1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



277 



clear of grass by the hoe, and between the rows, 

 as soon as the grass starts, the bar side of the 

 plow is run as near as possible, throwing the 

 earth away from the ridge ; in the next working 

 it is thrown back, leaving the ridge about what 

 it was in the beginning. During this working, 

 the vines are laid along the ridges by hand, to 

 avoid their being covered, and returned after the 

 work is done. It is important that grass be kept 

 from about the plants by careful working during 

 the early season of their growth. 



When the crop is not consumed upon the 

 ground, it is harvested by chopping the vine off 

 at the surface with the hoe, and running the bar 

 of the plow as near as it may be done without 

 cutting or bruising them, on each side of the po- 

 tatoes, when they may be easily drawn out. 



They are preserved in cellars, or out of doors 

 in kilns. The method of fixing them is to raise 

 the ground a few inches, where they are to be 

 placed, and cover with pine shatters to the depth 

 of six inches or more. The potatoes are laid up- 

 on these, and piled in the usual way, as many as 

 fifty or sixty bushels. These are then covered 

 with a thick covering of pine shatters, boards 

 laid upon them, and earth to the depth of six 

 inches, to be increased when cold weather comes 

 on. 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



HYDRAULIC RAM. 



Mr. Editor : — I am pleased to see the hy- 

 draulic ram so conspicuously presented in your 

 paper of the 16th inst. It strikes me as one of 

 the most useful and convenient appendages, upon 

 a stock farm, that can possibly be introduced — 

 wherever one can be made to operate. I know 

 a farm near me, (known as the Pickman farm.) 

 on which one was placed, a few years since, with 

 a fall of thirteen feet only, and water has been 

 conveyed by it for the supply of a stock of more 

 than 60 head of cattle, for a distance of 2.300 feet. 

 The original cost of the ram and pipe did not ex- 

 ceed $200 — and the annual charge of repairs has 

 not exceeded $10. If any one can find a better 

 mode of watering cattle, I should like to know it. 

 When it is considered that the water is constant- 

 ly conveyed to any part of the buildings or yard, 

 where wanted, without any crowding of the ani- 

 mals or loss of manure, I think those who are 

 accustomed to tend upon cattle will perceive the 

 advantages of this mode of watering. *. 



HOW TO HULL CORN. 



Put one quart of corn into cold water, and add 

 two large tea-spoonfuls of saleratus ; put it on 

 the fire, and boil it until the hull will rub off ea- 

 sily ; rinse it well in cold water, and put it on the 

 fire again, and boil it until it is soft enough for 

 use. R. w. G. 



West Mansfield, 4 Mo. 13. 



KICKING COWS. 



I have noticed something about kicking cows 

 in your paper. Hang a common draft chain over 

 the back of the cow, just forward of the hips, 

 when you go to milk, and I think you will have 

 no more trouble. Isaac P. Greenleat. 



Oroton, X. II., 1859. 



OLD APPLE TREES — GRASS SEED — CRANBERRIES 

 — ASHES. 



1. Can large old trees be made to produce 

 more fruit liy grafting ? 



2. Is there any permanent cure for bone spa- 

 vin? 



3. How much grass seed does it require to 

 sow an acre of land ? 



4. Does not sowing oats or wheat with grass 

 seed exhaust the land and consequently diminish 

 the quantity of hay ? 



5. When is the best time to set cranberry 

 vines ? 



6. Will it pay to buy dry ashes at 20 cents a 

 bushel for agricultural purposes ? 



New BedJ'ord, 4 Mo. 4. Subscriber. 



Remarks. — 1. Sound old apple trees produc- 

 ing natural fruit may be grafted profitably. 



2. Consult Dr. G. H. Dadd, Boston. 



3. If the land is rich, less; if the land is poor, 

 more. One bushel of red-top and eight quarts of 

 herds-grass, with six pounds of clover sowed on 

 the snow in the last of March or in .'\pril, is 

 what we use. Some of our neighbors use more, 

 and some less. 



4. Wheat and oats, of course, exhaust the soil. 

 To succeed well, sow six or eight pecks of oats 

 per acre instead of twelve, as is usually the case ; 

 they will then tend to shade and protect the 

 young grass instead of crowding it out. It is 

 also safe to sow a bushel of wheat per acre when 

 seeding down land, and if the crop proves a 

 heavy one, top dress the land as soon as the 

 wheat crop is taken off, and the grass will be 

 likely to succeed well. 



5. A good time to set cranberry plants is in 

 April or early May — whether it is the best time 

 or not, we do not know. 



6. Twenty cents a bushel for pure ashes is a 

 good investment for your money. 



CATTLE EATING BOARDS AND BONES. 

 Can you inform me what makes my cattle eat 

 old boards and bones ? I cannot have a board 

 fence around my yard, but what some of the 

 cattle will be gnawing it ; they seem to liave a 

 sort of hankering after something of that sort 

 all the time. Is there not some disease about 

 them that causes it, or are there some proper- 

 ties wanting in their food — which is principally 

 hay cut on old land ? Would it be beneficial to 

 give them bone meal — and if so, how much at a 

 time? A Vermont Subscriber. 



Remarks. — A little bag of bone meal that 

 will cost about seventy-five cents, fed to your 

 cattle just as much as they will eat, will pro!)a- 

 bly cure their propensity for chewing old bones 

 or eating your board fences. Nourse t^- Co., 34 

 Merchants Row, Boston, keep it for sule. 



A. A. Austin, Enfield, N. H., is referred to a 

 capital little work, Eastwood on the Culture ot 

 the Cranberry, for the information he desires. 



