1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



215 



subject is an exceedingly important one, and scarce- ing, in a close apartment. Some was used for oil- 

 ly too much attention can be given it. The muck- 1 ing machinj^ry ; but it ^^;as condemned even for^that 

 beds of New England are worth more to it than its 



share of California gold will be. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



HORSES AT CATTLE SHOWS. 

 Having: noticed a piece in your paper of Feb. 



2d, 



signed "Middlesex," which I read with much inter- 

 est, allow me to make a few remarks upon the 

 same. It seems that the writer is much opposed 

 to having horses show their speed at our feirs. It 

 is well known for what purpose shows are held ; 

 that people may bring together the rich specimens 

 of the productions of the earth ; show the ingenuity 

 of our mechanics, the skill of the fair sex, in mak- 

 ing butter and cheese, and the handiwork which 

 they accomplish with their needles. All this I like 

 to see brought together, that I may compare with 

 each other, and see if any improvements can be 

 made. Let me ask who wants to go to a cattle 

 show, and look ten or twelve hours on a fat yoke of 

 oxen, a fine cow, or a nice dairy of butter and 

 cheese ? Our firmers have large and stout oxen 

 which they like to show, and how large loads they 

 can draw ; and why not give the man that has 

 raised a fine horse, the jirivelege of showing his 

 sjjeed ? 



The writer says, "Horse-racing has become the 

 most important part of the performance." Shall 

 that part be stricken out ? I say no; let him pro- 

 duce the best specimen he can, for speed, for 

 strength, for beauty, and all others that have speci- 

 mens, do likewise, and all that attend, look at what- 

 ever their taste may choose. C. 



Claremont, JV. H., 1856. 



POTATOES IN 1756. 



Mr. Editor : — I saw in your paper a report of 

 a large yield of potatoes. I have a report before 

 me of a yield of potatoes, raised one hundred years 

 ago, in the town of Gramille, Mass. 



I copy from my grandfather's papers the following : 

 "About the year 1756 my father went to New York, 

 and back again, on horse-back, and brought home 

 four potatoes ; two of them froze, so as to lose 

 about half he planted ; however, he had fourteen 

 hills from what remained, and had four bushels of 

 potatoes." N. Hitchcock. 



Deerjield, Mass., March, 1856. 



SUNFLOWER OIL. 

 Several inquiries having lately been made in re- 

 gard to this article, we give the following from the 

 Morgan (O.) Chronicle. The article is from the 

 pen of Dr. S. A. Barker. 



Some years since, several barrels of sunflower oil 

 were made in this county, and those who remem- 

 ber it, never wish to see any more. Some of it was 

 said to have found its way into barrels marked 

 "Linseed oil," and was used for painting. The 

 paint would not dry, and unless some better drier 

 than any now known can be found, it is useless for 

 that purpose. Some M'as burned in lamps, in Zanes- 

 ville, we know. While burning it gave out a large 

 quantity of gas, similar to that of cliarcoal, delete 

 rious to life and health. It is totally unfit for burn- 



purpose. The seeds afford a large quantity of oil, 

 but so inferior for all purposes, that its manufacture 

 should not be encouraged. — Albany Cultivator, 

 Feb. nth, 184:9, page 68. 



Mr. Editor : — I send the above, not with any 

 desire to enter into a discussion on the merit or 

 demerit of sunflower oil, but simply to give the 

 opinion of those who know the article ; as I pre- 

 sume you prefer experience to theory on this sub- 

 ject. A Subscriber. 



Middlebury, Vt., March llth, 1856. 



TO KILL TICKS ON SHEEP. 



Prepare a solution of tobacco, of sufficient strength 

 to kill a tick when immersed, then immerse the 

 whole flock, one by one, taking particular care that 

 there are no stray ones on the nose and face of the 

 sheep, which, of course, are kept out of the liquor. 

 The operation must be done from the 1st to the 

 15th of Sept., for two or three reasons. 1. All the 

 eggs then have hatched out. 2. Then the wool is 

 longer than in shearing time, (the usual time to kill 

 ticks) and will consequently absorb more, and more 

 effectually kill even the very last survivor. 



E. B. M. 



Remarks. — Is the operation a safe one ? 



RYE AND WHEAT CROPS. 



Mr. Z. Howard, Sudbury, Ft., states that some 

 of his rye straw last year grew to the height of sev- 

 en and one-half feet, and that on three acres of land 

 he obtained seventy-five bushels of perfect Rio 

 Grande wheat. He states, also, that between the 

 hills, on two and one-half acres of corn, he raised 

 thirty-one and one-half bushels of pea beans, and in 

 the pods that grew on one stalk, he counted one 

 thousand three hundred and seventy-five beans, and 

 the product of another stalk was nine hundred and 

 ninety-five beans ! 



grafting the grape "VTNE. 



Mr. Brown : — Did 3'ou ever know of the grape 

 vine being grafted, with success? I, and many 

 others in this vicinity, have grafted them, but in 

 every instance it proved a failure, 



JVew Ipswich, JV. H., 1856. M.\rk Farrar. 



Remarks. — We have never grafted the vine, but 

 think it is successfully done by some of the nursery- 

 men. Downing says, "it is attended with much 

 success in the cleft manner, if treated as follows : — 

 Cut your scions during the winter, or early spring, 

 keeping them partially buried in a cool, damp cel- 

 lar, till wanted. As soon as the leaves of the old 

 vine or stock are fully expanded, and all danger of 

 bleeding is past — say about the 10th of June, cut it 

 off smoothly below the surface of the ground, and 

 split the stalk, and insert one or two scions in the 

 usual manner, binding the cleft well together. 

 Draw the soil carefully over the whole, leaving two 

 or three buds of the scion above the surface. If 

 the root of the stock is a strong, native grape, the 



