1851 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
215 
would it be policy to have a cellar under it for keeping 
manure?’* Yes. “ Which would be best, without re¬ 
ference to cost, a stone barn or wooden one?” Stone, 
on account of durability. “ Will a barn built of stone, 
two stories high, with a cellar under it, be liable to fall, 
from the great height and weight of the walls?” Not 
if the work is properly done, any more than a house 
would that has a cellar under it, “ Will manure keep 
in good order in a cellar, or under a tight roof?” There 
can be no better place for manure than a cellar—the low 
temperature and moisture, preserving it from waste 
by fermentation. Horse-manure, if mixed with a large 
quantity of straw, and if very dry, may heat and waste. 
If horses and cattle are both kept in the barn, mix the 
manure of each together by spreading, and it will not 
heat too much. It is a common practice to keep swine 
under a barn of this kind, on the manure; they mix it 
together and compress it sufficiently to prevent violent 
fermentation. Simply a tight roof, or even a close room, 
is not as good for keeping manure as a cellar, unless care 
is taken to keep it moist. If it becomes dry, it will lose 
its ammonia, even if it does not actually heat. In such 
a room, therefore, there should be some means of keep¬ 
ing it moist. Water may be turned on by a spout, from 
a pump or aqueduct. If there is a cellar under the 
barn, how long will the floor last?” In some instances 
it has lasted twelve to fifteen years, There is no need 
of letting cattle run on the manure to tread it, if hogs 
are kept on it. (See Cultivator for June 1847, and No¬ 
vember 1850.) 
Draining for Grapevines. —J. T. C., Pikesville, 
Md. If your soil is, as you say, retentive of moisture, 
we should say, decidedly, that drainage would be bene¬ 
ficial to the production of grapes, 
Ground Mice. —Can you give me any plan by which 
I can rid my garden of ground mice?.’? S, M. T., Glen 
Cove. These animals can be destroyed by arsenic, in 
a similar way to that taken to kill rats by the same sub¬ 
stance. That species of mice, however, feed mostly on 
grass-roots, vegetables and fruits; hence apples, pota¬ 
toes, or something of that nature, would be most suita¬ 
ble for baiting them with the poison. Perhaps some one 
may know of a better mode of killing them. If so, they 
will confer a favor by communicating it. 
Practical Work on Agricultural Chemistry.— 
“A Subscriber,” Tompkins county, N. Y. If you 
have not Prof. Norton’s “ Elements of Agricultural 
Chemistry,” we advise you to get that in the first place, 
and if you then require some other book on the subject, 
get Johnston’s “ Lectures on the Applications of Chem¬ 
istry and Geology to Agriculture.” They are both for 
sale here—the former at 50 cts., the latter at $1,25. 
Best Strawberry.-—“ A Subscriber.” Burr’s New 
Pine has received the first premium of several Horticul¬ 
tural Societies, as the best variety, quality, size, and 
productiveness considered. It is also a firm fruit and 
will bear handling without injury. 
Republican Extravagance. —The editor of the 
Home Journal tells us that on New Year’s day, he saw 
ladies with “shawls, each one of which was the price 
of a farm; bracelets as costly; and minor articles of 
dress, each of which cost more than ten life-memberships 
to a Bible Society.” 
Mediterranean Wheat. 
This wheat was introduced into the country chiefly on 
account of its peculiarity in resisting the attack of the 
Hessian fly. Its value in this respect arose from the 
sheath adhering very closely to the stem, which prevent¬ 
ed the young worms from obtaining a lodgment where 
they would injure the plant. Besides this advantage,how¬ 
ever, the Mediterranean wheat proved to be valuable in 
this country on account of its escaping the wheat-midge 
(“weevil.”) Its exemption from injury from this in¬ 
sect is owing to its earliness—the grain being generally 
out the way by the time the fly makes its appearance. 
It is a variety that generally yields well, and is heavy 
in proportion to its measure. But an objection to it has 
been, that the millers were unwilling to pay as much 
for it, by four to six cents per bushel, as for the white 
wheats—the Mediterranean being a light red variety. 
Some experiments show that this wheat is not only of a 
highly nutritive quality, but that it is capable of making 
excellent flour. ¥m. Craig states in the Michigan 
Farmer that he had sixteen barrels of superfine flour 
made from seventy-live bushels of this kind of wheat 
being at the rate of a barrel to four bushels and forty- 
one pounds. He says he sold some of it to a respectable 
baker in Detroit, without letting him know what kind 
of wheat it was made from, and requested him to say 
how he liked it. In a few weeks he received a line from 
the baker, saying—“ The flour I like very much—how 
can I get more of it? I think it is the best I ever had.” 
Mr. C. says a neighbor told him that it took as much 
liquid to “ wet up” two loaves from the flour of Medi¬ 
terranean wheat, as it did to make three loaves from the 
White-flint. 
To Farmers’ Boys. 
Eds. Cultivator — I am glad to see that you are wil¬ 
ling to devote a portion of your excellent publication, 
for the benefit of farmers’ boys. With your leave I 
would present the following, for the attention of your 
youthful readers: 
For what reason is it that you farmers’ boys, try so 
hard to come from your pleasant abode on the farm to 
the city, where all is anxiety and trouble? 
Would you be strong? go follow up the plow; 
What if it brings the sweat upon thy brow ? 
Would’st live in the city? nothing there can charm; 
But come and live, in health and peace, upon a farm. 
Boys, your future calling is one of the most healthy and 
pleasant of any. It is the most beneficial to mankind, 
and yet it is as little known (as a science) as any one 
business. You now learn the practice, but it would be 
well for you to learn the science also, of agriculture. In 
the absence of agricultural schools, the best way to learn 
this science, is to obtain and read some of the best agri¬ 
cultural books. “ But this is Book Farming,” methinks 
I hear you exclaim. Let us see if book farming can be 
useful. It is certain, that if any one of you should go to 
an elderly farmer, and ask him for information in regard 
to some subject connected with agriculture, he could, 
without doubt, give you much good advice, the benefits 
of Avhich experience has taught him. This advice could 
easily be written and sent to the papers, where it would 
benefit not only yourselves but many others. It is true 
