epartment of agriculture by itself,
that we omit directions for growing it. The ravages of the rice-weevil,
so destructive to rice lying in bulk, are prevented by the application
of common salt, at the rate of half a pound to the bushel.

ROCKS.

We frequently find, on some of our best land, large boulders, very hard,
and too large to be removed, with any team we can command, and which
would be in the way, in any place to which we might remove them. The
best way to get rid of them, when it can be afforded, is to burn or
blast them into pieces small enough to be easily handled. When this can
not be afforded, the best method is to make an excavation by the side of
them, deep enough to let them sink below the reach of the plow, and
allow them to fall in, being careful not to get caught by them.

ROLLER.

This is quite as indispensable to good farming and gardening as any
other tool. It serves a great variety of useful purposes. The first is
to pulverize soils. No man can get a full crop on a soil not made fine
on the surface, however rich that soil may be. It is often the case that
land needs rolling two or three times before the last harrowing and
sowing the seed. Another purpose is, on all light soils, to place the
soil close around the seeds after they have been covered. When this is
not done, seeds will vegetate very unevenly, and, in dry weather, some
of them not at all. Another advantage of rolling a field-crop is the
greater facility and economy with which it can be harvested. It makes a
level, smooth surface, sinking small stones out of the way of the scythe
or reaper. Rolling makes grass-seed catch, when sown with a spring-crop.
All beds of small seeds--as onions, beets, carrots, parsnips,
&c.--should be rolled after planting. It will so smooth the surface,
that hoeing and cultivating can be done without injury to the plants.
The rows are also much more easily seen while the plants are young. Any
crop will grow better and larger by not being too much exposed to the
action of the atmosphere on its roots. When the soil is coarse, part of
the seeds and roots are greatly exposed to the action of the atmosphere,
and this exposure is very irregular. The roller so crushes the lumps and
fills up the openings in the soil as to cause the atmosphere to act
regularly on the whole crop. Few farmers stop to think that the pressure
of the atmosphere on their soils is fifteen pounds' weight on every
square inch, and that,