1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



95 



EXTKACTS AND EEPLIES. 



" plumf.r's adjustable hoe. 



The peddler's recommenda. 

 tion of his suspenders, that 

 tliey ■were long enough for any 

 man, and short enough for any 



. ,^,_ boy, was recalled to our mind 



Vn?'"--...^ 4 as we received, in the early 

 \ ^ 3 part of last summer, an im- 



plement of which the annexed 

 cut Is a representation. 



At first we thought it was one of those things 

 that are "more nice than wise ;" but as our motto is 

 to "try all things and hold fast to that which is 

 good," we took it into the garden with us and went 

 to work. After using it awhile we moved the 

 blade into all the positions it is intended to assume, 

 and found that we could set it exactly to suit our 

 height. We set it for levelling the soil, for cutting 

 up weeds, &c., and soon became satisfied that a 

 hoe needs a particular "pitch" for each of these pur- 

 poses. 



It therefore seems to us that the claims of the 

 inventor — who is also well known for his important 

 improvements in lasts for boots and shoes, — as 

 stated in his printed circular, of the advantages of an 

 adjustable hoe over the common one, are well 

 founded. In our opinion that this new arrange- 

 ment in a small but most important agricultural 

 implement is a step in advance, we find that others 

 coincide. Dr. Geo. B. Loring, President of the 

 New England Agricultural Society, says: "The 

 idea of making the hoe adjustable to different stat- 

 ures, and for different purposes, seems theoretical- 

 ly correct, and I have no doul)t it is practically so." 

 Our correspondent, William Bacon, of Richmond, 

 having tried the Adjustable Hoe the past season 

 for all the purposes to which a hoe is usually ap- 

 plied, calls it a "perfect instrument." lie saj's, 

 "by adjusting it to the height of the person using 

 it, he may hoe his crops through all the long June 

 day without back-ache — without fatigue. There is 

 no need of a Grecian bend in hoeing now, but the 

 person employed may stand as straight as an In- 

 dian and do a good day's work. Taking all things 

 into consideration, they are cheaper at ;^1.25, than 

 the common hoe at 50 cents." 



Others who have used it, speak of its merits. 

 Mr. Fred Phinney of Windham, Me., after using 

 the adjustable hoe a good deal and hard, the past 

 season, says : "I find it perfectly durable and 

 strong. By adjusting the blade to the different 

 uses I can do one-quarter more than with the com- 

 mon hoe, enough to pay the cost of it in three 

 days. This is, I am aware, a strong statement, 

 but it is correct. Its superiority is the more ap- 

 parent when one attempts to use the common hoe, 

 after using the patent." 



As an instrument to cut up corn, Mr. W. L. Lar- 

 rabee, of South Windham, Me., says that "with the 

 Adjustable Hoe, when set right, I can cut up 

 corn much easier, without stooping, and at least 



one-third fiister, than with any corn-cutter I ever 

 used, and would purchase one for that purpose 

 alone. For other purposes the hoe has proved 

 firm and durable, and all that is claimed for it." 



COARSE AND FINE WOOL SHEEP. 



I notice a communication in the Farmer of 

 Nov. 28, from L. I). Corliss, of Orford, N. H., iu 

 which he says that his experience with fine wool 

 sheep has been different from mine; and that he 

 has found the Merinos vtry quiet and orderly, — 

 more "-o than the coarse wools. 



I have rercntlv seen most, of the best flpcks of 

 coarse wool sheep in Frank in county and have 

 converstd with tluir owners. I might speak of 

 many breeders, but will only mention T. W. Gor- 

 don, Farminston Falls, and Elijah Wadsworth, 

 Livermore ['"alls, both tf whom have coarse wool 

 flocks. The sheep ot both these farmers are per- 

 fectly domesticated, run in pastures with poor 

 fences, and are always at home, and arc quiet in 

 their habiis. In fact, I may say that I have not 

 seen a coarse vfuol breeder in this county, who is 

 not perfectly satisfied with his sheep in this re- 

 spect, nor have I ever heard any of "the neigh- 

 bors" making any comt>laintof the encroachments 

 of these sheep, although many of them still favor 

 tiie Merinos and are prejudiced against the coarse 

 wools, as I fear friend Coiliss is. Many of these 

 flocks are pastured so far from home that their 

 owners see them Iiut seldom after they arc turned 

 away in June. Yet no trouble is anticipated and 

 seldom any occurs in finding them where they 

 were put. In my travels through the county I 

 have almost invariably found better fences enclos- 

 ing the pastures of the Merinos than there are 

 around those in which the coarse wools run. I 

 also find that there is considerable inquiry and 

 di-cus,-ion on this su'iject among farmers in this 

 section, and that there i.s a rapidly growing pref- 

 erence for the coarse wools. Zen. 



Franklin County, Me., Dec, 1868. 



FAILURE OF SCIONS IN MAINE. 



In reply to my inquiry through the Farmer 

 for the cause of the failure of scions in Maine this 

 season, "J. W. G." says the trouble was probably 

 in the scions or in stttmg them, tl think it was 

 not in setting them, as 1 have set more or less 

 every season for twenty years past, with good suc- 

 cess till the past spring. My scions were properly 

 taken care of after they were cut, and were set 

 with usual care and in thrifty young trees, yet one 

 half of them died, and tho>e that did live had a 

 sickly look. Other experienced gratters in this 

 vicinity had no better success. A gentleman in 

 Kennebec county, who has had thirty years' 

 experience in the business, setting some years as 

 many as eighty to one hundred thousand scions, 

 estimates the loss in that county at sixty per cent. 

 He thinks the scions were winter killed before they 

 were cut, and recommends that they be cut before 

 severe cold weather and packed in sawdust. 



East Jay, Me., Dec.!, l^Q^. Jack. 



SORE TEATS IN COWS. 



When coFS calve in cold weather their teats 

 are quite apt to be sore, caused generally, I 

 think, by their being wet with milk. When the 

 calf sucks, the teats are sure to be wet, and some 

 persons tvhen they commence milking always wet 

 the teats with milk the first thing. As far as my 

 experience goes this ahvays makes them sore in 

 cold weather. The best preventive is to wash 

 the teats thoroughly with cold water as soon as 

 the milking is perlbrmed. The best remedy that 

 I know is a mixture of tar and lard melted and 



