264 



NEW ENGLAOT) FARMER. 



Juke 



may be secured to a great extent I am very 

 sure. Fif y years since my grandfather said 

 to me. that if it was desirable to have mile 

 progeny it could be done by "breeding from 

 old animals." I have observed this for at 

 least (ifry years, and have very seldom if ever 

 known it to fail. I once had a pair of buck 

 lambs from a very old sheep ; 1 bred from them 

 one year, and nine out of ten of thtir lambs 

 were iiucks. When obliged to change bucks 

 I am always particular to inquire the age of 

 the sheep which raised the lamb ; ami 1 have 

 succeeded in breeding two bucks, whose lambs 

 were nine-fenths ewes, and from all my bucks 

 a large majority of Iambs are now ewes. I 

 should pr( f jr a buck bred from a two-year-old 

 ewe, but in no ca.se from one older than three 

 years if it was my wish to have more ewes 

 than bucks. T. L. Hart. 



West Cornwall, Conn., March 27, 1869. 



SMUT IN" WHEAT. 



In a late number of the Prairie Farmer some 

 inquiry was made as to whether lime is a pre- 

 ventive against smut in wheat. My experi- 

 ence tells me that lime of itself would be ol 

 little use were it not combined with the solu- 

 tion of salt. I will give my method of pre- 

 venting smut, which has never failed : — 



Save as much chamber- lye as will thoroughly 

 saturate the quantity of wheat you may wish 

 to sow, then for every ten bushels of wheat, 

 add two ounces of arsenic dissolved in rain 

 water, spread the wheat on a level floor, then 

 take a broom and dip it in the mixture, shak- 

 ing it over the wheat until there is sufficient to 

 wet the whole. Shovel it over once or twice, 

 until you are satisfied that it is all soaked 

 alike, then sift over it a thin coat of (ine 

 slaked lime ; shovel over until the lime ad- 

 heres to all the wheat alike. When it is 

 ready for sowing, should there be occasion to 

 wash the wheat in salt brine for the purpose 

 of cleaning it, the dissolved arsenic may be 

 added to a small quantity of chamber-lye and 

 applied as above, alter the salt brine has been 

 thoroughly drained. Do not kt the pickled 

 wheat remain in the bags over night. I have 

 tried this several times and have found it to 

 accomplish the desired effect in all cases. — 

 M. L. Curtis, in Prairie Farmtr. 



CORN GROWW FOB FODDER. 



A correspondent of the Country Gentleman 

 at Prosp cc Hill. Va , writes as follows : — On 

 June 25th I planted just one-third of an acre, 

 in drills three IVet apart. I took my Weth- 

 ersfield drill, put in the largest seed, and went 

 over each row twice, and tlien covered with a 

 cultivator. It grew finely. I culiivated it 

 twice with an A harrow, set so as to take only 

 to the middle between the rows, and ran it up 

 and down each row. By so doing I could run 

 very close to the young corn, and kill the 



weeds and not injure or cover the young plants. 

 I cut it with a briar scythe, and one mm could 

 cut as fast as four could bind. This was Sept. 

 28th. Put it in small stacks, or rather shocks, 

 and let it stand. Commenced feeding it to my 

 horses and mules (5) Nov. 1st, and it lasted 

 them until the 3d of December, and is by far 

 the best fodder I have. I shall put in several 

 acres next year, for it not only yields a verv 

 profitable crop for the farm (as the ground 

 was poor,) but it "kills the weeds" most effec- 

 tually, which is a great point here. I believe 

 that I shall make it a paying crop in money. 

 Fodder is always salable at $10 per stack (ton.) 

 Now I can get four tons on land that will not 

 produce more than ten bushels of corn per 

 acre — giving me $40 per acre, at a much less 

 cost than corn at $10. I shall therefore have 

 $■10 for each acre, and allowing $10 for seed, 

 cultivating, gathering, &c., I shall have $30 

 ptT acre to buy the best fertilizers that 1 can 

 get ; f r that is the only proper mode of using 

 that money, and so I can manure my farm 

 without cost, kill the weeds and improve the 

 land at the same time. c. r. m. 



A PERCHERON COLT. 



Mr. B. F. Ricker, of Brighton, Mass., has 

 sold to T. G. Iladley, Esq., of Galesburg, 111., 

 a colt two years and nine months old which 

 weighed, with a head-stall and halter, 1510 

 pounds. The colt was sired by "Conqueror," 

 one of the Percheron horses imported fi'om 

 France in 1863 by the Massachusetts Society 

 for the Promotion of Agriculture. His dam 

 is a well bred mare from Toronto, Can., 

 weighing about 1-iOO pounds, and is used in 

 one of the noble teams employed about the 

 Cattle Fair at Brighton. J\Ir. Ricker bar- 

 gained his colt at one dollar per pound, de- 

 livered at Chicago ; but the agreement was 

 compromised by the paymen'j of $1400 on 

 the delivery at Brighton. Mr. ll.idley has 

 also engaged a yearling colt from the same 

 mare, by Green's Hamiltonian, as well as an- 

 other colt which is expected this season. We 

 also understand that "Conquercr" is now 

 owned in Skowhegan, Maine, and that he has 

 proved all and more than %vtvs expected by his 

 importers, in crossing on our native stock. 

 The colts are all poweiful animals, handsome, 

 easily handled and excellent roadsters. At 

 the West where heavy teams are wanted to 

 operate agricultural machinery, a larger breed 

 of horses is much needed, and It is believed 

 that an infusion of the Percheron blood will 

 prove particularly beneficial. 



