124 
THE CULTIVATOR 
attempt to rid ourselves of it. If you, or any of your 
correspondents can suggest any kind of grass that will 
root it out, and can itself be got off either by the plow or 
by grazing, or any other mode by which it can be de¬ 
stroyed, the matter will receive the attention, and be 
acted on, by at least a portion of those whose farms are 
infested with this grass.” 
We have found repeated plowings more effectual in 
getting out “ root and branch,” any weed or g-rass we 
wished to destroy, than any other course pursued by us; 
but as we have never tested the vitality of the Bermuda 
grass, we shall be happy to receive from some of our 
friends, who are acquainted with that plant, the informa¬ 
tion desired by “ A Subscriber.” 
COMPOST. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —In your last number I 
observed Dr. Dana’s remarks on muck for manure, mix¬ 
ed with ashes in the proportion of one load of ashes to 
three of muck, or peat. What I wish to know is, whe¬ 
ther shell lime will not do as well as ashes. I have al¬ 
ready burned some six or eight hundred bushels of such 
lime, mostly slacked fine, and if I can use them in this 
way, I should like to know the proper proportion and 
the best method of mixing them. 
Troy, June, 1842. E. Lockwood. 
Lime may be used in preparing such composts, but 
the quantity used must be small, compared with the ashes 
directed by Dr. D., and for reasons assigned by him. 
“ The properties of lime and geine, are here to be re¬ 
membered. Lime in excess, renders geine insoluble, grant¬ 
ing it to have been in a soluble state. Lime changes vegeta¬ 
ble fibre into soluble geine, but being applied in excess it 
forms an insoluble salt.” Lord Meadowbanks failed in 
his attempts at preparing compost from peat with lime, 
by not understanding this law. The author of British 
Husbandry says, “ Not only does peat, when compounded 
with a small quantity of lime, obviously undergo the 
putrefactive fermentation, but it is well known to many 
farmers, that such composts form excellent dressings, 
particularly for grass lands.” Low in his Practical 
Agriculture remarks that “ the best earthy materials for 
mixing with lime, are those which contain a certain 
proportion of decomposing organic matter, such as the 
scouring of ditches and the sediment of pools. The lime 
may be applied at the rate of two bushels to the cubic 
yard, and fifty cubic yards of this mixture to the acre, 
will form an efficient manuring for almost any soil.” 
The failure in the corn alluded to by Mr. Lockwood, 
in another part of his letter, was doubtless owing to the 
seed having been slightly heated before, or on its pas¬ 
sage from the south. From our experience in this mat¬ 
ter, we are confident that more failures in planted corn 
arise from this source than any other. Corn intended for 
seed should never be put in barrels or deep cribs, but 
traced up in the ear when gathered. 
REARING CALVES. 
In reply to “ D. B. C.,” in the Cultivator of last year, 
on the raising of calves, a “ Dairyman Farmer,” says, 
“ In 1838 I reared five heifer calves as cheap, and I think 
as well as calves can be reared. They were calved in 
April. I allowed them to suck the cows for four or five 
days, taking part of the milk at the same time, so that 
the calf should have but 2, 3 and 4 quarts, increasing 
the quantity to six quarts twice a day at five days old. 
I then took them off, and fed them on new milk for a 
week; then on skim-milk for a fortnight, when I began 
making cheese. The calves were then fed on whey, 
about 8 quarts each per day, giving them hay until the 
grass was started and the weather mild. They were 
then turned out, and the whey continued until July, when 
they were put into a fresh pasture where there was plen¬ 
ty of good water. They received plenty of salt from 
the first. From the first of November they were stabled 
at night, and in stormy days, with what hay they would 
eat. In January finding they were lousy, I gave each 
one a quart of corn and cob meal, with a tea-spoonful of 
sulphur, which I continued until they had taken four 
ounces each, giving it once a day, which cleared them 
from the lice. After this they received the same quanti¬ 
ty of cut potatoes daily until the first of May, when they 
were turned out to pasture in fine order. They all came 
in at two years old, and for size, beauty, or dairying pur¬ 
poses, cannol easily be beat. They were as large at two 
years old as three year olds usually are. The dairymen 
in this section of the country, think that heifers that come 
in at two, make the best cows for milk, and some of 
them will not keep one over that does not come in at that 
time. 
Turnep Fly. —One of the most serious obstacles to 
the culture of the turnep, is found in the turnep fly, which 
frequently, in spite of every effort, will destroy the young 
plants almost as soon as they show themselves above 
ground. Soaking the seed in currier’s oil, is said to be 
a perfect remedy for the fly, and is so easy, that it should 
be tried by every turnep grower. For the cabbage, ra¬ 
dish, and plants of that class generally, it would doubt¬ 
less be equally useful. In England, another remedy has 
just been discovered, an account of which we copy from 
the Mark Lane Express. The writer says—“ I have 
great pleasure in communicating to my brother farmers, 
that I have discovered that gas lime, sown upon turneps 
before their coming up, is a sure preventive against tire 
ravages of the fly. When gas lime cannot be obtained, 
gas tar, reduced with common lime, may be successfully 
applied between the drills, carefully avoiding the plants.” 
THE POULTRY YARD.—-(Fig. 71.) 
We are confident the most of our farming friends 
would find that more attention to their poultry yards, 
would add essentially, not only to the comfort of them¬ 
selves and their families, but also to the aggregate of 
their annual farm profits. Without any particular effort, 
or any extra buildings or yards, from 50 to 100 fowls 
may be kept on every farm of a hundred acres, and the 
contributions they will make in eggs and chickens to the 
products sold, will amount in the end to a very handsome 
sum. It is true, to be made a source of profit they must 
receive attention; the eg’gs must be gathered daily, two 
or three hens must not (as is frequently the case,) be al¬ 
lowed to set on one nest; coops must be provided for the 
chickens, as they are hatched, and they, as well as other 
domestic animals, must be fed. Fowls will sometimes, 
perhaps, do a little mischief; if allowed access to grain 
fields, they will break down and destroy more than they 
will eat, and if they find the planted corn, they will 
show a perseverance and dexterity in tracing out the 
rows, and extracting the plants, worthy of any feather¬ 
less biped that lives by his wits and the plunder of the 
public. The true way to put an end to such troubles at 
once, is to confine the depredators, when you do not 
wish to kill them; and then a little extra feed is all that 
is necessary to save both your crops and your fowls. 
Domestic poultry usually do much better that run at 
large, than they will if restricted to narrow limits in the 
coop or yard. Their health is improved, their flesh is 
finer and better tasted, and they will produce more eggs, 
at large, than in confined situations. The Turkey, in par¬ 
ticular, is a strenuous advocate of the largest liberty. 
Hens in a garden are a pest, but there is no necessity of 
being troubled with them there. A common picket 
fence five feet high will effectually exclude them; it be¬ 
ing well known that fowls rarely attempt flying over 
such a fence, and when made plain, such a fence costs 
perhaps as little as almost any other. 
To have the poultry yard profitable, the fowls should 
not be kept until they are old. There is no objection to 
preserving a favorite cock so long as he is active and 
lively, but hens after three years will not produce as 
many eggs as those of one or two years. Much, how¬ 
ever, is depending on the breed kept, but more on the 
manner in which they are kept, so far as good layers are 
concerned. 
The cut which accompanies this article, copied from 
a London magazine, very faithfully represents some of 
the most common domestic fowls. The Peacock a —Tur¬ 
key b —Dorking cock and hen c —Guinea hen d —Hamburg, 
Poland or Top-knot e—Game cock and hen f —Bantum 
cock and hen g —are here shown in a single group. The 
common fowl is too familiar to all to require illustration. 
The Dorking breed is one of the best breeds at present 
in the country. They are readily distinguished by their 
having five toes. Mr. Bement, in his valuable article 
on Poultry, in the Transactions of the New-York State 
Ag. Society for 1841, says, “ the genuine color of the 
Dorking is a yellowish white. The flesh is good fla¬ 
vored and of a yellowish or ivory shade. This is the 
variety generally made into capons. The eggs are large, 
and the flavor good. They laywell, fat well, and rear 
well, are handsome alive, and show delicate ivory white 
when dressed.” 
The Game cock breed, and the Bantum breed, are not 
generally kept, except by amateur poultry breeders, 
rarely by farmers, as they afford little profit as layers or 
rearers of chickens. The chickens of the game cock 
breed are so pugnacious as to be constantly fighting with 
one another, and in this way sad devastation is made 
among the broods: the Bantums are so small as to be 
undeserving of notice, except as objects of curiosity. 
One of the most beautiful of our fowls is the Hamburg, 
or Poland Top-knot, and it is also one of the best with 
which we are acquainted. Both Mowbray and Boswell 
in their works on Poultry, speak highly of this breed; 
the first saying, “they are one of the most useful vari¬ 
eties, particularly on account of the abundance of eggs 
they lay, being least inclined to sit of any other breed, 
whence they are sometimes called everlasting layers, and 
it is usual to set their eggs under other hens;” and the last 
remarking, “ this is a kind we esteem above all others, 
both for their appearance and usefulness, and we regret 
they are so seldom to be met with pure in this country.” 
Mr. Bement, in the paper alluded to, says, ‘‘They are 
hardy, enduring well the extremes of heat and cold, al¬ 
though they are not so thickly covered with feathers and 
