180 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



CULTURE OF THE MANGOLD WURTZEL. 



Was Mr. Leonard Wray's lecture on the man- 

 gold wurtzel, delivered before the Legislative | 

 Agricultural Meeting in Boston, last winter, pub-! 

 lished in full, and if so, where can I obtain it ? i 



On a farm I owned in Rhode Island, I suc- 

 ceeded in getting 1000 bushels and upwards to 

 the acre ; once 1 got 1500 bushels; once 3,337 

 bushels from three acres, 58 pounds to the 

 bushel. Joseph Coe". ; 



Bochester, Mass., 1859. 



Remarks. — Mr. Wray's lecture was partially 

 reported for our columns — we have not seen it 

 in any other form. We have sent you, per mail, 

 a copy of our May number for 1858, containing 

 some things that may be useful to you. 



s BREAD AND SALT. 



I was much interested in an article in your pa- 

 per some time since, from Dr. Alcott, on the sub-j 

 iect of bread-making. I have repeatedly tried 

 unleavened bread or cake, (mixing rather dryly 

 with cool or cold water, sometimes adding a lit- 

 tle dry snow for leaven,) and marking it off into 

 narrow strips. I like it much. Think the mark- 

 ing into strips before baking an excellent idea, 

 and am much obliged to the doctor for his arti- 

 cle. 



Query. — Does the doctor really believe that 

 the great fondness of man, and some other ani- 

 mals, for salt, is no evidence that it is a suitable 

 article for use ? A Reader. 



OSAGE orange HEDGE. 



Will you, or some of your readers, inform me 

 whether the Osage Orange hedge will grow and 

 flourish as far north as the northern part of Sul- 

 livan county. N. H. ? L. Richardson. 



West Springfield, N. IL, Feb., 1859. 



Remarks. — It is quite uncertain whether the 

 Osage Orange would answer for hedges as far 

 orth as your locality — we think it would be bet- 

 ter to use some other plant, your common hem- 

 lock, for instance, if you desire something of the 

 character of the Orange. The hemlock is grace- 

 ful and beautiful in itself, is hardy, of course 

 bears pruning, and makes a tasteful and attrac- 

 tive hedge. It would hardly answer, however, 

 for fencing. 



demolishing rocks. 



In levelling a small hill, this winter, I exposed 

 some troublesome looking rocks. I exhausted 

 my small stock of patience in blasting, breaking, 

 burying, etc., and then thought I would try fire 

 and water. I collected a good quantity of brush, 

 ■weeds, leaves, In fact everything and anything 

 that would burn well. I now made and kept a 

 brisk fire upon and around the rock to be re 

 moved, and as soon as it was thoroughly heated 

 (it takes only an hour to heat a rock of about 

 three or four tons) dashed on a few buckets of 

 cold v.-ater and to my delight, saw the rock fall 

 to fragments. OAKLAND Grove 



Winchester, Mass., 1859, 



wood ashes. 

 Please inform me viYiQiher wood aslies exhausts 

 the land to which it is applied ? s. E. Y. 



Warren, Mass., Jan., 1859. 



Remarks. — Wood ashes undoubtedly acts as 

 a stimulant in the soil — it probably acts upon 

 the sand, even, making it solvent and fit to be 

 taken up by the plants, covering their outer sur- 

 face, stiffening and sti'engthening them so that 

 they are able to stand up. In this way it makes 

 the soil act, and be useful to the plant. Do not 

 let the fear of its exhaustive power prevent you 

 from using it. 



lame hens that die. 



Will you inform me through your paper of the 

 cause of the lameness of my hens ? I have lost 

 since last fall, from fifteen to twenty. In the first 

 place they are taken lame in one leg, and in two 

 or three days the other leg is lame, so that they 

 cannot go, and will lie down ; in two or three 

 days after they become lame in both legs they 

 die. My hen-house is built of stone, and the top 

 roosts are about six feet high. The ground is 

 covered with loam ; I feed them morning and 

 evening on corn or dough, and they have enough 

 to eat ; they do not appear to be in any pain, nor 

 do they grow poor, but are generally fat when 

 they die. o. h. 



Raynham, Jan., 1859. 



Remarks. — Cannot enlighten you — never have 

 witnessed such cases. 



a turkey crop. 



I have male turkeys that came out in June, 

 that weigh twenty-tico pounds ; a lighter one, 

 when dressed, weighed ITi pounds, and a young 

 hen-turkey, dressed, between eleven and twelve 

 pounds. Charles H. Stoddard. 



East Brookfield, Mass., Feb., 1859. 



A BIG PIG. 



I slaughtered a pig nine months old, on the 

 24th Inst., which M'eighed three hundred and 

 thirty pounds. George Haskell, Jr. 



Essex, Jan., 1859. 



li'or the New England Farmer. 

 "COBIT AND COEN STALKS." 



Mr. Editor : — In the weekly number of the 

 Farmer for Jan. 22, an article appeared with the 

 aliove caption. It seems that the writer of the 

 article referred to, has not succeeded to his mind 

 in the new method of harvesting the corn crop, 

 and for the very reason, as I believe, which he 

 has given, namely, that of cutting up the corn, 

 when it v.'as half-matured, which would naturally 

 give to the corn less weight, and the pale color 

 of which he speaks. 



My expeilence has been very difi"erent from 

 that of friend Bacon, as I have practiced cutting 

 my corn to the ground, and shooking, for the last 

 six or seven years, and without any of the seri- 

 ous objections which "W. B." mentions. I be- 

 lieve in the proverb, that there is a time for 

 every thing, and that the time for cutting up corn 



