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AGRICULTURAL.
DANIEL LEE, N. D., Editor.
SATURDAY JULY 28, 1559.
CLOVER FOR SOILING PURPOSES.
We mentioned incidentally not long since that
we had raised as many as one hundred bushels
of clean clover seed a year, for some years : and
we now add after forty years experience and
pretty extended observation, that we know no
other plant which has done so much for the im
provement of American agriculture as the Tri
folium pratense , or common red clover. Its ana
lvsis proves it to be richer than any of the Eng-
Lch grasses in flesh-forming elements; while its
remark abn '.'■itt tap-root enables it to draw its
mineral food from tuv subsoil. In skillful
hands no crop pays better, 'be following
statement made by a reliable farmer to trie cd:
tor of the Geneve Farmer will satisfy the intel
ligent reader:
« j have in close proximity to my barn a patch
of ground seven and a half rods by sixteen
(three-quarters of an acre.) seeded to clover, from
which I kept one span of horses in thriving
condition from the first day of June last to the
last day of August, besides cutting nine hundred
of good hav, which I put into the barn, and har
vested of the second mowing seed sufficient to
stock an acre or two of ground. This may, and
undoubtedly will, seem to many like a big yarn
well stretched. In fact, 1 should doubt the
truth of such a story myself, had not my eyes
seen and my hands felt the truth of such a state
ment. Bv the time I had mowed two-tliirds of
this little‘patch, the remainder was fit to be
mado into hay. which I accordingly did up after
the most approved fashion. And that part
mowed first was sufficiently large to mow again.
I fed them three times a day all they could eat.
They smelt not, touched not, tasted not one par
ticle of grain during the three months. Used
them more or less every day, and at end
there was a perceptible gain in flesh. Never,
since I could say my team, have I summered a
team so cheaply. The greatest cost is cutting
and putting it before the horses. I offered them
water, but they did not drink to exceeds pail
ful a week.
“ I am of the opinion that if they had been
turned loose upon this piece of ground, ten days
would have been sufficient time to cat up and
trample into the earth everything green upon it.
As five acres of good pasture is little enough to
summer a span of horses when allowed to run,
there is almost an incalculable saving in soiling
them.’’ J- C. Adams.
Seymour, New York.
We are greatly in favor of soiling all working
animals, dairy cows, and hogs, on green clover.
For horses, mules, and oxen, it contains rather
too much water. To remove this, our prac
tice has been to about half dry the clover after
it is cut, before giving it to working cattle.
Early in its growth the plant has 80 per cent, of j
water ; and when in blossom, about 75 per cent.
By drying out half of this water, the forage is
greatly improved. As milk itself contains 871 |
per cent, of water, wo cut and feed green clover
to cows without drying. Hogs may lie fed in
the same way.
We advise every farmer to cultivate at least
one acre of red clover. Ten pounds of good ;
fresh seed will seed an acre; and we will under- j
take to got some seedsman in Augusta to sell
that quantity of reliable seed for two dollars.
Repeatedly, have we failed to obtain good seed,
and been mortified at the result; and we are
now taking extra paius to escape a like misfor
tune in future. The art of raising an abundance
of clover and other grasses at the South is worth
studying. No one ought to be discouraged at
one or two failures in commencing a now and
important business. Many gentlemen in Ala
bama are cultivating clover very successfully;
and on rich limestone land there is no difficulty.
But on miserably poor land, like that under the
care of the writer, nothing will grow unless fed
like a sick child with a spoon.
Most farmers are able to make one or two
acres rich enough to produce any plant adapted
to the climate. As clover itself yields rich ma
nure. it demands a soil naturally quite fertile, or
one that is made so by art. To grow great
clover, one must manure highly, and cultivate
the ground thoroughly. This is the way to
keep young plants from dying in dry weath
er. Subsoil the land, that the roots may
have no difficulty in finding moist earth
below the surface. Put four good mules
to the plow, and stir the ground as though you
did net fear that the pulverization of the soil
would injure it. Trench plowing and trencli
spading have done wonders in the way of deep
ening and improving thin barren land. Let
the air and rains have access to every particle
of clay, by breaking it up fine. It is unques
tionably true that no man in the world has ever
learnt the full value of proper cultivation.—
Jethro Tull, Smith, of Lois Weedon, Mechi,
and a few others, have given us an inkling qf
what tillage is capable of achieving. Some of
our Georgia friends, whom we are not at liberty
to name, will soon test this point for the public
benefit.
One of the most obvious advantages of feeding
stock in cool stables, where all their manure
may be saved, is the power it gives to deepen
the soil in all the fields near the settlement. It
concentrates one's farming operations, saves
trouble, fencing, and paying taxes on unproduc
tive land. Cotton grown near stables is apt to
be much better than that raised in remote fields.
The same is true of corn and wheat. In a
word, # cheap manure made from clover, will give
rich land at the minimum cost. Clover will
imbibe more nitrogen from the atmosphere in
some form than any other agricultural plant;
and, therefore, it furnishes ammonia cheaper
than it can be obtained in any other way on
most farms. One farmer uses often in New
York one hundred tons of plaster to make his
clover, and often grass crops; knowing that
clover will yield rich manure. According to the
analyses of Boussingault, clover is richer in
mmm wMTMmms mm*® mm® m®Mm®m*
nitrogen (the flesh forming element,) than the
seeds of Indian com. It is twice as nutritive as
our best corn fodder, provided the leaves and
stems of clover are cut and cured at the right
time. When three fourths of an acre of this
forage plant, will keep a pair of working horses
three months, and give nine hundred pounds
of good hay besides, why should any man pull
the blades oft' his ripening com for feeding
horses, to the serious injury of his com crop ?
Our experience is too limited to say confidently
in what month clover seed had best be sown at
the South. We shall try it in several months
before and after January next. September or
October, is probably the best time to seed.
— —
WHAT THE PLANTER EXPORTS IN COTTON.
A thousand grains of clean cotton fibre were
burned by Dr. Jackson' of Boston, and yielded
fifteen grains of ashes. These ashes represent
the earth}' part of the substances exported in
cotton ; tne uiuv --Wd and eighty-five parts
in one thousand, removed from the i*i*d, -r" in
vertible into air and vapor. To obtain a clear
and correct idea of the loss sustained by grow
ing four hundred pounds of cotton on an acre,
and sending the crop to a distant market, it is
necessary to know from what source the eom
! bustible part of cotton fibre is derived; for this
forms ninety-eight and a half per cent, of the
1 staple exported.
In the first place, let the fact be remembered
that nearly one half of cotton, irrespective of the
little ashes left when burnt, is nothing but the
elements of water, and derived from that liquid.
The other half of cotton is carbon, and similar in
all respects to common charcoal. In addition
to carbon and the elements of water (oxygen and
hydrogen,) there is about one-third of one per
cent, of nitrogen in cotton fibre. The two ele
mentary substances, carbon and nitrogen, are
derived by growing cotton plants partly from the
atmosphere, and parly from the dissolved mould
or manure in the soil. Rich soils supply more,
| and poor soils less of this kind of plant food; so
1 that no rule can be laid down to measure the
j actual consumption of fertilizing elements in
| tilled ground. From a pretty careful considera
' tion of all the facts, our impression is that one
: may so cultivate cotton as to increase rather
1 than decrease the vegetable matter in the soil.
The gain is derived from the growth on, and in
the ground, ofthe leaves, stalks, seeds, and roots
of the plant—the lint aloue being removed per
.manently. But in addition to all the organic
matter thus restored, one may sow rye after the
cotton is gathered, which, growing until it is
time to plant in the spring, will, if need be, add
still more to the fertility of the land.
Let us now consider the incombustible sub
stances that make the six pounds of ashes which
one may obtain by burning four hundred pounds
of cotton — a fair yield from an acre. Dr. Jack
son found the ash of short staple cotton sent to
him from Hamburg, S. C.. to have the following
composition:
Silica 0.150
Oarlxjnic acid 4.100
Chlorine 1.105
Sulphuric acid 0.779
Phosphoric acid 0.5H1
Lime 1.070
Magnesia 0.250
Potash 4.412
Soda... 2.140
14.557
Loss 413
15.000
An examination ol the above figures shows
that carbonic acid, potash, and soda form over
one half the elements present. If tillage and
the crop removed no more than six pounds of
earthy salts from an acre, as indicated by the
above analysis, its restitution would involve a
very trifling expense. But there is good reason
to believe that tillage alone to the extent prac
ticed in cotton culture will dissolve and remove
through the medium of rain-water, more than six
pounds of agricultural salts. Some three or four
thousand tons of water fall in the course of a
year on every acre of tilled land; and where
tillage is well done, the amount of earthy sub
stances, dissolved and removed in this mass of
water, is far greater than is generally supposed.
Plowing and hoeing decompose both the miner
al and organic compounds in the soil; and if
plants do not take them up as food, their loss is
almost inevitable.
Where plants, such as cotton and corn, are
small and far apart, the proportion of loss is
greatly increased; for their few, sparse, and
short rootlets are incapable of imbibing one half
of the plant food developed by tillage. Hence,
the folly of cultivating large fields of poor land;
for it unavoidably results in making the field
much poorer than the loss of tho small crops
will in any way account for. It is not the cot
ton plant, but the plow, that impoverishes the
soil. Study the teachings and wisdom of nature.
She nover plows the ground to produce her
largest and best plants of whatever kind. Plow
ing is at best an exhausting process which gen
erally creates a demand for more manure than
planters find it convenient to supply. Hence, so
many million acres are turned out to rest for
twenty or more years, after being cultivated ten,
more or less. Diminish the area tilled, and make
it more productive by clover, or some other reno
vating plant.
THE LAURENS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY..,
At a meeting held in Laurensville, as we learn
from the Herald, on the 25th ultimo to re-organ
ize the Laurens Agricultural Society, the follow
ing gentlemen were elected:
President —Col. John D. Williams.
Vice Presidents —Dr. A.C. Fuller, and W. G.
Rice.
Secretary —ll. L. McGowan.
Corresponding Secretary —J. Wistar Simpson.
Treasurer —John Wells Simpson.
An election was then held for annual orator
of the Society, and Col. D. Johnson, of Union,
was chosen.
HOW IT PATS TO FATTEN HOGS.
Mr. Oliver Slater makes the following state
ment in the Ohio Cultivator:
Having noticed a discussion in the Cultivator
on the subject of feeding corn to hogs, I propose
to give to you my experience in this business
for the last two seasons, and to show what my
com was worth by feeding it to my hogs. lam
in the habit of raising the stock I feed, and aim
to keep as good as can conveniently be had. I
had in Oct., 1857, 52 head of hogs that averaged
about 155 lbs., which was then worth $6 00
per cwt. gross, hence the following: 52 hogs,
155 lbs., each=B,o6o lbs. at $6 per cwt—
s4B3 60, value of hogs when I commenced to
fatten. I fed them until January 20, 1858, and
they weighed 378 lbs. each. Reduced to fig
ures, we have 52 hogs, 378 lbs. each—l9,6s6
lbs., at $4 454 per cwt. gross—sß6s 85, value of
hogs and 1,040 bushels of com, having fed 20
bushels per hog. Deducting first value of hogs,
and I have $382 25 for my 1,040 bushels of corn,
which is 36} cts. per bushel. The selling price
for com was then 25 cents per bushel. I, there
fore, gained 47 per cent, on the com I fed this lot
of hogs.
But let us see how we come out with the
hogs fed on the 75 cents com: Last fall, I had
4 1 Lead of hosrs that I commenced fattening
Oct. 9tli, that would then have weighed about
175 lbs, each, and were worth at that time $4
per cwt. gross: hence the following: 47 hogs
175 lbs. each—B,22s lbs., at $4 per cwt.—
$329, value of hogs when I commenced to
fatten. Jan. 10, 1859, started them for Cin
cinnati. and they weighed on the Brighton
scales, 3904 lbs. each, for which I received
$6 414 per cwt. gross. Reduced to figures thus :
47 hogs, 3994 lbs. each—lß,37o lbs., at $6 414
per cwt.—51,178,43, value of hogs and 940 bush
els of corn, having fed 20 bushels per hog.—
Now, deducting first value, $329, from
$1,176 43, I have $849 43 for my 940 bushels of
corn, which is 904 cents per bushel, for shovel
ing it out on a clean stone pavement, instead of
hauling it several miles to get the high price of
75 cents per bushel, (which near about starves
many poor stock hogs to death). I, therefore,
made 20 per cent, on my corn by feeding it to
this lot of hogs, to say nothing about the ex
pense. the wear and tear of hauling it to mar
ket. Fourteen acres of my corn averaged 70
bus’hels per acre, and worth 904 cents by feeding
to my hogs, makes $63 23 per acre for my corn.
Now, if the gentlemen who advise all the farm
ers to sell their shoats when com is worth 75
cents per bushel, made more than this out of
their com crop by selling it, I should like to
hear from them again.
The writer of the above makes no account of
the valuable-manure derived from the consump
tion of so much corn by fattening hogs. We
regard the manure produced by a bushel of corn
as worth at least a third as much as the corn
itself, unless the land has some peculiar ad
vantages that serve to perpetuate its fertility.
It sometimes happens that the fertilizing atoms
obtained from one bushel of com will add con
siderably more than that quantity to a growing
crop; and sometimes the gain is something less
than the weight'of corn consumed to make the
manure.
The economy of breeding, and rearing, and
fattening hogs, and the production and use of
manure to the best possible advantage, are mat
ters of great importance to the farmer. Every
one should feed out on bis land as much of its
produce as possible, selling the flesh of animals
rather than grain, roots, cotton seed, or forage.
- *•*- -1^— —
• [Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
BEEKEEPINGTHE HIVE.
Mr. Editor: I would advise no one to un
dertake the keeping of bees, unless he will con
sent to adopt the proper hive for their use.
This is a thing of the first importance, and I can
not guarantee success under any other condition.
It is true, that bees will work almost anywhere;
so will corn grow almost anywhere; but it makes
a great difference whether it is planted in a rich
soil or in sand. If planted in the first, with pro
per after culture, the yield will pay for the
trouble; but not so in the last. All happy re
sults require proper treatment from the begin
ning to the end. In the earlier ages of the
world, bees lived in rocks. “He made him,”
says Moses, “to suck honey out of the rocks.”
“With honey out of the rocks,” says the Psalm
ist, “should I have satisfied thee.” Lindley
speaks of a bee indigenous to Brazil, whoso hab
its are quite curious. He says: “ They consist
of a ponderous shell of clay, cemented similarly
to martin's nests, and forming an oval mass full
two feet in diameter. When broken, the wax
is arranged as in our hives, and the honey abund
ant.”
Captain Basil Hall found, in South Ameri
ca, the hive of a honey-bee very different
from the Brazilian. “ The hive we saw
opened,” he says, “ was only partly filled, which
enabled us to see the economy of the interior
to more advantage. The honey is not contained
in the elegant hexagonal cell of our hives, but
in wax-bags, not quite so large as an egg.—
These bags or bladders are hung around the
sides of the hive, and appear about half full; the
quantity being probably just as great as the
strength of the wax will bear without tearing.—
Those near the bottom, being better supported,
are more filled than the upper ones. In the
centre of the lower part of the hive, we observed
an irregularity shaped mass of comb, furnished
with cells like those of our bees, all containing
young ones in such an advanced state, that,
when wo break the comb, and let them out,
they flew merrily away.
Clavigero, in his history of Mexico, evidently
describing the same species of bee, says it
abounds in Yucatan, and makes the honey of
Estabentum, the finest in the world, and which
is taken every two months. He mentioned
another species of bee, smaller in size, and also
without a sting, which forms its nest in the
shape of a sugar loaf, and as large or larger.—
These are suspended from trees, particularly
the oak, and are much more populous than our
common hives. I have a two-fold purpose in
calling attention to these historical facts, first,
for the information conveyed; and secondly to
show that wherever the honey bee is found,
you will see all his movements characterized by
the same ingenuity that marks his working
hour.
The great evil with most bee-keepers, and
the one that mostly militates against them, is
the badly adapted hive with which the bee is
supplied. In supplying him with a house, we
must consult his natural wants; and if, at the
same time, we can assist him in carrying on the
warfare against his ancient enemy, the moth, let
us do so; and I know of no better method of
accomplishing this than to give him a hive in
which he can concentrate his forces, and yet
have sufficient room to do * his work. I have
found, from experience, that the common box
luve is all that is required. This hive must not
exceed twelve inches in the clear—by which I
mean it must be twelve inches square inside.
To make it larger than this, you will give the
bee more room than he has any use for; nor
will it do to tell me that bees will fill a barrel.
I know they will; but that is no reason why he
should be hived in one. You must give them
room enough, but not too much, which will be
the case if you give them more space than above
described. Your hive must not only be of a
proper size, but it must be well made—-made
with a view to accommodate the bee, not the
moth. To make your crib rat-proof, you make
it tight; in the same way, you must make your
hive, for, if you leave any cracks, you do just
the very thing you should not do—that is, you
provide the moth with places for depositing her
eggs; but, if, on the other hand, your hive is con
structed in a workmanlike manner, the chances
are in your favor that your bees will not be mo
lested. The country is full of patent hives, but
the best of these will never come into general
use, for the reason that they are too costly. Mr.
Miner’s cross-bar is a very good hive, and can
be cheaply made. Mr. Langstrotli has, within
the past few years, invented and patented an
other, with which I ‘am disposed to be pleased;
but the question is, will it continue to perform
all that he claims for it ? lam afraid that the
multiplicity of arrangements, necessary for its
perfection, will be an objection to it. Bees, al
though governed by a queen, are quite demo
cratic in their notions, preferring simplicity in
all cases, when it is within their reach. The
hive before described answers every purpose.
Let your lumber be of the best quality—free
from all cracks, knots, and twists —not less than
one inch in thickness: rabbit and nail both
ways, so as to prevent warping, and you will
have an excellent hive. The top board must be
sixteen inches square; this will give you a pro
jection of one inch, which, being bevelled, will
add to the appearance, besides give you a conve
nience for handling. In the top, you will bore
five inch and a quarter holes, to permit the bees
to pass from the lower to the upper section. Os
this section, I will speak in my next.
If you wish your hive to last for fifty years,
give it two or three good coats of white paint
before using, and an occasional coat afterwards.
Respectfully,
V. La Taste.
■
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
ARROW ROOT.
Many years ago, before the Florida Indian
war, I left Charleston, for St. Augustine, in the
sloop Elamsville of Bristol R. I. When off the
coast and forty five miles below St. Augustine,
we were driven ashore and wrecked on the sand
beach; the vessel went to peices, and was soon
lost sight of, by being swallowed up by the
quick-sand. After a starvation of five days (six
of us in all,) we crossed the Mosquito river, and
reached the settlement of Col. Darley. Here we
were well cared for by the Colonel and citizens of
Tomoea. At dinner there stood in the center of
the table a dish containing some twenty to
twenty-five well cooked wild ducks; each per
son was helped to a duck, and what was left
from the plates was thrown to the dogs, hogs,
kc. An Indian would readily give five or six
ducks for a load of powder and shot. Venison
and fish were also in great abundance. The
sweet and bitter sweet oranges grew in great
plenty; particularly the latter, which seemed in
digenous 10 the soil, the lime trees and banana
rather sparingly; the sugar cane grows very
finely and of the largest size; though with all
this the chills and fever prevailed to a consid
erable extent in the fall of the year—the most
delightful season in Florida. Here it was that I
first met with Oceola and a number of his tribe.
I learned from him a number of interesting facts;
ho stated that the Indians would steal from
white man, but not from one another; they also
owned a number of negroes, who enjoyed the
savage life equally with themselves.
Standing near a hammock one day with Oceola,
he pointed out to me two small spiral, slim,
stalks with long narrow leaves, very green and
stiff, having the appearance of an ever-groen.—
He dug it up; the root appeared to be a bulb
about the size of two fists; the skin was dark
and ridgey, very similar to the Tanyah, grown
near Charleston, and sold in that market for the
table.
He called to him a squaw, and directed her
to prepare it for food; she first pealed it as you
would a potatoe. He took up the peel and in
formed me, “ yon see dis; if hog eat um, hog
die." This caused me to think it very poisonous.
I at least was satisfied without testing it farther.
This bulb after pealing was beautifully white,
this the squaw grated with a tin grater; she
then washed it in about half a dozen times,
changing the water after each operation; she
then spread it on a cloth to dry in the sun,
which took but a little time. This, then, said he,
is your arrow root, and can be found in large
quantities in East Florida, and which constitutes
the Indian bread. In hunting for skins the squaws
follow their lords with tray and grater. The
skins were hung to trees, and marked, so that
no Indian coming across them daro touch or
disturb them.
Gen. Hernandes having failed to make a crop
of corn the first year in settling here, fed and
kept his negroes hearty on this coicntil-root the
Indian name for the arrow root. I have often
wondered since why this article has not become
more an article of commerce. Certainly the pres
ent inhabitants are acquainted with the facts,
and again, could we not in South-western Geor
gia introduce it by planting it in the hammock
lands ? would it not be profitable ? there are more
suggestions of mine for farmers to consider and
act upon. Respectful^,
Charles Pemble.
Specific for Bugs ox Vines. —Having seen
by your paper that many truckers in your sec
tion are anxious to ascertain a simple and sure
remedy to destroy bugs on squashes, cucumbers,
and the like, I will give you one which is almost
a specific, and within the reach of every one,
especially those living on the sea-board.
Procure fresh fish—of any kind whatever, the
commonest and cheapest just as good—a suffi
cient quantity, according to circumstances—say
one peck to a barrel of water. Lot them stand
therein a day or two, in order to commence de
composition, and emit their necessarily unplea
sant odor; then remove the barrel to your patch,
just dampening the leaves.
In addition to driving away the bugs, your
plants will become green and healthy, and soon
grow beyond the reach of any future swarm of
depredators. It may bo necessary to use the
water two or three times in the course of two
weeks, but remember that every application is
equivalent to a dressing of manure, whieh will
amply repay for the labor, which is very trifling.
Fresh fish offal is of equal value with the fish. ,
Correspondence Country Gentleman.
A solution of nightsoil from the garden house
will probably answer as well as fish, where tho
latter cannot be had.— Ed. Field and Fireside.
Charles Pemble.
FARMING IN WESTERN VIRGINIA
It will doubtless interest many of our readers
to learn something of the soil, and farmers who
are settling in Western Virginia. They are
thus described by a correspondent of the Genes
see Farmer:
The country is generally mountainous, or
rather hilly. A good portion, however, is good
farming land. Some farms are situated on the
streams and are very rich, and of a sandy loam.
Other farms, situated on upland, are more of a
clay soil with, now and then, a gravelly ridge.—
The land is generally free from stone, excepting
rocky bluffs, or some particular spots. Wheat
and Indian corn are the main products of the
country, Irish potatoes grow well. Turnips
grow in abundance. Clover well, yet
timothy is the standard grass in this Section of
country. Oats have been considered a very
sure and bountiful crop, but it failed last year,
owing to the rust
There has been but little snow this winter, so
little that plowing could be done at almost any
time. There is but very little time in winter but
what work can be done on the farm to good ad
vantage, and very comfortably, too. The sum
mers are very temperate.
Farm lands sell according to location, quality,
the improvement there is on them, Ac. There is
now quite a stir in the land market. Farms may
be bought to suit almost any purchaser from one
hundred, to two hundred, three hundred or five
hundred acres, and ranging from eight to twenty
dollars per acre. It is rather a new country, and
farms of one hundred acres, with from twenty
five to fifty acres improved, and comfortable
dwellings, can be had for from six to ten dollars
per acre, and a little farther South land is still
cheaper. Ellenboro is our marketing place,
where every kind of farm produce brings a good
price.
The country is well timbered, white oak, hick
ory, sugar maple, walnut, black oak, and beauti
ful poplar timber in abundance, and this is con
sidered one of the very healthiest countries. I
have lived in the country fifteen years, and dur
ing that time there has been very little sick
ness ; and although this is a slave State, there are
not over thirty colored persons in this county.—
We are in what we call Western Virginia, twen
ty miles from the Ohio River, about sixty miles
below Wheeling, and thirty-six miles from Ma
rietta. There aro five excellent flouring mills
within four miles of us, and the country is well
supplied with saw mills. Two steam mills within
three miles of us are continually sending off flour
to the Baltimore market. Should persons wish
ing to move here wish to make any further inqui
ry concerning our country, I will cheerfully fur
nish them with all the information they may re
quire, either through the columns of the Farmer,
or personally, by letter. J. M. Woons.
Ritchie C<nirt House, Va.
1 I»i
From the Gentssee Farmer.
TO PREVENT RATS, MICE, AND INSECTS,
WORKING IN THE GRANARY.
These live pests aro a great, eye-sore to all
fanners and grain dealers, and a little caro and
trouble will keep them away, and at the same
time the remedy will be a benefit to most kinds
of coarse grain. For the benefit of those who
would like to keep grain all summer, or a year, I
will, in a brief manner, give the course to pur
sue, that the loss by these little thieves may be
comparatively small.
After the grain is in the bin, and made level
and smooth, put on the top about four quarts of
fresh slaked lime; let this be spread evenly over
the grain. This will keep out rats and mice in
a bin that contains one hundred bushels. This
lime must be slaked so it looks like flour, fresh
from the miller’s bolt. If the lime is left upon
the surface of the grain, the rats and mice will
not skip and play there a great deal, before they
; will have to sneeze some; and, further than this,
there is always enough grease or oily substance
remaining upon the feet of rats and mice to
make the lime adhere to them. After they
have been once into it they will not return again
the second time. You may likewise throw this
lime about their haunts with much benefit; but
if insects are to be kept out, you must mix
the lime with the grain as you put it in the bin.
and shovel it through and through until it i 3
mixed thoroughly ; then place on the top four
quarts of the slaked lixne. Four quarts of un
slakcd lime is sufficient for one hundred bushels
of grain ; and it will do no hurt in many kinds
of grain if it is never taken out, for it is an al
kali which is good for botts in horses. It will
neutralize the acid in hog swill, and prevent
their vomiting ; and, in fact, this small quantity
of lime would be a benefit to most kinds of
stock, if it should be ground with the grain.
If you apply the lime to wheat, buckwheat,
and corn, or the like, and do not want it in the
grain, get out your fanning mill and run it through.
To slake lime perfectly, put it into a tight,
stout vessel, and pour on boiling water, about
half as much water as lime in bulk ; cover up
the lime as soon as the water is in, and leave it
until cool. Good unslaked lime will more than
double its dimensions when well slaked.
A. L. Smith.
—
Fremoxtia Californica —Toney in Smithson
ian Contributions to Knowledge, Yol. V. t. 2.—Of
this most remarkable plant a solitary individual
w r as raised in 1851 in the garden of the Agricul
tural Society from a seed received from Mr.
Robert Wrench. In April, 1854, it produced
flowers for the first time, as large as those of
Trollius asiatieus, brilliant yellow inside, apricot
colored outside, with the addition of some cin
namon colored down; and their substance was
so thick that each flower remained in perfection
for weeks. It was proved to boa beautiful
hardy shrub, with a habit wholly uulike that of
every hardy plant in cultivation, most resembling
indeed some of the Hibiscuses of Western Aus
tralia. The plant has hitherto resisted all attempts
at propagation, and still remains at Chiswick
unique in Europe. This most interesting shrub
wms first described by Dr. Torrey in the work
above quoted, from dried specimens gathered by
the Rev. A. Fitch at the sources of the Sacra
mento, in the northern part of the Sierra Nevada
of California. Also, on hill-sides, Mariposa
county, especially near the gold works of the
Merced Company, flowering in May. This genus
is a near ally of the celebrated Cheirostemon of
Humboldt, the Hand Tree of Mexico. The lat
ter differs, however, in the form and texture of
the calyx, the lobes of which are deciduous; in
the much longer stamineal column and secund
mucronate freo portion of the Aliments; in the
straight parallel anther-cells, and in some other
characters of less importance. Whenever it shall
have been found possible to propagate this plant,
we shall have added an uncommonly fine thing
to our list of small neat hardy shrubs.
G. Chronicle.
— • ————
Sale of Mules. —Mr. F. S. Fisher, of Boyle
county, sold recently fifty head of two-year
old mules for the handsome price of one hun
dred and forty-one dollars per head. The pur
chasers were Mr. John Thorns, of Fayette, and ■
Mr. D. W. Jones, of Boyle. The mules aro to be
delivered about the Ist of May.— Ohio Farmer.