132 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Makch 



stance is exhausted, the cattle do not obtain a suf- 

 ficient quantity of bone-making material, and con- 

 sequently sicken, and sometimes die. Young chil- 

 dren, fed principally upon arrow-root, and other 

 edibles which are nearly pure starch, often suffer 

 exceedingly for the want of the proper bone-mak- 

 ing substances. 



We think "A Subscriber" will now clearly see 

 what are the "properties and effects of bone meal 

 upon cattle." Give it as often, and in quantities as 

 much, as the creature will eat in an unmixed state ; 

 or, it may occasionally be mixed with a little meal, 

 or sprinkled upon wet hay. We are alwaps happy 

 to find the attention of the reader turned to such 

 points — they are of importance to the farmer. 



HOr-BEDS — EARLY BEET AND CABBAGE — S^T;ET 

 POTATO SLIPS. 



Mr. Editor : — I am one of the constant readers 

 of the JV. E. Farmer, and I want to make a few 

 inquiries through its columns. I want to start 

 some vegetables under glass, and my sashes will 

 cover about forty square feet. How shall I build 

 the frame ? How deep must the manure be ? (a.) 

 What is the earliest beet and cabbage ? (b.) Can 

 I find sweet potatoes in the market at a suitable 

 time for starting slips ? how early must they be 

 planted ? (c.) 



Hanson, Jan., 1856. 



Remarks. — (a.) The following description of a 

 hot-bed, from "Bridgman's Gardener's Assistant," 

 will be in point : 



Some gardeners make their beds on the level 

 ground, but it is always safest to make them in pits 

 from eighteen inches to two feet deep ; in order to 

 do this, the pits should be dug in autumn, or a heap 

 of dung may be deposited on the ground intended 

 for the beds before the frost sets in, and good 

 earth may be obtained from the pits without diffi- 

 culty. 



The frames should be made of good sound 

 planks ; the back plank may be two feet wide, and 

 the end ones may be so sloped as to make fifteen- 

 inch plank do for the front. A frame calculated 

 for four sashes, of three feet in width by six m 

 length, as above described, should be nearly thir- 

 teen feet long, and about six broad at the top. 



The frame being set over the pit, and properly 

 fastened, the fresh dung should be spread regular- 

 ly m the pit to the depth of twenty to twenty-four 

 inches ; if the dung be in a good heating condition, 

 cover it six or eight inches deep with mould, then 

 lay on the sashes, and protect the beds from the 

 inclemency of the weather. In two or three days 

 the rank steam will pass off; it ^vill then be neces- 

 sary to stir the mould before the seed be sown, to 

 prevent the growth of young weeds that may be 

 germinating ; then sow the seed either in shallow 

 drills or broad-cast, as equally as possible, reserving 

 a small quantity of the warm mould to be sown 

 lightly over the seed. 



(6.) The Bassano beet and early York cabbage 

 are considered the earliest. 



(c.) Sweet potato slips are usually sold by Messrs. 

 Rand & Darling, Quincy Market, about the season 

 for setting, — first of June. 



GRAY LIME AND WHITE — CHARCOAL. 



I wish to ask the following questions of you, or 

 some of your able correspondents : 



Is gray lime as good for farming purposes as the 

 white ? I mean as a manure. 



What sort of soil is most benefited by charcoal ? 

 and is coal made from hemlock, or other soft wood, 

 as good as that made from hard wood, as a fertili- 

 zer, and what is the best way to apply it ? to keep 

 it on, or near the toj) of the soil, or bury it in deep. 



Jan., 1856. c. w. 



A SMALL AND CHEAP SUMMER-HOUSE. 



Mr. Editor : — Will you give us a plan for a 

 small and cheap summer-house, upon wliich vines 

 may run, and in an unpretending garden; and di- 

 mensions of lumber for the same. 



Yarmouth, Maine, 1856. O. A. Hill. 



Remarks. — Such a summer-house is a beautiful 

 feature in a garden, and we hope some of our cor- 

 respondents will tell us how it should be construct- 

 ed. _ 



HOW TO TELL GOOD EGGS. 



Mr. Brown : — In a good egg the small end is 

 always cold, and the big end warm. They can be 

 tested by touching the tongue to the small end, 

 and then to the large end ; any one can observe the 

 difference. w. R. S. 



Petersburgh, Jan. 14, 1856. 



For the Aew England Farmer. 



ON RAISING STOCK. 



Having had considerable experience in the rais- 

 ing of stock, I wish to state through the columns 

 of the Farmer, a few facts connected with it. 

 There is a mistaken idea prevalent among many 

 farmers, that if a creature is fed high while young, 

 it will naturally be tender, and must so be fed 

 through life to be kept in good condition. A thing 

 that is worth doing at all, is worth well doing; if 

 farmers would have fine, well proportioned cattle, 

 they must be well cared for during their first years, 

 and this is the main point ; if a calf is kept grow- 

 ing all of the time the first year, the probability is 

 that it will make a fine creature, if it have enough 

 even of poor hay to eat. My method of raising 

 calves is this ; let them suck one-halt' the cow gives 

 for four or five weeks, keeping fine hay before 

 them, and giving them, once a day, a handful of 

 meal or oats, or a few crusts of bread soaked in 

 water, then learn them to drink porridge made of 

 skim milk and buckwheat flour, or meal that has 

 been sifted. In this way they seldom scour at all ; 

 and if one does, I take a little white pine charcoal, 

 finely pulverized, and mixed with lard enough to 

 make it adhere, spread this mixture on a piece of 

 bread, and give it, which is a certain cm-e. I feed 

 in this way until they are three months old, when 

 they will do to wean. A few oats should be given 

 once a day a while longer. During the first winter 

 they should be kept in a warm stable, and have all 

 the good hay they will eat; after this they will 

 grow well and keep in good condition on meadow 

 hay. In this way it is no uncommon thing for my 

 three years old steers to weigh 3,000 lbs. 



And what is true of calves, is true of colts in a 



