PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLUB. 121 



May 22, 1866. 

 Mr. Nathan C. Ely in the chair ; John W. Chambers, Secretary. 



Vermin on Stock — Ticks and Lice. 

 Mr. S. A. Todd, Riple}'-, Maine : Ticks and lice are among the 

 pests to farmers, and the remedies (all called good) are often 

 greater pests. Forty years' experience has confirmed me in the 

 use of the following remedy. I raise a little tobacco every year 

 which I cut before frost comes, wilt it on the stock, hang it in the 

 barn for a month or two, and in damp weather pnll off the leaves 

 and pack with a little straAV in a tight cask. About haying time, 

 I kiln-dry it, with care not to scorch, and in a common salt mortar 

 reduce to powder. When well sifted, I appl}'- it, with a common 

 pepper box to the sheep's back in the crevices of the wool on both 

 sides, the whole length of the sheep. If ticks are plenty repeat 

 the operation in three or four days. If ticks are found on young 

 lambs, sift on a little of the tobacco. At shearing time apply to 

 all the lambs. One pound of tobacco is sufficient for fifty sheep. 

 The result, when I do it well, is that I have more sheep than ticks 

 the next fall. The same remedy is equally beneficial to cattle. 

 But the great secret in exterminating lice on cattte lies in the fact 

 that a very few (just enough for seed) remain in the mane, ears, 

 or about the horns of cattle during the summer, and at the 

 approach of cold weather begin rapidly to multiply. To exter- 

 minate all, I apply soft soap diluted with strong salt water to the 

 parts named. AVith this remedy carefully applied, farmers will 

 soon have more cattle than lice on their cattle. 



Knitting Machines. 

 Mrs. Joseph Yates, of Delaware, Ohio, asks by letter what is 

 the best knitting machine now in use, and whether any of them 



are desirable ? 



* 



Mr. Soloi\ Robinson. — The Lamb machine, manufactured in 

 Springfield, Mass., and the Dalton, manufactured near Norwich, 

 Conn., are the best known, and the latter is probably the most 

 serviceable of the two. 



Timothy — When to Cut. 



Mr. C. S. Paine, Randolph, Vt. : " The question should not be, 



at what stage will it produce the most weight, or Inilk, or, perhaps, 



nutriment, if that nutriment is turned to a hard crusty shell of 



wood, and cannot be made available to the animal that consumes 



