THE CULTIVATOR. 
129 
standing Mr. Hulett demurs to the statement, is correct. 
Observation and experience, reason and fact, prove that 
men rarely take much precaution in guarding against 
ills over which they have no influence, and consequent¬ 
ly, that he who believes in the transmutation of wheat 
into chess, will not be as anxious to free his seed from 
chess, as he who believes that the order of nature is 
followed in this, as in other matters. 
We have extended our remarks to a greater length 
than we intended, as we consider this “ popular error,” 
a most injurious one, and one of those remains of an¬ 
cient ignorance, which should long since have been dis¬ 
pelled by the increased lights which science, and a 
knowledge of the relation existing between cause and 
effect, have thrown over the operations of nature. 
REARING CALVES. 
Editors Cultivator —In almost every number of 
your valuable paper, we find some new and economical 
manner to rear calves. The following is one recom¬ 
mended in one of your Cultivators of last year, and as 
I have tried it, I can cheerfully recommend it to any 
one wishing to rear calves. From the 1st of March to 
the llth of April, I had five caltes dropped. As soon 
as they were found, they were taken from the cow, and 
given a good handful of salt, and then fed flax-seed jel¬ 
ly and hay tea mixed, three times a day, until the 15th 
of May, when they were turned out in pasture to live on 
grass and water; and, sir, it is a fact that I have not 
seen a calf that has been raised in my neighborhood 
this spring, (and in every case they have been fed 
milk,) that is as likely as the five raised on the flax¬ 
seed and hay tea. I estimate the expense of rearing each 
calf at 13 cents up to the time they were turned into 
grass. E. S. WILLETT. 
Bethlehem, June 18, 1840. 
REVOLVING HORSE RAKES. 
Eds. Cultivator — I notice in the last number of the 
Cultivator, an inquiry for the revolving horse rakes, and 
your descriptions of the kinds used. Will you please 
say in your next number, that these most useful labor- 
saving implements of agriculture, are manufactured at 
my establishment in this place, and may readily be ship- 
ed to any point on the canal. I have made them for 
five years past, but the demand in my vicinity has taken 
all I could produce. These are greatly improved from 
the kinds described in your drawings, and will perform 
much more labor, and with more facility, as there is no 
difficulty owing to winding of the hay around the head 
and journals, to which the kinds described in your pa¬ 
per are subject, and the command over them is so per¬ 
fect, that they are used on rough grounds without much 
inconvenience. On our smooth grounds, the farmers do 
not carr^ a hand rake into the field, as these will per¬ 
form the'labor better, and one man, boy and horse, will 
rake ten acres of hay in half a day. I have made 400 
this year, and intend to enlarge my operations next sea¬ 
son. The price of them at the shop is $7. I intend to 
forward a dozen or two to Mr. Thorburn, where you 
can inspect and try them. Yours truly, 
AMASA MANN. 
Frankfort, Herkimer co. June 19, 1840. 
44 SO MUCH FOR”—BERKSHTRES. 
Friend Tucker —You have probably judged from 
the tenor of some of my former communications, that 
we were cursed in this part of the country, with a spe¬ 
cies of wild animals, called hogs; and also of my inten¬ 
tion to take some steps to convince my fellow-citizens 
that they were entirely mistaken in the article. I am 
happy to state to you, that I have been eminently suc¬ 
cessful. The witnesses which I have introduced to prove 
my case, have, by a speaking, though dumb, eloquence, 
convinced the most sceptical. 
In short, I received a few days since from A. B. Al¬ 
len, Esq. of Buffalo, the first pair of Berkshire pigs ever 
seen in this country; and had I introduced an African 
lion, I verily believe it would not have excited more cu¬ 
riosity. They have been visited by hundreds, who had 
read the description and seen the picture of them, every 
one of whom believed it to be an overwrought descrip¬ 
tion and picture; and every one of whom is now con¬ 
vinced, that “the half had not been told them.” Were 
the pair that I have as prolific as a swarm of bees I 
have already had more applications for pigs than I could 
supply. 
This, sir, is-the benefit of demonstrating to the eyes 
of the people the advantages of improvement in agri¬ 
culture, in stocks and implements of husbandry. This 
is one of the fruits of agricultural journals. What a 
lesson may every day be learnt by examining these 
fruits. It is a lesson that should teach every philanthro¬ 
pic. mind, how much good he may do his country by a 
little exertion to extend the reading of such journals, 
by tne easy method which I have several times pointed 
out before. 
And it is a positive duty that every friend to agricul¬ 
tural improvement, owes to himself and his country, to 
take immediate measures to introduce improved stock 
into his neighborhood. 
Let those that are now able, set the example and 
those that are less able will surely follow. 
We are all creatures of example; influenced by the 
circumstances with which we are surrounded ; and say 
what you will about “ rich and poor,” the poor look to 
the rich for example, and it is the positive duty of the 
rich to see that they have such examples as American 
freemen ought to follow. Reader .' I speak now directly 
to you 1 Mark the fearful responsibility that I fix upon 
you! Let not another day pass over your head, till 
you inquire whether you are not able to extend the read¬ 
ing of an agricultural journal in your neighborhood ? 
Is there not one poor laborer who would willingly work 
a day or two for you, if you would procure the paper 
for him? Are you not able to procure a pair of the im¬ 
proved breed of pigs, or some other stock, and intro¬ 
duce it into your neighborhood ? You will soon see the 
leaven work ; and it will do your heart good, to see the 
smiles and hear the congratulatory expressions that will 
welcome your efforts in a good cause. 
Try it my friend ; you never will curse the good ad¬ 
vice of your old friend, SOLON ROBINSON. 
Bake C. H. Ia. July 6, 1840. 
44 SULPHUR SHOWERS.” 
Messrs. Editors —Under this title, I observe some of 
your contemporaries are discussing the question of the 
origin of the substance that sometimes accompanies 
summer showers ; and a correspondent of one of them 
says, that investigation has led him to the belief that 
it is nothing more than the blossom or farina, washed 
by the rain from the mosses growing on the roof of the 
house ; a conclusion that subsequent observation has 
confirmed. “ I have never,” he says, “ found this sub¬ 
stance on water remote from buildings, or very early in 
the spring, or after the frosts of autumn, or on water 
caught from slate, tile, or tin roofs, or in any situation 
to negative the origin above assigned to it.” 
That the yellow substance supposed by many to be 
sulphur, is the pollen, or farina of flowers, is undoubt¬ 
edly true; but that it could have the origin above as 
signed it, would never have entered the head of a man 
who had ventured beyond the sound of Bow-bells, or 
witnessed the operations of nature, where man rarely 
intrudes. I have hunted for days, in the woods, when 
my sleeves would be covered with this dust, brushed 
from the weeds or plants upon which it had fallen from 
the millions of flowers on the trees overhead; and from 
which, while blossoming most freely. after a day or two 
of warm still weather, a sudden gust, such as frequently 
precedes a thunder shower, would bring it down in such 
quantities, as to give the pollen color to all my clothes. 
I have seen too, this farina carried by a thunder gust 
nearly half a mile, in such quantities as to darken the 
air, and produce a greater deposition from a new shin¬ 
gled roof on which there was not a particle of moss, 
than I have ever noticed from any other building. The 
reason why this dust is not often found in water from 
slate, tile, or tin roofs, must be obvious to every one, 
who remembers that such roofs are not often found in 
or near those places where farina is produced most 
plentifully—I mean our native forests. 
WOODSMAN. 
AGRICULTURAL MORALITIES. 
Messrs. Editors —I am a plain man, not versed in 
metaphysical subtleties or legal abstractions, but I have 
my notions about right and wrong, old fashioned, per¬ 
haps, and I sometimes meet with things that rather run 
counter to my ideas of what is correct, and I wish to 
state some of my difficulties for you or some of your 
correspondents to remove, should you deem them wor¬ 
thy of notice. 
There seems to be but one opinion respecting the 
men who wilfully injure the property of their neighbor. 
If I should poison the spring of my neighbor, mix arsenic 
with the oats fed to his horses, or feed nux vomica to his 
sheep, I should probably be committing an ofifenee 
against the laws that would subject me to a deserved 
punishment. If I should girdle or cut down his apple 
trees, set fire to his woodlands or fences, obstruct his 
water courses, turn animals into his wheat fields, or turn 
his stock into the highways, I should deserve, and 
should receive, the execrations of every honest man, in 
addition to the exposing myself to retributive justice. 
All these are considered crimes, and their magnitude is 
estimated by the injury done or intended to be done to 
my neighbor. 
Now I would ask where in reality is the difference 
between the above class of offences, and acts I shall 
now specify. I carry to market a load of clover seed 
or a friend applies to me for a bushel for his own use! 
I know, but the buyers do not, that there is a plentiful 
sprinkling of Canada thistle seed in it, and that if sown 
on his farm, it will be the means of stocking his soil 
with that pest of the farmer. I have some wheat that, 
is in great demand for seed, lam aware that it is full 
of stein krout or charlock, but the purchaser does not 
notice their presence, and I make a good bargain in 
common parlance, by saying nothing about it. I have 
some corn, that resembles some valuable and celebrated 
vaiiety, and I take advantage of the ignorance of my 
friends and others, to sell it to them for high prices, while 
I am aware that it has not a single feature of the corn 
they imagine it fo be. I might enlarge this catalogue 
of similar acts, but enough has been given to illustrate 
my meaning. 
I repeat the question, wherein does the guilt of the 
man who feeds his neighbor’s horses with arsenic, differ 
from his who sells his neighbor the seed of the Canada 
thistle? For my part I am simple enough to consider 
the latter the greater offence. The crime is the de¬ 
struction of property. In the one case it is the destruc¬ 
tion of a few animals that can be replaced : in the lat¬ 
ter the farm itself is comparatively’- ruined. Ask a 
Pennsylvania farmer which he would choose, to lose 
his best span of horses by poisoning, or have his fifty 
or his hundred acres stocked with the thistle, stein krout 
or charlock ; and if he understands the nature of these 
plants, he would not hesitate an instant. The injury in 
one case would be but a trifle, compared with the other; 
why then should not a corresponding estimate be form¬ 
ed of the crime ? 
I make these remarks because I do not imagine the 
crime of injuring others in these ways, is sufficiently 
realized by farmers and others. The man who puts off 
spurious animals for good ones; who sells impure or 
bad seeds for clean or proper ones ; who knowingly in¬ 
jures his neighbor or the public in these and other 
common methods cf fraudulent imposition and puffing, 
is not to be hpld guiltless, because he does net put his 
hand in a pocket and extract its contents directly, or be¬ 
cause he does not commit other overt acts against the 
majesty of the laws. He does not do as he would be done 
by ; a plain unsophisticated test of conduct, to which all 
would do well to take heed ; at least such is the opinion 
of an OLD SCHOOL MAN. 
RUST IN WHEAT. 
Almost total failure of Crop in Northern Indiana and 
Illinois. 
Messrs. Editors —One month ago, could you have 
seen this fertile region of too rich land, you would have 
seen the greatest prospect of a great wheat crop that 
you ever saw. But that short month has been a suc¬ 
cession of warm showers and hot sun, and the most 
universal blight has fallen upon us that I ever saw or 
heard of. It is not a piece here and there, but it is 
everywhere. Thousands of acres will never be cut, and 
such as will be, will barely pay the cost. Some fields 
are already rotten and stinking. It is only here and 
there a field can be found that will afford seed. There 
is yet much old wheat in the country, or the prospect 
would be still more gloomy than it is. 
All other crops hereabouts look well. We must eat 
corn dodger and potatoes, and drink “ hard cider,” and 
have hard times one year more. 
In haste, I am your friend, 
SOLON ROBINSON. 
Lake C. H. Ia. July 13, 1840. 
A certain Cure for the Scours. 
I had a mare that had the scours so bad, that it redu¬ 
ced her to such a state of debility, that she could not get 
up and down ; and the final result was, that her hoofs 
came off, and new ones grew out. I tried every thing 
that I had seen prescribed in the Farmer and Cultiva¬ 
tor, without success. The young men that worked my 
farm, then procured the leaves and roots of the red, not 
the black raspberry, and made a strong tea of it, and gave 
it to the beast three times a day. In a few days she 
got upon her feet without assistance, and the result 
was, a perfect cure. A. H. N. 
SALTING FLOWERS. 
BY ALEXANDER WALSH. 
It is asserted by a distinguished writer of great antiquitv 
that “ he may conquer all things, who mingles the useful with 
the sweet.” It may not be generally known, that common 
salt applied to flowers, will preserve them with nearly all their 
peculiar odor, undiminished for several years. 
Roses, and other flowers, and aromatic plants, may be pick¬ 
ed and salted, and kept in that state, until a convenient time 
for distilling. 
By this method, the season does not hurry the manufacture 
Vegetables may be distilled in New-York, which were gath¬ 
ered in France or Italy, or even in Asia; and the perfumed 
water, or essential oil, will be in nearly as great perfection 
both as to quantity and odor, as if the leaves or plants were 
fresh gathered. 
The salting may be performed thus : Take one and a half 
pounds of rose leaves, or whatever other vegetable substance 
you choose, add a half a pound of salt, and rub them together 
about four minutes. The friction produced by the salt forcing 
out the juice of the flower, will reduce the whole to an aro° 
matic paste, which must be carefullv collected, and kept in a 
tight vessel, in a cool place, until wanted for dktillation. 
When to be distilled, place the paste in the still or retort, with 
twice its weight in w'ater. 
I noticed in New-York, in March last, at a public sale, by 
Austin, Wdmerdmg &. Co., of drugs and dye stuffs, a large 
quantity of articles connected with the line of perfumery 
such as rose water, cassia buds, myrrh, frankincense &c im- 
ported from Europe and Asia; and among them, two ‘large 
packages of dned rose leaves. Although every other article 
went readily, and at a fair price, yet the rose leaves could not 
obtain a bid, though some of the first perfumers in the United 
States, were present. Now had these been preserved in salt 
and their value known, they would have commanded a rea¬ 
dier sale than any other article offered 
To make Poperee, or a substitute for fresh flowers. 
By collecting the leaves of roses, wall flowers, lavender* 
sweet brier, &c., and packing them with layers of salt in n 
tight covered jar, or other suitable vessel, sprinkling with each 
layer a little powder of cloves and cinnamon, in equal part" 
may acquire a delightful and refreshing perfume, which will 
ast for years, with very little waste, which waste mav be sun- 
season^ ac ^ m - ^ res ^ leaves, on the return of the following 
.Nothing on earth canmoie regale the senses, than a beau- 
tinil display of roseF, and other ornamental flowers. But this 
has been hitherto considered as a luxury which could only be 
enjoyed by the rich, who wholly disregard profit. But if thp 
most bnlhant productions of Flora’s kingdom can be rendered 
equally an object of profit and of pleasure, who would not 
have a flower garden ? Every family, almost, can be furnish- 
ed with a cheap apparatus foi distilling, and may thus render 
pleasure and profit mutual auxiliaries to each other—fN V 
r ar. Vol. 7.] 11 * 
