185 0. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
121 
21 ns tiier 0 to (Eorresponiinits. 
To PREVENT SEED CORN FROM BEING PULLED 
up by birds or squirrels.— A. L., Apalachin, 
N. Y. Various preparations have been recommend¬ 
ed for this purpose j such as soaking the seed in 
copperas-water, coating it with flour-sulphur, coat¬ 
ing it with tar, &c. So far as we are acquainted, 
we believe the tar is most effectual; but its direct 
application to the grain, is liable to injure it; and 
to obviate this, some have adopted the practice of 
first coating it with plaster (gypsum,) and then 
coating it with tar. This, it is said, does not ob¬ 
struct the germination of the corn ; and the birds or 
squirrels will not pull it after they have found what 
it is. It is necessary that the corn should be well 
soaked in water before it is coated, otherwise the 
tar will not allow the penetration of sufficient mois¬ 
ture to produce germination. 
Coal Tar. —F. E. S., Braceville, Ohio. Coal 
tar is usually applied with a common w'hite-w r ash 
brush. It is used as a paint for fences and out¬ 
buildings, and is considered a cheap inode of pre¬ 
serving them from decay. It also answers a good 
purpose for protecting iron against oxydation or 
rust. 
Destruction of Rats. —J. T. S., Bearmont, 
Pa. Arsenic is a deadly poison to rats, but can 
only be used where other animals cannot come to it. 
Compositions of phosphorus with ground glass, have 
been recommended. Cork cut in thin slices, and 
fried in lard, it is said will kill them. Dr. J. V. 
C. Smith of Boston, states that ground plaster, 
mixed with dry meal will bo eaten by rats, and 
that it w r ill set in the stomach and kill them. Pro¬ 
fessional rat-catchers use substances to decoy the 
vermin into traps, or to places where they can be 
killed. The following is a composition used for 
this purposo : 
Powdered assafoBtida, grain. 
Essential oil rhodium, 3 drachms. 
(< lavender, 1 scruple. 
Oil of annisseed, 1 drachm. 
See Cultivator for 1846, p. 371, and 1848, p. 225. 
Moles. —S. M. T., Glen Cove, N. Y. There are 
various traps for catching moles. A cut of a good 
one was given in The Cultivator , vol. 10, (old se¬ 
ries,) p. 70. They are also destroyed by poison. 
Pills of bread, containing arsenic are laid in their 
tracks; small shreds of meat on which arsenic has 
been sprinkled, are used for the same purpose. It 
is said that the castor-oil bean, laid in their tracks 
will drive them away. 
Harvesting Machines. —E. S., Forty Fort, Pa. 
The most popular harvesting machines have hereto¬ 
fore been Hussey’s and McCormick’s. The address 
of the former is O. Hussey, Baltimore, Md. ; of the 
latter C. H. McCormick &t Co., Chicago, H. L. 
Emery, Albany, is agent for McC. & Co., and will 
have the machines for sale next season. Mr. J. II. 
Burrall, of Geneva, N. Y., manufactures a har¬ 
vesting machine, which, we understand, is favora¬ 
bly spoken of by those who have used it. 
Maple Sugar. —A. O. B., Claridon, 0. In 
Vermont, tin is considered preferable to iron for 
boiling syrup. You will find the directions you ask 
for for in our vol. for 1849, pp. 123, 262, and in that 
for 1847, pp. 24, 25. 
Boors. —J. R., Utica. There are only throe 
vols. of the ‘ 1 Memoirs of the Board of Agricul¬ 
ture.” Of the u Memoirs of the Philadelphia Ag. 
Society,” we have five volumes, which we believe 
comprise the entire series. We presume it will be 
a difficult matter to procure any of these vols. 
Bones. —J. H. M., Columbia, Pa. If you have 
no bone mills in your vicinity, we do not know how 
you will be able to w'ork them to advantage. The 
labor of crushing them by hand is considerable, and 
the bones may not be worth the cost. To dissolve 
bones in sulphuric acid, they are usually first broken 
in a mill, and then covered or saturated with the 
acid. Prof. Norton says, 11 Twelve lbs. of acid 
per bushel seems a good quantity to apply; but it 
must in all cases be previously diluted with once or 
twice its bulk of water. An excellent way of ap¬ 
plying it, is to place the bones in a conical heap on 
a bod of ashes, and slowly pour on the diluted acid. 
They will absorb nearly the whole; the outside 
bones should then be turned inside, and the whole 
will in a short time become soft and fit to mix with 
ashes for drilling or sowing.” 
Old tan bark. —If wood ashes can be cheaply 
obtained, the best way to convert tan into manure, 
is to mix it, in layers—say, a bushel of ashes, un¬ 
leached, to ten of tan—the heap to be made up in 
spring, worked over in midsummer and used the next 
season. 
Black-Sea Wheat. — J. W. , Bucks county, Pa. 
Mr. Emery, of the Albany Agricultural Warehouse, 
advertises this kind of grain. 
Hand-drill, or Seed-sower. —C. T., Kings¬ 
ville, O. Emery’s seed-planter will plant all kinds 
of seeds, from turnep seed to Indian corn. It is the 
kind generally used hero for carrots. The price is 
$14. 
Peas and Beans. —C. W. T., Trevose, Pa. 
Peas are much cultivated in the Canadas, in the 
northern portion of New-York, and in Vermont, 
New-Hampshire, Maine, &e. They grow better 
in those northorn regions than farther south, and 
are also comparatively free from bugs. Indian 
corn is less growrn at the north than in the middle 
and southern states, and peas are used to some ex¬ 
tent as a substitute for that grain. They are con¬ 
sidered quite as valuable per bushel, for feeding 
sheep, hogs, or horses, as corn. They yield from 
twenty to forty bushels per acre. The English 
field bean is not much cultivated in this country, 
and we are unable to refer to any particular trials 
which have been made with it here. The beans 
usually cultivated horo, are more valuable to sell as 
human food, than for feeding stock—-though for 
such animals as will eat them, either whole or 
ground, they are considered equal to corn. A good 
yield is twenty-five bushels per acre. 
Officers of Agricultural Societies for 
1850.— Bennington county, Vt. —John S. Petti- 
bone, President; Aaron Hubbell, Joseph Parker, 
Vice Presidents ; Harmon Canfield, Secretary ; Z a - 
dock Canfield, Treasurer. 
Oswego County, N. Y.—Hamilton Murry, Pre¬ 
sident; C. A. Tanner, Peter Devendorf, Vice Pre¬ 
sidents; James H. Wright, Secretary; J. S. Chand¬ 
ler, Corresponding Secretary; Samuel Allen, An¬ 
drew Place, A. W. Severence, Executive Commit¬ 
tee. 
Wayne County, N. Y.—Joseph Watson, Pre¬ 
sident; S. E. Hudson, G. Center, N. Warner, J. 
Jenner, J. Borrodale, E. Flint, A. Hale, Vice Pre¬ 
sidents; D. Kenyon, Recording Secretary; R. tx. 
Pardee, Palmyra, Cor. Secretary; J. D. Ford, 
Treasurer; A. G. Parry, W. P. Nottingham, B. 
H. Streeter, E. N. Thomas, H. G. Dickerson, Wm. 
Rogers, V. G. Barny, Executive Committee. 
