1856, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



255 



inch in diameter, and the quantity of water should 

 be at least half a gallon per minute. The discharge 

 l)ipe need not in this case be more than a half an 

 inch internal diameter. 



The quantity of water elevated In as many times 

 less than the amount furnished by the spring, as 

 the elevation of the discharge pipe exceeds the fall 

 of the driving pipe, with friction also deducted. 

 If, for example, the drive-pipe descends three feet, 

 and the elevation is thirty feet, a spring furnishing 

 one gallon per minute, will elevate one-tenth of a 

 gallon per minute to the height named, or one gal- 

 lon in ten minutes, deducting the amount of fric- 

 tion. The latter usually varies from 10 to 20 per 

 cent, in this instance, the real quantity of water 

 driven 30 feet high would be about 8.^ gallons 

 every 100 minutes, or nearly one-twelfth of the 

 whole water of the spring. 



As the power of the ram depends on the momen- 

 tum of the descending cylinder of water, there 

 should be a longer drive-pipe where there is a 

 greater head to be overcome. 



For the New England Farmer. 



DARLi:^G'S EARLY SWEET CORN. 



Mr. Editor : — I think it was in an early volume 

 of Downing's Horticulturist, that I first observed a 

 notice of "Downing's Early Sweet Corn," procured 

 by a cross with the Canada corn. It has proved 

 with me, (and I have raised it several years,) an 

 exceedingly sweet kind of corn, as well as an early 

 sort. It is incomparably sweeter than Mapes' sweet 

 corn, which, whatever may be its virtues in late 

 keeping, certainly has very little sweetness about 

 it, and is moreover, a very late kind, the stalks in 

 yrowth and root showing a western or southern or- 

 igin. Of the various dishes of sweet corn I have 

 ever eaten, I have never found any equal in deli- 

 ciousness to "Darling's Early," and hope those of 

 your readers not familiar with it, will procure it, 

 and I feel sure that they will confess that a new 

 world of sweetness has opened for them. It can be 

 obtained, I presume, at your seed stores in Boston. 



THE MOON AND \T:GETATI0N. 



Not having had time to read some of the last 

 numbers of the monthly Farmer, I know not but 

 the moon question has already been settled therein, 

 but if not, I Avould inquire if the advocates of lunar 

 influence bear in mind that whether the moon is 

 new, old or full, there is as much of the substance 

 of the moon towards the earth in one case as the 

 other, although that side be not fully illuminated 

 by the sun except at full moon. It may be reason- 

 able to suppose the tides affected by the relative 

 position of the moon toward the waters, but much 

 more difficult to suppose that the greater or less 

 light from the moon can affect vegetation, when the 

 entire face of that body is always toward us when 

 it is in the heavens ; and yet more difficult to sup- 

 pose that vegetation is affected by whether the 

 eighth of the illuminated part of the moon visible to 

 us is on one side of the moon or on the other, or, in 

 other words, by the moon's being "old or new," for 

 that is all the difference between old and new moon. 



It is so easy for people to infer cause and effect 

 from mere coincidences that it is not strange that 

 many mere notions, unsupported even by probabil- 

 ity or any reason, find many firm behevers. 



JVorthampton, April, 1856. L. S. n. 



For the New England Farmer. 



FEEDING COLTS. 



Mr. Editor: — I notice in a late number of 

 the Farmer, an article from "A Subscriber," calling 

 upon some one to point out the "best" mode of 

 feeding colts the first and second winter after tak- 

 ing them from the mare, <S:c. &c. 



The task of pointing out the "best" way of doing 

 these things I shall leave for another to perform, 

 while I briefly state my own method of treating 

 colts, during the time above mentioned. 



I never wean a good colt before he is six months 

 old, unless the dam is a very bad nurse. In that 

 case, I wean the colt when it becomes necessary to 

 stable the mare. In all cases, I wean on hay, and 

 from the commencement of weaning, till there is 

 good grass the following spring, I give a daily feed 

 of a pint of oats, and a bran mash, or roots; car- 

 rots, if I have them. I never allow a colt to stand 

 upon a floor before he is two years old, as I believe 

 the practice prejudicial to the formation of good 

 feet. During the second ^vinter, I give my colts no 

 grain or roots. If a mare brings a foal every year, 

 I would not allow her to nurse more than six 

 months ; and in fact, no good mare should be al- 

 lowed to nurse more in any one year, and in my 

 opinion, if the weaning is defered longer, it is at 

 the loss of the owner. 



The above are a few of the many rules observed 

 by me, in breeding and rearing a hardy and long- 

 enduring horse. Whether he is to be used in fu- 

 ture, as a horse of all work, or to be kept exclu- 

 sively for breeding purposes, I have found the final 

 results to be nearly the same. 



Derby Line, Vt., 1856. Solomon Steelb. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A. L. BINGHAM'S SHEEP-SHEARING 

 FESTIVAL. 



Having seen a notice in the Ohio Farmer, from 

 a gentleman in Jefferson Co., that he would shear 

 the Silician sheep for dollars and cents, against any 

 breed in the United States, I was induced to adver- 

 tise, through the agricultural papers west, that I 

 would shear thirty ewe lambs, dropped last March, 

 against an equal number of any man's raising in 

 the world, for quality and quantity, unwashed or 

 cleansed, or for dollars and cents, according to live 

 weight, every man keeping his sheep as he pleases. 

 Now I propose, in compliance with what I have 

 published, to hold this sheep shearing festival at 

 Middlebury, on the 17th and 18th days of June 

 next, commencing at ten o'clock in the morning of 

 the 17th. The first day will be devoted to the 

 shearing of the sheep, the second will be devoted 

 to a general exhibition of horses, also there will be 

 purses offered for the fastest time made by ti'otting 

 horses. 



Also, there will be an exhibition of ladies' and 

 gentlemen's horsemanship, to be held on the fair 

 ground, near the village. Also, at the close, in the 

 evening, there will be, what is called a sheep shear- 

 ing festival ball, to be held at the Addison House, 

 Middlebury. Now, one and all are invited to at- 

 tend, and have a good time ; all papers will please 

 confer the favor to give notice through the land, 

 and oblige A. L. Llngham. 



West Cormvall, April 7, 1856. 



