THE CULTIVATOR. 
227 
they were not oftener found on the Atlantic. Occasion¬ 
ally, he said, a flock got lost or for some cause took an 
unusual direction, and this will account for their having 
been seen in Massachusetts. .. 
Schenectady, June, ’44. C. H. Tomlinson. 
CONVERSION of SINGLE to DOUBLE FLOWERS. 
Messrs. Editors— The conversion of a single into a 
double rose, by enriching the soil, is familiar to every 
one. The growth of organs half stamen and half petal, 
as if hurried unfledged from their nestling places, or as if 
a change of fashion had overtaken them in the progress 
of their development, are frequently seen in peonies. 
But nature sometimes displays the beautiful and wonder¬ 
ful in a series of variations upon a favorite theme;—as 
the following statement will illustrate. 
Among the shrubs and flowers of a lady in Moscow, 
Western New-York, there is arose bush, which continues 
in bloom from the early appearance of flowers, through 
the whole summer. Some of its buds are purely white, 
others are of a rich crimson color. Besides these there 
are roses whose petals are a part wholly white, and the 
remaining ones as wholly crimson—and these admixtures 
are in all proportions. Again the petals of some flowers 
are chiefly white with red streaks, and others are chiefly 
red with white streaks. 
The soil is chip manure and loam; and nothing is 
known of the shrub, except that it was a shoot from 
some of the princely clusters in the garden of Mr. Sam’l 
M. Hopkins of Geneva. J. N. 
FARMERS’ AFFAIRS. 
Union, as well as knowledge, is important among all 
classes; and among none more important than among far¬ 
mers. Who can calculate the beneficial influences ex¬ 
erted by agricultural societies and cattle-shows? The 
people among whom agricultural fairs originated in this 
country—the hardy farmers of Berkshire, Massachusetts 
—cherish those exhibitions with increasing interest: 
And who will doubt that great good is produced by what 
thus meets with increasing favor after thirty-five years’ 
experience among such a community as the people of 
old Berkshire? The history of the first efforts for hold¬ 
ing fairs in that place, and the extent to which that mo¬ 
del has been copied in other states, would form an inte¬ 
resting chapter in the history of agricultural progress: 
And certain are we that no man familiar with the facts 
in that chapter, would ever again doubt, if he has ever 
doubted, the importance of societies and cattle shows in 
promoting emulation and improvement among farmers. 
By the by, the history of cattle-shows in Berkshire, 
and the influence that has radiated from the efforts made 
there some thirty-five years ago, might form an interest¬ 
ing portion of the exercises at the Great Jubilee at Pitts¬ 
field, in August, when the sons of Old Berkshire are 
to gather together from various states, to renew the ac¬ 
quaintances formed in early life, while cultivating the 
farms around their ancient homesteads in that well known 
county—a county, honored perhaps beyond example in 
the honors which her enterprising sons have secured for 
themselves in all quarters of the Union, wherever en¬ 
lightened enterprise has led them. Rho. 
HAND MILLS. 
Messrs. Editors— -I see in the June No. of your Cul¬ 
tivator, an account of a new cast mill, to be worked by 
men or horses, which is spoken of very highly. • In 1828 
I saw in Florida a cast mill, made, as well as I re¬ 
collect, upon the same principle pretty much as the new 
coffee mill, with a hopper that would hold one peck or 
half a bushel of corn, which was worked by a crank; 
and on the opposite side of the mill there w r as a balance 
wheel of cast-iron about three feet in diameter, which 
was screwed on to the other end of the same piece of 
iron that the crank was screwed on, which mill made 
excellent meal or hominy, and very fast for so small a 
mill, and which could be worked very easy with the as¬ 
sistance of the balance wheel when put in motion, and 
could be worked by any boy of ten years old. As I have 
ever been anxious to procure such a mill, I wish to as¬ 
certain whether there are any such made at any of your 
northern factories, and the price and probable expense 
of getting one to Wilmington, N. C. 
A Subscriber. 
Halesville, N. C., June 20, 1844. 
We do not know of a mill like the one here inquired 
for—that spoken of in another part of this paper, as in¬ 
vented by Mr. Arnold is somewhat similar.— Eds. 
SULPHATES OF AMMONIA AND SODA, AND NI¬ 
TRATE OF SODA. 
These are very useful preparations and essential mate- 
terials for manures; they may be used separately or col¬ 
lectively, and but a few experiments are required to de¬ 
tect the great advantages which they are respectively ex¬ 
ercising. The Sulphate of Ammonia is according to the 
subscriber's ideas, best employed in a liquid state, say 2 
or 3 lb. for a barrel of water, and by sprinkling over 
the ground morning and evening the effect is visible 
within three or four days, and Mr. Gilbert of Jersey 
City, has made the same observation with the cauliflow¬ 
ers; mushrooms may readily be raised in a week; there 
is no doubt but the advantages in using these preparations 
are two-fold. 1st. In planting corn you make it sprout 
quickly, and the grub-worm which is the greatest enemy 
to the farmer and inclined to attack the planted seed 
which at once begins to sprout. 
2d. The plant certainly produces an early crop in 
every instance, and in a pecuniary respect of much ser¬ 
vice. The Sulphate of Soda may be used in a liquid 
state, but I prefer it in lumps mixed up with dung or 
horse manure, as it will then gradually decompose and 
form with the ammonia developed from the dung the 
various production of salts; it is invaluable for an early 
potato crop. The Nitrate of Soda is by itself too pow¬ 
erful to use, and may be wixed with the Sulphate in pro¬ 
portion of 1 lb. of the latter. 
All the three salts may be used in solution or in a dry 
state and will prove very efficient, say: 
2 lbs. Nitrate of Soda, 
3 lbs. Sulphate of Ammonia, 
5 lbs. Sulphate of Soda, 
All mixed up and dissolved in one hogshead of water, 
if intended for artificial guano; to the above composition 
1 bushel of bone dust may be added and it will be found 
highly useful. L. Feutchwanger. 
New- York, June, 1844. 
CALVES WITHOUT HORNS. 
Messrs. Editors— I raise calves without horns, and 
think them quite preferable to calves with horns,—they 
are not liable to injure one another, and less shelter will 
answer for the same number, provided you do not put 
them in stalls. When the calf is from two to four weeks 
old, tie the legs, the same as if you intended to kill him. 
Cut off the hair on and around the horn—have an iron, 
an inch or more in diameter, square at the end, heat it to a 
red heat, and sear the lump down even with the surface 
of the head, and put on a plaster of shoemaker’s wax, or 
some other adhesive plaster, to keep the air from it, and 
no more is necessary to be done. The calves do not suf¬ 
fer the least inconvenience from it. If the lump is not 
seared down close, there will sometimes grow a loose 
nub of a horn. J. S. 
The Wheat Crop in Northern Illinois.— The ed¬ 
itor of the Prairie Farmer under date of May 28th, says: 
“ From every quarter, we notice the reports are, that 
wheat is likely to come in luxuriantly. We can but re¬ 
peat the opinion we have before expressed, that the price 
of wheat is to be lower for years to come, than for years 
back, in proportion to other articles; for the sufficient rea¬ 
son that so much more is produced. The folly of exclu¬ 
sive wheat raising is apparent.” 
ITT The S. Carolina State Ag. Society hold their next 
Exhibition at Greenville on the 2d Wednesday of Sept 
