192 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



A Fine Treat. — On Saturday, the 6th inst., we 

 received a hox of Isabella grapes from Mr. W. W. 

 Baxter, of Quincy, which he gathered early in Oc- 

 tober and packed in cotton. They were placed in 

 boxes which were papered inside, covered closely 

 and kept in a closet where the temperature was 

 three or four degrees above the freezing point 

 through the winter. Those presented us were as 

 fair as ever, finely flavored, but with the slightest 

 evidence that acetous fermentation had just com- 

 menced. Nothing can be more grateful than this 

 delicious fruit as a winter dessert. 



The Potato Rot. — Another Preventive. — Plant 

 your potatoes in the usual way, and when the 

 sprouts appear above ground, take from one-half 

 to a bushel of dry wood ashes, per acre, and sow 

 it broadcast over the ground while the dew is on. 

 Repeat the ashes every seventh day until the crop 

 is made — and if proof by actual experiment is to 

 be relied on, your potatoes will be free from rot. 

 — Rural New Yorker. 



HP To prevent oxen from crowding, it is only 

 necessary to lengthen the yoke, often, in extreme 

 cases from 12 to 18 inches longer than those usu- 

 ally worn. 



BROWN'S POULTRY FEEDER. 



The above engraving represents a poultry feeder 

 which we contrived and made, and have had in 

 use for the last year. It answers the desired pur- 

 pose admirably. One or two bushels of corn may 

 be fed at once, and thus relieve the mind for weeks 

 of that care. It has four sides, only two of which 

 are represented in the cut, and they afford room 

 for twenty fowls to feed at once. It may be par- 

 titioned inside so as to feed different kinds of grain 

 at each opening. It is not well to mix different 

 grains in the same apartment, as the fowls are 

 quite likely to scatter it about ; but where there is 

 only a single kind in the apartment it is rare to 

 find a grain on the floor about the feeder. 



We used to find considerable destruction to our 

 grain from rats and mice and especially from neigh- 

 boring doves in open feeding, but this contrivance 

 has proved a remedy for any annoyance. The 

 grain is kept free from dirt and dampness and the 

 fowls seem to enjoy opening it fifty times a day 

 and taking a kernel or two at a time. 



Nothing more is necessary to teach the fowls to 

 open it than to raise the doors half an inch just so 

 as to enable them to see the grain. Various forms 

 may be given so as to make it highly ornamental 

 to the poultry house, or it may be constructed in 

 the most cheap and simple manner and still an- 

 swer the purpose of a feeder. 



Where there are some thirty or forty fowls they 

 make a most cheerful clatter for an hour about the 



time of sunrising, by bringing the door back 

 against the stop-board. The feeder from which 

 the cut was drawn may be seen for a few days, at 

 the warehouse of Messrs. Ruggles, Nourse, Ma- 

 son & Co., where any person desirous of seeing it 

 is invited to call. 



For the New Ertjland Farmer. 

 WHAT COW SHALL I KEEP? 



Mr. Brown : — I wish to keep one cow, therefore 

 I want a good one, and before applying to those 

 that advertise blood stock, I wish your advice as 

 to which kind of blood cows are best for milkers, 

 as that would be the first point in my case. I 

 wish to know how much milk one would be likely 

 to average through the year, with good keeping ; 

 say one from five to seven years old ; and how long 

 they generally go dry, and about what one can be 

 bought fori with calf by a blood bull. Please an- 

 swer these inquiries as soon as is convenient, and 

 oblige yours, &c, ' James Thompson. 



Nantucket, Feb. 26, 1852. 



Remarks. — A good Alderney cow would proba- 

 bly be the best where the milk is required only for 

 family use — say milk for breadmaking, for the ta- 

 ble, with cream for the pitcher and for an occa- 

 sional churning. But Alderneys are at present 

 high and scarce, and some other breed may be 

 found which will answer the purpose. Select a 

 native cow four years old, with small limits, a neck 

 sumcwhat slender, lean head, small nose and tail, 

 with a well developed bag, reaching considerably 

 forward, and with good sized teats. A middling 



