258 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



June 



CAULI^LO^VER AND SEA KALE. 



Mk. Editor : — Please inform me, through the 

 columns of your much valued paper, the best time 

 for planting cauliflower and sea kale ; and is the 

 sea kale as good for pickling as the red Dutch cab 

 bage ? Also, the best manner of cooking or pre 

 paring for ]jickling — and oblige a 



Derby, Vt., April. Farmer's Wife. 



Remarks. — Sow cauliflower seeds in the hot bed 

 in March or April, or in a warm border in May 

 for late setting out. The ground should be as finely 

 pulverized as possible, and shaded with thin mat- 

 ting or a shingle slightly raised from the surface, 

 until the plants show themselves. 



Sea kale is sometimes sown in October ; in the 

 spring it should be put in as soon as the soil can 

 be brought into good condition, in drills an inch 

 and a half deep, and fourteen inches apart. We 

 know nothing of it as a pickle. 



SAND KNOLLS AND PINES. 



Several years ago I called on an uncle that lived 

 in Connecticut. He showed me a piece of land 

 that was covered with a handsome growth of fine 

 trees, six or eight inches through. He told me 

 the land was once a blowing, sandy knoll, and that 

 he went to the woods and gathered a lot of pine 

 balls, (seeds) and sowed them on to the land ; per- 

 haps he plowed them in. 



Would not many of our barren knolls be im- 

 proved by being cover«>d with little pine trees, 

 which would soon get to be large enough for tim- 

 ber ? C. 



MANURES. 



I wish to ask your Beverly correspondent, if he 

 supposes he can make a practical, thinking farmer, 

 believe that the exposure of manure to the drying 

 sun and winds, for but a few days, will destroy all, 

 or even one-half of its fertilizing properties? I 

 should like to see his man efi'ectually manuring four' 

 to six acres per day, with liquid manure. Now I 

 have a high estimate of Hquid manure, but think it 

 best when one writes to keep probabilities in \-iew. 

 I am satisfied that a great loss is sustained by ap- 

 plying stable, yard, or even compost manure, to 

 grass land that is fit for tillage. It is much better 

 to adopt a rotation of crops, and apply no manure, 

 except when under till. If top-dressing is applied 

 to grass land, other than liquid, let it be compost- 

 ed, by all means, with a large proportion of muck, 

 loam, or other earthy matter. 



Chicopee, April, 1856. H. N. Sherman. 



CURE FOR THE HORN DISTEMPER. 



Bore the horn with a gimblet, and blow through 

 a quill into the horn, a small quantity of saltpetre ; 

 or pour into the ears fine mustard and vinegar, well 

 mixed together, taking care to hold the ears in a 

 proper position to retain the mixture as long as 

 possible. The application of either of these reme- 

 dies may be repeated, if necessary, after one or two 

 days. Either method is a "sure cure." In the 

 most malignant case, apparently, of this disease I 

 ever knew, I tried both these remedies with com- 

 plete success. This prescription, which now ap- 

 pears, I think, for the first time in print, in the Far-. 



mer, may save some readers many times the price 

 of their subscription to this paper. s. G. B. 



Essex, Vt., 1856. 



Remarks. — We know nothing of the virtues of 

 this prescription, and as a general rule, are opposed 

 to all violent remedies. 



TICKS ON SHEEP. 



Mr. Editor : — In answer to the query, whether 

 the receipt given in yoiu* paper of March 29th, to 

 "kill ticks on sheep," is a safe operation or not, I 

 have to state as the result of my own experience, 

 that in a number of cases where it has been applied 

 (precisely according to the directions given) to 

 flocks varying from one to two hundred, I have not 

 been able to see any injurious effects in one single 

 instance, while it was a most efl'ective destroyer of 

 the tick. 



Can you, or any of your correspondents, inform 

 me through the columns of your valuable paper, 

 where and for what price may be obtained a full 

 bred South Down buck and ewe ? 



J. Champlin. 



Pleasant Hill, K I., April 4, 1856. 



MLiTERIAL FOR WATER PIPES. 



H. Morse asks what is the best material for 

 conveying water to buildings. [ think, cost, dura- 

 bility and health regarded, that wooden pipes should 

 be used. I have nine rods, laid three feet deep in 

 a moist clay soil, more than thirty years ago, which 

 convey water freely yet. I have also a wooden 

 pump, made twenty-two years ago, and often in use, 

 that I now prefer to a new chain pump. 



WATER LIFTER. 



D. Child asks if a cow stepping on a platform can 

 raise water for herself from a cistern or well ? — 

 Ans. She can. The cost of the machine and fix- 

 tures will be from twenty to fifty dollars, as depth 

 of the well, the size of the machine and kind of ma- 

 terial used to make of, may be. One that will dis- 

 charge six gallons, by the weight of the cow, each 

 time she steps on the platform, made mostly of 

 wood, will cost twenty-five dollars. n. e. 



MANURE FOR MEADOWS. 



I wish to inquire through your paper, whether 

 ashes is good for low meadows, or what is best to 

 increase the crop of hay. AsAHEL Underwood. 



Bennington, Vt., 1856. 



Remarks. — Ashes is good for any crop. But 

 top-dressing, with fine composted manure, does well 

 on such land as you describe. 



FISH guano. 



Mr. Editor : — I would like to inquire through 

 you, or your valuable paper, if any one has made 

 an experiment with the fish guano manufactured in 

 Providence, R. I., by the Narraganset Co. ? 



Yours respectfully, Jacob Crov^tlet. 



Mansjield, Mass. 



Remarks. — No case has come to our personal 

 knowledge. Try a barrel or two, and make care- 

 ful note of it ; keeping an accurate record of the 

 amount of manure you apply, of the manner of cul- 

 tivating, and the kind of season. 



