130 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



INIap.ch 



the same breed, you would have full bloods, and 

 in either case would know about what you have 

 before you. Glad you are not all of the same 

 opinion in Marion ; that shows that you have in- 

 quiring minds and are on the road of progress. 

 Thank you for the compliment in making us an 

 "umpire." 



LEACHED ASHES AND HOKSE MANURE AROUND 

 TREES. 



Having noticed two or three articles in the Far- 

 mer giving an account of apple trees being in- 

 jured by jjshes, I feel somewhat uneasy as to the 

 elfcct ot what I have done forminc, an.l I will ask 

 if you think there is danger of my trees l)eing 

 injured. My trees have been transplanted tnree 

 years last spring. In the fall I sci-apcd away some 

 of the dirt, and put four shovelfuls of leached 

 ashes and perhaps a bushel of horse manure to a 

 tree, and covered the whole with earth. o. h. 



Bristol County, Mass., 1869. 



Remarks. — You will find no harm done to your 

 apple trees by the application you have spoken of 

 above. Where a considerable quantity of unlcach- 

 ed ashes is applied directly to the trunk, the first 

 soaking rain carries a strong ley against the bark 

 or on to the roots, and is quite likely to do dam- 

 age. It is better to use all caustic manure in mod- 

 erate quantity and more frequently. 



on three adjoining farms in one town in New 

 Hampshire. For the benefit of our poultry rais- 

 ing friends we are willing to publish the foregoing 

 statement, by a gentleman who is personally ac- 

 quainted with Mr. Day. 



FOX TRAPPING. 



In your issue of Nov. 14, there are some state- 

 ments in regard to the trapping of H. H. Day, of 

 Chesterfield, N. H., which need correction, as they 

 do him but partial justice. 



Mr. Day had in his traps during the winter of 

 1866 and 1867, twenty-six foxes ; in 1867 and 1868, 

 twenty-five; and, so far this season, he has had 

 twenty. He has caught, in the last twenty years, 

 more than four hundred foxes, all in the common 

 steel-trap and within a few minutes walk of the 

 village in which he resides. The winter before the 

 last he took twenty foxes in two traps, nine in* 

 one, eleven in the other, without moving the traps. 



He has done such a thing as to set two traps 

 within ten rods of each other, and have a fox in 

 each at the same time. It is not an uncommon 

 thing for him to have a fox break ofi' and leave its 

 foot in the trap and then come back and be caught 

 a second time in the same trap before the limb 

 had healed. 



Mr. Day can take a fox just as surely and with 

 as little trouble as most persons experience in tak- 

 ing the striped squirrel or polecat. This skill in 

 fox trapping, Mr. Day has acquired by a thorough 

 and careful study of the haljits of this most crafty 

 of animals. 



And tiiosc vtfho wish to trap, either for profit or 

 to rid themselves of this pest of the hen-roost and 

 sheei)fL/ld, will do well to apply to Mr. Day for 

 instructions as to the way and manner of catching 

 a fox, rather than pay their money for the thou- 

 sand and one nostrums put up by druggists and 

 others, who never did and never can catch a fox 

 themselves. m. 



Remarks. — Within a year or two past we have 

 published statements from poultry raisers of losses 

 by the depredations of foxes and other wild ani- 

 mals, which it has been alleged have increased in 

 consequence of the decrease of dogs ; and only a 

 few weeks biuce we had an account of the destruc- 

 tion of eighty turkeys in a single day by one fox, 



THE SEASON, PRICES, STOCK, PORK. AND POTATOES 

 IN MICHIGAN. 



We comenced to fodder here on the first of De- 

 cember. We have had one week of sleighing on 

 five inches of snow. The snow left us on the 23d, 

 and the wheeling Is now good. Corn 30 cents per 

 bushel in the car; hay !|'12 and plenty, and the 

 stock is looking finely. I have a few full blood 

 Short-horns from Mr. Warwick's herd of Ken- 

 tucky. 



Farmers are realizing a handsome income from 

 their pork harvest. I am informed that the ship- 

 ments from this station, on the Northern Indiana 

 and Southern Michigan railroad, amounted to 

 186,000 pounds for one day this week, loading ten 

 large cars. As many as 500 to 600 dress hogs are 

 brought in by farmers on some days. Prices for 

 heavy hogs have ranged from ^^9-50 to 11.50 per 

 100 pounds. 



Having removed here from Vermont only two 

 years ago, I have not outgrovvn my interest in 

 Eastern affairs. I see that some of my good friends 

 in the Green Mountain State, who have had the 

 fine wool fever pretty bad, are now having the po- 

 tato fever rather severely. I am afraid it will go 

 hard with some of them, as a relapse or a second 

 fever is cons^idered dangerous, I believe, in ordin- 

 ary practice. We have no potato fever here in 

 Michigan, but I have a variety that, according to 

 our best chronometers, is full fifteen seconds ear- 

 lier than the Early Gooilrich or Early Rose. It is 

 known in my neighborhood as the "Early Shaw." 

 I may send a peck next spring to the editor of the 

 Farmer, to enaiile him to come out ahead of the 

 Vt rnionters, but I have not a single eye to sell. 



Hudson, Mich., Dec. Ii5, 1868. D. M. Briggs. 



SORE TEATS IN COWS — EARLY ROSE POTATO — THE 

 SEASON IN CHITTENDEN CO., VT. 



I would recommend to any one troubled with 

 their cows having sore teats, to take of mutton 

 tallow three parts and Btirgundy pitch one part ; 

 wash clean and apply moderately warm, twice each 

 day, until a cure is cfiected. 



iiow about the Early Rose ? Has any one had 

 the "moral courage" to bake, boil, roast or fry one 

 —only one— so that he can tell us of the quaiity ? 

 If so, let him speak over his or htr own signature 

 and thereby win — I was about to say — immortal 

 honor. 



Winter in this region has not been severe, but 

 steady, as we havehaU no rains or warm days so as to 

 thaw the snow to afi'ect the sleighing, which has 

 been good for al)out a month. E. J. Buttolph. 



Essex, Vt., Jan. 5, 18G9. 



A WINDY COLT, 



Can you tell me anything to give a colt that is 

 continually troubled with wind, passing it al- 

 most without cessation ? g. a. d. 



mnclsor, Vt., Dec. 1, 1868. 



Remarks. — First ascertain the cause of the 

 wind, if possible, by changing his food, and in the 

 meantime give him some mild tonic, as a table 

 spoonful of ground ginger in moist meal. The 

 advice of a physician is worth getting for the re- 

 lief of a good colt. 



