sure to produce frowiness of an unpleasant taste to the butter; and the entire freedom from this constitutes the grand secret of making good butter. There are many who think washing butter with water incompatible with retaining the rich flavor; but if the water is cold and pure, it is scarcely possible anthing should be washed away-the buttermilk which destroys the flavor of all butter, and that which in all markets commands the highest priceviz., Dutch butter-is invariably made in this way; and where the example has been followed by others, it has rarely failed of success. If any, however, doubt the propriety of washing butter, they may use any method they please, provided that the milk is separated perfectly. Entirely free from the substance that causes it to assume the putrid, frowy taste of bad butter, it may be kept with almost as much ease as lard. Solidity in packing, clean, sweet vessels, and a low temperature, will ensure its keeping for any reasonable time. Let no one expect good butter, however, as long as coarse, impure salt is used, or a particle of the buttermilk is allowed to remain in it.-Genesee Farmer. Use the Straw for Manure. MR. EDITOR:-Taking an interest in our WIS. FARMER, I wish to scratch a little more of my experience. I believe if all were interested as they should be, we might give and receive much information that would be a great benefit to us. When I first came to this country, it was the practice of the farmers to burn their straw piles. I questioned the propriety of such a course, but was told that the straw was of no value for manure; and I have found by trial, that owing to the dryness of soil and climate, it is not as beneficial for sowed crops as in the eastern States. By trial, I have found that for corn it is the very thing. plow in the ground. I had five acres, and the result was 400 bushels ears of good corn. For two or three years this ground had been nearly worthless. After corn I raised a heavy crop of barley, the soil still remaining in good condition for wheat. I move my corn field every year, thus securing a rotation of crops, and in this way my farm is kept in good condition till I come around to where I commenced. If I wish to seed to clover and timothy, the barley crop is the one with which to seed; the grass seed should be sowed on and dragged in with the barley, which gives it deep root and does not kill with the drouth. The secret of this kind of manuring is, that in cultivating the ground there is a nitre created which the straw absorbs, forming a very rich mould, there is no danger of the corn suffering with drouth. I heartily wish the ruinous practice of burning straw could be discontinued and thereby save many regrets in future when we shall surely be convinced of R. MACOMBER. our error. LA PRAIRIE, Wis. Action of Manures. D. M. Sargent, Esq., of Warner, N. H., in communications to the New Hampshire Journal of Agriculture, has broached a few new ideas in regard to the action of manures. He assumes that plants derive more food from the atmosphere than from the soil, and that manures act as much out of the soil as they do in-that there is more food for plants in whatever we feed to our animals before it is eaten than there is in the excrements made from it. He also believes that light is absorbed in plants, thereby giving them color, and that caloric is also absorbed and retained by them thereby enabling them to give it out when burnt. Without vouching for his correctness in all the positions taken, we will give one or two experiments he relates in reference to the absorption of ammonia by the leaves of plants: I save all my straw, and in the spring I draw out my straw and dung, on land laid out for corn, and cover the whole ground, then plow deep, and cover the straw as well as I can, and, without disturbing the ground with drag, I put "Ammonia, I think, beyond a doubt, is abon my roll and press down the soil upon the sorbed from the atmosphere by the leaves. Fill a flower pot with sand and plant a seed corn if dung, which leaves it in a good shape for mark-you please, it will germinate and grow very ing, then mark both ways and plant; if well tended, it will insure a good crop. I have never failed of a heavy crop in this way. I tried a piece last year, in this way, on a piece of ground where the stone quarry gravel was so thick that it was very difficult to keep the slow, look yellow and stunted, perhaps die in a little time if nothing is done for it. But take a phial of spirits of ammonia, insert it in the Hide finally, nearly white. Exclude the air, and admit the light, it cannot grow. "Take a wet spot of earth, so wet that corn will hardly germinate, prepare it as you would to plant corn, drop in nothing but gypsum, and that in only part of the holes so prepared, cover them all up, and smooth with the hoe as you would in planting corn, and after a time I can tell every spot where the gypsum is buried, and can tell if it were dropped in a bunch, or scattered, by the fact that something white will collect on the surface, corresponding with the plaster below. But if you put in corn, the white powder will not be there; it will be absorbed by the growing plant. What this white substance is, I do not pretend to know, but I think, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that it is extracted from the atmosphere. Now the question arises what part of the plant absorbs this white substance; is it the roots or leaves? I believe it to be the growing blade, predisposed thereto by the action of the escaping ammonia from the earth or the manure applied, and here comes in the effect of light, mixing, and perfectly combining with the ammoniacal, and other gasses afloat in the air, and absorbed by the leaves, and with those drawn from the soil by the roots forms those healthy green juices which give color to the plant, and which are absolutely necessary for a full development of the plant. "I have come to the conclusion that light is matter; therefore has a body. It is absolutely impossible to grow plants without it, but if it does not combine with, and form a part of the plant, we could grow them without it. see no reason why clover should be kept from the sun, while other hay is admitted to be sweetened by it. Clover should be quickly dried, because it does not shed rain well when cocked up in the field. When cut in due season and well cured, cattle will eat the stems as well as the leaves. When a few leaves drop off in drying their loss is trifling compared with the loss of the stems for want of proper care. If it is past the middle of July, the grass does not need so much drying as it did on the first, yet a portion of two days is necessary to fit it for the mow, even where the barn boards are so far apart that you can see through the crevices. Ploughing among Corn, &c. Some farmers have boys who may, as well as not, ride and guide the horse among the rows. But when no boys are about it is quite an object to have a horse so taught that he will go It often saves the labor of one man to lead. between the rows without a leader or a rider. Some farmers make it a practice to put on long reins and manage the horse as they do in horse without long reins-for on coming around a chaise. But this is not equal to a handy at the end of the rows the horse will blunder on to the corn, potatoes, and beans, oftener than he will when let alone and being governed by the voice of the ploughman. A horse is not to be taught at once how to go by the sound of his master's voice. Repeated teachings are as necessary for him as for boys who ride him. "Again, light is absorbed by everything with which it comes in contact; if it is not so, what A great majority of our farm horses may be becomes of it when the sun is gone? There-taught to follow the rows without a driver in fore it is absorbed by plants, and as it has a case the master has a little patience, and does body it must increase their volume. not, at first, require too much. "Again, ammonia in its relative state, predisposes plants to absorb light, heat, air, and all other gasses that are necessary for their perfect development, while it adds to the bulk of the plant, by its own matter; therefore manures that contain it should be so applied as to have the most direct influence upon the plant out of the ground, while the juices will descend and act upon the soils and roots. But if we bury the manure so deep that nothing can escape to act upon the plant out of the soil, our crops must be small and our manure wasted, and our labor profitless." HAYING. It cannot be expected that all farmers practice alike. Some cut their grass very early-others very late. Some are in favor of thorough drying and letting it have the benefit of the sun to sweeten it. Some men pack their hay in air tight barns, and in the Spring complain that their cattle cough, and are threatened with fevers. The idea of keeping clover grass in the shade to be cured is still advocated by many, though we All horses should be made to know the mean ing of the word "whoa" before they are offered for sale. In carriages and chaises the reins often fail. The hostler may be careless in putting on the harness. Then how important it is to be able to stop the animal by the use of a single word! The ploughman should always have blinders on his horse while at the plough-whether or not he uses them in other cases. And we admit that all horses should be taught to go without blinders whenever the master chooses, in order that he may see objects more clearly, and learn that they will not hurt him. In teaching a horse to work without a rider or a leader, it is of the utmost importance to treat him kindly. Harsh language will not answer when you give him the liberty of working without reins. After he has been led a few times across a corn-field, let him go between the rows without a leader, though a man may go a few times by his side, a little distance from him. Should the horse miss the row speak to him plainly. Say haw or gee, as the case may re quire. If he does not mind, call on him to stop, and second the call by running the plough or cultivator deep into the soil. Then go to his head, and speak as kindly as possible. Put him on the right track again— and when he deviates, as he will often do, forgive him, though he may go wrong seventy and seven times. He will at length learn to keep the track-and he will soon learn to come round at the ends of the rows without trampling down the corn and other plants. He will do less mischief than he will when he is pulled about by a rein. What do we Drain For? This question will be answered very differently by different farmers. The most common idea is that the object in draining is to carry off the surplus water. This idea is good enough as far as it goes, but it is but one of the many benefits derived from draining. the surface is evaporated, and robs the soil of Some would be disposed to think that it cannot be a good plan to remove the water from If a lighted candle be held at the outlet of a a soil during dry weather; but practice has good tile drain, we will find that there is a very proved that drained soils suffer much less from strong draught inward and that the strength of long-continued drouth than those which are this draught is proportionate to the length of not drained. This is easily accounted for: the the drain. Here then is a supply of air rush-air which passes along the drain is charged ing up the drain, but what becomes of it? It passes out through the soil to the roots of the plants growing thereon. This supply of air from below causes the roots to run deep, and thus enables the plants to withstand a dry sea son. It is a well-established fact that any soil is greatly benefited by water passing through it; hence the benefit of rain. On drained land, the rain-water, instead of running off and washing away the soil, sinks readily, and as it opens a passage through the soil is followed by the air from above. with a large amount of moisture, which it imparts to the soil while passing through it. Many soils contain a portion of the sulphate of iron; the air coming in contact with this compound will impart to it an additional proportion of oxygen, and thus form a peroxide of iron. The sulphate is injurious to vegetation and the peroxide healthful. It has been found by repeated experiments, made in England, that the cost of judicious draining is repaid every three or four years. The average cost of draining English land is about $30 per acre. If this would increase the It seems to be a fixed idea that "it will not wheat crop but five bushels per acre, it would pay" to drain land on which the water does give an interest of 25 per cent. on the cost, or not stand after a rain; but in England, where would repay the outlay in four years. Draindraining has reached a high state of perfec-ing is very beneficial in the North, where the tion, it has been found that any land may be much benefited by draining. In addition to the above-mentioned benefits, the following may be enumerated: It prevents the winter-killing of the crops, such as wheat and grass. Wheat and grass are often killed or injured during the winter by the water in the soil freezing and causing it to expand. This tears and injures the roots of the plants. Good drainage removes this water, and thus obviates the evil. Draining is equivalent to lengthening the season, for the soil warms sooner in the spring, and does not part with its heat so soon in the autumn as undrained land. Thus, drained land can be worked without injury much sooner in the spring, and much sooner after a wet spell, than undrained land. We know that when water evaporates, it carries off a large amount of heat. In undrained land a large proportion of the water at or near seasons are short; for a crop on drained land will ripen ten or fourteen days sooner than one on undrained land. Another benefit of draining is the improved health of the country; which is a very important consideration with, AGRICOLA, in Germantown Telegraph. Farmers' Gardens. It is a fact too patent to require argument, though realized by few, that the gardens of most farmers are by no means what they should be. This is more particularly observed by those who make gardening an exclusive business. Too little attention is paid by the farmer to this branch of his industry. Upon how many farms of two or three hundred acres is the garden limited to half or even to a quarter of an acre; and this, how often, nothing more than a sort of home patch of the same things which are produced from the fields, with the advantage of a little earlier maturity. A few things, it is true, find a place here, which cannot be planted in the fields with profit or convenience, such as several kinds of herbs, some roots, and perhaps a few early cabbages.How remarkably innocent is the ground of any likeness to a garden. There may be men whose ideal of a garden is filled by that which they so designate, but it must certainly arise from a lack of observation. It would most unquestionably do these men good to journey abroad, if for no other purpose than to cultivate their conception of proper gardening. That it is no part of good husbandry and very bad economy to bestow so little care upon this part of the farm may be easily seen by any one who will give the slightest thought to the subject. The larger a man's farm the larger should be his garden; and let the farm be of whatever size, the garden should be well cared for. The man who farms on a small scale ought to see to it that he raises as much as possible from the garden, so that he may save the profits of his farm to apply to other uses, and if possible add something to his income by the sale of whatever he can spare. The man who owns hundreds of acres and employs several men has need to make his garden tell in the economy of the kitchen. He, surely, has the means of making much of his garden. He has the manure, the land, the men to work it, and to consume its products. To take care of it, if rightly managed, will not detract just so much time from the labor of the fields. Set it down as a fact, that any time during the summer, when a leisure hour occurs which cannot be profitably spent elsewhere, you or some of your men may work in the garden to good advantage. And let it be so managed that two or three crops shall be taken from the soil. This can as easily be done as to get only one. Odd spells are continually occurring, and let some crops be put in early, and a succession of the same be kept up at intervals of a week or ten days, somewhat according to your convenience; and let others follow in their season. overlooking the fact that the weeds have been silently yet sturdily at work in pillaging from the treasury whence alone the aliment necessary to their development can be derived. If we must cultivate weeds, let us, by all means appropriate to them a certain prescribed portion of our soil, and keep them there. But the man who should do this, would be regarded as insane, while he who permits them to overrun and strangle his corn and other valuable crops, is regarded as anything but a fit subject for a straight waistcoat. Every inch of your enclosed lands should be turned to profit,-made to produce something of value. Therefore, remove all the stumps, stones, and bushes, that encumbereth them.August is the best month for the destruction of briars, bushes, &c.; but weeds, stones and stumps should be attacked at all times.-AN OLD FARMER in Ger. Telegraph. Agricultural Capital. What in the hands of the farmer constitutes capital? With the merchant, cash is capital; with the land speculator, land is capital; with the farmer, cash, land and stock are capital. Nor do these constitute all a farmer's capitalmany other items, too often overlooked, also form capital, such as implements, manure, and, most of all, labor. Capital is either productive or non-productive; a million of dollars in gold or silver, or one thousand acres of unproductive land may be capital, but while it remains in this state it produces nothing, and the owner may be actually growing poorer. Increase in wealth does not depend so much upon the amount of capital as upon the use made of it; and in nothing is this more plainly shown than in farming. There is many a farmer who commenced on fifty acres; on this he annually expended twenty per cent., in manure, labor, &c., &c., and the produce was perhaps forty per cent.Encouraged by this success, he adds fifty acres more, but does not proportionally increase his You will then soon enlarge the ground de- active capital, and the profits are lessened in voted to garden purposes, give it better culti-proportion. Still he has not land enough, and vation and more skillful management; eat of its fruits, you and your household; so shall your pork and beef barrels be lengthened out and your measures of meal enlarged.-P. P. in Homestead. Weeds, Bushes, &c. MR. PRINTER :-Declare unceasing war against weeds; cleanse your lands thoroughly, no matter what the labor or expense-and keep them cleansed. Few are aware how much nutriment they abstract from the soil. When the corn, or wheat, or potato crop fails to realise our expectations, we vent bitter invectives against the soil, or the season, or the seed, buys more, still adding very little or nothing to his active capital. The consequence is that while on fifty acres he made forty per cent., on five hundred he would realise nothing. He has converted his productive into non-productive capital. There is nothing more true than that the inordinate desire for large farms has been the ruin of thousands. It is true that a large farm may be made as productive as a small one; but to do this there must be expended on it an amount of active capital, in the shape of manure, labor, &c., in proportion-a thing rarely done. Let no one undertake to have or hold more land than he has capital to manage well. STOCK REGISTER. Sheep vs. Cattle. MR. EDITOR:-Will you please allow a practical farmer to occupy a small space in your excellent paper, the WIS. FARMER, on the above subject, and first let me say that if the farmers themselves would spend a few of their leisure moments in writing for their paper, at such times as they may think they have anything of general interest to communicate, they, as a class, would receive more benefit from its con tents. For it is from the practical as well as from the scientific, that we can mutually benefit each other by comparing ideas and experiences. Now let me ask, how many farmers there are in our own Wisconsin, that have, around their barns or sheds, double the number of scrubs of cattle than they are able to furnish with even a limited supply of marsh hay. Every spear the poor man can rake and scrape, and all his coarse fodder, must go into these scrubs to keep them alive through the winter, and to what benefit in these hard times, or in fact almost any times; they are worth very little, if any more, on the first day of June than they were on the first of October. Ask them where and how they procure their wearing apparel, the woolen garments for themselves and family. The answer will almost invariably be, "Buy them at the store and rely on the coming wheat crop for the money to pay for them with." Now if these persons would procure a few good sheep, in place of the unnecessary portion of their profitless cattle, not more than they could profitably feed and comfortably shelter, it appears to me their condition and prospects For the rougher tools of the farm which have become polished by use, it is better to apply a thin varnish, made by dissolving one ounce of gum shellac in one quart of alcohol, at ninetyfive degrees of strength; the alcohol evaporates immediately, leaving a very thin coating of shellac, which will not peel off, and which is for a confortable livelihood would be greatly entirely water-proof. This is the gum used on improved thereby, to say the least. Now there the inside of hats to render them water-proof, are profits in keeping a reasonable number of and it will thoroughly prevent the rusting of plow-shares, spades, knives of reaping ma- sheep. At any rate the wool brings a price, and chines, etc. We frequently see it recommended generally a good one, in cash each year. You to coat bright tools with bees-wax, oil, etc. It are not compelled to wait from three to five is true that for a time these substances will protect surfaces from rust, but when the oxy-years to turn your stock into money, and then dation does commence, it is more severe than as to the amount finally received there is this when they are not used. If applied at all, difference, the cattle will probably bring a they should be wiped off again, leaving only so much as will scarcely be perceptible. part, and in most localities in this State, a |