1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIklER. 



97 



milk from the churn, I put half a pailful of cold 

 water into the churn, then turn the crank back 

 and forward a few times, and draw off the water. 

 This is repeated again, when I remove the butter 

 from the churn with a wooden paddle to a tray 

 half full of cold water. 1 sprinkle salt into the 

 water, and work the butter over with the paddle, 

 pouring off the water and adding more until it is 

 free from buttermilk. I then salt it, and if I want 

 a little extra touch I add one large spoonful of 

 white sugar to each pound of butter. The next 

 morning early I put it up in plain lumps or lay it 

 down in a vessel. During the whole process I 

 never touch it with my hands. 



From November 15, 1867, to May 15, 1868, I 

 made and sold ^'40 worth of butter from our cow, 

 which was then farrow. Our family numbered 

 four, and we used 'all the butter we wanted. The 

 butter sold more than paid for the cow, and the 

 milk and butter we used we thought paid for her 

 keeping. Mrs. Tuask. 



Reading, Mass., Dec, 1868. 



A farmer's experience and confession. 



The deep interest which, from boyhood, I have 

 taken in agriculture, and the great number of ex- 

 periments which I had tried and seen tried, make 

 me often, when reading agricultural papers, feel a 

 desire to furnish an item or two ; but the constant 

 flow of business so completely occupies my time 

 that I have been compelled to forego this pleasure. 

 The saving thing aljout it, however, is the thought 

 thatihe public do not lose much by it. 



-, Dec. 20, 1868. . 



Remarks. — The above, which closes a business 

 letter recently received, expresses, we have no 

 doubt, the experience of many who read the Far- 

 -SiER. But we cannot endorse the remark that the 

 public do not lose much by the neglect to "furnish 

 an item or two" from personal experience and ob- 

 servation, or by way of comment on the "items' 

 which others furnish. Another farmer in sending 

 us a communication, closes with the playful re- 

 mark, "I can talk it, but you see I can't write it." 

 Here, then, is the trouble with farmers. They 

 have little time to write, and when they do attempt 

 to write they fear it will not do to let it go just as 

 they wouId"taIk it," and so get snarled up in their 

 attempt to "write a composition," or to spell every 

 word just as the dictionary does. Let the spelling 

 and the grammar take care of themselves. Plant 

 the facts firmly on the paper, just as they come to 

 mind, and leave the "office editor" and the printers 

 to fix the spelling and syntax. In this way you 

 can save time, and furnish facts and suggestions 

 that will instruct and interest others. 



ROOTING LIMBS OF TREES. 



A few weeks since there was a man in this neigh- 

 borhood exhibiting a limb of an apple tree, on which 

 he had induced to grow, during the past season, a 

 bunch of small fibrous roots as large as a peck meas- 

 ure, by a process which he claimed to have dis- 

 covered. He said he could take any limb or any 

 number of limbs from a favorite tree, or any tree 

 in bearing condition, and grow roots on it in one 

 season, when it can be taken from the parent tree 

 and set in the ground without checking its growth 

 or bearing capacity. If this can be done every 

 time, and he said it could, it must be quite an ad- 

 vantage to those who wish to get an orchard in 

 bearing immediately. I would like to have the 



opinion of experienced fruit growers in relation to 

 this discovery published in the Farmer. 



One Interested. 

 North Boscawen, N. H., Dec. 20, 1868. 



Remarks.— Grape vines, quinces, and several 

 other vines, shrubs, &c., ire propagated by bend- 

 ing down and covering a branch with earth ; and 

 it is possible that by some process apple tree limbs 

 might be made to throw out roots, but we should 

 doubt the practical utility of the process. Many 

 plants will root very freely ; others require more 

 care. Sometimes the shoot is slit with a slanting 

 cut, one-half or two-thirds of the diameter, and 

 sometimes a narrow ring is taken from the bark of 

 the part buried in the earth. 



ANOTHER CURE FOR SCRATCHES. 



I send you a receipt for the cure of the gi'ease 

 or scratches, that I have tried, and found to cure. 

 It in this : — one pound of Eps-om Salts, one pound 

 of Sulphur, one pound Cream of Tarter, and four 

 ounces of Saltpetre. Pulverize the Saltpetre, mix 

 all together, antJ give the horse three large spoon- 

 fuls at a dose in the feed, moistened, for three 

 mornings ; then skip three. Nine doses, cured a 

 very bad case for me. I tried many outward ap- 

 plications, but it still grew worse until I tried this 

 and then it got well. The cause of the disease is 

 in the system, and outward applications are not 

 sufficient to cure. I have made a practice of feed- 

 ing a little of the medicine at times since, and 

 have not had a case since I used the medicine two 

 years ago. A Subscriber. 



Georgia Plain, Vt., Dec. 14, 1868. 



BITING HORSES. 



I have a fine mare six years old, w'hich has a 

 bad habit of biting. Although we raised her, she 

 never showed any signs of a disposition to bite 

 before this fall. The habit appears to be growing 

 upon her. Is there anything 1 can do to stop it ? 

 I noticed worms in the manure this morning about 

 an inch long, which I supposed to be pin worms, 

 What is the best thing to give 'or the worms ? Do 

 you think the worms have anything to do with her 

 being cross ? If you will answer these questions 

 through the columns of tlie New Englaind Far- 

 mer you will greatly oblige a 



Young Farmer. 



West Brookfield, Mass., Dec. 12, 1868. 



Remarks. — We have never owned nor driven a 

 horse seriously addicted to this bad habit ; but we 

 have known of animals which were not safe with- 

 out a muzzle. When once the habit is firmly es- 

 tablished we know of no cure. If any of the 

 readers of the Farmer do, we hope they will re- 

 spond to Young Farmer's request. Here, as else- 

 where, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound 

 of cure. Biting is usually the consequence of 

 natural viciousness, or a habit induced by the 

 teasing of boys or thoughtless men. Mr. Stewart, 

 in his "Stable Economy," says, 'T have seen biters 

 punished until they trembled in every joint, and 

 were ready to drop, but have never, in any case, 

 known them cured by this treatment, or by any 

 other. The lash is forgotten in an hour, and the 

 horse is as ready and determined to repeat the 

 offence as before. He appears unable to resist 

 temptation, and in its worst form, biting is a spe- 



