172 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



spects. Some one remarks that the high-fed and 

 spirited horse must be in mischief, if not usefully 

 employed. But it is often difficult to tell what 

 causes the colt to use his teeth in this way. It 

 probaljly arises fi'om different causes, and we 

 should naturally look for them about the mouth. 

 "When at about the age of your colts the second 

 teeth begin to push up, the fangs of the first teeth 

 are absorbed, and the teeth finally drop out. 

 Sometimes, however, this process docs not go on 

 properly, and what we called wolf's-teeth are 

 formed. In all cases, therefore, where the habit 

 of gnawing occurs, the mouth of the colt should 

 be carefully examined by some skilful person, to 

 ascertain whether the cause lies there. The habit 

 may also be contracted by some exposure, such as 

 cold, damp, or wet bedding, want of cleanliness or 

 variety of food, or vermin may be preying upon 

 them. All these points must be looked after, and 

 corrected if they need it. If the habit continues, 

 seek the advice of the persons most competent 

 about you to suggest a remedy. 



SCAB IN SHEEP. 



My sheep have got the scab so that their wool 

 is all comjng oft'. Please inform me through the 

 Farmer, the best remedy for this disease. 



Bradford, Mass., Feb. 2, 1869. James Jetter. 



Remarks. — Dipping the sheep in a strong de- 

 coction of tobacco, with a little spirits of turpen- 

 tine occasionally added, after brushing off the 

 scabs with stiff shoe brushes dipped in a suds of 

 tobacco water and soft soap, is recommended by 

 Dr. Randall. But with wool as long as it is at 

 this season, this would be an expensive operation. 

 He also recommends applying the tobacco wash 

 to which one-third, by measure, of wood ashes, as 

 much lard as the lye will dissolve, a small quan- 

 tity of tar, and about one-eighth of the whole, by 

 measure, of spirits of turpentine. Cut off the wool 

 as far as the skin feels hard to the finger, wash the 

 scab with soap suds rubbed hard with a shoe brush 

 so as to cleanse and break the scab, then rub the 

 tobacco compound upon the part affected. Other 

 preparations are used, such as arsenic, mercurial 

 ointment, corrosive sublimate, &c., which are dan- 

 gerous remedies. The cause of the scab is said 

 to be an insect, similar to the mange in horses and 

 the itch in men. It increases very rapidly, is very 

 infectious, and produces a dangerous disease. If 

 you cannot obtain the advice and assistance of 

 some neighbor acquainted with the disease, you 

 .will do well to procure a copy of Randall's Prac- 

 tical Sheperd. 



NORWAY OATS. 



I was about to inquire through the Farmer, 

 what virtues were possessed by the Norway oats 

 as a farm crop which should merit the high prices 

 asked, or even the confidence of practical far- 

 mers, when I noticed in the last issue, an article 

 from "L. C. B." in which he recommends tbe oats. 



The assertions of "L C. B." are not warranted 

 hy the crops in this vicinity. My own experience 

 with them is, that forty pounds sown on one hundred 

 and forty-three rods of very rich corn stubble, 



dressed with superphosphate and other fertilizers, 

 gave me only fifty-three bushels of thirty-two 

 pounds, the heaviest of which weighed thirty and 

 one-fourth pounds per measured bushel ; while I 

 raised the past season over two hundred bushels of 

 common oats on four acres of comparative!}' poor 

 land which never received a dressing of manure of 

 any kind, with three bushels seed per acre, which 

 weighed more by the bushel than the Norways. I 

 seldom fail to raise a hundred bushels of common 

 oats to the acre on ground equal to the said corn 

 stubble. 



People in this vicinity have raised Norways 

 side by side with the common oats, and I have yet 

 to learn of an instance of fair and careful trial 

 where the Norways have equalled the common 

 oats. Among some thirty farmers who have 

 raised the Norways, I have heard but three speak 

 well of them as a farm crop. Many of these far- 

 mers decline to sow them again except under cou- 

 tiactfor the crop at a higii |)rice. 



Sown the same day, they do not mature as early, 

 and donot yield or weigh as much on equal soil as the 

 common oats. The straw being cosrse and grow- 

 ing very tall saps the land without rendering an 

 equivalent. Some hundreds of bushels of the^eoats 

 raised in this vicinity will not average thirty 

 pounds per measured bushel. So far as multipli- 

 city of stalks is concerned, I have counted more 

 stalks from one kernel where sown thin than any 

 brag I have seen of the Norways. I do not con- 

 sider the recommendations from those interested 

 in the sale of the oa's, or the paid for certificates of 

 their dupes entitled to any consideration, but pre- 

 fer to rely on the real honafide facts of pounds as 

 a farm crop. The Norway oat crop of this coun- 

 ty has been mostly picked up by Messrs. Smith & 

 liamsdell at prices ranging from $1.25 to $2.00 per 

 bushel. A. D. Arms. 



Montpelier, Yt., Feb. 8, 1869. 



CANADA AND THE STATES. 



Your States' papers, almost without exception, 

 speak of Canadians as having acted a very un- 

 friendly part during the war. It is not wholly a 

 just idea. You had many friends here whom you 

 ignore on account of a few unfriend!}' and irritat- 

 ing men. Very many of our papers were your 

 steady friends, l>ut they were never noticed. The 

 others were, and for their sakes you condemn us 

 all. Is this fair.' 



You blame us for "harboring" your enemies, 

 skedaddlers, &c. Even Senator Morrill lowers 

 himself so far. Was it worse for us to "harbor" a 

 few unarmed skulking Southerners than for you 

 to harijor immense numbers of armed P'enians, 

 our foes ? We never heard of raiders "picnics" 

 within our lines addressed by prominent Canadi- 

 ans. Our laws regarding refugees do not probably 

 differ from your ov/n. 



Many thousands of Canadians enlisted in your 

 armies and fought for you. Thousands died for 

 you. How many men's blood would it take to 

 l)alance one unfriendly tongue or pen ? Appar- 

 ently it couldn't be done. No States' paper has 

 ever said to my knowledge the (ir.st kind word to 

 those of us who mourn their loved ones fallen 

 for your sakes. Not so many of us spoke against 

 you &s fought for you, and yet in almost every 

 States' paper we take up we meet with bitter 

 words of "all that Canadians have said and done 

 during the last fcvv years," or some condescending 

 one speaks of "holding out the olive leaf" to us, 

 miserat)!e sinners. Is this fair ? J. G. Field. 



Staiistead, Canada, Feb. 5, 1867. 



Remarks. — By publishing the foregoing we do 

 not wish to be understood as pleading guilty of 

 having entertained the feelings or expressed the 



