1853 . 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
69 
Poison in Guano. —A subscriber at Newark, N. J., 
sends us the following, which he translated from a late 
Dutch paper: ,k One of the custom officers stationed at 
Kaldenkirchen, near Venlo, Holland, had a slight 
wound in the fore finger, caused by a thorn in shear¬ 
ing a hedge. The wound was nearly healed, when, re¬ 
ceiving some guano, he was so incautious as to work 
the stuff with bare hands. That was at 3 o’clock P. 
M.-—at 4, the whole hand was swollen—at 5, the arm 
to the elbow—at 6, the whole arm and a part of the 
chest were in a state.of high inflammation, and at 11 
o’clock the same day, the poor wretch was a corpse, 
notwithstanding the aid of two skillful physicians., It 
appears, therefore, that the guano contains some very 
venomous particles, and that people cannot be too 
careful in using that stuff.” 
American Agriculturist vs. Humbugs. —We are 
glad to see our cotemporaries coming out in favor of a 
high order of literature, and taking a bold stand on 
the side of right and truth. The American Agri¬ 
culturist, in a most capital announcement for the 
coming year, says “that the humbugs and nostrums 
afloat in the community will be tried by reliable scien¬ 
tific rules, and their worthlessness exposed.” 
This is well, just as -it should be; and as we are a 
little in the same line of business, we beg leave to call 
its attention to the following item which we take from 
the Agriculturist’s own advertisement, and request it 
to expose the humbug among the first. The Publishers 
say that the Editors “ will be assisted by Prof. Nash, 
who has been for a long time one of the most success-- 
ful farmers of New-England, and is now Agricultural 
Professor of Amherst College.” 
Now Prof. Nash is engaged as a contributor to the 
Country Gentleman, and assures us that his name 
is announced without his permission in connection with 
the Agriculturist, he having only replied to the soliei- 
tion of the Publishers that “perhaps he would furnish 
an article or two.” —*&— 
General Index to the Cultivator.— Mr. Tuck¬ 
er : I have, as you know, called your attention to the 
subject of getting up an index for all the back volumes 
of the Cultivator. Such an Index, if prepared in a 
suitable manner, would be of great value, not only to 
those who possess the whole work, but to all who read 
much upon rural subjects. D. B. Wat erf or d, -N. Y. 
To prepare an Index to the twenty volumes of The 
Cultivator now published, in such a manner as to 
make it really valuable, would require a vast amount?" 
of labor—far more than we should be willing to under¬ 
take, even were the prospect of the demand for such a 
work more favorable than at present. The other 
suggestion of our friend, in relation to a.book, we may 
hereafter, very probably, carry into effect. 
Good Pigs. —Mr. T. H. Austin of New-Haven, 
Oswego county, recently slaughtered seven.pigs of one 
litter, 16 months old, which weighed as follows—400, 
404, 404, 416, 476, 611, and 557 pounds—total 3,168 
lbs. This shows that Mr. A. knows how to make pork. 
Great Yield of Barley. —The Pacific , a San 
Francisco paper, states that Sweet & Keatings have 
raised on their farm at the Salinas Plains, Monterey 
county, one hundred acres of barley, an average acre 
of which being measured and weighed, yielded 7,473 
lbs.; which, at 50 lbs. per bushel, gives 149 23-50 bush¬ 
els per acre. That portion of the crop of forty-five 
acres, from which the sample was taken, was sown the 
20th of April, 1853; amount of seed, 125 lbs. to the 
acre. This is believed to be a greater yield by at 
least forty bushels, than has heretofore been made pub¬ 
lic. ——— 
Virginia State Ag. Society. —We recently allu¬ 
ded to the eminent success which crowned the labors 
of this Society at its late State Fair; and for which, 
as we learn from a friend in Virginia, they were in¬ 
debted, mainly, to the untiring zeal and energy of Gen. 
Wm. H. Bichardson, of Bichmond, who has acted the 
past year as its general agent, and to whom it is pro¬ 
posed to “ present some solid and substantial token of 
gratitude, for his invaluable services in that capacity.” 
New-York Ag. College. —In answer to the inqui¬ 
ry of “A Subscriber,” at Farmington, Conn., we would 
state that at a meeting of the Trustees, held in this 
city last week, it was resolved not to give up the effort 
to carry this projected institution into operation. Mr. 
Del afield’s death was a severe loss to the corpora¬ 
tion—one which, it was thought by many, would prove 
fatal to the enterprise; but it will, we trust, only de¬ 
lay it for a season - 
Ohio State Board of Agriculture. —At the an¬ 
nual meeting of delegates from county societies, recent¬ 
ly held at Columbus, James L. Cox, of Muskingum ; 
B. W. Musgrave, of Crawford; Jos. Sullivant, of 
Franklin; Buckley Sledman, of Cuyahoga-; T. B. 
Grier, of Hamilton, were elected members of the 
Board to supply the place of others whose terms had 
expired. The new Board subsequently met, and or¬ 
ganized and appointed the following officers for the en¬ 
suing year. 
President , B. W. Musgrave, Sulphur Springs; 
Treasurer , Joseph Sullivant, Columbus ; Record¬ 
ing Sec 1 y, Jas. L. Cox, Zanesville; Corresponding 
Sedy, Geo. Sprague, Tiffin. 
Variable Wheat Years. —The North Britbh Ag¬ 
riculturist states some facts showing the variable sea¬ 
sons at East Lothian, by which we perceive that not¬ 
withstanding the celebrity of that region for heavy 
crops, there has been more failures there than farmers 
would expect in the wheat regions of this country. In 
the years 1827—8,9, 30, and 31, the average produce 
did not exceed 15 bushels per acre, in consequence of 
mildew and the wheat midge. In 1832, 3, 4, 5, and 
6, the produce on many farms was 44 bushels per acre, 
and the average 35 bushels. 
Fancy Babbits. —Those wishing to procure fancy 
lop-eared Babbits, are referred to the advertisement of 
S. V. C. Van Bensselaer. They are raised from Im¬ 
ported Stoek, and are said to be very fino. 
