it indicates 
any other than good milking qualities.—The milk-mirror 
consists of a growth of hair on the inside of the animal’s 
thighs and the hack of the udder, and upwards towards 
the rump, which is inverted or points upwards ; and in 
proportion as this is well marked and extensive it is held 
to indicate good milking stock. It i3 considered a trust¬ 
worthy test, although good milkers are sometimes without 
a good minor (or escutcheon, as it is called in the male 
animal), yet no poor milkers have been found bearing one. 
C;»6»rrli or BSoiip. — “Orion” wants a 
remedy for his fowls, which are troubled with a wheezing 
in their throat and a difficulty of breathing, caused by 
accumulated matter in the throat and nostrils.—This is 
probably catarrh, which is preliminary to the more 
serious disorder roup. The fowls should have their heads 
and throats' washed with warm vinegar. Their feed 
should be boiled potatoes and meal, in which some cay¬ 
enne pepper, with small quantities of sulphate of iron 
(copperas) aud sulphur has been mixed, and they should 
ho kept in a warm clean house until recovered. 
Disease in Cattle.—“T. IV. H.,” Martin 
Co., Minn., has several out of a herd of 115 head of cattle 
sick; the symptoms arc dull and heavy look, stiffness in 
the limbs, staggering gait, coldness of the limbs, dis¬ 
charge of bloody matter from the nose, and death in 24 
hours after being taken.—These symptoms point to what 
is called murrain or putrid fever, er sometimes pleuro- 
pnenmonia. It is very rarely that medicine is of any 
use, but careful treatment, with warm gruel in which an 
ounce of ground ginger is stirred, and a quarter of a 
pound of Epsom salts, given twice a day for two or three 
days, has sometimes resulted in a cure. It is caused by 
poor feed aud water or wet pastures, and is generally fatal. 1 
Wild. Grass, or Timotliy?— “E. E. 
IV.,” Lincoln, Iowa, asks “ how are we, who plow com 
until July 10th, and then go right into our wheat harvest, 
to grow timothy for hay, altogether, and cut it before it 
is ripe. Is it not a mistake to exterminate all our wild 
grasses ? ”—The fact that timothy is very much superior ia 
nutritious qualities to the wild grasses, is a sufficient in¬ 
ducement for farmers to grow it for hay, especially for 
horses. But clover should he raised for cows and sheep, 
and that comes in at a time when other crops are not in 
the way. The difficulty pointed out is one to be overcome 
by good management, and with the help of a mowing 
machine there should be no necessity to abandon timothjy 
as the chief bay crop. Its extra value should amply pay 
for the help needed to cut and save it. 
S*crel»ero*8 Bffoa-ses. —We have many let¬ 
ters of inquiry concerning the Percheron breed of horses. 
Those wishing to purchase stock of this kind win do 
well to note that Mr. Wm. T. Walters will sell from 15 to 
20 head at Baltimore, Md., on Friday, October 11th. Mr. 
Walters is favorably known as qn importer and breeder 
of Percherons, and the stock he offers for sale is, we are 
assured, thorough-bred. The sale takes place on the 
last day of the Maryland State Agricultural Fair. Cata¬ 
logues may be had of Mr. Walters, or of the editors of 
the American Farmer, Baltimore. 
SpayiMg MelFers. — “ E. E. W.” asks if 
there is so much advantage gained from the spaying of 
heifers, as to make it worth while to risk the operation, 
and should the operation be performed while they are 
calves ?—Wc do not think the gain would balance the 
trouble and risk. If it is done at all, it should bo at a 
year old, or after. The process can not be explained by 
book, or in any way, except by a practical lesson by one 
who is an adept. 
Yield oF Crops.—“ E. E. W.,” PoHi Go., 
Iowa, asks, what should be the average yield per acre, of 
corn, wheat, and oats, on well-drained and manured raid 
well-cultivated sandy loam prairie soil, three feet deep.— 
Such land ought to yield 50 bushels corn, 20 of wheat, and 
40 of oats at any rate, and occasionally, with good^sea- 
sons, the corn and oats might be heavier; bnt very heavy- 
crops of wheat are not to be looked for on sandy loams- 
