1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



427 



teat if possible ; when she becomes quiet I caress 

 her with the hand, and soothe her by gentle 

 words, thus letting her know what I want. This 

 will, I am sure, prove effectual, for cows are like 

 school-boys, who, if they know they can overrun 

 the master with impunity, will continue to do so. 

 A cow once thus subdued will become gentle and 

 docile. E. !•'. B. 



Enfield, Mass., July 25. 



EFFECTUAL REMEDY FOR POISONED SHEEP. 



Open the sheep's mouth and with a sharp- 

 pointed knife, bleed the sheep in the third or 

 fourth bar or ridge from the entrance of the 

 mouth, and the work is done, and a cure effect- 

 ed without pining away or loss of flesh, as in 

 most other remedies. I have applied the above 

 remedy to several sheep that were flat on their 

 sides and appeared lifeless, and have not lost one 

 sheej). E. G. Allis. 



Whately, Mass., July 26, 1859. 



TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS. 



Seeing a paragraph in your columns from one 

 of your subscribers concerning transplanting 

 pines or evergreens, I will give my plan. As ear- 

 ly in the spring as possible, I selected a few 

 small trees from the woods, (a pine, a hemlock 

 and cedar,) and took them up with the native 

 soil which adhered to them, and planted them 

 near the house. I gave them a little attention, 

 keeping them well watered, and I have now the 

 pleasure of seeing them prospering finely. 



George C. Lawrence. 



Vineyard, Winch ester. 



PICKLES. 



Will any one who knows, tell me how, with good 

 cider vinegar and cucumbers, I can make pickles 

 that will keep hard the year round, without salt- 

 ing them down ? I have tried it several times 

 and in a little while they grow soft and are unfit 

 for use. A Lover of Good Pickles. 



Putney, Vt., 1859. 



Remarks. — The "cook-books" give directions 

 how to make pickles, but we believe people gen- 

 erally consider that salting cucumbers is the best 

 mode of keeping them for a long time. 



A ruptured colt. 



I have a mare colt, six weeks old, that has a 

 bad breach at the navel. Can you, or any of 

 your readers, tell me what to do for it? If a 

 pad can be put on to do any good, how must the 

 rigging be fixed to keep it in its place ? The 

 opening through the membrane is nearly an inch 

 and a half in length. w. c. B. 



Putney, Vt., July, 1859, 



For the New England Farmer. 

 TOPPIXtTG COBN. 



Some of your contributors differ relative to the 

 practicability of cutting off the tops of corn. 



My limited experience in the culture of corn, 

 much inclines me to favor the practice of cutting 

 off the tops at an early day. The reasons for so 

 doing in brief are as follows: 



As soon as the corn is full, remove the top. 

 The hot sun soon sears the cut end of the stalk, 

 and what supply of nourishment was intended 

 for the top, is saved for the ear ; consequent- 

 ly, the ears will ripen fuller than it otherwise 

 would. If the tops are removed previous to the 

 high winds accompanying autumnal storms, the 

 corn will be partially, at least, protected and 

 saved. The corn will ripen sooner, and, I think, 

 sounder. 



The tops will be worth double what they oth- 

 erwise would be to remain until the corn is suf- 

 ficiently ripened to put into shocks. 



The sugar contained in the stalk is its real 

 value. The sooner the top is cut after it attains 

 its full growth, the more is saved. If suffered to 

 remain, nearly all of its value, escapes'by evapo- 

 ration. 



True, if you cut up and shock before the corn 

 is quite ripe, you save a trifle in the value of the 

 butt stalks ; but not enough to compensate for 

 the loss in the top stalks. The increased labor in 

 tying up and shocking will quite balance that of 

 topping. 



Georgetoivn, Mass., 1859. 



Iowa Farmers' College. — This institution 

 has been located in Storer county, thirty miles 

 north of I)es Moines city. The site is said to be 

 one of the most beautiful to be found in the State. 

 There are 640 acres of land connected with the 

 buildings. 



MILDEW AND FRUIT. 



Mr. Editor: — My friend, Mr. Saunders, of 

 Philadelphia, says that the cracking of the pear 

 is the result of a species of mildew, and it may 

 be found that applications of sulphur water will 

 be a surer prevention of this disease than those 

 special manures which have been recommended, 

 and which have not been found to remedy this 

 evil, or give indications of a curative process. 



The peculiar mildew seen on the foreign grr^pe 

 under glass, on the gooseberry, lilac, &c., is in- 

 duced by atmos])heric aridity. This mildew ( <-- 

 velops in the form of a moldincss on the upp.'r 

 surface of the foliage, and frequently extends and 

 envelopes young growing shoots, in v/hich case 

 the bark seems to contract and crack into length- 

 ened openings. Here can be traced a close re- 

 semblance to the cra.king of the pear, going far 

 to prove that it has the same origin. In shel- 

 tered city yards, where drying winds are arrested 

 in their sweeping progress, and where a quiet 

 and more humid atmosphere prevails, the foreign 

 grape will frequently attain to a fair perfection. 



So also the White Doyenne ])ear is annually 

 produced in its greatest perfection on trees sim- 

 ilarly located, while in open exposures a few 

 miles distant a fair specimen cannot be procured. 

 No reason that has ever been brought forward 

 on the probable cause of pear-cracking is so phil- 

 osophical, or so much in accordance with record- 

 ed facts, as that which connects it with mildew. 

 The mildew seen on the native grape is appar- 

 ently a difll'erent fungus from the above. Here 

 the "under" side of the leaf is attacked, destroy- 

 ing the vitality of the tissue, which is then ten- 



