314 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



MASSACHUSETTS DAIRY COWS. 



Seeing the communication of "Essex," in last 

 Saturday's Farmer, I thought that I would state 

 a fact or two, in confirmation of his opinion ; i. e. 

 that Massachusetts dairies produce more butter 

 to a quart of milk, than do the dairies of England 

 and New York, according to Messrs. Horsfall 

 and Holbert. Mr. L. P. Dempsey, of this place, 

 has a cc w that gives fourteen quarts of milk per 

 day, and seven quarts of it make a pound of but- 

 ter. Her feed is English hay, three quarts of 

 shorts and three pints of meal a day. In the 

 next barn is a cow, owned by Mr. Isaac Demp- 

 sey, which gives sixteen quarts of milk per day ; 

 seven quarts of it make one pound and one ounce 

 of butter. Her feed is English hay, three pints 

 of meal with no shorts. Neither of these cows 

 was bought for anything extra, but if any one 

 thinks they can beat them, let them try. 



Danvers Centre, May, 1858. H. o. "W. 



chemical analyses of corn-cobs. 



Have you the analysis of the corn-cob, made 

 by Dr. Jackson ? If so, please give it to us, as 

 an aid to judge of the profit or loss to be made 

 in grinding and using the cob for feed. 



Groton, 1858. Corn Cob. 



Remarks. — Below we give an analysis by Dr. 

 Charles T. Jackson, of this city, of two sam- 

 ples of Indian corn — one grown in Rhode Island 

 and the other in Massachusetts. The Doctor 

 says : — 



The following analyses were undertaken with 

 the view of ascertaining how much nutritive mat- 

 ter is contained in the cobs of Indian corn, and 

 also how much of each mineral salt they had ex- 

 tracted from the soil upon which they grew. 

 Never was a more important subject laid before 

 me than the investigation of the chemical nature 

 of the Indian corn plant, since it concerns the 

 chief agricultural industry of our people. Were 

 as much time and expense devoted to the analy- 

 ses of our staple crops, and the soil in which they 

 are cultivated, as there is annually expended on 

 metals and ores, how soon would the farmer reap 

 the advantage of a truly scientific and profitable 

 agriculture. The age demands progress in this 

 science, and, I trust that, ere long, complete in- 

 vestigations will be made in the other parts of 

 this valuable plant, as well as in several others 

 among our economical products. 



Analysis of the Corn-cob from the Farm of 

 Thomas Andrews, in Smithjield, Rhode Island. — 

 This corn was produced by admixture of the two 

 varieties, "Canada" and "Red-cap." It was re 

 markably prolific, with a very small cob, weigh- 

 ing only 124 grains. 



The matter soluble in ether, alcohol and water 

 ■was found to be in the following proportions : In 

 100 grains of the ground cob, the whole amount 

 dissolved was, 3.145 grains, or about 3 J percent, 

 of the cob. 



Grains, or per cent, of cob. 



A sicatiye yellow fixed oil 0.323 



Sugar 0.242 



Ue.xtrine (gam) and Bome albumen and extractive. . . .2.557 



3.122 

 Loss 0.023 



The saccharine matter did not crystallize, and 

 probably is identical with grape sugar or glucose. 



Analysis of the Ashes ofihe "Tiiscarora" Corn- 

 cob. — This corn was grown at Long Meadow, on 

 the Connecticut river, in Massachusetts. It is a 

 large-grained corn, very rich in starch. The cob 

 weighed 630 grains. When burned it gave 12.2 

 grains of ashes, which yielded, on analysis, near- 

 ly 2 per cent, of the cob. 



Grains, or per cent, of cob. 



Potash 6.6430 



Soila 0.1 970 



Silica 0.0714 



Phosphate of lime and magnesia, and oxid of iron.... 0.0800 



Phosphoric acid 0800 



Chlorine 0.0630 



Unburned carbon 0.1430 



Oxid of iron, carbonic acid, and loss 0.6590 



1,9364 



POULTRY. 



I wish you would inform me whicii is the larg- 

 est breed of poultry, and where I can procure the 

 eggs, as I wish to breed for the market. 



Neioburyport, May, 1858. w. \v. 



Remarks. — Shanghaes, Cochin Chinas, Chit- 

 tagongs, and other large fowls, are scattered all 

 over New England ; it is probable that all these 

 are in your town. But the largest fowls are not 

 always the best for market. A mixture of Shang- 

 hae with our common poultry is better than the 

 pure of either. The White Dorkings are common, 

 and all things considered, perhaps the best breed 

 of poultry we have. The cocks are handsome 

 and bold, the hens good layers and good moth- 

 ers. They are plump, have rather short and yel- 

 low legs, and the flesh is juicy and sweet. When 

 nicely di-essed they are always attractive. 



EGYPTIAN AND HUNGARIAN MILLET. 



Is the Egyptian and Hungarian Millet seed for 

 sale at the seed stores in Boston ? What is the 

 price, and which is the best kind? w. 



Newport, N. H., 1858. 



Remarks. — The Egyptian millet would be 

 about as profitable to raise for stock as rail 

 fences would ; it does not ripen well here, and is 

 altogether unsuited to our New England pur- 

 poses. The Hungarian millet seed may be jiur- 

 chased at Nourse & Co.'s, 13 Commercial Street. 

 But why not sow the common millet, Panicum 

 miliaceum, about which there is no question, 

 which grows rapidly, ripens its seed, and is an 

 excellent plant for soiling stock, or gives you 

 capital seed for young poultry ? 



PACKARD'S WHITE STRAWBERRY. 



In consequence of an article in your paper of 

 May 1st, I was induced to obtain some of the 

 above plants, which will undoubtedly prove to be 

 nothing more or less than the old white wood 

 strawberry, a discarded variety. I give this time- 

 ly hint that others may not meet with the same 

 disappointment. E. w. 



Ledham, May 29. 



