AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
169 
18M.] 
Apples in Sawdust.— A “Subscriber ” 
writes that he found sound apples last October in a box 
in which they had been packed in dry sawdust the fall 
before. Sawdust is no doubt a good material in which 
to pack fruit, provided it is from wood that has no un¬ 
pleasant odor. 
Sheep Tick.— 1 “M.,” Melery, Iowa. The 
reddish insect which infests sheep is the sheep-tick. 
There is no better method at this season when dipping 
is out of the question than to go over the sheep and kill 
the ticks with a pair of small scissors, crushing the eggs 
that are found like little brown balls, at the same time, 
between the points of the scissors. We have gone over 
100 sheep a day in this way, and few ticks have escaped. 
They will be found mostly about the sides and brisket. 
Horse and Cow Stables.— “J. A. E.,” 
Baltimore. In the Agriculturist of December, 1812, there 
was a plan of stable for horses and cows in a basement 
building, which may probably be what you want. 
Kaising: Pork in California.— 
“ H. A. W.,” Hay Fork Yalley, California. With pork at 
ten cents a pound it ought to pay well to raise hogs. If 
clover can not be grown in California, at least alfalfa 
(lucern) can be, and that makes an excellent green feed 
for hogs. Potatoes, oats, barley, and rye all make good 
feed, and wheat if boiled with potatoes would also an¬ 
swer excellently. 
The Jersey in the Hairy.— “E. K.,” 
Whitewater, Wis., sends the following statement of the 
production of butter by a Jersey cow during last season. 
The cow had just dropped her third calf, and was four 
years old, and during the month of May was injured in 
one teat by another cow stepping upon it. The yield was 
as follows : March, 40 lbs. 10 oz.; April, 41 lbs. 10 oz.; 
May, 31 lbs. 10 oz.; June, 39 lbs.; July, 33 lbs.; August, 
31 lbs. 4 oz. ; September, 35 lbs.; October, 26 lbs.; 
November, 20 lbs.; December, 17 lbs. 4 oz. The total 
production for the ten months was 315% lbs., or over one 
pound per day on the average. During the last two 
months 24 native cows, two of which were fresh, and all 
of the ethers had come in since the Jersey, made on an 
average 12'/ a lbs. per month, and the Jersey made under 
exactly the same treatment 18% lbs. per month. He 
thinks this a fair test of the dairy value of the Jersey. 
Concrete Pipe.— “M. O. B.,” Nunda, 
N. Y. There must be some mistake in procuring the 
proper kind of cement or the pipe eould not have failed. 
There are hundreds of miles of cement pipe laid in the 
country; several miles of it have been laid by the super¬ 
intendent of the Onondaga (N. Y.) salt works with entire 
success. We have also had no trouble in laying cement 
both for a cistern and pipe. 
linderdraining.— “C. W. H.” has a farm 
of 172 acres, one mile from Columbus, Ohio, that 
he wishes to drain. It slopes to the east with a 
smooth surface; has a fall of 10 feet in 1,100 feet. Soil, 
on two thirds of the farm, clay, the other third black. 
He asks what is the best material to use. He can get 
pipe tiles, 3%-inch bore, at 35 cents per rod; flat stone, 
75 cents per perch ; burr-oak lumber suitable for draining, 
$20 per M. Can get second-class sewer pipe, two feet 
long and six-inch bore, at $1 per rod. We would very 
earnestly advise him to use tiles. Taking everything 
into consideration—ease of laying, durability, and effi¬ 
ciency—they are far cheaper than anything else. For the 
sub-drains 3%-inch tiles are not needed ; two-inch pipes 
are large enough. A very common mistake is to lay the 
main drains with two small tiles, and the. sub-drains with 
tiles needlessly large. For a main drain the six-inch 
sewer pipes would be excellent, and would carry off an 
immense body of water. 
Remedy for the Curculio.— M. M. 
Ostrander. There is no plan or device for protecting 
fruit from the curcnlio worth anything except the plan of 
jarring the trees and catching and destroying the insects. 
All methods by hanging such things as corn-cobs soaked 
in syrup or in carbolic acid even in the trees are as in¬ 
effectual as trying to catch old birds with chaff. 
Cross-l»red Pigs.— “C. W. H.,” Colum¬ 
bus, Ohio, writes: “I have crossed a thorough-bred Es¬ 
sex on Poland-China sows. The pigs are very fine.”— 
We should expect a very useful class of pigs from such a 
cibss. One or two more crosses with Essex may be used 
with advantage. 
The Star Thistle.—“ Senex ” writes: 
“ Dear Mr. Aarioulturist: I wish to follow up your re¬ 
mark abont Ctmtaurea Americana as a well-known cul¬ 
tivated plant. Being older than you are, I can remember 
a long way back. About forty years ago we used to have 
this showy annual in our country gardens. Nuttall in¬ 
troduced it into cultivation from Arkansas. Barton fig¬ 
ured it at Philadelphia in 1822, and Don in England in 
1831, since which I suppose seeds have always been in 
the market and the plant in many gardens. Lately, 
Thompson, of Ipswich. England, raised a particularly 
good variety of it from E. Hall’s seeds, gathered in Texas, 
and this has given the species a new start.” 
After R«ita»l»agas. —“C. A. K.,” Arling¬ 
ton, Mass., writes that he has raised three hundred 
bushels of ruta-bagas upon half an acre. The best crop 
that can follow these roots is rye or wheat, with grass 
and clover. The best rotation when roots are raised is 
corn, oats, followed by turnips the same season, or ruta¬ 
bagas or mangels the next season, and finally '.vheat or 
rye, with grass. But several hundred bushels of roots can 
not be taken off from an acre of ground without exhaust¬ 
ing tiie soil; and the reason that your crops have failed 
after the ruta-bagas is probably for want of the needed 
fertilizer. Two hundred and fifty pounds of fine bone- 
dust or of superphosphate, with a few loads of manure, 
might have told a different tale. 
Coughing and Wheezing Hogs.— 
“ L. C.” It is not often that hogs suffer from cold. They 
more frequently suffer from too much warmth and insuf¬ 
ficient ventilation. Then a sudden change of temperature 
affects the lungs or bronchial tubes, and coughing and 
difficulty of breathing result. When so affected, rubbing 
the throat and chest with turpentine has been found 
beneficial, but generally a change of food from grain or 
meal to boiled potatoes or turnips, with the removal of 
the cause of the trouble, will remove the complaint. 
China Geese.— “J. H. S.,” Logan, Ind. 
The only distinguishing characteristic of the Chinese 
gander is its shrill voice, which is so marked as to be 
readily noticed. The marks of these birds are alike in 
both sexes. 
Reclaiming' a Swamp.— “Inquirer.” 
There is a process known in agriculture as “paring and 
burning,” which might in some cases be usefully em¬ 
ployed in reclaiming swamp lands after they have been 
drained. Draining is the first thing absolutely essential. 
Then with a sharp broad-shared plow turn a broad fur¬ 
row three inches thick, thus cutting all the roots of 
bushes, weeds, and tussocks. The sods remain until 
dry, when they are cut with a broad axe into lengths, and 
are piled into heaps and burned. The ashes are scat¬ 
tered over the bare surface, which is then sown to grass. 
Timothy and red-top would be suitable for such a soil. 
The seed may be harrowed in with a sharp light harrow. 
This is costly, but where meadow land is worth $100 an 
acre it pays. We have succeeded in this way, without 
burning the sods however, using them with lime for com¬ 
post for uplands, and lining the drained and cleared 
swamp with 50 bushels of lime per acre. Timothy grew 
four feet high upon the new soil. 
llse of Swamp Muck.— “I. H. P.,” 
Lexington. Ohio. Swamp muck is of considerable value, 
when free from sand, as an absorbent in the stable and a 
help to the manure pile. But it should be dug some 
months, frozen, and well dried before it is used. 
Rutter from Sweet Cream.— “A. B. 
L.,” Greene Co., N. Y. There is no method of making 
butter from sweet or any other cream but by churning in 
the usual manner. 
A Roiigli-coutetl Horse.— “A. B. L.,” 
Leeds, N. Y. A rough, staring coat upon a horse is a 
symptom of ill-health. A change of food is often suffi¬ 
cient to restore the smoothness of the coat. Boiled oats 
or scalded bran, with a few handfuls of linseed-meal 
mixed in, and fed cold, may be given along with some 
mild alterative or tonic medicine, such as half an ounce 
of sulphur or one dram of copperas daily in the food. 
Muzzle for Crib-Riter.— “B.,” Perry- 
ville. Ill. The muzzle referred to in Agriculturist of Oc¬ 
tober, 1872, is not made by any one person in particular. 
Any blacksmith or wire-worker could make one in half 
an hour. Very stout wire or light band-iron should be 
used, riveted where the pieces cross each other. 
The Japan Pea. — In reference to this 
pea, which was described in the Feb. No., 1874, Mr. J. 
Niel Stribling, Anderson Co., S. C., writes:—I raise the 
Japan pea as a field crop ; the yield is mush larger than 
that of any other pea. I ent the stalks for forage and 
grain, just before they are entirely ripe, in order to get 
the best feed, and thrash in a thrasher. The finer part 
I take for hay—rfiy cows are very fond of it. To save 
seed, the top of the plant is taken as it ripens first, and 
it must be stored in an airy place immediately after Hit¬ 
ting, else the sun will pop open the pods. Cultivation, 
soil, ate., are the same as for cotton. Its maturity is 
the same as that of the cotton plant. It is a good table 
pea if soaked twelve hours in salt water before cooking.” 
Treatment of Lnmpas. —“ J. L. G.,” 
Sappington, Mo. The swelling of the bars of the mouth 
is sometimes caused in young horses by the cutting of 
the teeth, in which case scoring the swollen parts lightly 
with a sharp knife will cure it, or, what is better still, 
touching them with lunar caustic. In old horses it oc- 
eurs from overfeeding with corn or other grain, when a 
change of food and cooling medicine should be given. 
The Ecrase .—“B. G. L.,” Lakeville, 
Mass. The above-named instrument for castrating colts 
without loss oi blood, is made by D. W. Kolbe. Phila¬ 
delphia, instrument maker to the University of Pa. 
Treatment b.—“ D. M.,” Salem 
Co., N. J., reports The following successful treatment of 
scab in his sheep. Ho si applied kerosene oil with 
the squirt-can of his thrashing machine to every scabby 
spot, carefully going over the flock. He also gave each 
sheep daily, for a week, half an ounce of sulphur in 
meal. The lambs were treated the same as the sheep. 
The result was a complete cure in the course of two 
weeks. 
Jersey and Alderney.— “J. W. A.” 
The unfortunate confusion of ideas as to the proper 
nomenclature of these cattle will probably exist for some 
years to come, and make it necessary for this oft repeated 
statement to be re-repeated a hundred times. Alderney 
was formerly understood as referring to any cattle from 
the Alderney group of islands, Jersey, Guernsey, Alder¬ 
ney, and Sark. As the cattle are really disl.net breeds, 
and have been very strictly kept so for many years, the 
name of each island now, and has for some years been 
given to its own particular breed of cattle. Jersey and 
Alderney are therefore two distinct breeds. The same 
trouble is now laying up in regard to Dutch or Holstein 
cattle, which are Dutch only when they are large, black 
and white, heavy-milking cattle from Holland, and Hol- 
slei » hen they are red, brown, and other colored beef 
cattle from Holstein. 
Time to nse Plaster.— “ A Reader,” 
West Shelby, N. Y. Plaster should be used in the spring 
a9 soon as the growth is fairly started. As 400 parts of 
water are required to dissolve one of plaster, and it is 
very heavy and readily carried in loose soil beneath the 
reach of the plants, it is only when there are copious 
rains or dews that it produces its best effects. 
Patching- Old Roofs. —“ C. H. P.” It 
is unsatisfactory business to patch old shingle roofs with 
roof paint of any kind. Better put on a new roof at 
once. 
Flax. —“ T. G. A.,” Nemaha Co., Kansas. 
Flax may be made a very profitable crop upon rich bot¬ 
tom land if proper care is given to it. The soil must be 
very clean and free from weeds. If grown for seed only 
a bushel should be sown per acre, as the thinner the 
crop the more the plant spreads, and the larger and 
better the crop of seed. A fair yield is twelve to eighteen 
bushels of seed per acre. It should be sown early, or 
about the time of sowing oats. 
The Peach Prospects. —Knowing the 
desire of both producers and consumers of peaches to 
have the earliest reliable intelligence from the great 
peach center, we have requested a gentleman who has 
unusual facilities for procuring information to keep us 
advised of the prospects. The following is the outlook 
up to the time of our going to press—April I5th:—I am 
in almost daily communication with prominent fruit 
raisers in all parts of the great peach-growing districts 
of Maryland and Delaware. The reports are somewhat 
conflicting as to Delaware. In the lower part of Kent and 
Sussex counties the trees have been in full bloom for 
some days, as they also have in the following counties in 
Maryland, all large peach-growing districts — Queen 
Anne’s, Caroline, Talbot, Dorchester, Worcester, Som¬ 
erset and Wicomico. These are the southern counties 
on the eastern shore; but few peaches raised on the 
western shore. The prospect in the above named coun¬ 
ties, the moBt southern part of the peach districts, is 
only, fair, as we have had much cold weathej, with ice, 
sleet, and several severe frosts, seriously affecting the 
crop in the Inland orchards. Those orchards located on 
