2J8 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
inches wide, and with heavy awkward thills and boxes, 
are a very cumbersome vehicle, but the wagons being no 
better, the former have long been used in preference. 
The style of carts which are now being constructed is 
much better. They are much lighter, better arranged, 
cost less, and with them much more work can be done. 
They are generally of what is called, I believe, the Scotch 
pattern, many of the best having come from Scotland. 
There are some very excellent ones on exhibition at the 
Palace, and but few if any of the real old ones are to be 
found except on the farms in the cohut'ry. The}" are 
certainly here preferable to wagons. Whether in our 
country they would be equally advantageous, at present, 
may perhaps be questioned, though I have little doubt, 
that if more frequently used the labors of our farmers 
would be much lightened as well as the ex pense diminish¬ 
ed. 
Mr. C. estimates his farm at £60 per acre. He has no 
tithes, and the taxes of all descriptions amount to about 
$2.50 per acre. They manure very high here—and pre¬ 
pared manure, guano, lime, bone-dust, phosphate of 
lime, &c., are very extensively used, and with great 
profit. Much complaint exists as to hard times among 
the farming class, but they appear to be doing as much 
as at any period to keep up their farms, and the style 
of farming operations is certainly improved from what 
it was when I was here in ’46. 
-- 
The 44 Banner Wheat” a Misnomer. 
We have of late years seen frequent accounts of the 
success which has attended the cultivation in Maine, of 
a variety of winter wheat called there, the “ Banner 
Wheat.” Dr. Holmes, in a late number of the Maine 
Farmer , shows that this wheat is the Ivloss’s White 
Blue-Stem,” which originated in Pennsylvania. It ap¬ 
pears that the first account of this wheat was given to 
Mr. Ellsworth, then Commissioner of Patents, by Hon. 
John Snyder, who in 1843, sent Mr. Ellsworth a bushel 
of the wheat for distribution. He says — 11 The bushel 
of wheat I have sent you is the product of my county— 
Union—Pennsylvania. Its origin is briefly this: My 
neighbor, Christian Kloss, saw in his field of blue stem 
wheat, a single top-proud head; he was struck with the 
contrast between it and the wheat of the whole field, 
this being the only white head in it, and much the larg¬ 
est. At harvest time he secured the head and seeded it 
in his garden the coming fall; I do not recollect the 
time, perhaps six years since—(1837.) He divided the 
next years’ produce among his neighbors, and last fall 
there were one thousand bushels of this seed sown; one 
farmer had four hundred bushels. It is called Kloss’s 
While Blue-Stem .” 
—-- 
Striking illustration. —At the Agricultural Con¬ 
vention held in Boston in March last, the presiding offi¬ 
cer, Hon. M. P. Wilder, in the course of an able speech 
showing the advantage of improving agriculture, gave 
the following example: “ We have 150,000 cows in 
this Commonwealth. Suppose science enable these, or 
improved breeds, to yield one additional quart of milk 
per day;.this, at three cents per quart, would increase 
the productive capital of the State $4,500 per day, or 
$1,642,500 per year; or if two quarts per day, a gain of 
more than three million dollars annually.” | 
July. 
ANSWERS TO INQUSRIE* 
Tan Paxvzc. s. i>., Edgefield, S. C. Tan bark con¬ 
tains matter which is valuable as a manure, but while it 
is fresh, it also contains so much acid that it is injurious 
to vegetation. It must be thoroughly decomposed be¬ 
fore it can be used on any crop to advantage. The best 
way to prepare it is to mix it in a heap with strong wood 
ashes, or a solution of potash. The alkali will destroy 
the acid and cause the mass to heat, which will bring 
the food of plants into a soluble state. 
Cows calving tn the day time. —D. B. K., Plainfield, 
N. J. The custom to. which you allude, as prevailing 
in Holland, in regard tb leaving off milking pregnant 
cows on a particular day, in order to insure their calving 
in the day time,—has sometimes been adopted in this 
country. We have known some instances of cows being 
tried by it, but the result did not support the theory. 
We cannot see why the particular day or hour on which 
a cow is milked for the last time, should cause her to 
calve in the day time, any more than in the night. 
Binding the volumes op the Cultivator. — u An 
Old Subscriber,” Hartford. We can have the volumes 
of The Cultivator bound at twenty-five cents per volume; 
but in many instances it is inconvenient for subscribers 
to send them without incurring the expense of express 
charges, which are not less than twenty-five cents, each 
way, for any package. 
Mowing Machines. —■“ A Subscriber,” Champlain, 
N. Y. Ketchum’s mowing machine is said to work well 
in grass that stands up fairly and is not thick at bottom. 
Fine, matted grasses are said to choke the machine. 
We have seen it used in a light growth of clover, where 
it worked tolerably well. We do not know the price 
of the machine. Address S. Ketchum, Buffalo. E. J. 
Burral, of Geneva, N. Y., has a machine of this kind, 
but we have not seen it operate,and do not know the price. 
Berkshire Pigs. —S. G. S., Gravesend, L. I. We 
know of no stock of this breed for sale, except that ad¬ 
vertised in our June number, by Mr. Simmons, of Yon* 
kers. We noticed that Col. P. R. Paulding, of Tarry- 
town, exhibited a good Berkshire boar at the show of 
the Westchester county Ag. Society, last fall. 
Foul in the Foot, or Hoof-ail. —S. C., Stillwater. 
This disease in cattle is not identical with foot-rot in 
sheep. At least some attempts made by a Swiss 
veterinarian, by inoculating sheep with the virus of hoof- 
ail, produced no effect. Hoof-ail Will, however, general¬ 
ly yield to similar treatment as is best for foot-rot. 
When the animal is first attacked, the foot should be 
cleaned with soapsuds. Blue vitriol (sulphate of cop¬ 
per) either in powder or solution, (the latter preferable,) 
should then be applied to the affected part. If the 
disease is taken in season, one application will generally 
effect a cure. Other substances are sometimes used—as 
corrosive sublimate (chloride of mercury,) and butyr 
of antimony. The former of these is, however, a strong 
poison, and it is hardly safe to use it unless the animal 
is kept in the barn for several days. 
Turners. —W. C. The English turnep, of several va¬ 
rieties, may be sown as late as the first of August, with 
success. The white Norfolk is a productive kind, but 
will not keep as well as the ruta-baga. 
