1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
51 
weed. It grows very thick, and from one to two 
feet high, with the branches intertwined, so that it 
is very difficult to gather what little wheat is left 
standing. 
The Anthemis arvensis is an annual, as is also 
the mayweed. One root sends forth a great many 
branches which have a great many flowers, and 
then a great many seeds. Hence, it increases very 
rapidly 5 and having once obtained possession of a 
field, it is very difficult to be eradicated. Many of 
the seeds come up in the fall, and produce flowers 
and seeds the next season, while, perhaps, other 
seeds will not germinate until spring; and if the 
ground be plowed so as to bury them deep, others 
may remain without germinating for years, until a 
subsequent plowing brings them near the surface, 
and the light and heat of the sun causes them also 
to germinate. 
To destroy the seeds, some farmers thresh their 
grain with machines in the field, and burn the 
straw immediately. But after the top of the An¬ 
themis is cut off at the time the grain is harvested, 
the root sends forth new branches, which flower and 
bear seeds until the old plant is destroyed by severe 
cold weather, at the approach of winter. 
During a recent visit to Cayuga county, where 
several farms are infested with the Anthemis arven¬ 
sis, we were told by an intelligent farmer, who had 
labored hard to destroy it, that he considered it 
more difficult to be eradicated than the Canada 
thistle. The Maruta cotula, or mayweed, is much 
more widely diffused than the Anthemis arvensis, 
abounding along road sides in large portions of the 
northern states, as far west as Missouri. It abounds 
in the fields and roadsides of Europe, Persia, and 
the adjacent countries, and in Brazil. It is said by 
Linnseus to be a very grateful plant to toads, to 
drive away fleas, and to annoy bees. It is a trouble¬ 
some weed; yet we believe it does not often spread 
over fields to the great injury of crops, like the An¬ 
themis arvensis. S. B. Buckley. West Dresden, 
Yates county, N. Y., November 12, 1849. 
Saxon Sheep. 
Wm. H. Ladd, of Richmond, Jefferson county, Ohio, 
makes the following proposition:—“ I propose to meet 
any number, not less than 20 breeders of Saxon Sheep, 
at any suitable time and eligible place in the United 
States, and eiHibit each one Saxon Ram, as competi¬ 
tors for the following premiums: The amount necessa¬ 
ry for obtaining said premiums to be raised in equal 
sums by the competitors, in the same way as it is done 
by the members of the different Agricultural Societies. 
u To the best, a silver cup or pitcher, worth $30, 
other silver ware worth $30, and $40 in money. 
2d best, silver ware,.$40 and $40 
3d,.40 and JO 
4th, .. 30 and 30 
5th,.25 and 25 
6 th. 20 and 20 
7th'. 15 and 15 
8 th,.15 and 10 
9th,.14 and 7 
10th,.10 and 8.” 
It is suggested that the exhibition be held at Cincin¬ 
nati, in 1850, at the same time of the Ohio State Fair, 
provided that fair does not occur before the middle of 
October, as at an earlier period the wool would not be 
grown to a sufficient length to be fairly judged of. An 
arrangement should be made to have all the sheep ex¬ 
hibited, shorn on the same day. The competition is to 
be open to all the States of the Union. Those persons 
intending to compete are requested to notify T. C. Pe¬ 
ters, editor of The Wool-Grower , Buffalo, or M. B. 
Bateham, editor of the Ohio Cultivator , Columbus, 
Ohio, before the first of March next. 
We hope the proposition will succeed; such an exhi¬ 
bition would be of great advantage to the growers of 
fine wool. 
Castor Oil Bean. 
Eds. Cultivator —As a preliminary to the an¬ 
swer of your correspondent, who requests some one 
to inform him of the manner of raising the Palma 
Christi , or castor oil bean, and obtaining the oil 
therefrom, permit me to premise, that if he resides 
in this state, or any of the New-England states, he 
will find the raising of the castor oil bean an unpro¬ 
fitable business; for I am satisfied from experience, 
as well as from other sources of information, that the 
business cannot be profitably carried on in the United 
States, further north than the 39th or 40th parallel 
of north latitude. 
In the summer of 1822, I raised, as an experiment, 
three or four bushels of the beans, and sold the oil 
at $4 per gallon. I was satisfied the business might 
be made profitable, and the following year I planted 
and raised 13 acres on choice rich land. I manufac¬ 
tured the beans into oil, which had now fallen in 
price to $1.37^ per gallon. I calculated the proba¬ 
ble amount of corn that could have been grown on 
the same land, and found I would have saved 100 
per cent, by substituting the corn for the beans. 
The plant in question appears to be indigenous to 
both the East and West Indies,—consequently does 
not do so well in northern as in southern latitudes. 
In this state, from one-third to one-half the crop 
never comes to maturity. This fact will be readily 
understood by any one who has ever noticed its 
growth in our gardens. The plant, when two or 
three feet high, sends off a shoot from ten to twelve 
inches in length, thickly studded with the seed- 
vessels ; and when this crop has arrived nearly to 
maturity, another one above it will be scarcely out 
of the blossom; and thus it progresses, till nipped 
by the frosts of autumn. Out of eight to ten of 
these little crops, which rise in succession one above 
the other, not more than three or four of them usu¬ 
ally ripen in this climate; whereas, in the southern 
states, the climate is favorable to its complete ma¬ 
turity. 
The land should be prepared the same as for Indian 
corn; planted and hoed in the same manner, with the 
same number of seeds in a hill. When a part of the 
capsules on the lower stems show signs of maturity, 
by a part of them turning brown, you may pass 
through the field with a basket and knife, and 
gather them,—leaving the remainder until the se¬ 
cond crop ripens, which will be from one to two 
weeks. Thus you will pass over the field as many 
times as the succession of crops will demand. If 
the harvesting is neglected until all the capsules on 
the stem are ripe, your crop will be lost,—the cap¬ 
sules bursting spontaneously, throwing the bean 
from five to twenty feet. In this manner they are 
all shelled out, after being harvested, with no other 
manual labor than to protect them. To do this, lay 
a platform with boards, say 12 feet by 24 or 36, 
as occasion may require, with sides from 2 to 3 feet 
in height. Let the floor descend a little to the 
south; in this way the beans have a fairer chance 
to dry, and the water to run off, in case of their 
getting wet, which should be prevented, if possible, 
by having a very light roof, which may be moved off 
or on at pleasure with a windless. Two or three 
