1869. 



NEW ENGLANJ) FARMER. 



35 



dent of the Farmer, — M. A. U., of Fitzvvilliam, 

 N. II., — gave a few years ago the following rule : — 

 To ten pounds of meat put one giU of salt, 

 one gill of sage, and one-half gill of pepper; or 

 if preferred, half the quantity of sage and a half 

 gill of summer savory. L. L. Pierce, East Jaf- 

 frej', N. 11., gave as a rule for eaeh pound of 

 meat, three teaspoonfuls of fine sage, one and a 

 fialf of salt, and one of pepper, (three-fourths 

 black, one-fourth cayenne.) Two of the writers 

 very nearly agree in the rule that 30 pounds of 

 meat should have nine ounces of salt and four 

 ounces of pepper, while a third recommends a 

 much larger quantity. 



Sausage meat may be presa'ved by putting It In 

 new cotton cloth bags a foot or so long and two or 

 three inches in diameter, which after filling are 

 dipped in and coated with melted lard. When used 

 the bag may be sliced oflf with the meat. 



CRANBERRIES IN VERMONT. 



Is there any kind of cranberry that will prove 

 profitable as far north as the middle of Vermont, if 

 set on the right kind of land ? I feel confident we 

 have the right piece of land, if I may judge by 

 what I sec in your column of Extracts and Replies, 

 the reading of which I have found useful and in- 

 structive. \v. B. K. 



West Fairlee, Vt., Nov. 13, 1868. 



Remarks. — Mr. Eastwood says in his book on 

 Cranberry Culture that "On many of the vast 

 steppes of Russia, the cranberry abounds, and even 

 amid the wastes of Siberia it is occasionally to be 

 met v/ith. Indeed, the Russian cranberries proved 

 for a long time to be no ineonsidcrable portion of 

 the exports of that country." We should appre- 

 hend more ditficulty from the diflferencc between 

 the soil of Vermont and of Cape Cod, where the 

 cranberry grows to perfection, than from the dif- 

 ference in climate, especially where the meadow 

 can be flowed at pleasure. Beach sand, or sand 

 somewhat similar to that on the ocean beach, and 

 peat or muck, seem to be the essentials to the suc- 

 cess of cranberry cultivation. You will find a val- 

 uable article on this subject in last week's Far- 

 mer. 



CRANBERRIES. 



I have a meadow through which a stream flows, 

 and by which it can be flowed. I wish, to be in- 

 formed how the land should be prepared and 

 whether it can be seeded from berries, or is it best 

 to transplant vines ? Please answer through the 

 Farmek, which has been of great advantage dur- 

 ing the past two years. A Subscriber. 



Whitimville, Mass., Oct. 24, 1888. • 



Remarks. — Mr. Breed's article in the Farmer 

 of the same date with this letter answers these 

 questions pretty fully. Different meadows are 

 prepared in ditfcrent wa}-s. Sometimes the whole 

 surface is removed to the depth of a foot or less, 

 afijrding a hirgi; amount of valualjlc material for 

 the compost heap; swm' times the grass, bushes, 

 &c., are e;it, stump, roots, &i-., dug out, and the 

 whjle burned over iu a di}' lime ; sometimes tiie 



whole surface is covered with sand, beach sand 

 being the best. Vines arc preferred to seed, as 

 the growth from planting or sowing the berry is 

 slow. In October, 1846, Mr. Addison Flint, of 

 Reading, Mass., planted an acre by crushing each 

 berry between the thumb and finger and placing it 

 just under the mud, single berries in a hill three 

 and a half feet apart, and also sowed broadcast a 

 number of bushels of refuse cranberries the fol- 

 lowing spring. No berries till four years after- 

 wardS, and then very small; the next year, of 

 good size and worth picking. 



SORE TEATS IN COWS. 



I have a good new milch cow that has sore teats 

 soon after she comes in. If you or any of your 

 suljscribers can tell me the cause and cure, you 

 will oblige an old subscriber. g. h. k. 



Sterling, Mass., Nov. 16, 1868. 



Pi.EMARKS. — Some cows teats are more liable to 

 be sore than others, possibly from a similar 

 cause that some people's hands are more liable to 

 crack and chap than others. There may also be 

 some impurities — humors of the skin or blood — 

 that produce soreness. Mr. H. Rounds, of Che- 

 pachet, R. I., recommended in the Farmer, some 

 time since, as a salve for sore teats on cows, one 

 pound of the bitter-sweet or yellow-root, simmered 

 fifteen minutes in half a pound of lard, applied 

 twice a day, after being strained and cooled. 



ASHES INJURIOUS TO APPLE TREES. 



I noticed in the last Farmer, in "Jack's" reply 

 to "J. J. T.," that he put from one to four quarts 

 of ashes around his trees to keep off mice. Now I 

 will state the result of an experiment in ashing 

 trees. Two years ago last June, I put from one to 

 twd quarts of ashes to each of about eighty trees, 

 of ditterent sizes from one to three inches in diam- 

 eter, to keep away the borer-fly. On examining 

 the trees the next spring, I was surprised to 

 find that about one in eight was killed, and on 

 one-half or more the bark was dead from one- 

 fourth to three-fourths the way around the tree, 

 where the ashes laid against the trunk. I removed 

 the ashes and banked up the trees with earth. 

 Those that were partly killed struck new roots 

 above the dead spots and now they are doing nice- 

 ly. I v/ould like to hear through the Farmer if 

 others have had their trees injured by putting ashes 

 against them; if so, please reply, as I have soma 

 tliousand or more that I was intending to ash, but 

 dare not. W. V. Tainter. 



South Carthage, Me., Nov. 17, 1868. 



steaming fodder for cattle. 



I have an idea of a process for the preparation 

 of fodder for stock which I have not had an op- 

 portunity of testing practically, and as I may not 

 have such opportunity at present, I offer it to your 

 readers for what it is worth, as a theory or a mere 

 suggestion which may possibly lead to improve- 

 ments in the utilization of materials which are 

 nov»r mostly sutt'cred to go to waste. 



About 1SG3, a machine was invented for cotton- 

 ising flax. It consisted of a sti-ong cylinder, cou- 

 necttd at one end v/ith a steam boiler; at the 

 other it was closed by a hinged lid. The cylinder 

 was filled with flax, and steam let on at a high 

 pre:-sure. TIhs was ktpt up till the bark was 

 heated to the same degri:;e with the steam. The 



