Inquiries and Answers. DESTROYING LIVE-FOREVER.-I am sadly perplexed to know what to do with a field on my farm, which is almost completely infested with "live-forever." Will you or some one of your host of correspondents, be kind enough to advise me how to manage the pest so as to get rid of it, if such a thing is possible, or how to employ the field to the best advantage With the pest in it, I might as well abandon the lot as to attempt to dig it out root by root. WM. H. VAN ORDEN Greene Co., N. Y. [Not having had any experience with this weed, we are not so well qualified to give advice as those who have had it to contend with. We think, however, if it could be turned under and completely buried with a largest size double Michigan plow, it could not survive the smothering process: The work would need of course to be very thoroughly and completely executed. Paring, and carting off the crop for a compost heap, might answer on a moderate scale, but would be more laborious, and probably more imperfect.] PLANTS FOR NAME.-Will you please inform me through the Cultivator, if the plants, the flowers of which I enclose, are noxious-they are plants which have appeared in this vicinity within the past few years, and are spreading to some extent; being unacquainted with them, I send them to you hoping you may be able to identify them, and thereby confer a favor upon others as well as myself. w. F. H. West Winsted, Aug. 15. [The smaller of the plants sent is the Trifolium procumbens or yellow clover, which in some places is becoming somewhat troublesome. The other is only a single, badly pressed flower, and therefore difficult to name, but appears to be a Rudbeckia, some species of which we understand are assuming the character of a weed.] HOP-VINE INSECT.-Can any of your numerous correspondents inform me what is the name of the insect that devours the hop leaves, and if they know of any remedy? P. J. B. Canada East. [Dr. Fitch describes the Hop-vine Snoutmoth, the most destructive insect that devours the leaves of the hop, and probably the one here alluded to. He thinks it probably introduced from Europe, where, according to the statement of Kirby & Spence, "the hop-grower is wholly at the mercy of insects-they are the barometer that indicates the rise and fall of his wealth." They make their appearance suddenly and in immense numbers, and in a few days destroy whole fields. If the hop-grower in Europe has so long suffered from their destructive attacks without remedy, the prospect is not very encouraging here. Dr. Fitch says the only remedy he has seen mentioned, is syringing or showering the vines with strong soap suds or with a solution of oil soap in the proportion of two pounds of the soap to about fifteen gallons of water, but he does not say how efficient this remedy is. It would obviously require great labor and some expense to go over large hop fields.] SALT AS MANURE.-Will you inform me through the columns of THE CULTIVATOR, whether it is practicable to use salt as a manure, and if it is, to what soils is it the most beneficial, and how is the best mode of applying it? A WRIGHT. Alaways Town. [Salt has been tried to some extent as a manure, and has mostly proved beneficial, more especially to the wheat crop. A few bushels may be sown per acre, and it soon finds its way into the soil by solution. Our own observations indicate the best results on heavy soils.] FIFE WHEAT-Tell J. B. W, who inquires for Fife wheat, samples of which of which I enclose you, that Walder Buck of Polo, Ogle co., Ill, has a field of 300 acres in Fife wheat this year, and there is another man at Shusong, who has 1600 acres in wheat, mostly Fife. It is extensively raised in this country, and is a good wheat, only it is late in ripening. It should be remembered that it is a spring wheat. J. E. Mount Morris, Ill. INDIAN CORN.-We southern farmers are surprised at the large yields per acre of corn at the north, and I believe you would confer an especial benefit on many readers, by getting their preparation for, and culture, and product of a corn crop, one of your successful farmers to give a thorough account of together with the quality of land, variety of corn, distance, implements, time of planting, &c.; and by no means an unimportant item, the locality or latitude in which the crop was made, which I think does not appear as often as it should in the accounts of what some one did, and how and when he did it. F. 8. Della, Tenn. WARTS.-Can you or any of your readers inform me of a cure for warts on a cow's tents? I have a valuable cow badly affected that way, and it is a painful operation for her to be milked. A YOUNG FARMER. ONIONS.-I have a field of onions, some of which are very late. Is it advisable to roll the tops down? If so, what is the method of doing it? D. J. B. Will some of our onion growers answer the above?] THRESHING MACHINE.-Can any of your numerous subscribers inform me which is the best machine now in use for one horse? I have lately seen a power patented by William Darling of Cincinnati. Has any one used this power who can pass upon its merits? Any information in regard to threshers and horse-powers will be thankfully received. Limerick Bridge, Pa. M. R. Please print a recipe for making huckleberry wine, and much oblige A SUBSCRIBER. [We are unable to find a recipe for this purpose in any of our books. Perhaps some of our readers can furnish one.] W. J. P. TOPPING CARROTS.-Can you or any of the readers of the GENTLEMAN, give any easier or more speedy way of topping carrots than taking each one up separately and performing the operation with the knife, a very slow and laborious course? Could it be done with a scythe before digging? [The work is usually done with a knife, the top being used to assist in drawing the root from the earth. A scythe would not do the work with sufficient accuracy or evenness--but a good steel hoe, ground sharp, might be used, and if a deep furrow were carefully plowed from each side, the roots might be taken out easily. A subsoil plow has been advantageously employed.] MODERN ARCHITECTURE.-Will you please inform me if there is any American work on Architecture, which is good and explicit authority as to the proportions of the various parts and members of the modern Rural Styles, or of which the illustrations even, are models from which such details and proportions can be selected? AMATEUR. [We do not know that we quite understand what our correspondent wants. The plans of Houses furnished in the REGISTER OF RURAL AFFAIRS, and from time to time in this paper, are all drawn upon a scale showing "the parts and members" in due “proportion" with one another; but it is our impression that as TOBACCO.-"L. B." wants to know about culture of tobacco. a general rule it is the safest and least expensive mode for The culture is very simple, the main object seeming to be, to inexperienced persons to put their plans, however perfect, "make it grow;" but if "L. B." has no means of learning into the hands of a well qualified architect or builder for expractically the mode of "cutting, curing," &c., he had bet-ecution. More ideas and suggestions with regard to plans can ter let it alone. The plants are obtained from a plant-bed probably be found in the two volumes of RURAL AFFAIRS, (sent post paid for 81 each,) than in any other work of equal price.j as cabbage plants are. F. S. Delta, Tenn. OSAGE ORANGE-Tell Inquirer about the Osage Orange, that it is readily propagated by pieces of root eight inches long, set in the spring, with one end just at the surface. It is more sure than seed to grow. A. S. M. Fredonia, N. Y LOIS WEEDON WHEAT CULTURE.-On page 362, vol. xv, in the account of the system of half fallow culture pursued at Lois Weedon, the average yield of wheat is stated at thirty-six bushels per annum. Does this apply to the whole area of five acres, or only to the alternate strips? In other words, do these strips yield at the rate of thirty-six or seven ty-two bushels? The latter, though not unprecedented, seems an immense product. NOVICE. [As but one-half the land is planted, the produce on that portion must be at the rate of seventy-two bushels per acre; but it must not hence be inferred that if the whole land was seeded, the acre would produce seventy-two bushels.] BLOOD SPAVIN-Seeing an inquiry from Bath, Me, for a cure of the blood spavin, will you please publish the following remedy that with me has always effected a cure if timely applied, and on a young horse. If the spavin is of long standing it is very difficult to effect a permanent cure. Take the root of the poke weed (Phitalacea decandra;) cut it in thin slices, and boil it in urine till soft; with this decoction bathe the affected part once or twice a day till a cure is effected, rubbing the swelling quite hard, downwards, with the hand or any other smooth substance. It should not be so strong, nor so frequently applied, as to remove the hair. If the poke weed does not grow in the neighborhood of the inquirer, we will send him a few roots by express if he will direct where to send them. WILSON DENNIS. Applebachville, Bucks Co., Pa. ICE HOUSES.-I saw something about ice houses in one of the nos. of Co. GENT. I have one made two years ago, 16 feet deep and 16 feet in diameter, perfectly round, made of stone, plenty sand at the bottom to take off all water. I filled it last winter with snow ice, (best I could get,) just threw it in without placing it and covered with straw, (put straw at the bottom on rails first,) none on the sides, and we have used ice and plenty left yet. W. HALL. Carroll Co., Ky. tries, each of twenty-five bushels Winter Wheat, competing for the Canada Company's prize of $100, offered in the following language: For the best 25 bushels of Fall Wheat, the produce of Canada West, tinct variety, pure and unmixed. The prize to be awarded to the actual grower only of the Wheat, which is to be given up to and become the property of the Association, for distribution to the County Socie being the growth of the year 1860. Each sample must be of one dis ties for SEED. CALLANAN'S DITCH-DIGGER.-I see an article in the July CULTIVATOR, p 224, on "Cheap Draining." Will you have the kindness to describe the implement used, and the probaThis liberal premium was wisely supplemented by the ble cost laid down here, being 14 miles from railroad, and Association with four others, respectively of 850, $40, $30 whether it can be used to advantage on muck land, and stoney and $20, the winner of the first only being called upon to hardpan bottom? I use stone for forming the drain-want to cut a ditch 18 inches wide, 3 feet deep. Please also to in- give up his wheat, but all required to furnish the Secreform me the manner of applying the power. J. C. ELLIS. tary with a written statement of the nature of the soil, Frost Village, C. E. [The implement alluded to, was de-mode of preparation, the variety and quantity of seed, scribed in THE CULTIVATOR for May, p. 148, to which we re- and time of sowing, manures, (if any used,) produce per fer our correspondent for all the information he asks for, with acre of grain, and any other particulars of practical imthe exception of the price, which he will find advertised in portance, before being paid the amount of premium. the July no., p. 230.] As to quality, it is difficult to imagine how it could have been much better; probably no premium was taken by any sample weighing less than 63 or 64 lbs. to the bushel, while I was told by one of the Judges that the weight of the first prize sample of two bushels was 664 lbs., while that of the whole twenty-five bushels shown, in one or two instances, averaged throughout over sixty-five lbs. per bushel. The crop has this year, as may be imagined from the above, been an extraordinary fine one in some localities; one farmer standing by stated that in his vicinity he believed that 40 bushels per acre would be no more than the average yield, while he personally knew of instances in which fifty-two had been obtained. Whatever allowance may be required for this, as an exceptional case, it is enough to indicate-like one or two other matters to which I shall refer in due time-that our best farmers will have to look to their laurels. CLEANSING WOOL.-I wish some of your subscribers to give through the columns of THE CULTIVATOR, the best method for washing wool after it is clipped, how to cleanse it and get the gum and dirt out without injuring the wool, and prepare it for carding into rolls. It will be of great benefit to the good ladies out west, for many of them know nothing about preparing wool. Also the best method to wash the cleanings of cards, as they are greasy and pull up dirt. I wish to know how they may be cleaned to card again. Henrysville, Ky. D. M. FOULKS. EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. Provincial Exhibition of Upper Canada. The grounds upon which the Show was held are within the city limits, although nearly a mile, perhaps, from the central hotels. They comprise eighteen or twenty acres admirably adapted for the purpose, although neither regular in outline nor level in surface. A broad graveled walk leads from the main entrance, which was arched over and appropriately ornamented with evergreens, to the "Crystal Palace," standing at the head of a gentle rise upon an altitude sufficiently great to be seen at a considerable tance to good advantage. The actual cost of this building alone, I was informed, was fully $12,000. The FRUITS which, with a less extensive assortment of Flowers, constituted the most ornamental and striking display in the Palace building, represented excellently well what I suppose to be the best Fruit region in Canadathat lying between the two lakes, Ontario and Erie, especially that part of it more immediately adjacent to the northern shore of the latter, while, indeed, it is probadis-ble that through a great part of the two counties of Lincoln and Haldimand, fruit may be cultivated to better advantage than in any other part of the province of equal extent. I do not wish to appear invidious in the mention of names among so many that were deserving of particular notice for beautiful assortments, but I could not forbear particularly remarking the complete and handsome lot presented by our correspondent, D. W. Beadle of St. Catherines, from his father's nurseries at that place-including 80 varieties of Apples, 30 of Pears, 10 of the Peach, grown in open air, 10 of Grapes, with a collection in jars of preserved small fruits-and I make this mention the more readily because I availed myself of Mr. B.'s experience to obtain for the benefit of our readers in that region, a list of sorts which are found to be most successful in its climate and on its soils, for practical purposes, including general hardiness, productiveness and superior quality. For example the 20 sorts of Apples selected by him, with all these considerations in view, were these: Of the contents of the Crystal Palace I must speak cursorily, except as to the fruits and grains, which deserve particular mention; they included a general show of manufactured products, considerable machinery, musical instruments, quite a fine art collection, models of various kinds, artificial manures, &c., &c., all in sufficient numbers to convey to a stranger like myself, on his first visit to this part of Canada, a most favorable impression of its home resources and advancement in the useful and ornamental arts. On the western section of the ground floor, the display of garden vegetables as a whole, was certainly one of the best I have ever seen, if others may have surpassed it, in some particulars and perhaps also in mere extent. To the north were the dairy products, of which, both butter and cheese, the exhibition was very fair. The GRAINS, however, as just intimated, and to which we are now coming, must be classed among the half-dozen prominent features of the Exhibition, in any and all of which I cannot but regard it as comparing most creditably with any Show I have ever seen. may be obtained from the following summary of the principal entries: SUMMER APPLES. Bough, Large Sweet. AUTUMN. Snow Apple or Fameuse. Baldwin. 83 entries, Best two bushels of Winter Wheat,. Best two bushels of Barley.... Best two bushels of Rye... Best two bushels of Oats, white 53, black 19,-total, 72 do. 79 do. Best bushel white Field Beans, 29 do. Best two bushels Indian Corn, white 25, yellow 40-total, 65 do. Best bushel Timothy seed. 60 do. Best bushel Clover seed, 17 do. Hubbardston Nonsuch. Pomme Grise. Rhode Island Greening. favorites with a few kinds of more recent introduction. This list, it will be noticed, contains many of our old A dozen sorts of Pears, which generally succeed well with him, are the Madeleine, Osband's Summer. Bartlett, Buffum, Beurre Bosc, Belle Lucrative, White Doyenne. The Bartlett, however, suffers in some localities from the But more striking than all this, were the thirty-two en- extreme cold which occasionally prevails, But our time is limited and we shall see nothing of the Live Stock unless we abandon at once the charms of Pomona. I said there were half-a-dozen prominent features of excellence in the Show, and if the Grains and Fruits were entitled to rank among them, not less so is the display of Cattle throughout, and that of Sheep in the classes of Cotswolds and Leicesters. I say nothing of the Horses, for beyond one or two good specimens of the heavy English dray horse, I saw none of them; and, as to the Swine, it may be added in few words that the Show was a respectable one, without anything particular to attract attention unless it was some pens of Imported large breeds, which were almost constantly surrounded by an admiring crowd. I was indebted to the kindness of Mr. Secretary THOMSON for the privilege of ascertaining from the Society's books that there were about 700 Sheep on the ground, and that the Entries of Cattle in their respective classes were as follows: For best bull of any age or breed, Among the Short-Horns, some were entitled to praise as really first class animals, and the range of merit throughout was above the average, while here in some degree, and still more among the Devons, not only does the contribution by so many different exhibitors to make up the show, speak well for the distribution of improved stock in the hands of the farmers of the country, but the excellence of the young animals bred from imported parents also proves that the breeders are working well for the interests of the herds they are rearing. It is an unpleasant task to call in question the decision of appointed judges, and one that I am never disposed to undertake; for, if minor differences of opinion are to be canvassed at length, we should have room for little else. But among the few prize cards that had been distributed when I made the rounds of the stalls, there was one instance of gross misjudgment which I do not think it just to pass by. Mr. Frederick Wm. Stone of Guelph, exhibited, among other Short-Horns, the imported cow "Desde mona," bred by Mr. Ambler, of which I am saying a great deal, but not too much, when I add that not half a dozen of the cows ever imported into this country would care to compete with her before any intelligent judge, notwithstanding which fact she was placed third to a first and second, one of which latter was just a nicish sort of beast, and the other could scarcely have come out ahead among some high bred grades I have seen at our shows. As consolation, Mr. S., however, took the herd prize in which this cow, "Desdemona," was included, together with the bull "3d Grand Duke," of his own breeding, the cow "Eugenia," also imported from Ambler, and a pair of heifers that were very sweet and pretty. The Millers, John Snell, and others, were prominent among exhibitors, but I should scarcely venture to name any for the reason that so few of the cards, from which alone they could be had, were given out when I took my last look. seldom seen in our show-yards, but one of which I may repeat what was just said of the Galloways, that they deserve to be better known. The show of POULTRY was large, the coops admirably arranged as regards the comfortable examination of their contents, and the long range of roofing under which they were sheltered was constantly crowded. Among the implements no visitor could fail to notice the number and variety of CULTIVATORS that were exhibited, and connected with this fact may be mentioned a second, namely, that the show of Roors-although a gentleman assured me that they had had more and better on some other occasions-was certainly among the very best that I have ever seen, including particularly Long Red and Yellow Globe Mangolds, Sugar Beets, Swede Turnips, and Yellow Aberdeens. The show of Potatoes was also very large and admirable. It is in this matter of sheep, roots, and implements of tillage, that we "Americans" might profitably study the example of those of our brethren in Canada West, who have I brought into the practice of colonial cultivation some of the best ideas of the old country farming. My friend above alluded to had 40 acres of turnips and rape on his farm, the latter for sheep feed during August and September when grass is likely to be short, and he represented this attention to roots as no unusual thing in his district of country. Over twenty-five years experience in this country had only served in his case to strengthen that very peculiar British prejudice in favor of ample manuring through the agency of the farmer's sheep and cattle, which seems most singularly to have melted away under the free and enlightening influences of republican agriculture. I cannot pursue the subject, but I shall hope sometime to have the opportunity of examining more closely the farming, of which such roots, and sheep, and cultivators, are the emblems, for they, as well as the crop-reports of which I have above given an example, savor more strongly of the principles and the success of "English Agriculture" than anything I have seen for just about a twelve-month past. As one draws to its conclusion a letter like this, which must be mailed, whether ready or no, at a certain hour of the clock, many things press forward upon the mind, for which room can scarcely be found in pen and ink. Among matters especially demanding notice is the public spirit with which Hamilton, in common with several other Canadian towns, has come forward in support of the great interest on which, more than any other, the prosperity both of that country and of ours, is dependent-its agricultural improvement. The total amount expended upon the grounds and erections here, of which I cannot make room for a fuller description, was stated to me at $35,000, including the Palace building-$22,000 of which, if I understand rightly, is appropriated by the city authorities. The buildings are permanently erected, and with great perfection, convenience and completeness; there they stand for the use of the local society, and for other purposes, with each recurring year, and for the Provincial Association as it alternates from The Devons, as will be seen from the number of entries, place to place, perhaps once in three, four or five years. were out in large force, and this, together with the excel-The grounds are like a park, and may be regarded one for lence of many, gave the breed some prominence over others. all practical purposes. It seems to me that we shall have The Galloways showed an evident gain in public opinion, to revert to some such system on our side the line, sooner and I cannot but renew the opinion I expressed in writing from Scotland last year, that they are well worth more attention than we have ever given them. I should regard the display of them here as a very fair one-the aged stock showed good size in several instances, straight and tolerably even contour and good "quality," while among the young things there were one or two promising even better. What can I add, with regard to the sheep, to what has been already said? Mr. Stone, who has just returned from England, has imported recently over 50 head of Cotswolds. He was exhibiting about 40 out of his flock, upon which he had altogether 14 prizes. He also showed a pen of South Downs, two imported and two of his own breeding, that were very nice. The entries of Leicesters alone were 76 in number, including among them many that I should be glad to notice at length, and the Cheviots formed a class or later; the example of public enterprise shown in this direction by our Canadian neighbors is particularly worthy of remark, for the expensive system of annually fitting up structures which the demand of exhibitors compels us to make more and more costly with every year, is one that often bears unequally upon private generosity, while, at the same time, there are so many advantages which may result in other directions from the possession of complete and permanent erections, that it seems legitimately a matter coming within the range, as they have there regarded it, of some decided action on the part of our State or local authorities. L. H. T. Mrs. JAMES HALL of this city, will please accept our thanks for fine Bartlett Pears, as well as for similar polite attentions heretofore. HARVESTING CLOVER SEED. Some hints on harvesting clover seed may prove valuable to the farmer--but first, a few items in regard to growing it. A rich soil and favorable season are required to produce a large crop. The first growth is mown early as soon as fairly in blossom-for hay; leaving the second or after growth to go to seed, as it is usually less rank and better filled than the first. Sometimes, however, both the first and second growth may blossom largely and yet produce very little seed—from some cause not well understood. It is said that the application of plaster to the clover field in spring will secure a better yield of seed from the second crop, while a direct application after mowing the first growth is found to increase the rankness of the hay at the expense of the filling of the heads with seed. [For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] CULTURE OF THE STRAWBERRY. MESSRS. EDITORS-Having numerous inquiries about my "strawberry patch," as to soil, cultivation, &c., allow me a little space to answer them. The soil is a loamy gravel, with porous subsoil, and has only been worked twelve to fifteen inches deep with a plow. Ten years ago it was occupied by fruit trees, which were removed to make a garden, and was occupied as a vegetable garden till two years ago last fall. I set out thirty plants of strawberry (Wilson's,) on a small part of it. One year ago last spring the remainder was set also, three rows on the bed which is bounded by my gravel walk on one side and an open drain on the other, which carries the slop water from the kitchen. The land is only in fair condition-has had no manure since I first began to put out the strawberries. The plants have run and covered the ground, but have been taken out where they were too thick, but I did not make them quite thin enough to allow room for picking, which I think is best. But the secret I think is, that my well is but a few feet Clover seed should be harvested as soon as sufficiently ripe, and we would only wait until two-thirds of the heads were brown before commencing the work. Early cutting generally gives better weather for curing; there is less loss of seed from the shelling out of the earliest, best fill-off, and the bed was supplied with one to two barrels of water daily from a hand sprinkler. The first carried to ed heads; and the straw is of greater value as fodder for market was June 4th, and we had a supply for the table cattle than if allowed to stand until the whole is dead ripe. over four weeks from this bed. Besides, the later ripening heads, for which we wait, really have little value, being poorly filled with seed. The best implement for harvesting is a reaper-the grain platform attached, with a board at the back edge to retain a larger amount of clover-when full to be pitched or raked off in heaps. If clover stands well it may be cut high; it saves time in curing and labor in handling, and leaves the dryer portions of the stalk upon the field. As soon as fairly dry, it should be drawn to the barn, as it cannot be secured in the cock against rain. When spread out, however, as when left in the swath, or in small gavels from the reaper, it is little injured by rain, though heavy storms may wash off a portion of the seed. In cutting with the scythe, we may turn two swaths together to facilitate the work of raking. With good weather it will be cured sufficiently to draw in the second day after cutting; if not, it may be raked, when slightly damp, into small bunches, or pitched together with a barley fork. Care in handling is requisite to prevent loss from the dropping of the heads, and, from the stiff bush-like character of the straw, it may be placed in the mow in a greener state than hay or grain without injury. The moisture should be dried off, but an occasional juicy stalk will do no harm. The seed can be separated from the straw with a common threshing machine cylinder, having a long shaker or box full of holes attached, so that the heavier part of the chaff which contains the seed may fall through. This work is best performed in freezing cold weather, when no dampness is present in the seed or air. To get the clean seed, a clover huller is employed-a machine which rubs the seed from the chaff, which is passed through it again and again, until the separation is complete. Wherever the crop is much grown, there are farmers who make it their business to go from barn to barn with these machinesthreshing, hulling, and cleaning the seed at a specified price per bushel, usually about one dollar. If grown only in small quantities for home use, clover seed may be threshed with flails, or trodden out with horses, and sown in the chaff, which is full as certain to "catch," and perhaps more sure than that cleaned so nicely. Still it is difficult to regulate the quantity as closely, or distribute as evenly, as with the clean seed, but by putting it on liberally one may be sure of a thorough seeding. Though as a general rule "farmers should raise their own grass seed," we question the policy of taking repeated crops of seed from every clover meadow-believing the practice to tend rapidly to the exhaustion of the soil. An occasional crop may be allowed, but very often the hay would prove of more value than the seed obtained, considering the comparative labor of securing, and effect upon the soil. The manure used while raising vegetables was barnyard and muck. Since done picking in July, I mowed off the old vines close, and with a spade turned under all but three rows eight to twelve inches wide, which are now covered heavily with a new growth of leaves. I forgot to say I put about half a cord of tan bark on this bed last spring. Some one once said (I think Mr. Pardee,) that " a lazy man could not raise strawberries," and acting on this, no weeds have been allowed to get a foot-hold. No special fertilizers have been used. A. S. Moss. Fredonia, N. Y. [For the Country Gentleman and Cultivator.] To Exterminate “Iron Weed,” &c. MESSRS. EDITORS-In reply to your inquiry on this point, for the benefit of P. D., Bullitt Co., Ky., I would state as my experience, that “iron weed," and many other pests to Kentucky woodland pastures, can be easily eradi cated in a few years, by systematic cuttings twice a year before the ripening of their seeds. As akin to this, I will add that locust or other tree sprouts, infesting either pas tures or cultivated lands, may be destroyed most easily by cutting one or two years successively, in the latter part of August. THE CULTIVATOR. ALBANY, N. Y., OCTOBER, 1860. During the past week we had the opportunity of spending a day at the Agricultural College Farm at Ovid upon Seneca Lake. The transverse wing at the extreme south and the longitudinal wing which connects it with the site of the central Building, are now completed, and will be furnished in the course of the coming Autumn; the former, 60 by 844 feet, and four stories in height, and the latter of three stories, 58 feet by 128-the two calculated to accommodate from one hundred to one hundred and fifty students, with apartments in the basement for temporary use as recitation rooms, etc., which are designed subsequently to find place in the central erection. The provision for thorough ventilation is remarkably complete; and the arrangements for heating, by means of warm air, and for lighting with gas, will probably prove economical as well as conducive to health and comfort. We understood it to be the determination of the Trustees to open the Sessions of the Institution with the Winter Term, the first of December next. Major M. R. PATRICK, the President, will soon have a circular ready with full information as to the Classes for which Students will be received, the Text books decided on, the additional Instructors appointed, together with such other particulars as may be required, which may be had by addressing him at Ovid, Seneca Co. usually abundant and perfect. At Rochester we regretted having no more time to visit our Horticultural friends, who seem, from all we can learn, to be thriving most satisfactorily on the growing public appreciation of fine fruit, and taste for ornamental trees and plants. The Potato Rot is everywhere beginning to show itself quite plainly the tops in some fields being already entirely gone. The few who have thus far escaped its attacks, will have to regard it we fear as only a question of time, for the weather still continues of precisely the kind best adapted to promote its extension. THE WHEAT CROP AT THE WEST.-All accounts represent the wheat crop in the Western States as much larger than was anticipated. As samples of what we find in our western exchanges, we quote the following: The Ottawa (Ill.) Free Trader of Aug. 18, says "The wheat harvest in this region presents the singular feature of turning out much heavier when the wheat comes to be threshed than was anticipated. It is a very common remark among farmers, that where they anticipated a yield of 20 bushels to the acre, it has gone up to 30 or 35. 30 and 40 bushels to the acre are indeed very common in the county. Mr. Wm. Powell, Somonauk, had out seven acres of wheat. It looked well, and he counted on 30 bushels to the acre. He threshed it and found the yield 327 bushels-nearly 50 to the acre! Instances like this are indeed quite common all over the county." The Maquoketa (Iowa) Sentinel of August 16, says; "Mr. George W. Bowman threshed for Mr. Seymour Day, one of our farmers, who sowed last spring twenty-four bushels of wheat upon sixteen acres of ground, and harvested 650 bushels; making just 40 bushels to the acre." The Wabashaw (Minnesota) Journal says: "The yield The location upon the lake is a pleasant one, and is of wheat is so large in some localities of Minnesota, that more accessible than many have supposed-the lake re-owners of threshing machines are offering to thresh out maining unfrozen in winter, so that the Ovid landing may at any season be reached by steamboat from Geneva in about two hours, or from Jefferson at the head of the lake in a little longer time, from which latter point there is railroad connection with the Erie line and all its numerous branches. From the village of Ovid, which the College Farm adjoins, there is a fine view of Cayuga Lake, some miles to the eastward, and ready access may also be had, if desired, by various means of communication in this direction. - From Ovid we proceeded to Elmira, where, in the midst of a driving rain, we found the grounds allotted for our next State Fair as dry and hard as possible, their gravelly soil being capable of any extent of saturation without becoming muddy. The buildings are now well under way, and the promise of attendance from "the southern tier," from Pennsylvania, and from our western counties, we were assured was very large-so much so, that probably the full capacities of the place will be taxed for its accommodation, although Elmira is well provided with hotels, and is said to contain a population of eleven or twelve thousand by the census of the present year. the product of some fields for the excess over thirty bushels per acre. The usual rate is one-tenth. They are calculating on a yield of over thirty-three bushels per acre." CORE FOR LAYING CEMENT PIPE.-A correspondent in Connecticut, Mr. LEVI S. WELLS, contributes for the Co. GENT. his experience with a new Patent Core, the use of which he thus describes:-"The acqueduct is made by using a bag or core of rubber cloth, which being inflated with air, is laid upon a coating of cement mortar in the bottom of the ditch, and then covered with mortar, and left a few moments to set; when the air is let out of the core, and it is drawn out, leaving a nicely formed acqueduct, having a caliber of one, two, or more inches-depending upon the size of the core used-then, proceeding again as before, and forming one continuous pipe without joints, of any desired length. A man with help to prepare the cement can lay from ten to twenty rods a day." He also commends this kind of pipe in very high termsmore so, in fact, than we should care to publish, except as the result of a longer and more complete trial of the pipe laid, as well as of the invention referred to. SEEDLING PLUMS.-We have received from C. REAGLES & SON of Schenectady, specimens of a new seedling plum from the seed of the Washington. It is large, slightly oval, (rounder than its parent,) full and obtuse, yellow with carmine dots on the sunny side, flesh rather coarse, "good," and adhering strongly to the stone. On tasting it with specimens of the Washington, we think it hardly as good as the latter, yet it has hardly had a fair chance, having been sent over two hundred miles of railway. A single examination is insufficient to enable any one to decide satisfactorily on the character of a new fruit. Returning home by way of Rochester, we found over the whole area embraced in our inquiries, a reported Wheat crop, perhaps fully equal to the large yield of 1859. Major DICKINSON assured us at Elmira, that the yield per acre was actually proving five bushels larger than anticipated, throughout the central and western portions of the State, so favorable has the season been to the production of plump grains and full ears. As to Oats, we were rather surprised to find so large a quantity all along our route, still exposed to the weather, much yet uncut, and some that had apparently been already "kept out in the wet for many showery days. This crop is said to be large, notwithstanding the loss that must have thus been occasioned. MORE OF MY EXPERIENCE WITH HAY CAPS.-I wish Corn is generally late, but, without frost next month, will the Co. GENT. "to keep them before the people "-here probably turn out pretty well. The Orchards appear to are a "peculiar institution" for a wet climate or rainy be wonderfully productive through all Western New-York. weather. I have 160 caps, and no doubt but that they Near Ovid we remarked an old garden of plums hanging have paid all they cost, during this season of haying and as full of fruit as though that millennium had already ar- harvesting, to say nothing of the three past years they have rived when the curculio shall no more ravage and destroy; been in use, and the future benefit to be derived from and all about the City of Nurseries we were told that them. If I can only get my wheat aut and set up in good plums, pears and peaches, as well as apples, will be un-order, under caps, my anxiety dwindles to nothing-if it |