228 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July, 
Mote for \\)t Montj). 
Communications have come to hand since our last, 
from F. Holbrook, S. B. Rockwell, L. Durand, James 
Arevy, S. W., J. D. Remington, Lotan Smith, P., A 
Virginian, W. S., S. Austin, A Farmer’s Boy, Agrico¬ 
la, J. R. Stafford, G. L. Simmons, W. L. F., J. P. S.. 
I. Hildreth. 
Books, Pamphlets, &c., have been received since 
our last as follows:—European Life and Manners, by 
Henry Colman, 2 vols.,from the publishers, Little & 
Brown, Boston—Report on the Breadstuffs of the Uni- B 
ted States, by Lewis C. Beck, M. D., from the author 
—Allen’s American Farm Book, new edition, from the 
publisher, C. M. Saxton, New-York.—A Text-Book 
on Agricultural Chemistry, by A. K. Eaton, from the 
author.' 
{jfd ? 3 The communication “ To Western Wool- 
growers,” from Portage county, Ohio, is deemed too 
extravagant in its statements to be useful to the public. 
Victoria Rhubarb. —We received from Mr. James 
Wilson, of this city, a parcel of this variety of pie¬ 
plant, and after a fair trial, we think it decidedly the 
best we have ever tasted. The stalks are large,— 
though not so long as some kinds,—and the pulp is 
tender, free from fibre, and so pleasant an acid that it 
was preferred for tarts and pies to any other article to 
be obtained at that season of the year. 
Profitable Swine. —S. Huston, Esq., of Coxsac- 
kie, informs us that Mr. M. Hallock, of that town, 
has a sow which raised forty pigs within the year 
1848, which sold for $275,—none of them being kept 
over nine months. The same sow has now fifteen fine 
pigs. 
Malt-dust or “ Sprouts.” —Barley, in undergoing 
the process of malting, sprouts, and after the grain or 
malt is dried, the rootlets are rubbed off. One hundred 
bushels of barley are said to yield four or five bushels 
of this dust. It is a very powerful manure, and is 
used in England as top-dressing to different crops. It 
is sometimes used in forming composts. Owing to the 
large proportion of nitrogen it contains, its tendency to 
fermentation is great ; and on this account it is valuable 
to mix with peat or coarse vegetable matters. A 
small quantity of the dust, say four bushels to a com¬ 
mon cart-load of peat, laid up in layers with the peat, 
will soon reduce it to good manure. A handful of this 
dust to a hill of Indian corn, is a strong stimulant to 
growth. 
Special Premium on Sheep. —A gentleman in Con¬ 
necticut has offered the sum of $100, to be awarded as 
a premium on Merino sheep at the coming Fair at Sy¬ 
racuse. The requisitions specify that the sum shall 
be paid—“ for the best twenty-five full blood Merino 
ewes over one year old, and for the best twenty-five full 
blood Merino lambs, less than one year of age, all to 
be owned by one person. They must not be from any 
Saxon cross, and must have been shorn within the pre¬ 
sent year. Regard being had to' size and constitution, 
with quantity and quality of wool. The stake open to 
the whole country.” The judges selected to award this 
premium, are J. G. Strean, \Vashington, Pa.; Francis 
Rotch, Butternuts, N. Y.; J. D. Patterson, Westfield, 
N. Y.; A. C. Russell, Kirtland, Ohio,* L. G. Bingham, 
Williston, Vermont. 
Early lambs may be taken from the ewes this 
month, and turned into good, sweet, but not very long 
feed. They should be kept out of the sight and hear¬ 
ing of their dams, till they are weaned. Both the 
lambs and ewes will thus be much more quiet, and 
will become reconciled to their separation much sooner, 
than if they were within the sound of each other’s voi¬ 
ces. 
Salting Hay. —The practice of salting hay for the 
purpose of curing it, or salting it for the purpose of 
making it weigh better, as is sometimes done when dam¬ 
aged or cheap salt can be obtained,—we think is im¬ 
proper. As a general rule, it is best to allow animals 
what salt they will eat voluntarily, rather than to force 
them to eat more than they want. It may do to salt a 
load of hay that has been injured, or which is of infe¬ 
rior quality, to be fed to stock occasionally, as a condi¬ 
ment. . 
Fallows should be kept perfectly clean. The great 
object is to clear the ground from foul plants; hence, 
the cultivator, the harrow, or the plow, according to 
state of the soil, should be used so often that the weeds 
cannot grow. This operation also keeps the ground 
well pulverised, opening it to the decomposing influen¬ 
ces of the air, which'is of great advantage on tenace- 
ous soils, bringing the mineral elements into a soluble 
state. 
Materials for Manure. —When the labors of 
haying and harvesting are interrupted by cloudy wea¬ 
ther, men and teams may be turned to good account in 
digging and carting muck, marl, or the coarse grasses 
of bogs, to the barn-yard. Or these articles may be 
piled up to be used as wanted. Peat is much better for 
being exposed to the action of frost, which tends to 
dissipate the acid and render it fine. 
Laborers. —We invite attention to the advertise¬ 
ment of the Commissioners of Emigration, in the pre¬ 
sent number, in reference to the facilities they offer for 
supplying laborers in agriculture and other branches of 
industry. We have known several instances where farm 
laborers have been procured through this agency, and 
the persons gave good satisfaction to their employers. 
An institution of this kind, properly managed, cannot 
but be useful to the country. 
Mr. Veil’s Sale of Short Horns. —We expected to . 
kave obtained for this number, a list of the animals 
sold and the prices obtained at this sale. Not having- 
received such a list, we are only enabled to give the 
following facts, from a letter received from Mr. Vail. 
Twenty of the animals in the catalogue were sold, and 
brought the aggregate sum of $2015; four calves from 
three to seven weeks old, (not in the catalogue,) 
brought $142.50; those over a year old, averaging 
$100.75 each. The purchasers were as follows: 
Dr. Niles, Washington county, N. Y., one cow 
H. Drinker, Wm. Jessup and Thomas Nicholson, of 
Montrose, Susquehannah county, Pa., two cows and one 
bull. 
H. B. Burgwyn, Halifax, North Carolina, three hei¬ 
fers and two bulls. 
Benjamin Jean, Carthage, Jefferson county, N. Y., 
one heifer and one bull. 
Mr. Ogden, for the Quebec Agricultural Society, one 
heifer. 
P. L. Holton, Vermont, one bull. 
D. D. Campbell, Schenectady, N. Y., one heifer and 
one bull. 
S. Percivall, Waterville, Me., one bull. 
Thomas Hillhouse, Watervliet, N. Y., one bull. 
Mr. Starkweather, Boston, one heifer and one bull 
H. Harrington, Troy, N. Y., one bull. 
T. P. Remington, Philadelphia, Pa., one bull. 
Canada Thistles in grass-lands should be cut close 
to the ground, while they are in blossom and before any 
of them have formed seed. They may start more or 
less, and should be again cut the latter part of the sea¬ 
son—making it an invariable rule that none of them 
shall go to seed. This mode strictly pursued, will 
