1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



311 



CATERPILLARS — STRIPED SQUIRREL. 



Mr. Farmer : — There seems to be various meth- 

 ods of destroying the caterpillar. "C." recom- 

 mends to blow them off with gunpowder. W. G. 

 Lewis feeds them with spirits of turpentine ; oth- 

 ers burn them with birch-bark torch, and I have 

 seen one man shower them with soap-suds ; but 

 the best method I ever could find, is to take a dry 

 mullein and poke it into the nest, then roll it in 

 the fingers and wind them up in their own web and 

 crush them under the feet. What few remain 

 may be destroyed with the mullein, by sawing back 

 and forth. 



To prevent the striped squirrel digging up corn, 

 feed them. They are like some bipeds we have 

 seen, they will never dig, if they can possibly get 

 a living without. Take shelled corn, and scatter in- 

 to the cavities of the stone wall, or in the corners of 

 the fence around the field, three or four quarts will 

 be sufficient for a large field. I have tried it for 

 many years, with complete success. H. Briggs. 



Fairhaven, Vt. 



RHODE ISLAND GREENING APPLE. 



In answer to a subscriber's inquiry in Duxbury, 

 about the Rhode Island Greening, I would say, your 

 trees have probably too much top, so that there is 

 not sap enough to nourish the tree and carry out 

 the fruit to perfection. Ap])ly more dressing after 

 pruning, in the form of barn manure, oyster shells, 

 lime, leached ashes, or if the ground be dry, chip 

 dung ; wash the trees occasionally with strong soft 

 soap-suds, and keep the soil loose around them by 

 plowing or digging around for some distance. 



Deerfield Centre. James Prescott. 



GIFFORD MORGAN HORSE. 



Is there a horse known as the "Gifford Morgan," 

 if so, by whom owned, and where kept, and what is 

 his pedigree. j. w. A. 



Remarks. — There is, or has been a horse by the 

 above name — but we can give no account of him. 

 Brother HowAKD, of the Cultivator, will be likely 

 to know. 



■VfATER CEMENT FOR ROOFS. 



I wish to know through you, or of those who 

 may have tried it, if common water cement will 

 make a tight and durable covering on a flat roof — 

 too flat for shingles to turn water well ? Will it 

 stand heat and frost without cracking ? If so how 

 should it be applied ? 



If you or some of your correspondents will an- 

 swer the above questions, you will obhge a 



Henniker, 1856. Farmer. 



Remarks. — The common water or hydraulic 

 cement will not stand frost — that is, when the ce- 

 ment is subjected to water and frost. 



Michael, Bangor, Me. — Your article on "Bank- 

 ing up Houses," contains valuable suggestions. We 

 shall reserve it for a more seasonable period, 



Wm. I., Green, Me. — We can give you no reli- 

 able information of the fertilizer or churn, which 

 you inquire about. 



culture of millet. 



What kind of seed is the best to sow for fodder, 

 and when is the best time to sow it ? Will it do to 

 sow it on stubble, or what kind of land will be best 

 for it, the time to cut it, &c. ? A SUBSCRIBER. 



Milford, Ct. 



Rem.arks.— There are two kinds of millet, the 

 Turkish, and our common seed. The seed of the 

 former resembles canary seed. We have never 

 seen the plants growing. Should advise to sow 

 our own. Any land suitable for corn or wheat will 

 produce good millet. Sow about the first of June. 

 Cut when just out of blossom. 



POWDER-POST IN TIMBER. 



Mr. Brown : — I wish to inquire the reason of 

 walnut and white oak timber becoming powder- 

 posted in the sap part of the timber at a certain 

 stage of seasoning ? Can you give a remedy ? 



Amherst, 1856. a. b. 



fish as a manure. 

 H. W. T., Taunton.— We should not think 

 alewives at fifty cents per hundred and hauled four 

 miles, would make a profitable manure. See arti- 

 cle on the subject offish manure in the April num- 

 ber of the Monthly Farmer for the present year, 

 1856. _ 



NEW BUILDING MATERIAL. 



To G. B. S., Uxbridge, .¥a5S.— Fowler & Wells, 

 N. Y. city, have pubKshed a little work entitled "A 

 Home for All," which gives a good deal of informa- 

 tion on the subject of building with concrete. 



For the New England Farmer^ 



CORN MEAL AND FLOUR. 



Did W. H. H. suppose he was at work upon 

 me, or my fellow townsman, J. R. ? Beca;ise it is 

 a serious matter and no small honor to be noticed 

 in a public journal ; and until the "hash is settled," 

 we, J. R. and myself, shall have a bone to pick 

 between us. Having pointed out your correspon- 

 dent's oversight, I will proceed to comment upon 

 those portions of his communication that refer to 

 me, and peradventure I may touch upon matter 

 strictly concerning him and J. R., for which I shall 

 have to crave the pardon of both, inasmuch as I 

 am unable, at this time, to discern definitely where- 

 in W. H. H.'s account with me lies. First, he 

 wishes to know "why corn meal, containing two 

 per cent, more gluten than wheat, will not make 

 an adhesive dough ? He had supposed that corn 

 meal was deficient in gluten, partly because Dr. 

 Pereira had said so," and partly for some reason 

 which he omits to mention, but which I surmise to 

 be this, viz.: because it would not make an adhe- 

 sive dough. He supposed that inasmuch as gluten 

 was known to possess powerful adhesive qualities — 

 it being used on self-sealing envelopes, &c. — there- 

 fore the meal that contained it largely, ought to 

 make an adhesive dough, but as corn meal (lid not 

 do this, he concluded that it was "deficient in glu- 

 ten." "Perhaps, however," he adds, "the good Dr. 

 may be mistaken," a well timed and sensjiile oh- 



