34 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



of milk a day. Let that cheap fodder go to the 

 young cattle, or the hardy oxen, for their first fod- 

 dering in the morning and their last at night, during 

 the sharp and frosty weather. With the milch cows, 

 a full and generous supply of milk depends entire- 

 ly upon a full and generous supply of the right 

 kind of fodder. For this purpose, carrots among 

 the roots stand pre-eminent, if richness, ratherthan 

 quantity is desired. The various kinds of turnips, 

 beets, and parsnips, are good, especially the latter 

 root, and fed with dry fodder, keep the animals 

 healthy and yielding a full flow of milk. 



Cows should always be treated with gentleness, 

 not exposed to sudden extremes by being turned 

 from the barn to a bleak place to drink, where the 

 sharp wind pierces to their bones, and only suffered 

 to remain out through the middle of the day when 

 the weather is mild and sunny. Their stalls ought 

 to be dry, clean, and free from dust and accumu 

 lations of every kind. A strong draft should not 

 be peimitted to pass up through the floor upon 

 which they stand, as it is liable to give them colds, 

 rheumatism, and injure the udder. 



After proper sheltering and feeding, much may 

 be done for the cow by a judicious use of the cur- 

 ry-comb or card. No accumulations of filth should 

 be allowed to rest upon the skin, even if washing 

 is sometimes found necessary. Cattle will thrive 

 better and require less food where the skin is kept 

 soft and loose by proper care. An eminent physi- 

 cian, Dr. Rush, stated in a lecture upon the advan- 

 tages of studying the diseases of animals, that there 

 is an improvement in the quality of the milk, and 

 an increase of the quantity, which are obtained by 

 currying the cow. No farmer who has been in the 

 habit of properly attending his cows, and has been 

 familiar with the products of some of his less care- 

 ful neighbor's stock, will doubt the correctness of 

 the doctor's statement. Indeed, a high degree of 

 thrift and health is as necessary in the cow in order 

 that she may yield a full flow of milk, as it is in 

 the ox or horse, that they may be able to perform 

 well their labor. 



On the other hand, care must be taken that the 

 feed is not too concentrated and high. Severe 

 losses occurred in some neighborhoods from this 

 cause during the last winter. Milk sales were 

 quick, and when the failing green feed and cold 

 weather cut off the quantity, a forced feeding was 

 resorted to in the form of corn and oil meal, shorts, 

 &c, which by over feeding generated disease, and 

 often an entire loss of milk, with an occasional loss 

 of the animal itself. These remarks are particu- 

 larly applicable along the line of railroads, where 

 milk is collected in large quantities for the city 

 markets. Little or no danger of this kind is to be 

 apprehended where milk is not produced for this 

 purpose 



Cows that are to "come in" in the spring should 



ful management after calving will fail to make 

 them yield so large an amount of milk through the 

 season as they would have furnished, had they been 

 kept in good condition through the winter 



Bees. — In return for the sweets which these in- 

 teresting insects afford you, they ought to have a 

 little attention to ascertain whether a mouse has 

 invaded their dominions, or their table is supplied 

 with food. A weak swarm will sometimes fail to 

 lay up honey sufficient for their winter wants. In 

 such case place full combs from other bees in the 

 top of their hives or in any place inside where they 

 can get at it. They are not easily affected by the 

 cold, but very soon feel the force of the sun's rays, 

 even in very cold weather, and as it is not desirable 

 that they move much until spring, that part of the 

 hive exposed to the sun should be protected. 



For the New England Farmer. 



AUNT HANNAH AND MINISTB \ P- 

 FLES. 



BY R. A. MERRIAM. 



Mr Brown: — To redeem a pledge which I 

 made to your firm some month or two since, I pro- 

 pose to say a word in favor of one or two varieties 

 of apples, which I have growing on my farm, in 

 Ipswich, and which are not so generally known as 

 they deserve to be, and which, if they were so 

 known, would be more cultivated. 



In the first place, I will introduce your numer- 

 ous readers to the very worthy and somewhat ven- 

 erable name of "Aunt Hannah," being the oldest, 

 but little known except in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood of its origin. This apple originated on the farm 

 of the late Col. Benjamin Peabody, of Middleton, 

 now owned by John M. Ives, Esq., some fifty 

 years ago, that is, I have known it for this length 

 of time. I think the first tree of the kind planted on 

 my farm must be over forty years old. The tree, 

 though not larger than from ten to twelve inches 

 in diameter, is healthy and vigorous and bears from 

 one to two barrels of apples pretty uniformly. The 

 apples sell for from three to five dollars a barrel ; 

 those who have once had them generally call for 

 them again. They are the first apples selected by 

 trespassers, and we usually lose about one-half of 

 them by intruders ; we lost nearly the whole this 

 year after they were gathered. 



This apple requires high culture, and secure po- 

 sition from pilferers. 



It may be with this apple like most other aunts, 

 most loved among her most immediate friends and 

 acquaintances, and I myself may be of this number ; 

 ftill, I think every amateur gardener should have 

 one or more trees of this kind in his garden. 



The Aunt Hannah is of medium size, fair, green, 

 with brown spots upon the surface, haul and firm 

 pulp and crisp, very slightly acid and spicy taste, 

 yellowish, when ripe, inside and out, suited for 

 the desert, in December. 



The "Minister Apple" is one which deserves 

 to be more extensively cultivated than it is at pres- 

 ent, although it has a good character in the eastern 

 part of the country, where it originated. I under- 

 stand it was found in the woods in Rowley twenty 

 or thirty years ago and has been propagated some- 



be kept in good flesh constantly, for the most care-' what in that region. It is a very large fair apple 



