vol,. XI.V. NO. 40. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



387 



For the N. E. Farmer. 



TRE.\TMBNT OP COWS BEFORE AND .\F- 

 TER CALVJNG. 



Mr Editor — In reply to questions of " A Herds- 

 man," in the Farmer of the 28tli of April, you have 

 quotej from Youatt, some part of which deserves 

 notice, as being wrong in practice. 



He says it is " a cruel thing to separate the 

 mother from the young so soon," but has not said 

 how soon. Now, experience has taught me that 

 the calf should be separated from the cow as soon 

 as it has become dry, and taken what milk it needs 

 for the time. The cow will bear the separation 

 better than if it be permitted to remain with her 

 longer: she will give down her milk belter. It is 

 the most effectual way that can bo taken to make 

 a cow hold up her milk, to let her calf remain with 

 her day after day, as the manner of some is, she 

 will give none, or little more milk than the calf 

 can take, which will cause the bag to swell and 

 get it in a bad state. 



Giving "a pound of Epsom salts," asrccommend- 

 ♦fd by Youatt, is worse than useless, because every 

 farmer, certainly every observing one, knows that 

 the exertions of tlie cow in the act of bringing 

 forth, causes her to scour, the same as any other 

 violent exercise to which she is not accustomed. 



Some — particularly modern " gentleinen"-far- 

 mers — suppose that a cow should be highly fed 

 for some time before calving: this is their philo^-o- 

 phy. Nothing can be more erroneous — or expe- 

 rience to me has been a poor teacher. My expe- 

 rience agrees exactly with that of " A Farmer's 

 Boy," in the Farmer of the 12th instant. When I 

 was a boy, my father kept some cows, and they 

 were full fed on tlie best of hay, (roots then not be- 

 ing the fashion,) for some weeks before calving : — 

 his cows, most of them, had swollen bags, and more 

 or less of them had to be doctored every spring. 

 My practice for many years has been different. 

 For about two weeks before calving, they are kept 

 on hay of a little better quality than what they 

 have had through the winter : ihey will not give 

 i so much milk at first, as when they have been kept 

 j high ; but no matter ; feed sparingly for a few 

 i days, increase the quantity and quality of the food, 

 gradually, and the milk will increase ; they will 

 be better in my opinion through the season, than 

 if fed high before calving. It is on the same prin 

 ciple that cows wintered on meadow hay till near 

 ! calving, (I do not mean b<ig grass nor pollypod, but 

 i good meadow hay,) will do better; that is, will 

 I give a greater quantity of milk through the sum- 

 mer, than when wi.itered on English hay. I can 

 , produce an instance where the experiment was 

 tried on the same cows. At one of the agricultu- 

 I ral meetings at the State House, last winter, Col. 

 I Jaques stated that he iuid known two instances of 

 ' cows being spoiled for milk, by being fed highly 

 with Indian meal. The fact I do not doubt: it is 

 ■ natural that it .'^hould be so. Indian meal is <jf a 

 fiot, drying quality and has a tendency to dry up 

 the juices — the very thing to make milk. It is 

 for the same reason, viz : its drying quality, that 

 beef fattened wholly on Indian meal is not so juicy 

 as that fattened on roots. This may be to some a 

 [ new and strange idea, and cause them to say if the 

 I writer is ever drowned, they must look up stream 

 for him ; but believed or not, it is nevertheless true. 



A FARMER. 

 May 26, 1841. 



DISEASES IN TURNIPS. 



The extensive and repeated culture of the tur- 

 nip, has fiistered the rapid increase of its natural 

 enemies; and after all the pains, labor and expense 

 of the cultivator, he olleu sees his crop eutirely de- 

 stroyed or seriously injured. The remedies he 

 can apply fur many of these, can only be terined 

 palliative ; but still he has much in his power ; and 

 as the knowledge of natural hiistory and field-ento- 

 mology advances, he may expert more and more 

 assistance. 



The turnip flea, (Hnltica nemonim.) is one of 

 the worst enemies which attacks the turnip plant; 

 which it does when in its seedling state, and often 

 destroys a crop, and even the second and third 

 sowings. It was once thought to be hatched from 

 an egg deposited on the seed, but that opinion is 

 now entirely exploded ; and it is proved to depusit 

 its ovre on the leaves of the infant plant. It is of 

 the order coteoptera and family chrysomeliJa. Va- 

 rious steps have been taken in order to prevent its 

 attacks, and several steeps for the seed used, but 

 without success ; top dressings of a saline ami as- 

 tringent character have been anplied, but have 

 failed ; machines have even been invented, but 

 none of these have succeeded. Theon,ly directions 

 which can be given are — sow plenty of seed ; use 

 stimulating manure, to excite the plants to vigo- 

 rous growth in their first stages ; and secure a suf- 

 ficiency of moisture in the soil at the time of sow- 

 ing ; especially keeping the fields clear of char- 

 lock, which nurses the flea. 



The black caterpillar — larva of the ^Ihalia cen- 

 lifolicE — also preys upon the leaves in a more ad- 

 vanced stage, appearing op the plants when they 

 are about three weeks old. It is of the order hy- 

 menoptera, family tenlhridmid<E. For an account 

 of its natural history and methods of destroying it, 

 the writer refers to the last year's report. 



Another disease to which the turnip is liable, is 

 vulgarly called " fingers and toes ;" about a month 

 after the plants have made their appearance, they 

 begin to flag their leaves, and in a few sunny days 

 literally die by acres together. On examination, 

 the fibres of the roots are found enlarged, and the 

 root covered with tumors and excrescenses of eve- 

 ry conceivable shape. It is a matter of dispute 

 whether this is an organic disease in the plant, 

 from some peculiarity in the soil, or the primary 

 work of an insect. That an in.sect, in its maggot 

 state, feeds upon these tumors, the writer has long 

 known; but he has not been able satisfactorily to 

 decide whether the insect is a cause or an effect 

 of the disease. It is one pf the mucirfd. A naked 

 fallow is a remedy for it; but all applications to 

 the soil and plant have been ineffectual. 



The wire-worm is a sad enemy. It forms the 

 subject of one of the Society's prize reports. To 

 that I refer. The swarms of aphides, or plant lice, 

 severely injured the turnips ; and from the small- 

 ncss of their size, are often unobserved. In ]S."i6, 

 they coaimitted terrific ravages. They suck the 

 juices of the plant, and appear in countless num- 

 bers. They are both oviparous and viviparous, 

 and increase with amazing rapidity. Happily they 

 are always followed by swarms of lady-cows, which 

 feed on them, as well as insectivorous birds, which 

 destroy vast numbers. No remedy can be applied 

 with any probability of success. Every farmer 

 should carefully protect swallows, red-breasts, &c., 

 which are great destroyers of the aphides. 



Slugs are, especially on newly ploughed soils, 

 great devourers of the turnip plant in all its stages. 



Ducks will devour them, but always injure the 

 plants. Three bushels of quick liine per acre sown 

 on the plants early in the morning, wlien the slugs 

 are active, is a cerlniu method of ih-stroying them. 

 Perhaps the very best preservation fro.Ti all the 

 above diseases may be stated to be — liberal ma- 

 nuring, adapted to the soil — thorough clearing of 

 the land from weeds — and in short, pursuing the 

 steps above detailed, for securing a full crop. The 

 vigor of the plants in such cases, and their rapid 

 vegetation, often enable them to overcome many 

 serious attacks. — Un'.ish Fanner's Mairazint. 



TRANSPIRA'lION OF PLANTS. 



Dr. Hales found that a sunflower, in twelve 

 hours, transpired by its leaves, one pound fourteen 

 ounces of water, all of which must have been im- 

 bibed from the soil by the roots. Water is the 

 vehicle which conveys nourishment to plants. The 

 food which it holds in solution is imparted to a 

 plant in a manner analogous to the nourishment 

 imparted to the animal system by the food which 

 passes into the stomach. Hence the growth of 

 the plant depends much on the presence of mois- 

 ture, as well as of voget,-ibIe matter in the soil, and 

 upon the sufficiency of roots to take it up and con- 

 vey it to the trunk. Thus a tree divested of a 

 great portion of its roots in transplanting, makes a 

 new wood only in proportion as these are replaced 

 by a new growth ; and thus also a plant grows 

 faster in a moist than in a dry soil, (the fertility of 

 both alike,) and faster in a mellow soil where the 

 roots can fully extend and multiply, than in a hard 

 one. 



These facts suggest to the farmer the improprie- 

 ty of plowing deep between the rows of corn and 

 other crops, whereby the roots are broken and 

 wounded, and exposed to the drying influence of 

 the sun and winds. 2. The importance of keep- 

 ing his crops clear of weeds and all useless plants, 

 which rob the soil of food and moisture. And 3, 

 the propriety of transplanting his trees while young, 

 when the system of roots can be preserved nearly 

 entire, and of surrounding the roots with a bed of 

 mellow, rich earth. — Selected. 



Mixture of Salt and Lime This is an easy ap- 

 plication : it is only for the farmer to buy J 00 bush- 

 els of lime, and put 50 bushels of salt in p. clamp, 

 dug as if for potatoes or mangel wurtzel ; lay it 

 altogether, and mi.x it up with water till it comes 

 to the consistency of mortar ; cover it up close, 

 and let it lay three months, and then apply it to 

 the field, either by sowing or spreading it ; 30 

 bushels an acre is the quantity for outside applica- 

 tion on land for barley or wheat, or grass ; and 

 when the grass is subject to moss, it will be very 

 beneficial. Where lime is applied to pasture, 

 there you we sure to see what is called Dutch clo- 

 ver, and you will always find it to be so. — Mr Ma- 

 pletojl. 



It requires more magnanimity to give up what 

 is wrong, than to maintain that which is right; for 

 our pride is wounded by the one effort and flatter- 

 ed by the other. — Lacon. 



The praise of the envious is far less creditable 

 than their censure ; they praise only that which 

 they can surpass, but that which surpasses them, 

 they censure. — lb. 



