144 



NEW ENGLAOT) FARJ^IER. 



March 



in my opinion, a poor substitute. Washing not 

 only injures the flavor of butter, but it injures its 

 keeping qualities. To keep well, the buttermilk 

 should be removed by beating or working the but- 

 ter over, but never by washing; or, at least, such 

 is the opinion of Mus. D. 



South Hanson, Mass., Jan. 13, 1869. 



post's eureka sap spout. 



The manufacturer has sent us a specimen of the 



spout represented by the annexed cut. It is very 



neatly made of galvanized iron, three and a half 



inches in length, and fits the bore of a five-eighths 



bit. The hook for the buck- 

 et, indicated by the letter e, 

 is a separate wire fitting snug- 

 ly over the end which enters 

 the tree. This end of the 

 spout consists of three wings 

 or braces, c c, which driven into the tree press against 

 the sides of the hole sufficiently to secure a firm 

 support, and at the same time allow space for three 

 openings d, for the flow of the sap into the spout a. 

 It is simple, durable, cheap, and quickly applied 

 or removed. Mr. C. C. Post, "VVaterbury, Vt., is 

 the patentee and manufacturer. 



KATS. — THE SEASON IN MAINE. 



If the Fakmer will tell us how to rid our pre- 

 mises of rats it will confer a favor on many. They 

 destroy my apples, potatoes, &c., in cellar, grain, 

 &c., in barn. Have tried arsenic on bread and 

 butter, and with lard and bits of boiled btef, with 

 only partial success. 



We arc having a most lovely winter; sleighing 

 excellent, without drifts or bloc king snoft-. During 

 the eleven weeks that tlie ground has been covered 

 with snow, our hay has been rapidly diniiiiished, 

 and I fear that the seventeen weeks that tnust in- 

 terve between this and grazing time will neaily 

 exhaust the large hay-crop of last year. 



Geo. Taber. 



Vassalboro', Me., 1st mo. 25, 18G9. 



Remarks. — Such great things are expected of 

 "book-farmers" that we are almost ashamed to say 

 that in all our investigations into the mysteries of 

 science applicable to agriculture, we have found 

 no better remedy for rats than a good dose oi felis. 

 To secure the greatest efficacy of this Latin com- 

 position it should not be applied too strong nor 

 too weak, too crude nor too much refined. 

 But, to throw away our editorial stilts, — we 

 mean that a cat or two, fed just enough to 

 make them strong and ravenous, but not enough 

 to make them fat and lazy, may be recommended 

 for all rat-infested premises. But if you wish to 

 try some more artistic means of prevention, spread 

 some soft potash in their walks, which may make 

 their toes sore, so they will caution all the rats in 

 the neighborhood not to put foot on your premises ; 



or paint the sides of their holes with tar or some- 

 thing that will dirty their clothes, which they take 

 much pride in keeping clean ; or catch one in a 

 trap and smearing him with kerosene oil, give him 

 his liberty ; or mix a tea-cup of water in which a 

 bunch of matches was soaked over night, -with In- 

 dian meal to a stiff dough, adding a spoonful of 

 sugar and a little lard, and place it about the pre- 

 mises where the rats and nothing else will get it ; 

 or try common box-traps, so made that the top 

 and one or both ends are open when set, bait with 

 fresh meat, fish or grease, in a grain) barn ; but if 

 where they can get suph food bait with corn or 

 meal. As far as possiljle keep your hands from 

 tainting the food you wish them to eat, or the trap 

 you'wish them to enter. 



SALTING CATTLE. 



Some farmers give their cattle salt regularly 

 during the winter, others give none at all. One 

 who seldom salts his cattle in the winter wishes to 

 know the practical advantages of salting regu- 

 larly at this season. h. 



Brome, P. Q., Dec. 23. 18G3. 



PwEMARKS. — The world is full of crotchets. The 

 idea of keeping cattle without salt and sheep 

 without water sometimes gets into people's heads, 

 but the great majority of practical farmers believe 

 that cattle should have salt on their fodder or in 

 some other way, and that sheep should have free 

 access to water. According to the analysis of 

 learned men, there is more or less salt in the com- 

 position of all cattle food and even in much of the 

 water they drink. A ton of hay is said to contain 

 about seven pounds of salt, a ton of turnips four 

 pounds, a ton of red clover ten pounds, a ton of 

 barley but very little, &c. Near the ocean, or 

 sometimes at a considerable distance, it is said 

 that on the windward side of trees salt is actually 

 deposited, after a violent storm. A correspondent 

 of the Country Gentleman says that after a long 

 continued breeze from the sea he has himself 

 tasted the herbage distinctly salt, at a distance of 

 twenty miles. If nature thus seasons the food of 

 cattle, may we not take their appetite as the best 

 possible means of deciding whether the food which 

 we furnish them contains as much salt as the 

 wants of their system demand ? This may not be 

 a very learned way of deciding the question, it 

 may not seem scientific, like a chemical analysis, 

 but may it not be as reliable ? 



Professor Simond>-, Veterinary Inspector of the 

 Pioyal Agricultur<»l Society of England, was quoted 

 in our columns, a few years since, as having ex- 

 pressed the opinion that salt \jy its action on the 

 liver, and the supply of soda it yielded to the bile, 

 led to a greater amount of nutriment being de- 

 rived from the food. The substance, he said, was 

 also well known as a vermifuge, destroying many 

 kinds of worms in the intestines of animals, and 

 conferring a healthy tone of action which pre- 

 vented their re-occurrence. Experiments have 

 al£0 been made in England, which showed that 



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