482 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



For the New England Farmer. 



LITTLE THINGS BY THE WAY-SIDE. 



Mr. Editor : — When my hog is sick, I give 

 him h pint of fresh lard in a quart of new milk. 

 Simmer until the lard is melted, then give it warm. 

 Repeat this dose once in 6 hours until the hog 

 shows signs of recovery. 



TO PAINT AN OLD HOUSE 



which requires much paint, I would take 2 quarts 

 of linseed, (tie up in a cloth) and boil 3 or 4 hours 

 in 4 gallons of water ; then stir in whiting until it is 

 as thick as whitewash in a proper condition to lay ; 

 put it on with a whitewash brush. In a few hours, 

 it will be smooth and hard, and furnishes a cheap, 

 but durable ground for a coat of paint. 



SAW^-DUST MANURE. 



I would dissuade any person from using saw-dust 

 in their stables as litter, or as an absorbent in any 

 way. As an absorbent of liquid manures, its first 

 office is to absorb a much larger bulk than its own, 

 specifically speaking ; second, to contribute noth- 

 ing to the soil, to which it is applied, as its union 

 with liquids prevents its decomposition, as an arti- 

 ficial heat is engendered by such union, which de- 

 stroys the liquids ; after which, the saw-dust re- 

 mains intact. Meadow hay, straw, muck or loam, 

 is much better, as any of the last named, when well 

 saturated with liquids, immediately commences de- 

 composition, by which the whole mass is easily 

 made into manure. Our liquid manures are much 

 more valuable than the hard excrements, from the 

 fact that they contain the salts and minerals in a 

 greater degree, so essential to a profitable improve- 

 ment of our soil. 



CHIP DUNG FOR MULCHING TREES 



also stands condemned on my journal. By close 

 observations, made this season, I find that the 

 worm that bores dry pines, and other trees, is the 

 identical "apple borer," and inhabits old logs, chip 

 dung, and nearly every variety of decaj'ing wood. 

 Well decomposed muck is a clear exception to 

 this class, and in my opicion, is the very best arti- 

 cle to put about young trees, at transplanting, 

 mixed with an equal amount of well pulverized 

 barn yard manure. I am well persuaded, from ex- 

 periments made this season, that one-half peck 

 of clear sand, or bank sand, put around the body 

 of the tree, at the top of the ground, has a strong 

 tendency to keep the borer away. Not one of 

 mine treated in this way has been injured this 

 season. I attribute the ravages of the borer upon 

 our apple and quince trees, for the past fifteen 

 years, to an absence of the broad forests which once 

 covered this section of country. Now the subject 

 is before me, allow me to say a few words in rela- 

 tion to 



TR-^NSPLANTING YOUNG FRUIT TREES. 



As to the time of setting, my method is to do it 

 when I have time to do it in the most thorough 

 manner, s])ring or fall. In process, I dig a hole 6 

 feet in diameter, and l| deep; putting the 

 loam by itself, and placing the sods at the bottom 

 of the hole, bottom up, to form a mellow, penetra- 

 ble bed for the roots of the tree. I now take the 

 tree from the nursery, and with a sharp knife trim 

 ofi" all the roots that have been cut or bruised by 

 the shovel in taking up, with a slanting cut, slant- 



ing from the bottom up, so that when the tree 

 stands up, the angle cut upon the root, lies flat up- 

 on the ground. I now set the tree upright, in the 

 centre of the hole, leaning a little to the west, and 

 with a watering-pot, wet all the little roots, so that 

 the dirt will readily adhere to them. Now I take 

 some loam upon a shovel, finely pulverized, and 

 shake it upon the roots while wet, filling all the in- 

 terstices between the roots with light, fine earth, so 

 as to leave the roots in their natural position at the 

 nursery as much as possible. Put all the loam dug 

 from the hole about the roots, then throw in the 

 remaining earth, careful not to tread it down (as 

 many do) as the light and permeable earth will ad- 

 mit dews, rains, heat and moisture, more readily 

 than hard trodden earth, and will enable the tree 

 to withstand the drouth, and frost much better. 

 Set the bulby or bushy side of the tree to the 

 south-west, to protect the bodj', in a measure, from 

 the burning sun, and cold winter blasts which pre- 

 vail in this section. When the trees are set, mulch 

 each tree with a a wheelbarrow load of compost, 

 made of equal parts of compost and fine yard ma- 

 nure. 



P. S. — Before setthig, if the tree is large and 

 thrifty, I usually head in the upright shoots in pref- 

 erence to cutting out some of the main branches. 

 This checks its upright growth, and induces it to 

 form a more symmetrical head than it would oth- 

 erwise do. Lewis L. Pierce. 



East Jaffrey, .Y. H., 1856. 



VERMONT STATE FAIR. 



The Sixth Annual Agricultural Fair for the 

 State of Vermont, took place at Burlington, on the 

 9th, 10th, 1 1th and 12th days of September. The 

 grounds were directly on the shore of Lake Cham- 

 plain, on a high table land, level, and afibrding fine 

 opportunities for all the various departments of the 

 exhibition. The edge of the bold bluff was skirt- 

 ed with yellow pines, checking the fresh breeze 

 which came across the lake, and tempering the hot 

 rays of the sun. Water was brought to the grounds 

 in abundance, both for man and beast, hay and 

 provender were plenty, and booths, crowded with 

 all sorts of edibles, afibrded aliment for the hungry 

 and tired visitors who were in attendance to the 

 number of thousands. 



The weather was favorable, the roads in good 

 condition, and, with the exception of a political 

 meeting at Plattsburg on the second day, nothing 

 to prevent a numerous attendance by the people of 

 the State. 



The show of Horses made the leading feature of 

 the occasion, and well may Vermont bear off the 

 palm in this department of rural industry. The 

 attention of the country is now turned to Vermont 

 for the best blood in this noble animal ; and a sin- 

 gle visit to the course at this fair, would satisfy 

 the attentive observer that the reputation gained 

 is not a fictitious, and will not be an ephemeral, 

 one. Prices ran high. $20,000 was oflfered for 

 the well known ^horse, "Ethan Allen," and refused. 



