AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST?. 
409 
1874.] 
PreseiPviMg; ttreesi Fodder.— “H. L.,” 
Transylvania Co., N. C. The method of preserving green 
fodder, recently described in the Agriculturist, is prac¬ 
ticed extensively in Europe, and has been in ose for 
many years. In a recent number of a French agricultural 
journal there is a statement of a large farmer, who put 
up in this manner 100 tons of corn fodder in 1S71, 200 
tons in 1S72, and 150 tons in 1873. He used 3 lbs. of salt 
to the 1,000 lbs. of fodder, half dried. When the fodder 
is not so dry, more salt is used. It is necessary that the 
fodder be perfectly free from external moisture, and be 
also partly dried or wilted ; that it be packed very close¬ 
ly ; that the covering should be at least 2 feet thick, and 
prevent access of air, and that the pit be dug in a per¬ 
fectly dry spot, and be kept free from water. It might 
be well to try again. We have seen beet leaves taken 
from such a pit in the spring, which were packed away 
in the preceeding fall, and they were readily eaten by 
cows and oxen. 
Fag-e 433. 
“Walks and Talks” Correspondence. 
Grade Essex Pigs.— C. W. Hess, Columbus, O., writes: 
“I have a fine drove of black pigs, from large Poland- 
China sows, and a thoroughbred Essex boar. I am well 
pleased with the stock, and think it is a good cross.”— 
This is precisely what I should expect. Another cross 
of the Essex on these young half-bred sows will, I think, 
give still finer pigs. It is only when you resort to the 
use of cross-bred or grade males that the stock begins to 
show a want of uniformity. 
Wheat for Horses. —The proprietor of an extensive 
mail-route in the South-west, where the grasshoppers 
have destroyed nearly everything, except wheat, writes 
that he has contracted for 10,000 bushels of wheat, at 50 
cents per bushel, to feed his horses. So far they have 
done well, and the wheat is much cheaper than oats. I 
suppose the only danger is from the horses eating too 
much at a time. If it could be soaked in water for four 
or five hours, it probably would be less likely to swell in 
the stomach, or produce colic. If ground, and mixed 
with cut hay, it would be still better, but I suppose this 
can not be done. 
A small Flock of Sheep. —“A Young Farmer,” of 
Washington Co., N. Y., says he wants to keep a flock of 
fifteen sheep, and asks, “ if Spanish Merinos would not 
be best to raise full-bloods, or for early lambs for the 
butcher, and for wool ? ” I think not. With good care 
some of the “ mutton breeds,” such as the South Down, 
Shropshire Down, Leicester, or Cotswolds, would pay 
better in such circumstances. On cheap land, where 
sheep are kept in large flocks principally for wool, the 
Merino would be the most profitable breed. 
Threshing Wheat from the Field.— A correspon¬ 
dent in Beaver Co., Pa., writes: “Yon speak of thresh¬ 
ing your wheat as you haul it. How did you get your 
hands? Did you thresh in the field?”—No. I drew it 
to the barn, so as to stack the straw where I wanted it. 
We thresh with a ten-horse machine. The “threshers” 
charge 5 cents a bushel for wheat, 4 cents for barley, and 
3 cents for oats. They furnish the machine, and four 
horses, and four men. One of the men drives, one feeds, 
one carries away the grain, and the other oils and looks 
after the machine, changing occasionally with the feeder. 
In threshing from a stack, or from a bay, it usually takes 
2 men on the stack, and sometimes 3,1 to cut the bands, 
2 on the straw^stack, and sometimes 3=5 men, besides 
the threshers, and sometimes 7. In drawing and thresh¬ 
ing from the field, it takes: 1 man to pitch, 3 men to 
load, drive, and unload, 1 to cut bands, 2 men on the 
stack, and sometimes 3=7 men, besides threshers, and 
sometimes 8. I keep eight farm-liorses and four wagons. 
The Deacon and the Squire exchange work with me, 
sending a team and a man each. Or, if they have not the 
time, I get some other neighbor. You see from the 
above statement, that it takes only two more men to 
draw in and thresh, than to thresh alone—and some¬ 
times only one man more. 
Sowing different Varieties of Wheat together. 
—“R. G.,” Plymouth, O., writes, that the wheat crop of 
his section has been an extraordinary one. nc has heard 
of no crop less than 20 bushels per acre, and one that was 
40 bushels per acre. “The same man,” he says, “had 
iOX bushels on the same land last year. Last year he 
mixed three kinds of wheat together for seed. This year 
he had some five or six kinds. What is your opinion as 
to the advantage of mixing different varieties of seed to¬ 
gether.”—I have seen accounts of large crops being pro¬ 
duced in this way. I think, however, if your land is rich 
enough, and you should select the best one of the wheats, 
you would have as good a crop, as if you sowed half a 
dozen kinds. 
Thick and Thin Seeding.— “R. G.” says: “Farm¬ 
ers here (Ohio) have been in the habit of sowing lx 
bushels of wheat per acre. I am satisfied it is too much, 
if the ground is in good condition and the seed all 
sound.”—There is one point that should not be overlook¬ 
ed in discussing this question : Thin sown wheat is apt to 
he late. And late wheat is more liable to injury from rust 
and midge than that which ripens earlier. If everything 
is favorable, the late wheat may produce the heavier crop. 
Suffolk Hogs. —Mr. Isaac Stickney, of Henry Co., 
Ill., who, when a resident of Massachusetts, was one of 
the earliest importers and breeders of Suffolk pigs, 
writes me that lie still admires the Suffolks more than 
any other breed, but that they will not thrive with ordi¬ 
nary usage on the prairies. This is owing to the hot 
sun and prairie mud, (not ivind, as I printed it in the 
June No.). “In hot weather,” Mr. S. remarks, “ our 
hogs get into the wet and muddy sloughs. This mud 
sticks so tight to the skin of a Suffolk hog, that it is 
very hard to rub off. It can be washed off. This dry 
mad frets them so much that they do not thrive well, and 
it frequently chaps and cracks the skin. Our black hogs 
with a thick skin, well coated with bristles, arc not 
troubled with the mud.” 
Moist Fallow Ground. —A farmer writes me that he 
summer-fallowed a piece of land for wheat this year. 
His usual practice has been to sow oats and follow them 
with wheat. “We stirred the land,” he writes, “ every 
two weeks alternately with Carhart’s two-horse cultiva¬ 
tor and Thomas’ harrow. We sowed our wheat on the 
28th of August, and found the ground in quite good 
order, and far more dampness than in the oat stubble, 
which is being plowed to-day ” (Sept. 3). This is a well 
known fact. A growing crop takes large quantities of 
water from the soil. The roots absorb the moisture from 
the soil, and the leaves evaporate it into the atmosphere. 
The frequent stirring of the surface soil would make it 
fine, and it would act as a mulch and check the evapora¬ 
tion of water from the soil underneath. 
Seeding with Oats. —“You say,” writes the same 
correspondent, “that wheat is the best crop to seed 
down with. We as often hit a good sod with oats as 
with wheat.”—My own seeding this year is better with 
spring barley than with winter wheat—both being in the 
same field. I presume more depends on sowing early 
and having the land fine, mellow, and in good condition, 
than on the kind of crop. 
The Hew York Flower Auctions. 
For several years past the Florists in the vicinity of 
New York, as well as those from Philadelphia, Balti- 
m«re, Albany, and other places, have adopted the method 
of selling their surplus stock by auction in New York 
City. These sales are almost exclusively attended by 
the Trade, as the lots offered are usually too large for 
amateurs wishing plants for their own use. This season 
these sales have been held nearly every other day since 
the first of September, and will probably continue to 
the end of November. 
The articles sold embrace nearly every thing in the 
way of flowers cultivated in our gardens and green¬ 
houses. The prices so far this season have been lower 
than usual, so low that it would astonish many of our 
readers to see plants that they cannot purchase for less 
than 50c. or $1 each, ruthlessly struck off by the auction¬ 
eer at may be §5 per 100.—But then this hundred is all of 
one sort, bought by some florist, from a neighbor florist, 
who happens to be unable to crow the article, or to be 
out of it. Still many articles bring, even in quantity, 
their full retail value, and it is a pleasing fact to observe 
a growing taste for the finer and rarer plants. A few 
days ago a box of 200 Tritoma grandijlora, (red-hot po¬ 
ker plant), was put up, and as some thousands of it had 
been previously sold, the lot went a begging at $2 per 
100. The next lot was 100 seedlings of Dracaena indivisa, 
a rather scarce hot-house plant, bearing, in its weak con¬ 
dition, some resemblance to the Tritoma, but the know¬ 
ing ones quickly detected the value, and the tiny plants 
of the Dracaena brought $25 per 100. 
These sales are almost exclusively conducted by Mr. 
Elliot, of Young & Elliot, the well known seedsmen. 
Mr. Elliot is not only well gifted with the talents neces¬ 
sary in an auctioneer, but he brings to his assistance the 
knowledge that a 25-year’s experience has given him as 
a practical horticulturist. The purchasers at these sales 
arc not confined to the vicinity of New York, but come 
from points, many of them, 100 to 200 miles distant, and 
it is not unusual to see from 75 to 100 growers and deal¬ 
ers in flowers assembled in the auction room, expecting 
“bargains” from the hands of the auctioneer. To all 
interested in plants, the auction room No. 12 Courtland 
St., is a most attractive place from 9 A. M. to 4 p. M. 
During the fall months there is a continuous stream of 
wagons, loading or unloading plants of every variety, 
and from every clime. 
As there is not an Horticultural Society in New York, 
Brooklyn, or Jersey City, with their nearly two millions 
of inhabitants, it is no wonder that many of those who 
hunger after flowers are attracted by the exhibitions at 
the Plant Auction Room. 
- — * - 
Catalogues, etc., Received, 
Since the very full list given last month was made up, 
the following have come to hand: 
NURSERIES. 
Samuel Kinsey, Dayton, O. Small fruits and orna¬ 
mental shrubs. 
. J. & W. K. Judefind, Edesville, Md. The Amazon 
Raspberry. 
Merrell <fc Coleman, Geneva, N. Y. Special circular 
of a new early grape, the Whitehall. 
Wm. H. Moon, Glenwood Nurseries, Morrisville, Pa. 
A semi-annual trade list. 
Robert Douglas & Sons, Waukegan, Ill. Wholesale 
list of their immense stock of cvergreeii and ornamental 
tree seedlings. 
Phinney & Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wis., present their cat¬ 
alogue of forest trees in the form of a journal, called 
“ The Evergreen.” 
C. L. Hoag, Lockporl, N. Y., makes a specialty of 
grapes and strawberries, and sends his wholesale list. 
A. IIance & Son, Red Bank, N. J. Special circular of 
Queen Victoria Daisy. 
William Parry, Pomona Nursery, Cinnaminson, N. 
J. This celebrated establishment comes out with a bran 
new and very full catalogue. Pray, friend Parry, what is 
the “ Carolina Poplar ” ? We were not aware that any 
poplar grew there that is not found in the Northern Siates. 
JonN Saul, Washington, D. C., whose name is usually 
associated with floriculture, has also a large nursery 
stock. Those who doubt it should send for his catalogue. 
FLORISTS. 
Joseph W. Vestal, Cambridge City, Ind., sends an 
abridged price list. 
Miller & Hayes, Mount Airy Nurseries, Phila., have 
a magnificent collection of roses, which they tell about 
in a special and very handsome catalogue. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
A. I. Root & Co., Medina, O., have all kinds of apiary 
requisites, from bees to gather honey to extractors to 
take it away from them. And more than this, they 
publish every month a neat little journal, called “ Glean¬ 
ings in Bee-Culture,” which tells how to do all sorts of 
things, to, with, for, and about bees. 
Orange Co. Milk-Pan Company, which is, of course, 
made in Delaware Co., N. Y., at Franklin, gives reasons 
in a catalogue why their pan is superior to others. 
W. G. Monk, Brooklyn, N. Y., has an account of his 
Steatine wares. We have seen his flower-vases, and 
like their looks. 
E. I. IIorsman, 100 William St., N. Y., sends an im¬ 
mense catalogue of games and toys, prominent among 
which are the renowned Acrobats. 
Thomas II. Speakman, Phila., Pa., sets forth the ex¬ 
cellencies of his Combination or Prairie Fence. 
J. Hyde Fisher, Chicago, Til., illustrates his refrigera¬ 
tors in a large pamphlet. Fisher is a very cooling chap, 
and he refrigerates everything, from a family to a iail- 
ruad car. 
EUROPEAN CATALOGUES. 
William Bull, Kings Road, Chelsea, London, S. W., 
has a list of bulbs of appalling magnitude. 
William Bryn & Co., Glasgow and London, send a 
wholesale price list of vegetable and agricultural seeds. 
Tlie State Fairs.— We regret that we 
have only space sufficient to barely mention the State 
Fairs, as many of them were deserving of special notice, 
for the praiseworthy efforts made by their managers to 
render them attractive and instructive. Amongst those 
of which we have notes are the New York State Fairs, 
(the State Fair and the Western N. Y. Fair). These two 
were held at the same time and at the same locality 
(Rochester), and it was not at all a difficult matter for 
persons wanting to go to one fair to find themselves in 
the other. Probably this competition was one of the 
reasons why the stock on exhibition at the State Fair 
was Inferior to that shown on previous occasions. The 
