234 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
this year, as there was last year. There was considers- , 
bly more ground sown than for the last year’s crop. The j 
prospect is fair for heavy crops of corn and oats. 
The Crops in Queens County, L. I.—Extract of a 
letter from S. Youngs, Esq., dated Oyster Bay, July 15. 
—“ Last week we finished gathering our hay and winter 
grain, and sincerely may we return thanks for the most 
favorable and propitious weather not only while harvest¬ 
ing, but for the whole season, having had frequent show¬ 
ers and warm weather, which is essentially requisite to 
our sandy soil, and the “ Common Parent” is now truly 
teeming with the most luxuriant and abundant summer 
crops we were ever blessed with. Corn, oats, potatoes, 
&c., never looked better. Hay was not as abundant as in 
previous years; the drouth last season having killed all 
the young clover, which made it requisite last spring 
with many farmers to plow their new mowing grounds 
and plant corn on them. The fly made bad ravages with 
our wheat, all was injured, and many farmers have not 
more than half a crop. AVe are making preparations for 
our County Agricultural Fair, which will be held in Oc¬ 
tober.” 
The Hay Crop. —In most of the New-England States 
the crop of hay will be less than usual. From Maine, 
we learn that the crop, though fair, will not be so good 
as that of last year. In this State, so far as we have heard, 
it is good. 
< e The Economy of Farming, from the German of 
Prof. Burger, with copious notes from other German 
writers, by E. Goodrich Smith.” —We are glad to hear 
that this work, which we noticed on its first appearance, 
in our last vol. p. 140, is well received abroad, orders 
for 200 copies of it, having been received from England. 
It contains a vast amount of the practical details of Ger¬ 
man agriculture, which have not before appeared in an 
English dress, and should be in the possession of every 
reflecting farmer. Price, 50 cents. 
Prolific Sheep. —Mr. E. Chesebro of Guilderland,in¬ 
forms us that he has ten ewes, a cross of the South Down, 
which have reared this season twenty-one lambs —all good 
ones—from the same ten ewes, he last year reared fifteen 
lambs. 
Shelter for Sheep.— Mr. Shanklin, of Tennessee, 
wishes to know the method of making shelter for sheep. 
As far south as Tennessee, almost any shelter that will 
turn rain, will answer. Where the climate is more rigo¬ 
rous, rnd protection from cold is requisite, better shelter 
must be made. Some crotched sticks placed in the earth 
with poles or rails laid over and covered with straw so 
as to shed rain, will do for a year or two pretty well. A 
dry spot should be chosen for erecting such Inn els, and 
they should be barricaded against the wind on the most 
exposed sides. Framed sheds, with or without hay-lofts 
over them, may be made by any carpenter. Under these, 
the feeding racks or boxes may be arranged to suit the 
convenience of the farmer or shepherd. 
Horn-piths.— The value of horn-piths for manure is 
spoken of in a late report of the N. Y. Farmers’ Club, 
published in the N. Y. Farmer and Mechanic. The piths 
were put in trenches a foot deep, and the vegetation on 
these trenches was most extraordinary, and the manure 
<( is believed capable of enduring twenty years.” There 
is no doubt that these piths are a powerful manure, and 
yet there are probably tons of them wasted in this neigh¬ 
borhood every year. We saw a large pile of them the 
other day lying on the side of a hill, near one of our 
principal streets, which had been thrown there merely 
to get them out of the way; and if they were not manur¬ 
ing the ground, they were certainly manuring the air to 
a considerable extent. Around some of the slaughter¬ 
houses, also, there is an immense quantity of manure ly¬ 
ing waste, or sweetening the water of our springs and 
water-courses. What is the use to talk of importing 
guano, or buying poudrette, when the means of obtaining 
abundance of the best of manure are accessible at home ? 
Nest Eggs. —Mr. N. Howard, Stephentown, N. Y., in¬ 
forms us that he prepares nest eggs in the following man¬ 
ner :—“ Take walnut, or some heavy wood, turn in a 
common lathe, eggs in proper shape, as large as a tur¬ 
key’s egg; whitewash them, and when dry, they are fit 
for use. They are durable, and the lime quality is agree¬ 
able to the hens. Mine lay to such nest eggs, as well as 
to those of their own laying.” 
Barbour Co. (Ala.) Ag. Society. —This efficient So¬ 
ciety seems to be going forward with their work in the 
right spirit. At a recent meeting, resolutions were adop¬ 
ted, on motion of Col. Alex. McDonald, recommend¬ 
ing a more efficient action on the part of their State Agri¬ 
cultural Society, and also recommending the organization 
of Farmer's Clubs. 
Good Wheat. —The Delaware Journal states that F. 
Leonard, Esq. harvested this season, from three acres of 
marsh ground near Wilmington, 120 bushels wheat, 
weighing 62 lbs. to the bushel.—Mr. H. Capron 
states in the American Farmer that he has raised on a 
field of 20 acres, an average of 43 bushels per acre, of 
the Mediterranean wheat. He thinks this demonstates 
pretty clearly the success of improving the worn out 
fields of Maryland. So think we. 
Clover Sod. —Mr. Helem Sutton answers several in¬ 
quiries in relation to the crops and soil of Seneca county 
in this State, through the medium of the New-York Far¬ 
mer and Mechanic. He says , <e it is considered by farm¬ 
ers who make money by the business, that a clover sod 
is best for all spring crops, and rather best for summer 
fallow, and safest for enriching a farm.” 
Charcoal. —In reference to the effect of charcoal, Mr,. 
S. says, “ my farm was in the earliest settlement of this 
country, owned by a man who burned charcoal, and I 
find on those old beds always large wheat and bright 
straw, even if the rest of the field is poor, rusted and 
shrunk; and in fact all kinds of grain on these coal beds 
are good.” 
“ Keep it before the People”— That the outrages^ 
perpetrated on property in the shape of trees, are 
at last arousing legislative and judicial vengeance. The 
robberies practiced openly upon gardens and orchards and 
door-yards have long and keenly annoyed those who de¬ 
vote care and labor to the cultivation of fine fruits and 
the embellishment of their homesteads. This species of 
pilfering, so common with children, exerts a pernicious 
influence on the minds of the young and the old; for 
those who plunder their neighbors this way while young, 
are commonly more or less tainted with thievish propen¬ 
sities in maturer life. “ Train up a child in the way it 
should go, and when it is old it will not depart from it.” 
Mark, then, the influence ©f example—of good or evil 
example—upon the minds of youth :— ec We donotknow,” 
says the N. Y. Express, “ when we have been more plea¬ 
sed with a judicial decision than that which we find re¬ 
corded in one of our late London files. A boy, fifteen 
years of age, was convicted, and heavily punished for 
breaking a bough from one of the trees in a public gar¬ 
den. The sitting magistrate, in passing sentence on the 
offender, took occasion to use the following strong and 
sensible language: ‘‘that although the damage in this 
particular instance was small, yet the practice of break¬ 
ing trees occasioned great damage, and the inhabitants 
of the different squares were put annually to great ex¬ 
pense, in consequence of these depredations. Persons 
had no more right to take a branch from one of these trees, 
than they had to go into one of the houses and steal a piece 
of plate .”—We hope this will be £ recorded for a prece¬ 
dent,’ in every court in this country.” 
Preserving Butter.— Mr. G. Fox of Hartford, 
Conn., in a letter to Mr. Ellsworth, published in his last 
report, says—“ There are many things required to insure 
good butler. The butter itself must be well made; that 
is, worked enough, and not too much, and salted with 
rock salt. This being well done, and the buttermilk all 
expelled, the butter may be packed in good white oak, 
well seasoned casks, well filled. In cool climates larger 
casks can be used. In hot climates it is best to have 
small casks—say from twenty-five to thirty pounds; so 
that too much need not be exposed while using. Then 
put these small casks into a hogshead, and fill up the 
same with strong pickle that will bear an egg, and the 
butter may be shipped to the West Indies or Europe, and 
kept perfectly sweet. I have never found saltpetre or sis 
