THE CULTIVATOR 
59 
Angers ta Inquiries, #c. 
SIXTEEN INQUIRIES. 
The following inquiries from “ J. A. S.,” of Reading, 
Yt., embrace almost the whole circle of agriculture; and 
to answer them fully would require a volume, rather 
than the limited space we can give them. 
“1. On light loamy land, inclining to sand, is it ne¬ 
cessary to plow in the fall?” 
We think not. Heavy clay soils are the ones most be¬ 
nefited by fall plowing, as the frost aids in pulverizing 
such lands; a process not necessary in sandy ones. Fall 
plowing is admissible on heavy retentive lands, or where 
worms, such as the grub or wire worm abound; as late 
fall plowing aids materially in destroying these. In 
other cases, spring plowing is best. 
“ 2. Is it best to omit breaking up in the fall where 
you intend to plant corn or potatoes?” 
If turf land, intended for such crops, is covered with 
long manure, and then carefully turned over in the fall, 
rolled down and harrowed, a top dressing of compost, 
and a thorough harrowing, is all that is necessary to fit 
it for seed in the spring, and a good crop may be ex¬ 
pected. 
“ 3. How will it do to break up, and stock down the 
same year with oats, turning the manure under the sod?” 
Well. We have done this many times, with the ex¬ 
ception that we have generally used barley or spring 
wheat instead of oats. Generally, however, when ma¬ 
nure is applied to the soil, a crop of corn or roots should 
follow, and the seeding down take place the next year 
with spring grain. 
“4. What will be the effect upon the land and crop?” 
Good on both. The manure and the turf rotting will 
enrich the soil, while the crop will scarcely fail of being 
a good one. 
“5. What manure is best adapted to such a course?” 
Long barn-yard or stable manure is to be preferred. 
Compost manures are best applied to the surface, and 
only harrowed in; not turned under. 
“ 6 . What is the most speedy mode of rendering pro¬ 
ductive old meadows, impoverished by bad cultivation?” 
Two modes may be adopted, either of which will be 
successful. If the land is fit for the plow, manure with 
barn-yard manure, invert the sod, and re-seed without 
cropping. If the plow cannot be used, manure the sur¬ 
face liberally with compost manure, scatter grass seeds 
on the land, and harrow until the surface earth is tho¬ 
roughly stirred. It will give new life to the old roots, 
and establish the new ones. 
“7. Does land ‘ leach,’ or do the gases of the manure 
evaporate, or both? If the former, how prevented?” 
Coarse, porous soils of gravel or sand undoubtedly 
leach, or allow the soluble parts of manures to sink with 
the water that passes off so quickly. In most soils, 
leaching can be prevented by the addition of clay, as 
that is strongly retentive of water, and holds that and 
the soluble salts for the use of plants. That the gases of 
manures pass off by evaporation, the nose gives conclu¬ 
sive testimony. Mixing such manures with earth, muck 
from swamps, &c., will prevent this loss. 
“ S. Is there any way to renovate old pastures that are 
so steep and rocky that they cannot be plowed?” 
None that we know of. Such pastures may be bene¬ 
fited by sowing upon them ashes and plaster. Reno¬ 
vation is scarcely possible without the use of the plow. 
“ 9. What are the best grasses for permanent pasture?” 
In this country, a mixture of Timothy, red top, or 
Herd's grass, orchard grass, and white and red clover, 
has been found the best for meadow or for pasture. On 
the best managed farms at the present time, permanent 
pastures are not admitted. The whole farm is made ca¬ 
pable of producing any of the cultivated crops, and all 
parts are in turn subjected to tillage, meadow and pas¬ 
ture. 
“ 10. What is the effect upon the soil, and succeeding 
crops, of cutting over a piece of wood land, and letting 
it lie three or four years without burning?” 
In most districts, the effect would be to fill the land 
with weeds of all kinds; Canada and common thistles, 
bur weeds, johnswort, everlasting, &c. &c. The best 
way in our opinion is to clear the land and seed it, let¬ 
ting it lie until the roots are rotted so as to admit the 
plow. 
“11. What is the comparative value of common barn¬ 
yard manure, and manure or compost composed of sta¬ 
ble manures, swamp muck, &c.?” 
We have used comparatively little compost manure in 
farming, preferring to apply the barn-yard and stable 
manures at once to the soil; but Mr. Haggerston, the 
manager of the celebrated Cushing farm at Watertown, 
Mass., says that a compost made of one-third manure 
and two-thirds muck, has never failed with him to pro¬ 
duce better crops of all kinds of vegetables than clear 
manure; and for the last five years he has thought it 
wasteful to use manures without being mixed with muck. 
The compost manure which he uses for plowed land is 
made of two-thirds muck and one-third manure. 
“ 12. In the present depressed state of stock, is it as 
profitable to feed out hay on a farm where there are 
good resources for making manure, as to sell it for ten 
dollars a ton? ” 
The difficulty with farmers usually is, that when they 
have sold their hay for ten dollars a ton, they are loth to 
pay out their dollars for manure; and the consequence 
is, their farms and crops go unmanured. It is doubtless, 
many times, better to sell hay and buy manure, than to 
feed it, out; but the resources and the cost should be well 
calculated before a farmer allows the materials of ma¬ 
nure to leave his farm. 
“13. Why will not beech wood ashes make as good 
soap as ashes of any other kind of wood?” 
Admitting what is stated to be fact, we are unable to 
account for it; but we very much question the correct¬ 
ness of the implied opinion, that beech wood ashes will 
not make soap. The following table of the relative 
properties of oak, elm, and beech, taken from the ex¬ 
periments of the superintendent of the national works 
at Paris, will show they are not destitute of potash: 
Oak gave in 915 pounds of wood, 12 pounds of ashes, 
and 1 pound, 6 ounces, 4 grains of potash. Elm gave in 
1028 pounds of wood, 24 pounds of ashes, and 3 pounds, 
15 ounces of potash. Beech gave in 887 pounds of wood 
5 5 pounds of ashes, and 1 pound, 4 ounces, 6 grains of 
potash. Fir gave in 730 pounds of wood 2| pounds of 
ashes, and 7 ounces of potash. 
We think if “J. A. S.” will use beech ashes, put 
plenty of caustic lime at the bottom of his leach, and see 
that his lye fioats an egg well, he will have no difficulty 
in making soap from beech ashes. 
“14. How can poison ivy be exterminated?” 
This is a plant with which we are unacquainted, but 
presume that digging it up, “root and branch,” would 
be the death of it. 
“ 15. Is it not better to keep stock at the barn late in 
the spring, rather than permit them to feed down mea¬ 
dow land?” 
Certainly. Farmers err much in allowing their cattle 
to run over their meadow lands or pastures before the 
ground is settled or the grass started. Animals should 
be fed at the barn till there is a pretty fair bite of grass, 
or they will fall away rapidly. 
“16. Upon what soil do potatoes do best?” 
Upon those that are moist, rather than dry, and abound¬ 
ing in vegetable matter or mold. A heavy, compact 
soil is unfit for potatoes, as the young tubers cannot find 
nutriment, or room for easy expansion in such earth. 
Compost is the best manure for potatoes; and dunging in 
the hill with long or stable manure is not advisable. 
We have never tried sowing corn broadcast for fodder; 
but if “ J. A. S.” will turn to the 12th page of the cur¬ 
rent volume of the Cultivator, he will find the result of 
an experiment made by Mr. Ellsworth, which was very 
successful, and would seem to justify a repetition. Corn 
fodder is excellent for all animals to which we feed it, 
and maintains them in fine health and condition. To be 
good, however, they must be saved well, and not put up 
wet and moldy, as is too often the case. 
PREPARATION OF CORN FOR MARKET. 
The subject to which the following inquiries of our 
correspondent C. L. B. of Ohio, relate, is one of very 
great importance, and we hope some of our friends who 
are practically acquainted with the process of kiln dry¬ 
ing corn, and preparing it for market, will, at an early 
day, respond through the Cultivator to the inquiries. 
There can be no good reason, we think, assigned why, 
at the present low price of corn in the western states, it 
might not be profitably put up for exportation. If so, 
a very important point in the commerce, as well - as ag¬ 
riculture, would be gained, and the heavy balance of 
imports against our exports proportionably diminished. 
The ability to export corn successfully would add much 
also to the prosperity of the West, morally as well as 
agriculturally, since, says our correspondent, owing in 
part to the “present low prices of corn, all our distille¬ 
ries are in full operation .” But to the inquiries: 
“The principal difficulties to be overcome in prepar¬ 
ing corn for market are, the liability of Indian corn to 
heat while lying in bins, or during its transit to the coast, 
the cost of transportation, and the want of a knowledge 
of the process of drying corn, and putting it up for the 
market. How are the kilns constructed? May heated 
cylinders be used for this purpose? And if so, how are 
they constructed? In what manner, and of what materi¬ 
als should the casks for packing be made? Of what 
wood, and how hooped? For what ultimate purpose in 
the course of this trade may they be designed?” 
DISEASES OF BEES. 
At page 76 of our last vol. we inserted an inquiry from 
Mr. Quimby, relating to a disease which destroyed the 
larvae or grub of the bee in the cell. Mr. Weeks and Mr. 
Hall responded to Mr. Quimby. As every thing relating 
to the management of bees is of consequence to the Api¬ 
arian, we give another communication from Mr. Q. in 
hopes that a remedy may be discovered for the disease of 
which he complains. 
“Mr. Weeks says, in answer to my inquiries on bees, 
that cold chills the young brood, and the remedy he pro¬ 
poses, is to close up the bottom board, leaving only room 
for the passage of the bees. This is the very thing I 
have done for years during the spring months; though I 
did it to prevent robberies, placing under the hive a board 
similar to the one described by him. When managed 
according to his directions, he warrants them free from 
dead chrysalis. Mr. Weeks appears to misunderstand 
me; for dead chrysalis is not what I inquired about; (I 
never had but one hive in which they suffered, and was 
satisfied at the time that cold was the cause,) but the dead 
larva* or grub is what I complain of, before its change to 
the chrysalis state. There is certainly a difference in the 
two stages of the insect. Mr. Hall says that cold is one 
cause, filth under the hive another, dampness another, 
&c. I can assure him, I know to well the value of their 
labor to allow any such thing to remain in their way. 
I long since ascertained that the care of the apiary was 
as well paid as the care of the garden or the farm, and a 
little better, notwithstanding one hive in fifteen on an 
average is diseased. But I cannot think cold to be the 
cause, for the following reasons: Some of my neigh¬ 
bors in the month of March have their hives an inch 
from the board, and let them remain so through the 
season, escaping healthy. Swarms even the first season 
are not exempt, (though old hives are the most liable.) 
I had two or three the past summer affected. I think it 
will not be pretended the chills of spring caused the dis¬ 
ease in these. 
But what is the cause? That, with me, is the ques¬ 
tion. Will any of the patent hives be warranted to pre¬ 
serve bees exempt from diseas-e if I use them? 
Coxsackie , 1842. Moses Quimby. 
GESTATION IN ANIMALS. 
Messes. Editoes —In the January number of the 
“Agriculturist,” published at Nashville, I read the fol¬ 
lowing remarks on gestation. As the period here as¬ 
signed to the animals named, particularly the cow, dif¬ 
fers somewhat from the commonly supposed one, I will 
thank you to state the time fixed by such authorities as 
you may be able to lay your hands upon:—“The cow, 
from the time she takes the male till she drops her 
young, goes almost 280 days. We have never known 
them vary three days over or under. The sow goes 
about 112 days, but varies from one to five or six days. 
The ewe goes about 5 months. The mare goes about 11 
months, but varies sometimes 30 days.” Ohio. 
In a recent German publication of great research and 
accuracy, the period of gestation and incubation in nearly 
all the domesticated animals is given, from which we se¬ 
lect a few included in the inquiry of Ohio. 
Animal. Shortest period. Mean period. Longest period. 
Mare, 322 days, 347 days, 419 days. 
Cow, 240 do. 283 do. 321 do. 
Sow, 109 do. 115 Co. 143 do. 
Ewe, 146 do. 154 do. 161 do. 
According to the report of M. Teissier of Paris, who 
had charge of the experimental farm established by the 
government of France, of 582 mares which received the 
male but once, the shortest period was 287 days, and the 
longest 419; making the extraordinary difference of 132 
days. 
The most satisfactory experiment with cows, on re¬ 
cord, is that made by order of Lord Spencer, in which 
the period of gestation in no less than 764 cows was 
carefully noted. From this, it appears that the shortest 
period in which a live calf was produced was 220 days; 
but no calf produced at a less period than 242 days could 
be raised. The longest period of gestation was 313 
days. From Lord Spencer's tables, as given in the 
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, it appears that 
314 cows calved before the 284th day, and 310 calved 
after the 285th day; so that the probable period of ges¬ 
tation in the cow must be fixed at 284 or 285 days. 
The results of M. Teissier's experiments on cows does 
not vary greatly from those of Lord Spencer. His tables 
show the following terms in 575 cows: 
21 cows calved between the 240 and 270th day. Mean 2591 
544 do. do. 270 and 299th do. do. ’282 
10 do. do. 299 and 321st do. do. 313 
Prof. Johnson remarks, “that any calf produced at an 
earlier period than 260 days must be considered decided¬ 
ly premature; and any period of gestation exceeding 300 
days must also be considered irregular; but in this latter 
case, the health of the produce is not affected.” 
PAGE'S PORTABE SAW MILL. 
In answer to the several inquiries which we have re¬ 
ceived in relation to this mill, we copy the following 
from the American Farmer of the 9th of last month : 
“We witnessed on Saturday last the trial of a new 
Portable Saw Mill, propelled by a Portable Steam Engine , 
at the factory of Mr. George Page, of this city, which we 
learnt was built by him for a company of gentlemen in 
Virginia. The trial was made with a view of testing 
the perfection and strength of the mill, as well as its ca¬ 
pacity for labor, before delivery. To say that we 
were gratified at its performance, is to speak not only 
our own sentiments but the unanimous voice of every 
one present. 
“ The mill cut, after it got into perfect operation, a 
board 11 feet 8 inches long by 14 inches broad, which is 
equal to 134 feet board measure, in 50 seconds. 
“11 we take this as the measure of its competency, 
it is capable of cutting 11,644 feet in one day, allowing 
12 working hours, and if allowance be made for contin¬ 
gencies, we think it fair to assume, that with a power 
equal to 10 horses, it can with ease cut 10,000 feet in a 
day. 
“ As this mill will be removed in a few days to its 
destined home in Virginia, It strikes us that the govern¬ 
ment at Washington would do the country good service 
by having it set up at some convenient point in the Capi¬ 
tol, where its wonderful powers could be made manifest 
to the assembled wisdom of the nation. The mill could 
be set to work in less than a day after its transportation 
thither, and from our knowledge of Mr. Page, we have 
no hesitation in saying, that he would not only consent, 
but afford every facility to render the exhibition inte¬ 
resting. 
“In every section of our country such a mill is valua¬ 
ble; but in all newly settled parts where timber abounds, 
it would prove invaluable. Such being the case, we 
