184 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



taken to have milking done in such a manner 

 that the butter tasted perfectly well. The milk 

 was set on shelves made for the purpose in the 

 room where we lived, which proved sufficiently 

 warm for the cream to rise in thirty-six hours. 

 The cream was then taken oft' and set in a cold 

 back buttery every day through the week, which, 

 of course, was frozen as hard as a stone. 



The day previous to the churning evening, the 

 cream was set in a warm place about the stove, 

 and stirred as it thawed, u# til it was about the 

 temperature of 45°. Care was taken not to have 

 it melt. Under this treatment I never churned 

 over thirty-one minutes, and often the butter 

 came in fifteen minutes. 



The butter came hard, and it cut as hard as 

 that made in June. Carrot juice is an advan- 

 tage to the taste as well as to the looks of win- 

 ter-made butter. A Subsceibek. 



Emding, Ft, Feb., 1858. 



BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Editor : — I have recently read in the 

 Maine Farmer, published at Augusta, the doings 

 of the Board of Agriculture, in Maine, at their 

 annual meeting in January. A prominent object 

 of this Board seems to be to give information to 

 tlie people of what is done, and to advise them 

 what is best to be done. I like this plan of ac- 

 tion much. It is of no use to have such a Board, 

 if they meet only occasionally to compare notes 

 with each other, without putting forward their 

 wisdom in a form to be understood and enjoyed 

 by the people. Why not give a detailed account 

 of what they do in your paper ? How can you 

 find anything more instructive to the farmers of 

 the State, than the concentrated wisdom of their 

 best farmers, as developed in their Board of Ag- 

 riculture ? If it is not so — then it has failed to 

 fulfil the object for which it was organized. 



Feb. 20, 1858. Inquirer. 



Remarks. — Our columns are always open to 

 spread before the people in them the doings of 

 our State Boai-d of Agriculture — but we cannot 

 publish unless such doings are furnished us. 



VEGETABLES AND FROST. 



Will you, or some of your correspondents fa- 

 miliar with agricultural chemistry, inform me 

 why certain vegetables, as the diff"erent species of 

 turnip, cabbage, &c., are able to resist the action 

 of frost so much more than the different species 

 of the vine, pumpkin, squash, &:-c.,as also the po- 

 tato and tomato ? Is it owing to a different chem- 

 ical composition ? If so, what is the particular el- 

 ement, or what the combination of elements that 

 produces the result ? J. 



Wendell, Jan. 23, 1858. 



Remarks. — We sent the above queries to Dr. 

 C. T. Jackson, an eminent chemist of this city, 

 who kindly replied as follows : — 



Boston, Feb., 1858. 

 Dear Sir : — On my return home I found your 

 note of 28th ult., and in reply would state that 

 the difi'erent powers of resistance to frost, char- 

 acteristic of certain vegetables, cannot depend on 



their chemical constitution, but must be owing to 

 their organic structure and vitality. 



The Chinese yam, for instance, and the pars- 

 nip, bear a frost jjelow zero Avithout injury, 

 yet they contain a large proportion of water, 

 which must freeze, expand, and rupture the cel- 

 lular structure of the plant, but still the plants 

 grow as Avell as ever. So with the vines and 

 other plants you name, the water congeals but 

 the effects are quite difl'ercnt. C. T. Jackson. 



PEACH trees. 



I learn from the most extensive grower of the 

 peach in Essex county, (he having over 3000 trees 

 in his orchard in bearing condition,) that he lost 

 about 1500 new budded stocks the last winter, by 

 reason of the snow and ice gathering around 

 them so closely that when a thaw came, it slipped 

 down and rubbed off the buds. This was a seri- 

 ous loss, as there is an anxious solicitude to ob- 

 tain promising trees. This obstacle to their cu - 

 ture was new to me, though I think it might be 

 prevented by proper care. I am quite sure the 

 trees will not be thus incumbered the present 

 winter, unless the snows are much more abun- 

 dant than they have yet been. P. 



Jan. 29, 1858. _ 



now is SUMAC used? 



I wish to inquire what part of the sumac tree 

 is used, how cured, «S:c.? There are two kinds 

 here, the ball and the blossom, or poison sumac, 

 so called on account of its being a little poison- 

 ous to some. John L. Maxwell. 



Guilford, Vt., 1858. _ 



TO PROTECT PEACH TREES FROM BORERS. 



Remove the earth from the base of the tree, in 

 such a manner as to leave a hollow around the 

 tree, into wh>:h pour boiling water. This pro- 

 cess should be repeated two or three times dur- 

 ing the summer. M. A. Hawley. 



^Loda, III., Feb., 1858. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 EGYPTIAN" MILLET. 



Mr. Editor: — The Egyptian millet I have 

 found much preferable to any other crop for feed- 

 ing green to stock. Two or three crops can be 

 obtained in a season, as it springs immediately 

 up after being cut. Cows, horses or hogs eat it 

 readily and thrive upon it. I have raised it for 

 the past three years with a view of testing its 

 actual value for soiling, and will give my experi- 

 ments, leaving the reader to judge of its value. 



In 1856 I sowed 10 rods to the millet; about 

 the last of July commenced to cut and feed to 

 five cows each morning, for six weeks. This was 

 at just the time when the pastures were dry and 

 feed usually short. The com'S were turned to 

 pasture each day, till it was estimated that we 

 made ten dollars Avorth more of butter in conse- 

 quence of the 10 rods of millet. This season I 

 sowed one-fourth acre to the millet and fed to a 

 yearling bull, which gained in a few days over 

 four months 320 pounds, or about 2 J pounds daily. 

 Stock fed upon the millet a short time prefer it 

 to the best hay. I think it well adapted to feed 



