ISOS.] 
AMERICAN AGPJC l 7 LTURIST 
131 
“ Extra Fanning;.”— “J. P. G.,” of Blair 
Co., Pa., asks if we think it “ extra farming ” to raise 
3G0 bushels of Early Goodrich potatoes, or 620 bushels 
Cuzco, to the acre—the one being 52-fold, the other 
75-fold, the seed ? This he says was done by Dr. Rowan 
Clark on a sandy loam manured with stable manure, com¬ 
posted with coal ashes.—Certainly this is extra —not extra 
beyond anything we ever heard of, but extraordinary 
for this period in the history of potato culture, and espe¬ 
cially so for the past season. The same writer mentions 
a calf killed at 7 months 3 days old, which weighed 
alive 11S2 pounds and dressed 774 pounds “ clean meat,” 
B5citsil»a.g’sis,—“ W. H. H.,” Alleghany Co., 
Md. “In raising rutabagas for stock, do you sow the seed 
in a bed and transplant them like cabbages,—or sow them 
like turnips where they are to grow ?”—They will do tol¬ 
erably transplanted, but better sown where they are to 
mature. Transplant only to fill out spots where the seed 
has failed. The crop is seldom sown before the middle 
of June even at the North. 
Working over r?I»si«o*e.—“ Knoxville,” 
writes: “I am in the habit of drawing the manure from 
my hog pens, cattle stables, and horse barn, directly to 
the field where most wanted, every spring and fall. If I 
should simply mix the kinds together under a shed, and 
leave it six months or a year, forking it over once or 
twice, would the increased value pay for the extra work ?” 
Answer. —For some purposes it would, but great care 
would need to be exercised to prevent serious loss from 
overheating, which it would almost surely do, unless it 
could be kept moist under cover, or well trodden down in 
a pit. For ordinary field crops, when it is to be plowed 
in, there would be no advantage. For top-dressing grass, 
harrowing in upon the surface of land for wheat or flax, or 
for the garden, no doubt the additional labor would pay. 
ILa.lMDr .laid Profit iss Esirniiaig.— 
“ H. I.,” of West Chester, Pa., expresses his distrust of 
the statement that six laborers employed upon a farm is 
the secret of its profits. We have not the details 
of the farm in question showing just how much of 
it is profit, but we have no doubt of the general principle, 
that the more labor we employ upon our farms the more 
profitable we make them. One man and a boy for a farm 
of two hundred acres does not pay very well, even if the 
land is smooth and we use the improved implements in 
tillage and harvesting. If fruit or truck farming is fol¬ 
lowed, much more labor is required to the acre than in 
grazing or grain growing. The road to wealth is found 
in applying more manure and more labor to less land, 
rather than in applying less labor to more land, which is 
the popular maxim in America. The most profitable 
farming we know of is where labor is most liberally ex¬ 
pended in making manure, in drainage, in subsoiling, 
and in thorough cultivation. It is time farmers had faith 
in their business and put more capital into it. 
SEortiicailtiiral and Ollier Socie¬ 
ties.—We have taken unusual pains to proenre a toler¬ 
ably complete list, with officers’ names. The Secretaries 
seem to be indifferent to the matter, and the reports of 
meetings are generally unsatisfactory. The Jefferson 
Co., Mo., Society is reported as having elected “Tom 
Walker ” President, but neither his address nor that of 
the Secretary is given. The Kansas State Hort. Soc. has 
elected “Mr. Tanner,” of Leavenworth, President—and 
so on, in the most indefinite manner. 
Ciri-iudisag' ISomcs. —“ X.” asks: “ Would a 
common ‘ corn and cob crusher mill,’ similar to the kind 
known as the Little Giant, be of any lasting service in 
grinding bones for manure ?”—No. It requires a stronger 
mill, and more power than such a mill can stand. The 
best way is for several neighbors to make joint-stock 
property of a good bone mill, set it up where there is 
water or steam power,and grind for themselves and others. 
Canada TSiistles.—J. H. Gray writes that 
his neighbor keeps liis sheep in the fields containing the 
thistles, scatters salt freely over the thistles, and the 
sheep keep them in subjection. This would doubtless do 
I where the patch is small, but we should not like to buy 
j the salt for some fields we have seen. S. Reynolds, of 
Maquoketa, Iowa, thus pleasantly writes on the subject: 
“ I once owned some farm lands in the eastern part of 
N. Y. State, well covered with thistles, as were also all 
adjoining lands; these I sold some years since—right and 
title to lands—and thistles too—and thus got rid of them, 
and followed “ the Star of Empire” as far as Lockport, 
N. Y., and in a short time found thistles there on my 
farm, on a stony piece of about half an acre. I made a 
pasture lot of that for two successive years, and salted my 
sheep and cattle on the heads of the pests, and they dis¬ 
appeared from that quarter by diligent attention. But I 
had neighbors, (as most people have,) who were continu¬ 
ally turning out pest seeds, like scandal without paren¬ 
tage, to be wafted with the winds wheresoever they would. 
I soon found other patches, and the same means produced 
the same effects, (on the thistles, I mean.) Not so of 
all others, for I found the difficulty of the boy catching 
birds—the right kind of salt, and then to get it on their 
tails. I have * left all,’ the wine and the oil, (of butter,) 
the sheep and goats of the flock, and followed that ‘ bright 
particular star,’ to where the presence of the Canada is 
not as yet, but where good bread and butter are to be had 
in abundance by industry, and shame from wearing patch¬ 
ed garments is no hindrance to honest thrift. Never 
mulch Canada thistles ; they love it. If they are com¬ 
mon all about von, leave them, for they will never leave' 
you, not even in your grave, for they will root deeper 
than that. If in small patches, they can be overcome by 
salting the herds on their heads for two seasons, if prop¬ 
erly attended to ; but if negligently, it is of no use.” The 
Gardener’s Monthly takes us “up” for warning people 
that the thistle is spreading in the “ West.” In a journey 
of 3,000 miles, (going and coming, and across lots,) our 
friend Meehan did not see any. He has travelled to some 
purpose if he has found out where “ the West ” is, and we 
advise him to turn his attention to discovering that hith¬ 
erto unseen country, “ down East.” That our associate 
saw Canada thistles in his western trip, we do not doubt. 
The writer has seen them in Michigan—which is pretty 
well “ West,” and believes that the Legislature of that 
State has passed a law to prevent their spreading. 
Increase of Foxes anti "Wood¬ 
chucks. —A Massachusetts correspondent complains of 
these animals in consequence of the stringent dog law. 
The remedy is a heavier bounty upon them. Men were 
always better hunters of these animals than dogs, before 
the law was passed, and with a bounty heavy enough, 
any neighborhood will soon be freed from them. Of 
course, they will multiply if nobody hunts them. Cater¬ 
pillars will soon destroy an orchard, if their nests are not 
disturbed. Foxes arc best captured in their holes when 
young, and woodchucks are readily destroyed at any time. 
The Eljirlk Ajjes §till isi England. 
—“The Leicestershire (Eng.,) Chamber of Agriculture, 
after long deliberation, has declared against intellectual 
improvement among the agricultural class, on the sole 
ground that they would be less efficient as laborers. It 
therefore opposes the education of the children of agri¬ 
cultural laborers.” The ignorance of this class is their 
great defect over here. John Bull is still doubtful about 
the mowing machine; he will get to it a century hence. 
Kidding; Cows.—“ H. L. T.,” Media, Pa., 
recommends putting calves to them for the purpose of 
fattening for the butcher, especially in winter, when veal 
is high. He has fattened two upon such a cow, selling 
them for $17 and $20. It is very rare that a cow cannot be 
cured of kicking, by firm and gentle treatment. Put her 
in stanchions, raise one of the fore legs, slip a strap over 
the bended knee, and keep it in place by thrusting a 
pin between the strap and the joint. She will find kick¬ 
ing very difficult, and if there is no noise and no abuse, 
she will soon be cured. Kicking men make kicking cows. 
Ambas Americas. —Both Americas ; an 
Educational, Biographical and Agricultural Review. This 
is the title of a periodical in the Spanish language, pub¬ 
lished in New York. It is under the direction of Senor 
D. F. Sarmiento, Minister of the Argentine Republic, and 
is intended to make the South American Republics bet¬ 
ter acquainted with our educational systems, our agri¬ 
cultural improvements, and the like. It could not be in 
better hands than those of Senor Sarmiento, for it would 
be difficult to find one who is so thoroughly alive to the 
importance of popular education, or who more readily 
appreciates every improvement in agriculture and the 
arts. The two numbers before us give a good variety of 
matter, with illustrations of our school-houses, agricult¬ 
ural machines, etc. We are glad to learn that the period¬ 
ical meets with appreciation in the South American 
States, and wc wish it every success. 
ISrcalilng 1 37j» IPrairie ILiiiid.—“ H. 
R. H.” inquires the best time to break up dry rolling 
prairie sod, and the best crop to put on. These, and 
the best mode of breaking new prairie sod, are practical 
questions, upon which a comparison of the views of the 
experienced is desirable. Please let us-hear from such. 
Onions and Carrots.— “J. S.” A favorite 
way of growing onions about Narragansett Bay, R. I., is 
to cultivate them together with carrots. The onions 
are sown about the 1st of April, in rows one foot apart, 
and the carrots about June 1st, in every third space be¬ 
tween the rows, making the carrot rows three feet apart. 
The onions are taken off early in August, when the carrots 
have the ground. As carrots make the most of their 
growth after the middle of August they have ample time 
to make a good crop. The yield, in good soil and with 
good treatment, is about 500 bushels of onions, and 400 of 
carrots to the acre, worth from $600 to $800. We have 
tried this succession crop several seasons, and have no 
doubt that it is the best way to get cheap onions and car¬ 
rots. We have sometimes planted the carrots between 
every two rows of onions, but this diminishes the yield 
of onions somewhat and increases the cost of cultivat¬ 
ing the carrots, as it has to be done by hand. If left three 
feet apart the horse cultivator can be used. Of course 
when two crops are taken in a season, manure must be 
used very liberally. At least forty loads of stable ma¬ 
nure, or its equivalent, should be put on, and this will 
pay much better than little manure and small crops. 
Frofe^sorsliip oi* Agriculture.— 
Hon. E. W. Cook, of Havana, N. Y., has recently endowed 
a chair of Agriculture in the People’s College, and the 
Trustees resolved that it should be known as the “ E. W. 
Cook Professorship.” The college has a fine farm of over 
100 acres attached to it, and it is intended that the in¬ 
struction shall be practical as well as theoretical. 
Setting- ji IForest. —“F. M.,” Wayne, Me. 
If you have good land and wish to set a forest “ partly 
for the pleasure of it and mainly for fuel,” by all means 
take the Sugar Maple and don’t bother with Ailauthus, 
White Willow, and Cottonwood, which we only recom¬ 
mend for their quick growth where shelter is the main 
object. With a Maple grove you can have pleasure and 
fuel with the sweetening added. We should much like to 
hear of a well-conducted experiment in Maple planting. 
Set the trees much thicker than they are to stand finally, 
as the thinnings will give a constant supply of fuel. 
ISlood ns a. Fertilizer. —Lewis Lawslie 
of Georgia says: “ I have the blood of about 1000 hogs 
mixed with dry muck, at the rate of one peck of muck to 
one gallon of blood. How can I apply it to garden 
truck ?” Fresh blood contains not far from 80 per cent, 
of water. A gallon weighing, as it does, not far from 
eight pounds, will contain a pound and six tenths (l.G lbs.) 
of dry matter, of which about 15 per cent, is nitrogen. 
Therefore six gallons will contain about one pound and a 
half of nitrogen. The addition of a gallon of blood to a 
peck of dry muck will not increase its bulk, so we may 
reckon that sixpecks, or a bushel and a half,of the compost 
will contain a pound and a half of nitrogen, that is, one 
pound to one bushel. A pound of nitrogen in this form 
is worth at least eighteen cents, and this may be taken as 
the value of the compost per bushel. It may be used 
freely for corn, root crops, etc., in the field, and for all 
garden crops. The composition of dry blood and of dry 
flesh is almost identical. In the natural state blood con¬ 
tains a little more water—not more than 5 or G per cent. 
Cows sat Calving TTinie.—“J. J. T.” 
It is particularly important to guard against constipation, 
and at the same time not reduce the strength of the cow 
by giving salts, etc. The best plan is, to give the cow 
for a week or ten days before calving a pint of flaxseed 
night and morning. It is a laxative, and at the same time 
highly nutritious. The best way to feed it is to boil it 
for half an hour or so, and if the cow does not drink it 
readily add a pint of corn meal. If the bowels become 
too much relaxed give more corn meal, but do not lessen 
the quantity of flaxseed. Continue this feed for a week 
after calving, and as much longer as you wish rich milk 
and plenty of it. With butter at forty cents per pound it 
will pay to feed the cows all the corn meal they will cat. 
Saigur Meets.— ■“ II. A. II.” wishes to know 
if the sugar beet will flourish in Minnesota. Crops would 
not be so large as where they have a longer season, but 
they would probably be remunerative for feeding cattle. 
Our seedsmen will respond to the name of sugar beet. 
Blog’S Isi Tenncssee.-A correspondent 
from this State says: “ A fair average is a pup to each 
child, though I once knew it to fail in a family where 
they had 17 children and but 8 dogs. Making sheep 
scarce is not the only evil of familiarity with this animal. 
The more dogs in a family, the more doggish the people. 
I go in for a dog law.” 
“ Italian Silver Fowls, 
—D. Mitchell. We never heard of a breed of fowls of 
this name. The Silver Spangled and Golden Spangled 
Poland fowls are excellent layers, non-sitters, and have 
fine top-knots. The White Leghorns are excellent and 
persistent layers, and hardy, good fowls. This is an 
Italian breed. The Black Spanish are a very stylish and 
elegant breed, requiring warm quarters in winter, and 
reward care with many large and beautiful eggs. These, 
too, are non-sitters. A trio, cock and two hens, of any 
of these breeds costs from $7 to $20, according to quality. 
