3 852. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
n 
(which Liebig held .was “ unnecessary,”) gave an ave¬ 
rage. of 21 bushels. The increase by the use of the min¬ 
eral manures recommended by Liebig, w’as therefore, less 
than two bushels per acre, and the increase by ashes of 
manure, nothing. - 
Salt Hay. —The saline herbage of marshes near the 
sea, is valuable for' feeding stock, especially so when fed 
in connection with fresh hay. It is most valuable to mix 
with hay which grows on bogs or wet lands. The salt 
hay imparts a relish to the other, and cattle thrive well 
on the mixture. It is best to mix the salt and fresh to¬ 
gether in the mow or stack—putting them in alternate 
layers. If the salt hay is not more than half made, it 
answers full as well for this purpose. 
Mowing Machine. —A correspondent at Newport, E. 
I., says —“ a good mowing machine is much wanted here. 
Our fields are smooth, and pretty free from stones, and 
several, I think, would purchase such machines, if they 
would do the work properly, and could be furnished at a 
reasonable price.” If any of our readers have used 
Ketchum’s, or any other mower, we should be glad to 
receive their opinions as to its usefulness. 
An Address before the Cortland Co. Ag. Society, by 
E. Marks, affords one of many evidences, that public 
sentiment is becoming more universally alive to the ne¬ 
cessity of educating mind to think and judge for itself. 
We wish the truths presented so clearly and impressively 
in this address—that intelligence is the basis of our boasted 
freedom and power—that worth should form our esti¬ 
mate of character—that in a high standard of individual 
attainment is our country’s brightest hope, might be 
echoed and re-echoed till every mind had caught some¬ 
thing of their spirit, and learned to act wisely under their 
influence. —-— 
High Manuring. —The editor of the Michigan Farm¬ 
er, in his foreign correspondence, states that Eobert 
Craig, a very successful cultivator near Glasgow, ap¬ 
plies manure at the rate of one hundred dollars per 
aere !—and finds it profitable. Although he makes much 
on his excellent and fertile farm, he draws large addi¬ 
tional quantities 5 miles after paying over a dollar a load 
for it. It costs him over two and a half dollars per ton 
when applied. He gives forty tons to each acre. This 
keeps the soil in fine condition for several years, or till 
his five-year rotation is completed. 
Lard Oil. —The editor of the Prairie Farmer, in re¬ 
ply to the condemnation of lard oil for lamps by the 
Patent Office Eeport, says, “ We have used lard oil for 
eignt years steadily, both in the office and in the house, 
and would by no means exchange it for any material for 
light with which we are acquainted. We have used it 
in different sorts of lamps, solar included, and find it 
everywhere and in every way superior. Its single de¬ 
fect is that in the coldest weather in the morning ft is 
too easily affected with cold, requiring the use of a candle 
till the room is somewhat warmed.” 
Cost of the Corn-crop in the West. —The Prairie 
Farmer says that he has made inquiry of several corn 
raisers in middle Illinois, of the absolute cost of this 
grain per bushel in the crib. There was very little dif¬ 
ference in their estimates, which ranged from four to six 
cents! The soil is of such a nature as to be plowed with 
the greatest ease, no hoeing is needed, all the cultivating 
being done by horses, the rows being from half a mile 
to two miles in length, and the husking of the huge ears 
being done from the standing stalks in this field. 
Wire Worms.— According to a statement in the 
Prairie Farmer, salt is not agreeable to this larva. Land 
infested by thousands was sown in the fall with refuse 
salt at the rate of three and a half bushels per acre. 
The next summer very few were seen, and afterwards 
all gradually disappeared. Worth trying, at least, al¬ 
though the proportion of salt when dissolved in the soil 
would be only about one fifty-thousandth part. 
Washing Spring Wheat. —A correspondent of the 
Genesee Farmer, pursues the following method of free¬ 
ing wheat for sowing of oats and other seeds:—He puts 
three pecks of wheat in a wash-tub, fills it with water, 
and after stirring removes the oats and such other seeds 
as rise to the surface. The oats that will not float are re¬ 
moved by stirring the whole round rapidly by means of 
a paddle in a circular motion, which throws the oats to¬ 
wards the middle into a heap, when they are removed, 
and the process is repeated till the whole is clean. 
Dignity and Disgrace of Labor. —Dr. Tuthili shows 
the dignity of useful labor, and the disgrace of that 
which is merely fashionable, in his address before the Suf¬ 
folk county Agricultural Society, as follows:—“If-a 
stout vigorous citizen has a load of wood lying on the 
side-walk, he may as well hang himself as to be fool 
enough to saw it himself; yet if Paddy has pitched it in 
out of sight, we are not sure but he may saw on till 
doomsday, and no one esteem him less of a gentleman. 
He would no sooner be caught carrying a trunk the length 
of a block to an omnibus, than stealing a body from a 
grave-yard ; yet he will boast among his friends of the 
enormous weight he carries in the gymnasium, having 
paid a fee of thirty dollars a year for the privilege!” 
Liquid and Solid Manure.-—Ciiarlss Alexander, 
a careful and accurate farmer in Scotland, found that 
while 14 head of cattle would make six loads of solid 
manure, the liquid would saturate seven loads of loam, 
rendering it of equal value. He had repeated the ex¬ 
periment for ten years, and found the saturated earth 
fully equal to the best putrescent manure. How many 
dollars worth are thus lost annually by each of the mil¬ 
lion farmers of this country? And what is the aggre¬ 
gate loss in the whole country taken together? 
Yalue of Guano. —At a meeting of the Maryland 
Agricultural Society, George W. Dobbin, the Secre¬ 
tary, in speaking of the great value of this powerful 
manure on old or worn-out fields, said that 300 lbs. per 
acre, on potatoes, was equal to a dressing of good stable 
manure—more than this made too great a growth of 
stalks. It succeeded well on wheat and clover, but not 
on oats. --- 
Crows. —“ An old Farmer,” after alluding to the in¬ 
crease of crows in many places, and the great injury 
they do to fields of grain, poultry yards, and in the de¬ 
struction of small birds, recommends that a law be passed, 
offering a bounty of 25 cents each for their destruction. 
