292 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
repeated three or four times as the leaves arrive at the 
proper state of maturity. If any dust adhere to the leaves 
they should be slightly washed, and set to dry in the sun. 
They are the better for a slight drying before they are 
carried to the mill. They should never be heaped in the 
fresh state so as to excite the least fermentation. They 
are ground into a paste in a mill constructed like an oil 
mill. The paste is well pressed with the hands and feet 
under a shed, and made into one or more heaps, of which 
the surface is made smooth. There it heats, and a hard 
crust is formed on the surface, which must not be broken 
on any account; all cracks in it are immediately stopped 
w r ith some paste. In a fortnight the fermentation is com¬ 
pleted, which is known by the cessation of the strong 
ammoniacal smell, diffused during the time of its con¬ 
tinuance. The mass is then broken up, and the crust is 
well mixed with the interior parts. The whole is form¬ 
ed by the hands into balls of about one pound weight 
each, and then pressed into oblong moulds and formed 
into cakes like small bricks. These being carefully dried 
are fit for sale. 
Charlock, or Wild Mustard. — A. E. (Cicero, N. 
Y.,) wishes to know the best mode of eradicating this 
plant. His course so far has been to pull up every stalk 
as soon as it appears. Is there a better or more economi¬ 
cal way ? 
CONDENSED CORRESPONDENCE. 
Improved Farming.—“ Experiment,” Easton, Tal¬ 
bot county, Maryland, informs us that in 1840, he bought 
a farm of 200 acres, of what was considered worn-out 
land. The year before he bought it, it was cultivated by a 
man who was thought a good farmer, and its produce 
was 410 bushels of corn, 31 bushels of wheat, and 115 
bushels of oats, “ all told, and no hay nor pasturage.” Its 
present produce is stated at 1,200 bushels corn, 100 
bushels wheat, and 800 bushels oats; which crops at a 
fair cash valuation, would give an income over the year 
1839, of $515.10. In addition to the above crops, there 
have been raised for the two last years, from 300 to 
500 bushels of potatoes each year, as well as from 200 to 
500 bushels of turneps and beets, with such other vegeta¬ 
bles as are commonly cultivated in a garden, and from 
five to ten tons of good hay.” The stock kept is one 
saddle and carriage-horse, two work horses, one mule, 
fifteen head of cattle, (on an average,) and from four to 
six hogs, the latter confined in pens, and kept constantly 
in the manufacture of compost from leaves, straw, earth 
from the woods, muck, &c. As much manure is also 
made from the cattle and horses as is practicable, by pro¬ 
viding materials for absorbing the urine, &c., all which 
is applied to the land. The writer states that he gave 
$1120 for his farm, which was considered very high. 
In regard to the expense of management, he says—“ I 
keep two men; one of which runs the cart nearly all the 
year, hauling wood, hay, manure, and materials for making 
it, goingto mill, &c.; the other performs the farm-work, 
with such help as he gets from the carter. For these 
two hands I pay $110 a year, including clothes, &c.” 
Culture of potatoes—Drouth in Virginia —Mr. 
H. R. Robey, Hopewell, Va., states that he has been 
successful by cultivating potatoes by the following mode. 
He breaks up a piece of sward land in the fall or spring, 
and about the 20th of June re-plows it. Lays off the 
rows four feet apart, and plants the pieces of potatoes a 
foot in the row. He states that he has found no differ¬ 
ence in planting large or small potatoes, eilher in quantity 
or quality, and he prefers cutting up small, as he thinks 
one good eye better than two or more. When the tops 
are about six or eight inches high, he runs the plow 
close to the potatoes and throws the earth away, and 
then turns the earth immediately back, and follows with 
the hoes. This is all the working they get. We think 
common experience does not agree with Mr. Robey’s 
remarks about the product of small potatoes, and cutting 
potatoes for planting very small. 
Mr. Robey states that the potatoe crop in his neigh¬ 
borhood this season must be small, even with a good 
season, for the farmers could not get seed to plant. 
Potatoe rot has not made its appearance in that section. 
The drouth, Mr. R. says, “ has been truly distressing. 
The corn crop cannot be more than one-third the usual 
yield—the oat crop very small. Wheat has done well 
both in quantity and quality.” 
Black-leg in Calves —E. Hammond, Conesville, 
says in regard to this disease-—“ Be as careful of your 
calves as though they were made of flesh and blood. 
Give them therefore a dry stable or house to winter in, 
and instead of giving them an ounce of salt-petre once in 
three weeks, just give them a good tea-spoonful once 
a week. But mind and keep their feet dry—this is the 
grand secret. They need good water too, as often as 
do your horses-—see that they have it.” 
Culture of Potatoes. —S. Widney, Piqua, O., in¬ 
forms us that he successfully cultivates potatoes on the 
following plan. Plant in hills, and when the potatoes 
are about an inch out of the ground, take a light plow 
and run it so close to them as to cover them lightly with 
earth. When they get through this an inch or so, cross¬ 
plow them, covering up as before. This mode is stated 
to be equal to the best hoeing, besides being a great 
saving of labor. Mr. W. states that he has practiced 
this mode for several years, and has never lost a hill, or 
had them at all injured by covering. 
Agricultural Societies and papers. —Mr. Wid¬ 
ney informs us that an Agricultural Society was organ¬ 
ized in Miami county last year, that a fair was held at 
which a large concourse of farmers attended, bringing a 
respectable amount of good stock, &c., that the funds and 
general concerns of the society are in good condition, 
and that there is every prospect of success. Speaking of 
the advantages of agricultural papers, Mr. Widney says— 
“ By reading the Cultivator for the last eight years, I 
have derived a cash profit of at least fifty dollars per year, 
in the way of improved cultivation and farming econo¬ 
my generally.” 
Saltpetre for Beef—Cotton Beds.—Alexan¬ 
der Leeds, Esq., St. Joseph, Michigan, writes us— 
“In curing my beef last fall, I used saleratus in place of 
saltpetre, and I never had better beef. 
“You spoke of “ cotton beds” in your Dec. No., ’44. 
I have been using them in my family for several years, 
made of‘batting.’ In summer they are cool and com¬ 
fortable, and in winter equal to any feather bed. They 
are made like matresses, sewed through and through at 
every six or eight inches.” 
To cure the Scours in Horses.— Dissolve a piece 
of opium as large as a common sized chestnut in one pint 
of brandy, and pour it down from a bottle at one dose. 
I have given it, and ordered it in a number of cases and 
never knew it to fail to effect a final cure. Laudanum 
will answer the same purpose, if you can ascertain its 
strength so as to know how much to give. R. Burrit. 
Good Sheep. —Mr. Reed Burritt, of Burdett, N. 
Y., informs us that he has a flock of 242 sheep, which 
yielded on the average, at the last shearing “ a fraction 
over four lbs. two oz. per head—well washed on the 
sheep’s back. One wether gave seven lbs. fourteen oz., 
one ewe seven lbs. seven oz.” Two bucks, one a year¬ 
ling and the other a two-year-old, purchased of Mr. R. 
A. Avery, of Galway, N. Y., gave eight lbs. five oz., 
(the oldest,) and six lbs. three oz., (the youngest.) 
Mr. Burritt has 14 ewes and two young bucks which 
he purchased of 8. W. Jewett, of Vt. One of the bucks 
is two years old, and the other is a yearling. The two- 
year-old was not sheared; the yearling’s fleece weighed 
seven lbs. fourteen ounces, <f well washed on his back.” 
Mr. B. has also 13 ewes and a yearling buck which he 
purchased of John T» Rich, of Shoreham, Vt. [He 
refers to the Cultivator for 1844, page 378 for pedigrees 
of Mr. Rich’s sheep.] The two lots were mostly one 
and two years old. “Messrs. Jewett & Rich,” says 
Mr. Burritt, “ thought they would average five lbs. of 
wool per head; but they came a little short of that as 
might have been expected, considering they came a 
long and tedious journey in the month of April, and 
were sheared fifteen days earlier than any of them were 
last year.” Mr. Burrit gives his sheep through the win¬ 
ter, half a gill of corn or a gill of oats per head, daily, 
and feeds them with straw at noon, and hay morning and 
