60 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
the chimnies; the chiminies resting upon plank cup¬ 
boards 5 ft. high: b, upper hall; c, closets. 
Persons should conform their plan of building to the 
site occupied. The house here described fronts two 
roads, the one 8, the other about 75 rods distant; at 
a glance it is seen which sides should front the respec¬ 
tive roads; therefore a plan adapted for one situation, 
is not for all. N. B. V. Cayuga co., Jan. 1, 1848. 
Age of Cattle by their Teeth and Horns. 
Some years ago, a gentleman presented at the cattle 
fair at Paris, Ky., a bull, as a two year old. The 
rules of this fair allow an animal to be presented as a 
two year old, until he is three; the fractions of a year 
not being counted; and this bull was nearly three by 
the certificate presented with him. 
One of the judges, who had Youatts’ Treatise upon 
British Cattle, contended that he was four years old, 
and that there must be some mistake or fraud, some¬ 
where. 
The above circumstance induced me to examine a 
number of the cattle whose ages I knew; and the re¬ 
sult was, that Durham cattle have their teeth much 
sooner than the ages specified in Youatt’s Treatise. I 
examined none that were not six months for each year 
in advance of those marks. The two year old, would 
have the marks of three, and so of other ages. These 
cattle had all been well fed, and were large for their 
ages. 
It is natural to suppose that cattle that come early 
to maturity, would cut their teeth sooner than those of 
slow growth, and this is found to be the fact. 
BufFon says that cattle have a full mouth at three, 
Parkinson at four, and Youatt at five years old. There 
are other authorities for each of those periods, so that 
it is reasonable to suppose the observations of those 
persons were made upon different kinds of cattle. 
Good keep will make cattle look younger than they real¬ 
ly are when judged by the horns, and older by the teeth. 
Poor keep will increase the rings on the horns and re¬ 
tard the cutting of the teeth. If an animal gets very 
poor the first winter, and is kept badly afterward, he 
will always have the marks on his horns of being two 
years older than his real age. If a cow has a calf at 
two years old, she will always show marks on her 
horns of greater age than if she had not bred early. 
Samuel D. Martin. Colbyville , Ky. Jan’y 1st. 
Ravages of the Fly in Wheat. 
There is one point upon which I do not recollect to 
have seen much written since I have been a subscriber 
to the Cultivator ; that is, whether any remedy can be 
adopted to prevent the ravages of the Jly in wheat in 
the fall. It has worked very bad this last fall, in that 
part of the State in which I reside ; and my object in 
referring to the matter is to elicit information on the 
subject. If there is any known remedy, my own ex¬ 
perience and that of my neighbors is, that where a top 
dressing of manure was applied previous to plowing 
the last time, they did not appear to injure it. Well, 
that would be a good enough preventive, if a sufficient 
quantity of manure of the right kind, or in the right 
state, could be obtained. 
Wheat is the staple article with us, and any thing 
that will promote the successful raising of it, is what 
we need. It is the opinion of some of us, that the nit 
or egg of the insect is in the grain when sown. The 
principal reason assigned for that opinion, is the fact 
that the maggot begins to eat at the berry or grain, 
which in many cases is three inches under the ground; 
and it would seem that where a field has been rolled, 
it would be difficult for the fly to get down to the root 
to deposite the egg, or for the maggot to crawl down. 
Feb. 
In fact they are found at the root, or rather just above, 
when in the nit or egg state. Any thing published in 
the Cultivator , touching their case, may prove a bene¬ 
fit to this region of the country. Samuel Atherton. 
Peru , Huron County , Ohio. Dec. 14, 1847. 
The opinion that the Hessian fly is deposited in the 
grain, we have good reason to believe is erroneous; if 
any insect has been found preying on the grain itself, 
we presume it was not the Hessian fly in any of its 
stages. The history of the fly is well known. The 
egg is deposited in the furrows of the upper side of the 
leaf of the wheat, near the ground. They hatch in a 
few days, and the larva crawl down into the sheath, 
and live on the juices of the plant. One generation 
of the insect is usually hatched in the fall, and another 
in spring. The eggs of that produced in the fall, are 
laid when the wheat is but a few inches high. When 
it is discovered that the wheat is attacked, it has been 
practiced in some instances, with good results, to feed 
down the crop closely with sheep, or other light stock. 
Dr. Fitch, in his excellent essay on this insect, recom¬ 
mends this course, and also suggests that a heavy roller 
passed over the wheat, might crush or dislodge many 
of the eggs and larva. He says “ one or the other of 
the same measures should also be resorted to in the 
spring, if the same contingency occurs ; or if the 
worms are, at a later date, discovered to be numerous 
at the first and second joints of the young stalks, the 
experiment may be tried of mowing as closely as pos¬ 
sible, the most infested portion of the field.” The 
operation of the manure, in preventing the ravages of 
the fly, we suppose to be simply that it produces a more 
vigorous growth of the wheat, causing it to tiller out 
faster than the insects destroy the stalks. Every one 
may have noticed that wheat on rich ground, tillers out 
much more than on poor land; on this account, or for 
the reason that it is sometimes too thick, on rich land, 
it is a common observation that the fly is no injury to 
wheat in such cases, but on the contrary maybe an ad¬ 
vantage by preventing it from being too thick. 
Culture and Preparation ot Sumac. 
Being somewhat acquainted with the article of su¬ 
mac, I am inclined to say a few words on the use and 
cultivation of it,—especially as the subject has been 
introduced by your correspondent u Zea.” 
Sumac was last fall, very high. Sicily being from 
$90 to $100, and American from $40 to $50 per ton. 
I have been a manufacturer of Morocco, &c., for 
twenty years, and have bought from twenty to thirty 
tons of American sumac, and more than that of the 
Sicily, yearly. 
The American is cured as follows: when the leaves 
have got their growth, which is from July to August, 
it is cut and cured as green as possible. The best 
way, if you have room in buildings, is to lay it round 
in them so as to dry. If it is too thick it will heat; it 
must be turned every day till dry; then thrashed and 
all the stems taken out, and nothing but the leaves ta¬ 
ken to market. But if it is to be ground, the leaves 
and small stems are all ground together. 
There are several kinds of sumac in this country, 
only one of which is used in'tanning. It has a deep 
green leaf and a smooth reddish stem, and bears a 
deep red berry. There is another kind that is often 
gathered, but it is of little use, possessing very little 
tanning substance. 
I think the Sicily sumac is another kind—it is a 
great deal stronger than ours. I have no doubt it 
might be cultivated here and made a profitable crop, 
as it will grow on poor land. The seed may be sown 
broadcast, but thin, and the crop mowed when it is full 
grown. It should be cut before the leaves turn red. 
