1847. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
287 
where, with the exception of the sugar region in 
Louisiana, and the more southern, newer, and cotton 
producing portions. To these general remarks, there 
are of course exceptions. 
Mechanics .—In the more northern and eastern states, 
the daily wages are from $1 to $1.25, being higher in 
cities. In the more northern slave states wages are 
not quite so high. In the newer slave states the wa¬ 
ges of mechanics are high, varying from $1 to $2. In 
the western states, the price is greatly variable, being 
from 75 cts. to $2 per day; scarcity in a supply tending 
to advance the price; while the low price of provisions, 
and consequent higher rate of money, has a contrary 
tendency. . 
Age of Trees.—De Candolle gives a table of 
old trees, from which it appears that the elm has been 
known to reach 335 years; cypress about 350; ivy 
450; larch 576; orange 630; olive 700; oriental plume, 
720; cedar of Lebanon almost 800; oak 870, 1080, 
1500; lime 1076, 1147; yew 1214, 1458, 2588,2880. 
How wonderful do the immense ages of these trees ap¬ 
pear, when contrasted with the short period of exist¬ 
ence allotted to some other specimens of the vegetable 
world ! Some plants, such as the minute fungi, for 
example, are said to live only a few hours, or at most, 
a few days. Most mosses live but one season, and the 
greater portion of our cultivated plants are annuals, 
which die as soon as they have ripened their seeds. 
Packing Apples for Sea Voyages. —The follow¬ 
ing method is described by a writer in the Fanner and 
Mechanic, which he .adopted, for packing fine and se¬ 
lected apples for exportation to England. When they 
arrived at Sheffield, every one was sound. The very 
finest only were selected, and the moisture, if any 
carefully wiped off; each apple was then rolled in clean, 
dry, wrapping paper.. The barrel was then thinly 
lined with straw, and the apples placed in as closely as 
possible, without jamming them, and then headed up. 
An inside lining hoop prevented all danger of the 
heads being knocked in by accident. Thus put up, 
they could not be made to rattle by common usage. 
Directions were sent with them as follows :-— 111 These 
barrels of apples are not to be rolled or tumbled about; 
if carted, or sent by land, something is to be put on 
the floor of the cart or wagon, to keep them from be¬ 
ing bruised, rattled, or jolted.” This care and labor 
will appear small when it is recollected that it may 
insure an additional price of several dollars on each 
barrel, in the English market. 
ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES. 
Sowing Wheat in Drills. —Bertie Co., North 
Carolina. The preparation of the soil for sowing 
wheat in drills, is the same as for sowing broadcast. 
The wheat may be sown with a drill calculated for 
the purpose, or the ground may be marked out in fur¬ 
rows, by what is called a ribbing plow, the wheat 
sown broadcast by hand, and the ground harrowed 
lengthwise the furrows, which throws nearly all the 
wheat into the furrows. The drills or rows are 
usually about ten inches apart. There are some ma¬ 
chines for drilling wheat used in this country, but we 
cannot say where any are made for sale, or what the 
cost of them would be. About a bushel and a half of 
seed, is the quantity usually sown per acre in drills. 
The running together, or packing of the soil, of which 
you speak, we presume could be to some extent obvia¬ 
ted by running a coulter between the drills after the 
ground has become settled, in spring. (See our arti¬ 
cle on the “ Cultivation of Wheat,” in our February 
number.) 
Relative Advantages of the West and South. 
—A Subscriber, Malone, N. Y. The advantages 
presented to emigrants by any section, can only be fair¬ 
ly estimated by a personal examination, by the persons 
who contemplate a removal. We would advise you to 
go and see for yourself. The facilities pf travel are 
now such that but little time or expense is required to 
reach almost any part of the country. 
Ashes and Guano. —J. O. H., Manhasset, Long 
Island. We can see no reason why ashes applied to 
the ground in connection with guano, should u counter¬ 
act or neutralize ” the effect of the latter; but if any 
one can speak from experience on the subject, we 
should like to hear. 
Dairy House. —A Subscriber., Springdale, Ohio. 
We should prefer to have a dairy-house sunk about 
four feet in the ground. A cooler temperature would 
thus be secured than if it were built wholly on the sur¬ 
face. For the milk of thirty cows it should be not less 
than sixteen feet square. The bottom should be nice¬ 
ly flagged with stones, or if bricks or tiles should be 
used, they should be of the hardest kind. Soft bricks 
absorb and retain the slops, and are liable to emit an 
unpleasant odor. The walls should be of brick or 
stone, and not less than twelve feet in height, as the 
height keeps the room cooler, and favors a circulation 
of air. The windows should be shaded by blinds or shut¬ 
ters, hung at the upper end, which will admit of their 
being raised without letting in the sun, and the entrance 
of insects should be prevented by wire screens. A free 
circulation of air should be kept up, as this is essential to 
keeping the milk in a sweet state, and to the separa¬ 
tion or rising of the cream. An ice-house should join 
the dairy-house, or be separated from it by a closet, 
and there should be a passage with doors from one to 
the other. The building should be protected from the 
sun by shade trees, but they should not be so close as 
to obstruct the passage of the air. 
Cultivation of Onions.— There is no difficulty in 
producing onions from seed in one season of a size large 
enough to suit any one. They will grow well upon 
any rich soil, except that which is quite gravelly and 
dry. Plenty of rotten compost manure and leaphed 
ashes, worked slightly into the soil, the top of the 
ground made fine and smooth, the seed sown as soon as 
the ground is in proper condition, in rows fifteen inches 
apart, the plants thinned to two inches apai't, and kept 
clear, will ensure a crop. The average yield with good 
cultivation, is from 300 to 600 bushels per acre. 
Potatoes from Seed. —E. H.. Cedar Point, N. C. 
There is no difficulty in raising potatoes from seed. 
Gather the balls in the fall, or after the vines are dead, 
mash them, wash out the seed, dry it, and plant it an 
inch deep in loamy soil next spring. Plant in a seed 
bed, as you would cabbages, and transplant the young 
plants to hills,two feet apart, in good soil. Some will 
grow nearly as large as hen’s eggs the first season; 
but it will require about three seasons to fully deve- 
lope their character. 
Injury to a Cow’s Teat. —J. L. R., Wilmington, 
Del. If the teat has healed with an open rent in the 
side, we can hardly tell what would be best. Perhaps 
if the edges of the opening were slightly scarified, and 
then brought in contact by a suture or by adhesive 
plaster, a natural closing might be effected. As to 
drying up this teat, we do not see how it could be done 
so long as the milk is involuntarily discharged through it. 
Black Ants. —C. H. Gum Camphor, laid in the 
tracks of ants, is the best article for keeping away 
these troublesome insects, which we have ever tried. 
1 Extirpation of Dock. —A. H. N. The best way 
to kill docks is to pull them up, or cut with a tool made 
for that purpose. They should be cut at least two in 
ches below the surface, in order to take off all the eyes 
and prevent their sprouting. 
