THE CULTIVATOR. 
95 
Water or other liquid ; in a few moments it will be cooked; sea¬ 
son with salt and pepper to the taste, and serve up. 
“ Teasels .—This at present is one of the most profitable of crops. There is 
a crop to be gathered this fall on three or four acres of what was Mr. Cogs¬ 
well's garden, said by competent judges to be worth $3,000. We are told 
that many Farmers in Hatfield, have gone into the cultivation of it. The 
scarcity of the article is the main cause of its present high price. A few years 
since it was so low as to be hardly worth raising, and the probability is that 
there will soon be an abundance to supply the market .”—Northampton paper. 
The Fuller’s Teasel is a biennial plant, the crooked awns of 
the heads of which are used by clothiers, lor raising the knap on 
woollen cloths. For this purpose, they are fixed round the peri¬ 
phery of a large broad wheel, against which the cloth is held, 
while the machine is turned. The seed may be sown in April or 
May, in drills 7 to 10 inches apart; the plants must be kept free 
from weeds and thinned to the distance of one foot apart. In the 
second year, the plants are earthed up; in July, the plants begin 
to flower, and in August, as soon as the blossoms decay, such 
heads must be cut off, and exposed daily to the sun, till they be¬ 
come completely dry, care being taken to protect them from the 
rain. _ 
Hop Premiums .—The Brewers, we understand, have appointed 
three of their association, and they mean to invite the hop-grow¬ 
ers to add two or three of their number, as a committee of exami¬ 
nation, to award the silver cups which are to be given as premi¬ 
ums to the growers of the best parcels of hops. Every hop farmer 
should endeavor to be present at the examination, and to bring his 
crop with him, as it is expected purchasers will attend from New- 
York, Philadelphia, and other towns. 
Cutting Corn .—We repeat our advice to the farmer, to cut his 
corn as soon as the grain become seared or glazed. The corn 
crop is late, and fodder is like to be in demand. If, as is to be 
apprehended, we have early autumnal frosts, before the corn is 
cut, or is ripe, not only serious injury will accrue to the grain, 
from the functions of the stalk being wholly destroyed by the frost, 
but the forage will be greatly impaired in quality. Cut as we re¬ 
commend, the corn will mature on the stalk, and the stalks will 
receive no injury from the frost. Try it. 
Turnips must not only be kept free from weeds, but if not al¬ 
ready done, they must be thinned so as not to remain nearer than 
six to ten inches apart, according to the size they are expected to 
grow. They will not bottom if they are crowded, whatever be 
the condition of the soil, or the species or variety cultivated. 
Skinless Oats .—We sowed two quarts of skinless oats, in drills, 
one foot apart. The crop has been gathered, threshed and mea¬ 
sured. The product is 40 quarts, and the bushel weighs 41 lbs. 
Several circumstances prevented a better yield. The ground was 
too light, being a sand ; the seed was sown late; the soil was too 
rich, as the grain lodged, and the portion which grew under two 
early apple trees was wholly trodden down. 
The Grain Worm .—It has been remarked to us by several 
farmers, that early sown wheat was much less injured by the grain 
worm, than that which was sown late. This fact should induce 
early sowing, wherever it is practicable. 
_COKUESPONDEMCE._ 
IMPROVED CHINA HOGS. 
Mr. Bcel,— Sir—This superior breed of swine, as I have observed in 
a former communication, was first introduced here by the late Christopher 
Dunn Esq. Some ten or twelve years since, when passing through 
Princeton or New-Brunswick, N. J. in the stage, his sagacious eye was 
attracted by a beautiful sow' with her litter of pigs, running in the street. 
Delighted with their appearance, he was determined to possess some of 
them if possible. He accordingly applied to the driver of the stage to pro¬ 
cure a pair of them for him. As an inducement, and to ensure success, he 
offered him the liberal price of twenty dollars, for a male and female, al¬ 
though only eight weeks old, on their delivery to a certain house in New- 
York. They were of course procured and delivered, and from these two 
have sprung my “ Improved China Hogs.” 
Their colour is various, some white, black and white spotted, and others 
blue and white. They are longer in body than the pure China breed. 
Upright or mouse-eared—small head and legs—broad on the back, round 
bodied, and hams well let down. Skin thin—flesh delicate and fine fla¬ 
vored. 
They are easy keepers, and of course small consumers, quiet and 
peaceable in disposition, seldom roaming or committing depredations. 
Keep in good condition on grass only. 
They are not remarkable for size, seldom attaining more than 200 to 250 
pounds although instances have occured where they have been made to 
reach 350 ! Therefore they cannot, in their pure state, be called the 
“ farmer’s hog,” but their great value is in crossing with the common hog 
of the country. A very good hog may be obtained by a cross with your 
land shads ,—your long legged, long nosed, big boned, thin backed, slab- 
sided, hungry, ravenous, roaming tormentors, that will run squeaking 
about the yard with an ear of corn in their mouths. 
To give you some idea in what estimation they are held by persons who 
have procured them of me, I have taken the liberty of making the follow¬ 
ing extracts from some of their letters. 
“ My Chinas, the true Bement breed, exceed all praise ; you never 
saw their equals. I have a young boar in the pen, nine months old, that I 
will show against the United States, out of the boar and sow I had of you, 
both of which I still keep. Nothing can compare with them in this country, 
and I honestly assure you, I never saw their equals any where, for all 
needful qualities in the hog.” 
“ Dear sir—1 have the satisfaction of saying to you, that I got my little 
Berkshire and China home in good order, and doing finely, and are much 
admired by every person who sees them. Should 1 meet with success in 
rearing from this pair, I shall not be able to furnish any thing like the 
quantity spoken for.” 
In another letter a valuable correspondent says—“ The hogs I had of 
you have done admirably, and I am getting a fine stock of them : but on the 
whole, 1 like the full bred improved China better than the cross, and I 
am getting into the pure blood. The young sows, of which I have three 
trom the white (Hosack) boar you had, have had pigs from the old boar, 
but they are not true enough in blood, appearance and shape to suit me ; 
whereas the mother, who is the tiue China, brings the pigs from the old 
boar, both in colour, shape, size and every thing, as if they were cast in 
the same mould,—and that is what I like,—uniformity of appearance, 
even in hogs, and this boar, let me tell you, has the admiration of all who 
have seen him, as the best and most perfect hog in the country. These 
hogs, ’lis true, are not large, they are indeed rather small ; but they are 
the easiest kept of any according to their size, that I ever saw, and so tar as 
I have yet seen, I prefer them, even to the Bedfords, or any I know. The 
Bedfords are good, but they are too heavy headed, long legged, and great 
eaters to suit me altogether. The quiet, peaceable dispositions ot the 
Chinas, like that of the short horn cattle, is a great item, I assure you in 
a farmer’s account.” 
I might fill a page with similar extracts, but I think it unnecessary, for 
I shall not be able to supply all my orders until next spring. 
In the next No. I propose to turnish you with a portrait of one of the 
Berkshire breed, of which I am now in possession, imported by S. Hawes, 
in 1332. C. N. BEMENT. 
Albany, September 1st, 1835. 
CISTERNS. 
Mr. Buel— In the June number of the Cultivator, was published a 
short article on the subject of cisterns, in reply, as declared, to a question 
of a correspondent. Your readers may perhaps be willing to take some 
farther hints upon the same subject, especially such as know the value of 
rain water, and would know the means of its perfect preservation. Al¬ 
though the method of building cisterns there suggested, will, in many in¬ 
stances, be entirely successful, I propose to offer a reason or two, founded 
not only upon theory, but some experience and observation, to show that 
cisterns thus built are liable to fail of answering the desired end : and also, 
to give the outline of a new plan of constructing them, now fairly tested, 
that is calculated to avoid the defects of many kinds of cisterns differently 
constructed, and to lessen the expense of construction. 
To build a brick cistern to contain about 40 barrels, the walls of which 
shall be laid in common lime mortar, with an inside face or plastering of 
water lime, the expense in this neighborhood would be as follows. That 
it may be of the above mentioned capacity, it must be built about six feet 
deep and six feet square—or contain 216 cubic feet. To construct the 
walls of such a cistern, the thickness of which shall be the length of one 
brick, are requisite about 3,500 bricks at $4.$14 00 
20 bushels ol lime, at 2s. 5 00 
Two loads of sand and drawing at 3s. 75 
1 barrel water lime for lacing at 10s. 1 25 
Mechanic for building 4 days, at 12s.• • • •. 6 00 
Tender for building 4 days, at 6s. 3 00 
Materials for covering and curb to draw water... 2 00 
$32 00 
No calculation is here made for digging the pit, as this must vary with 
the soil and situation, and be nearly alike for all kinds of cisterns of the 
same capacity. 
This is the cheapest way, perhaps, of making a brick cistern, the wall 
being the thinnest practicable ; but it will be seen that cisterns having 
walls of double thickness, (which are frequently made, and are by some 
