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NEW ENGLAND FAIllMER. 



Aug. 



teen cloudy, fifteen days rain — amount six and 

 one-half inches. I could give you the direction 

 of the wind every day for three months, but the 

 range of the thermometer would be more than 

 you wish to print, or your readers to peruse ; 

 though worth more than it costs to me. Though 

 not a subscriber, I read your valuable paper, and 

 appreciate it highly though not all adapted to 

 this region. 



June 1st, another smart shower. 



With such an amount of rain and cloudy 

 weather on your sandy soil in Massachusetts, you 

 might cultivate the ground quite well ; but here, 

 6n the rolling or flat prairies, with a fine adhe- 

 Bive soil, more or less clayey, and all limey, rest- 

 ing on a clay subsoil, it is altogether different, 

 and allowance must be made to farmers, if in 

 such excessively wet seasons we cannot pay all 

 our debts. IvERS Taylor, 



A Bay State Man. 



Denmark, Lee Co., Iowa, June 1, 1859. 



EXTKACTS AND REPLIES. 

 A GOOD CALF. 



I am now raising a heifer calf that is consid- 

 ered by myself and neighbors a very good one. 

 It is ten months old to-day. When eight months 

 and a half old, it weighed 700 lbs. Think it 

 •would now weigh 800. It is five feet and two 

 inches in girth, and is, according to its length and 

 weight, proportionally small where measured for 

 the girth. It is of the no-horned breed, and of 

 a bright Devon color. Until within a few days 

 it has had the milk of one cow, and has been fed 

 some besides. Yours, Szc, B. F. Fletcher. 



Dej-by, Vt, Hay 25, 1859. 



Remarks. — We suppose the writer means by 

 "no-horn breed," what are termed "Polled cattle," 

 by graziers. Ayrshire and Dumfries, in Scot- 

 land, with two or three other places, once formed 

 the ancient province of Galloway, and the polled, 

 or no-horned cattle, were natives of that prov- 

 ince. By "Devon color," he means the dark ma- 

 hogany color which always distinguishes the true 

 Devon. 



WHITE SPECKS IN BUTTER. 



I would say in answer to "T.," of Felchville, 

 Vt., that white specks in butter are caused by 

 getting sour milk in with the cream when skim- 

 ming, which becomes hard like cheese ; to pre- 

 vent white specks in butter, stir the cream thor- 

 oughly after skimming, and should there be 

 specilvs then, rinse in cold water. 



Ludlow, Vt., 1859. MRS. L. E. n. 



OIL SOAP FOR BORERS. 



Mr. Editor : — I saw in one of your papers 

 within the last six months — I do not now remem- 

 ber the date of it — a communication in which 

 the writer stated that he had, for several years, 

 used oil of soap to prevent the depredations of 

 borers in apple trees. I would like to know if 

 it is the oil of soap such as is used by fullers in 

 scouring ; and, if so, what is the time of apply- 

 ing it ? What quantity is used, and in.what man- 

 ner is it applied ? If you, or some of your sub- 



scribers, will give me the desired information 

 through your columns, it will greatly oblige 



Samuel Parks. 

 Rock Bottom, Mass., June 4, 1859. 



Remarks. — Perhaps the person who recom- 

 mended it may give Mr. P. some information — 

 we have never used oil soap for that purpose. 

 We suppose it is the common whale oil soap. 



kicking cows. 



Place the animal by the side of a stall or par- 

 tition, and confine her head with a rope, so she 

 will not be able to step back, and then put a bar 

 the other side, having a place beside her head ts 

 put one end of the bar in, and fetch the other 

 end of the bar down as low as you can conve- 

 niently ; milk under the bar, and make it so 

 tight that she cannot change her position. If she 

 should kick she can do no hurt, and she will 

 soon relinquish her old trick. I have tried it 

 with good success. E. E. Robinson. 



Sunderland, Mass., 1S59. 



I have just lost a valuable South Down buck, 

 and on examination, found worms in his head, 

 which probably caused his death. Can you, or 

 any of your correspondents, tell me the cause 

 and cure ? Where can I obtain another pure 

 blood South Down buck ? N. P. RiNES. 



Concord, JV. H., June 6, 1859. 



Remarks. — Worms in the head of sheep are 

 caused by the "gad-fly." Read "Morrell's Amer- 

 ican Shepherd." 



to PREVENT A COW FROM KICKING. 



Having noticed in the Farmer of this month a 

 plan suggested by "J. Y. N." for the purpose of 

 curing kicking cows, allow me to suggest one 

 which is, perhaps, equally as good. Take a rope 

 long enough to go round the cow, commencing 

 at her forward legs, and tie it over her shoulders. 

 Now take a stick, and twist the rope tolerably 

 tight, which will prevent her from using her 

 hind legs ; she cannot stir them an inch. 



Boston, June, 1859. A Belmont Farmer. 



SCABS CROWS. 



This is the time of year for our corn-fields to 

 exhibit all sorts of artistic ingenuity, in the shape 

 of old clothes statuary, and a very odd and ex- 

 pressive tableaux, as well as a great extent of 

 never-ending twine — glittering pieces of tin hung 

 on poles, by ever twisting and twisting strings — 

 old coffee pots, and dilapidated hats ; all to in- 

 timidate that very sable, but sagacious bird, the 

 crow. Mr. Crow generally laughs in his sleeve 

 at all this expenditure of cast-off toggery, and 

 takes M'hat corn he wants before the farmer is 

 up, or in the house at his meals, or gone to meet- 

 ing, or absent from the premises from any other 

 cause. The best mode that we ever adopted, to 

 keep this inveterate old preacher from pulling 

 up our corn, was to surround him with assailants 

 of his own kind. Make bird fight bird. We once 

 set up a couple of martin-boxes on poles in our 

 corn-field. These were occupied by families of 



