256 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Aug. 
Answers to Inquiries. 
Osage Orange.— D. B. W., Mendham, N. Y.— 
The seeds of this plant may be first scalded by putting 
them in water near the boiling point, where they may 
remain till the water is cool, and then plant them in 
beds of good soil. Most of the seeds will vegetate the 
first season. The plants may be transplanted from the 
seed bed the second season, and may be set in a hedge 
form at the distance of a foot apart. They should be 
kept clean from weeds, and in the fall headed down to 
within two or three inches of the ground, and the 
growth of the next season cut to within fifteen or eigh¬ 
teen inches of the ground. 
Eagle Plow.— G. B., Montgomery Co., Ya. The 
Eagle plow is well adapted to strong soil ; but our ac¬ 
quaintance with the Livingston county plow, is not 
such as qualifies us to say whether the former would 
be preferable for all soils. We should have no hesita¬ 
tion in recommending the Eagle No. 2 for “ very strong 
lands.” 
Madder. —A. Y. L., Newcastle, Del. Madder 
roots can probably be obtained in the fall from Mr. J. 
Eaton, of West-Winfield, Herkimer county. N. Y.— 
For his account of the cultivation of this plant, see 
Cultivator for 1847, p. 55. 
Rose-bug. — “ Fairfield County, Ct.”—Where these 
insects infest small plants or shrubs, they may be sha¬ 
ken into vessels of water, and afterwards killed.— 
Where they attack large trees, as the apple or cherry, 
or grape-vines, they are more difficult to manage. R. 
Newton, of Worcester, Mass., states in the Horticul¬ 
turist, that he had effectually driven them from his 
trees, where they appeared in great numbers, by scat¬ 
tering dry wood ashes among them, with a transplant¬ 
ing trowel or a shingle paddle. Turning up the ground 
under the trees or shrubs where they have appeared, 
with the plow or spade, late in the fall, will expose 
many of the insects to the frost and air, while they are 
in the larva state, and they will be destroyed. The 
eggs are deposited from two to four inches in the ground, 
and the insect passes the three first stages of its exist¬ 
ence below the surface. 
Quinsey or Sore Throat in Swine. —N. W. B.. 
Nashville, N. C. It is not easy to determine what the 
cause of this disease is, in all cases. Allowing hogs to 
eat acorns of the black and red oaks, is thought to pro¬ 
duce it.sometimes. Physic the animal with salts and mo¬ 
lasses—two ounces of salts with two table-spoon fulls 
of molasses for a dose. Or give a mixture of sulphur, 
charcoal, and wood-ashes, allowing the animal to eat 
the mixture at will. The salts and molasses, diluted 
with water, can be forced down the throat with a 
syringe. 
Washing Machine. —J. F. L., Macon county, Mo. 
There have been a vast number of washing machines in¬ 
vented, but far the greater portion are known only 
among the things that were, and of those that exist, 
there are few of any real utility. We are not sufficient¬ 
ly acquainted with the different kinds, to say which is 
best. A friend uses one called the 11 steam rotary 
washing machine,” which app ars to be quite effective, 
and does not wear the clothes—price $15. But we 
should be glad to learn from those who have had actu¬ 
al experience in the business, what machines are best 
on the score of utility and cheapness. 
Multicole Rye. —In answer to several inquiries, 
we will say that a supply of this grain will be kept for 
sale by Mr. Emery at the Albany Agricultural Ware¬ 
house. We believe the variety sustains its reputation 
for productiveness. 
Water in Barn-Yards.— a A Subscriber.” There 
is no difficulty in bringing the water from a spring 30 
feet higher than your yard, though there may be a val¬ 
ley between, ten feet lower than the yard, provided t* 10 
water is confined in a pipe. The water would run hy 
simply placing the pipe in the spring, but to insure its 
always being kept full, it would be better to raise a 
head by a cistern or vat. Pipe of three-fourths of an 
inch bore would be large enough to carry water for 
twenty head of cattle, or more, and lead-pipe would 
cost here from twelve to fifteen cents per foot. 
Seeds of Thorns. —P. P. P., Bradford Co., Pa.— 
The seeds of thorns generally vegetate well, if they are 
well ripened. They are, however, slow in sprouting, 
on account of the hard shells in which they are envelop¬ 
ed. On this account it is common to scald the seeds 
by pouring boiling water on them just before they are 
planted. This causes them to vegetate much quicker 
than ihey would do if put in the ground drv. If plant¬ 
ed without any preparation, they will not all come up 
before the following spring, that is, they will lie in the 
ground a year. 
Clod Crusher. —C. S. W., Dutchess Co., N. Y.— 
We cannot say whether such an implement is made in 
this country. Mr, D. T. Burrall, of Geneva, N. Y., 
proposed some time since to make one on the plan of 
Crosskill’s—the one noticed in the English papers—but 
we have never learned whether he has done so. We 
think it would prove a very useful implement on com¬ 
pact soils. 
White Daisy, or 11 White Weed.” — (Chrysanthe¬ 
mum leucanthemum.') J. B. Watertown, N. Y. Where 
there are but few plants of this kind, it is best to dig 
them up, root and branch. If meadows are overrun 
with them, prevent their seeding by mowing as soon as 
the blossoms appear. In tillage land, kill them as you 
would any other bad weed, and if they are very numer¬ 
ous, it is advisable to keep the ground in hoed crops 
for two or three years, during which, if due attention 
is paid, they may be nearly exterminated. At all 
events prevent their seeding, as it is from seed only they 
are propagated. If mowed green and well cured they 
make hay that is not disliked by cattle and horses. If 
they ripen, the seed falls to the earth and vegetates, or 
goes with the hay to the barn or stack, gets into the 
manure and is returned to the land. It is in this care¬ 
less way that the pest is continually renewed and in¬ 
creased. Top-dressing meadows with manure that 
contains no foul seed, and in every way encouraging the 
growth of grasses and white clover, will, with the 
above precaution, drive out the daisy in a few years. 
The Locust. —A correspondent in Chester county, 
Pa., asks whether any new light has appeared in re¬ 
gard to the natural history of the locust. The insect 
called by that name in this country is not a locust—the 
real locust being a very different insect, closely allied 
to the grasshopper—both being included by Linn^us in 
the genus gryllus. What is improperly called locust 
in America, belongs to the group cicada, its specific 
name being septendecim, from its period of life being 
seventeen years. In its character and habits it differs 
widely from the true locust. Except for a few weeks 
at the latter end of its existence, the cicada lives 
entirely under-ground, feeding on the roots of trees and 
plants. During the short time it appears on the sur¬ 
face of the earth, it eats nothing, and it does no damage 
to vegetation while in the perfect or winged state, ex¬ 
cept in furrowing the limbs of trees to form cavi- 
tes in which to deposit its eggs. As soon as the eggs 
hatch, the insects leave the trees and pass into the 
earth, groping in darkness for the long period mentioned. 
The locust (or grasshopper) lives but a single sea- 
son _ no t in the ground but on the surface or in the air, 
and its ravages are committed on the tops (not on the 
roots) of plants. The dreadful havoc which has been 
produced at various periods by the locust, in some dis- 
tricts of the Old Continent, has given rise to considera* 
