1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



229 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



WHITE WASHING SHINGLES. 



I wish to lay several thousand shingles next 

 spring. I intend to whitewash them either before 

 or alter living them. How will it do to till a mo- 

 la^tes Loij!~h!ad with fresh sawed fir shingles, and 

 pour in lime-water cnongli toeover them ? Should 

 the lime w.iter be as thick as common whitewash ? 

 ShouKi ir be warm? Will two or three hours' 

 soaking be suftii'icnt? e. 



Parts, Me , Feb. 1, 1869. 



Remarks. — Lime in the shape of whitewash has 

 been applied to shingles in various ways. Mr. Ed. 

 Emerson of Hollis, Mass., informs us that he some- 

 times soaks his shingles in thin whitewash, at 

 others he applies the whitewash to the shingles as 

 laid on the roof. He lines with red chalk, then 

 whitewashes the course last laid down to the line, 

 and alter the building is shingled he whitewashes 

 the whole roof. From much expiriencehe believes 

 it makes the shingles last twice as long as when not 

 whitewashed. He puts nails not over two inches 

 apart, and does not drive them so as to sink the 

 bead, but leaves them so that the heads of the 

 nails maj' hold up the buts of the next row of 

 shingles sufficiently to allow the circulation of air. 

 The late Dr. Brown of Wilmington, Mass., pre- 

 pared sap shingles by throwing them into a large 

 kettle in which the whitewash was kept boil- 

 ing, where they were kept a few minutes and 

 then thrown out to dry. A roof thus covered 

 was in good order at the time he wrote, twenty- 

 five years after the shingles were put on, and 

 he then added, "it may do for years to come." 

 The addition of salt has been recommended by 

 some, but to this it has been objected by others that 

 the salt causes the nails to rust off. 



FRUIT ON A HILL FARM. 



Here on the hill farms of Vermont we do not 

 expect to compete with the orchards of Massa- 

 chusetts or the valley of the Connecticut in rais- 

 ing fiie fruit. On the contrary so general is the 

 imprcs-ion that our climate and position are unfa- 

 vorable to its growth that but little atteniion is 

 giveft to orcliaruing. Some sixteen years ago, I 

 determined to make a little experiment in this 

 line on my hill farm, l)ut was so fearful of being 

 laughed at by my nciehbors for engaging in fancy 

 farming that I procured my trees and set them 

 out "oil the sly." I fenced oil' a little rocky, 

 and rather bleak spot near my builJings and set 

 out i-oine 1.50 trees quite near togtther. Com- 

 pared with those set in richer and more sheltered 

 locutions my trees have ntade a small growth. 

 But coiisidiring the amount of land occupied 

 and the labor expended, I have been very well 

 sati.-ticd with their product. For the purpose of 

 encouraging young fanners on the hill farms of 

 this and other New England States to aiteii pt to 

 raise at kast a lew appbs tor their own use, 1 will 

 give iheni the following statement of the products 

 of my orchard for the past year. 



Merchantable A^jples sold $110.00 



licscrved for tami y use 4U.0J 



CiUer 8.00 



Hay 15 00 



Fall Feed 4.00 



Reading, Vt., March, 1869. 



WINSLOW'S S.\FETY CATTLE TIE. 



Calamities like that which recently occurred in 

 Burlington, Vt., where by the burning of his barn, 

 Mr. W. R. Vilas lost about one hundred and forty 

 animals, should induce farmers to adopt some 



measures for the greater safety of their stock. The 

 above cut is an illustration of a plan devised by Mr. 

 C. P. Winslow, of Westboro', Mass., to release all 

 the cattle in a stable by one movement of a lever 

 outside of the barn. It appears to be simple and 

 practicable, and we hope it may obviate the objec- 

 tions which have prevented the general introduc- 

 tion of other forms of combination stanchions and 

 ties that have heretofore been offered to the public. 



BLACK LEG IN CALVES. 



I lost five calves last fall by a disease called the 

 "black-leg." When taken, the calves are rather 

 stupid, walk stiff, refuse all food, breathing be- 

 comes labored; they show a disposition to lie 

 down a considerable iiortion of the time ; are cos- 

 tive, and appear to be in great pain. Some are 

 very much bloated, and when dead, the blood set- 

 tles on the back and neck and in ttie legs. The 

 best calves usually take the disease and die. 

 What 1 want to know is, what the uisease is, and 

 what is a remedy i E. F. Luther. 



North Dorset, Vt., March, 1869. 



Remarks. — The disease is an ugly one, a sort of 

 murrain or epidemic among cattle. It is known 

 by vario'.'.s names, as black kg, black quarter, quar- 

 ter-ill, joint-murrain, blood-striking, S^c. Some 

 veterinarians suppose it to be an infiammatory 

 fever ; but under whatever name it may go, it is a 

 bad disease, and one that requires great care on 

 the part of those who have anything to do with it. 

 We can hardly look upon it as a fever, bLcause 

 some cattle of all ages and conditions actually 

 have it. Youatt says that young stock, and those 

 that are thriving most rapidly, are its chief victims. 

 He adds : — 



'•Often without any indications of previous ill- 

 ness, the animal is found with his neck exti-nded; 

 his head brought, as much as he can affect it, into 

 a horizontal position ; the eyes protruding and red ; 

 the muzzle dry ; the nostrils expanded ; ihe breath 

 hot; the root of the bora considerably so; the 



