182 
May, 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
ricultural Society. Last year, from 2\ acres, he 
raised 275 bushels, but made no application for pre¬ 
mium. 
Green sward is invariably used, being plowed in the 
spring and turned over, so that the edge of one fur¬ 
row will rest upon the other, after the manner of 
shingling. The manure being spread upon the fur¬ 
rows, and thoroughly harrowed, it is marked, the 
rows three and a-half feet apart, running north and 
south. A compost is made for each acre, of 10 
bushels unleached ashes, 3 bushels of manure from 
the hen roost, and 2 bushels of plaster—the whole 
well mixed together, dry. (The hen manure will 
have to be beat or thrashed fine before mixing.) 
One handful is sufficient for two hills. A boy will 
drop it as fast as two men will plant. The seed, 
before planting, is soaked six hours in a solution 
made by dissolving chloride of lime in water suffi¬ 
cient to cover it, in proportion of half a bushel to a 
bushel of seed. If the corn is the common sized 
eight-rowed ; put three kernels in each hill one foot 
apart. Cover not over one inch in depth, unless it 
is very dry, as the sooner the grain is up the larger 
the stalk will be, and the better the crop. Mr. C. 
says he knows from actual experience that the com¬ 
post for one acre will produce more eoin than fifty 
loads of manure. I shall try the experiment, and 
hope others will do the same A. S. F. Granville , 
N. Y ., April 17, 1850. 
manufactures vs. Agriculture. 
Eds. Cultivator —In yohr marginal note on 
page 56, of the January number of The Cultivator , 
did you not omit to deduct the wear and tear in 
farming operations? In the first place, 25 per cent, 
is too high for the wear and tear of a cotton factory, 
properly conducted. The wear and tear on $10,000 
worth of cultivated land, wfiiich is made to produce 
crops yearly, would, according to my observation, 
be fully equal to that of a cotton factory employing 
the same amount of capital, especially when we con¬ 
sider the deterioration of the soil, fences, teams, 
utensils, &c. I therefore think there can be no er¬ 
ror in Professor Tucker’s tables. Argus. 
©omestii: (Sconomg, Haipes, 
Importance of Good Bread. 
We make the following extract from a private let¬ 
ter on this subject: 
“ I observed that some agricultural society at the 
East, last year, offered a premium for the best bread. 
I should have been glad to have seen such a premium 
offered by our State Ag. Society. Making good 
bread is a most important as well as very rare ac¬ 
complishment—shall I not say that it is quite as im¬ 
portant as good plowing, or raising good cattle? I 
am most decidedly of the opinion that it is—but 
among the very good breadmakers that I have met 
with, none could give me directions by which ano¬ 
ther, less skilled, could succeed equally well. Is it 
too late for the Society yet to offer such a premium? 
The competition would certainly be one of great in¬ 
terest. But there should be an essential requisition, 
—that is, that every thing should be accurately sta¬ 
ted by weight or measure, and the time required for 
each part of the process as nearly pointed out as 
practicable, and every thing else accurately descri¬ 
bed. Directions thus obtained, would prove of in¬ 
calculable value. But the premium should be libe¬ 
ral—enough so to institute a series of careful expe¬ 
riments. An acquaintance, who is a very nice 
judge of such matters, who has travelled lately in 
Europe, assures me that in Paris, the best bread is 
as much better than our best bread, as the latter is 
better than a sour or unrisen loaf. He attributes a 
part of this superiority to the better quality of 
wheat or flour used in Paris, but also more largely 
to the eminent skill brought to bear in its manufac¬ 
ture. I would go a long way to eat a slice of mer¬ 
itorious premium bread, but much further to get the 
receipt for making it.” 
The Foor Man’s Plaster. 
Eds. Cultivator —For rheumatism and dyspep¬ 
sia, I have tried no external application equal to 
“ the poor-man’s plaster,” which gently irritates 
the skin. The common way of using it however, 
greatly lessens its value. 
You go to the druggist’s and ask for the article. 
It is most likely that he has kept it a long time, and 
the wax has become dry and hard. Now don’t let 
him roll it up, though more convenient, but carry 
it home, flat as it came from the manufacturer’s, and 
prevent the wax from scaling off. 
Another thing—it is customary to heat the whole 
plaster, and apply it at once to the skin. If it sticks 
well, having been spread on stiff paper, it feels about 
as comfortable as a shingle would on the same spot; 
for on no part of the body can it be laid where the ac¬ 
tion of the muscles would not chafe it, break the 
grain of the paper, and cause much of it in a few 
days to peel off. Now listen to me. Cut the plas¬ 
ter into four pieces at least; and in applying them 
to the skin, leave a finger’s breadth between each 
piece. This method gives joints to the plaster—no 
unpleasant stiffness is felt—the paper is not rum¬ 
pled and broken—and it will last a long time. An 
Old Farmer. 
To ki-53 Rats without Arsenic. 
In answer to a correspondent, who wishes to know 
how to kill rats without arsenic, we give the follow¬ 
ing from a late number of the Farmer’s Magazine: 
In or near the places frequented by these,pests, 
place upon a slate some dry oatmeal, lay it thin, and 
press it flat, so that you may easily know what has 
been taken away. The rats, if not disturbed, 'will 
come regularly to feed upon this. Supply them thus 
with fresh oatmeal for two or three days, then add 
two or three drops of oil of aniseeds, stir the mix¬ 
ture well together, feed them well w'ith this for two 
or three days, then for one day give them half the 
quantity they have usually eaten, and on the follow¬ 
ing day place the following mixture: to four ounces 
of dry oatmeal, scented with six drops of oil of ani¬ 
seeds, add half an ounce of carbonate of barytes 
pounded, mix this well with scented oatmeal, then 
lay the mixture on the slate as the oatmeal had been 
placed, and allow the rats to come and eat of it 
without interruption. A few hours after partaking 
of this meal they may be seen running about as if 
drunk or paralytic, retiring to their haunts to die. 
Rats are extremely sagacious, therefore when they 
have eaten only a small portion of the mixture, it 
should not be disturbed for some time. The oil of 
aniseeds is disagreeable to dogs and many other ani¬ 
mals, but, in small quantities, alluring to rats. 
Bearing Years of Apples.— The Baldwin is an 
enormous bearer, every other year. A New-Eng- 
land cultivator, by altering the usual bearing year 
of his trees, so that his crop comes in the scarce 
year when the price is high, has increased his pro¬ 
fits on the crop. 
