66 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



Feb. 



ly damp moss in a warm place, or in a box of 

 soil kept moist and warm. As a general thing 

 the harder and more solid the seed the longer 

 it is in germinating ; there being quite a dif- 

 ference in time with different varieties, some 

 germinating in one or two days, and others 

 requiring one to two weeks. 



Wm. H. White. 

 South Windsor, Conn., 1869. 



For theNew England Farmer, 

 KICKING COWS. 



In your issue of the 26th, "E. L." asks a 

 remedy for a kicking cow. I have not seen our 

 practice recommended, and wish he would try 

 it, and report progress through the Farmer, 

 for the benefit of those similarly afflicted. 

 Put the cow in stanchions. Take a strap of 

 sufficient length, with a buckle or ring at one 

 end, and pass it around her body just back of 

 the shoulder ; then stand at as safe a distance 

 as possible and slip it back to the hips and 

 udder, and tighten the strap with a firm pull, 

 which may be done without the least danger. 

 This renders the animal powerless to kick. 

 Then proceed to milk as though nothing had 

 occurred, being assured that the cow cannot 

 lift a foot into the pail, if the work has been 

 properly done ; if not, tighten the strap 

 two or three inches more. After a few days 

 the strap may be applied looser, and according 

 to our experience may soon be finally dis- 

 pensed with. 



Believing as we do that nine of every ten 

 kicking cows are made so by accident or mis- 

 management, we would enjoin, as of the ut- 

 most importance, the exercise of kind and 

 gentle treatment in ^ all cases. I think the 

 most fruitful source of mischief is neglect- 

 ing cows previous to their "coming in;" al- 

 lowing udders to become pressed and inflamed. 

 Especially is this the case with heifers, which 

 like all other young milking animals, secrete 

 milk much longer before it is needed for their 

 young, than older animals. This early secre- 

 tion, sometimes natural and at others induced 

 by milk-producing feed, frequently causes the 

 udder to become inflamed and very painful to 

 the animal, and alarming to its owner, who 

 may have inherited a prejudice against pre- 

 vious milking, and has no faith in, or fancy for 

 bathing ; consequently he resorts to the pre- 

 valent remedy of letting the calf "take out 

 the fever." This accounts for the frequency 

 of obstruction in the milk ducts, or a partial 

 or entire loss of the udder. It accounts also 

 for the numerous haggard looking heifers with 

 lean calves, made fierce by hunger, tugging at 

 inflamed and swollen udders, "taking out the 

 fever." As there is little else for them to 

 take, they commence a series of pulling, bit- 

 ing and butting, which fairly forces the mother, 

 though possessed of more than human fortitude, 

 to repel the brutal attacks, by scores of half 



repeated of course when the milking commen- 

 ces. 



The kicking heifer must be "broke or she 

 is spoiled," meditates the milker as he seats 

 himself with elbows distended just in time to 

 receive a well directed kick over both arms, 

 completely wiping him out, pail and all. The 

 frightened animal of course flies from the 

 wreck, and leaves the milker to gather himself 

 up. Confused, mortified and enraged, he 

 starts in pursuit, perhaps hurling brickbats, 

 and stones at her most vulnerable points. If 

 he succeeds in getting her into the stancheons, 

 she receives cruel kicks, and thundering blows 

 perhaps from a three-legged stool. 



Thus commences the history of many an in- 

 veterate kicker, which, becoming desperate, 

 determines to fight it out on that line. This 

 may seem to be exaggeration, but who that 

 lives in the country is not familiar with such 

 disgraceful cruelty ? I knew a man who on 

 being kicked from his stool, sprang with an 

 oath and an uplifted cudgel at his cow, which 

 instantly broke from the stable, ran across the 

 floor, and clearing the girt, jumped to the 

 bottom of a deep bay, to avoid her pursuer, 

 who had to remove the solid double boarding 

 to get her out. I am acquainted with a man, 

 who, in a fit of rage, after hastily looking for 

 some weapon, caught the tail of the offending 

 cow in his teeth, and with a fiendish grin 

 nearly severed it and left it bleeding, saying 

 with a curse, "now I guess you will mind !" 



O. C. Wait. 



West Georgia, Vt., Jan. 1, 1869. 



CKOSa-CUT SAW. 



Ten years' experience in the use of cross- 

 cut saws, has proved to me that I have been 

 working under many disadvantages, until re- 

 cently. My wish is for all to know the great 

 advantage of a plan which I pursue. Take a 

 new saw that has never been set, place it be- 

 tween two boards, cut to fit the saw, clamp it 

 tight on a bench or in a vise ; take an iron 

 wedge, file one corner to suit the s.tofthe 

 tooth when finished, then take a small hammer, 

 hold the wedge with the left hand, strike the 

 tooth lightly with the hammer until at the right 

 place ; tlun turn the wedge on the oppo.-ite 

 side, and on the next tooth, and tet it in the 

 same way ; now then you reach the third and 

 most important tooth in the saw — leave it per- 

 fectly straight ; pass on to the fourth tooth, 

 set it as you did the first, turn the wedge, set 

 the fifth the other way ; leave the sixth 

 tooth straight ; and so on until you finish. 



Now take your file, dress the two teeth as 

 you do the common saw ; the third file perfect- 

 ly straight and square — leaving it about one- 

 twentieth part of one inch shorter than the 

 others. Continue in that way until you fJni.-h, 

 and you will find it will cut twice as fast as 



the old way practiced by most farmers.— 

 involuntary but desperate kicks, which are I Southern Cultivator. 



