280 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



without drawing blood. Small ones are removed 

 ■with less trouble. In case of Ik rn distemper, I 

 think it is Iieneficial to put a Utile spiriis of tur- 

 pentme 0:i the creature's head aljout the horns. I 

 would as soon bore my own skull with a gimlet 

 for the heada<;he, as a creature's horns for the 

 horn ail. In the nose of the animal, nature has 

 provided a channel for all dischaiges from the 

 head. W. F. Loomis. 



Langdon, N. H., March 13, 1869. 



onion sets. 



I want to raise a few onion sets. Can you or 

 some of your readers pive me through the Farmer 

 a few hints on their culture ? e. b. c. 



Roxbury, Mass., March 2, 1869, 



Remarks. — We suppose our correspondent 

 means by "onion sets" such as are raised by the 

 market gardeners, who use email onions or '"sets" 

 instead of seed. The sets are mostly raised in the 

 neighborhood of Philadelphia, and cost, a few 

 years ago, some $40 per barrel, — enough for one- 

 eighth of an acre. They are planted on what 

 these market gardeners call "beds," that is, land 

 highly manured, thoroughly ploughed, and care- 

 fully hand-raked. They are planted at different 

 times to secure a succession of crops. 



PINE SHAVINGS FOR LITTER. 



Please inform me through your valuable paper 

 whether it will pay to draw pine shavings from 

 planing machi es, a distance of six miles, at a cost 

 of filty ctnis per load ? Can draw in a box built 

 for the purpose, three hundred bushels. Is this 

 cheaper than straw at six dollars per ton for bed- 

 dinz horses and cattle ? Ojsyx. 



WWiston, VL, April, 1869. 



Hemakks. — The shavings cost fifty cents a load, 

 to which is to be added the cost of hauling, we 

 suppose. Well, if the team can be spared about 

 as well as not, we should go for the shavings rather 

 than go for the straw, and pay six dollars per ton 

 for it. 



IRISH POTATOES FROM SETS. 



I wish to inquire through your paper whether 

 Irish potatoes can be frrown from sets simil.ir to 

 to the sweet potato ? Whether there is any diffi- 

 culty in so doing ? Subscriber. 



IShelburne, Vt., 1869. 



Remarks. — We suppose they can, but never 

 knew it tried ; and cannot tell you. Who will ? 



KEMOVINO gooseberries. — CRESTED DUCKS. 



What time of the year shall I transplant my 

 gooseberry bushes. I'lie Inishes are large and 

 heavy bearers, and I want to remove them without 

 injury if possible. Will you also infoi-m me wnat 

 breed my newly purchased ducks belong to ? They 

 are lar^e, white, with large white "waterfalls" on 

 their heads, Ijlack spots on sides and breasts, m. 



Newport, Me., April 5, 1869. 



REjfARKS.— Gooseberry bushes should be re- 

 moved as soon as possible. Early in the spring, or 

 in good season in the fall, are nice times for trans- 

 planting. 



We presume your ducks arc what is called the 

 Crested or Top-knot. They are of various colors. 



pure white, black, and mixed black and white. 

 They are a beautiful and ornamental variety. 



TOP-DRESSING FOR SANDY GRASS LAND. 



What is the best top-dressing for grass land on 

 sandy loam. h. m. b. 



Curtis' Corner, Me., April, 1869. 



Remarks. — Probably a rich compost of clear 

 barn manure thoroughly mingled with old meadow 

 muck. Two parts of muck to one of manure will 

 make an excellent compost. 



TO remove PITCH. 



la handling pine wood a person's hands are 

 often smeared with pitch which it is difficult to 

 wash off. I3y applying grease or oil just previous 

 to washing, it can be readily removed. 



Melrose, Mass., April, 1869. Philaeter. 



AGRICULTD-RAI, ITEMS. 



— Col. B. P. Johnson, for many years Secretary 

 of the New York State Agricultural Society, died 

 in Albany, April 12th. 



— By the use of machinery invented within the 

 past twenty years, the farmer's boy can wften do 

 the work of ten men. 



— If any one was ever dragged around by the 

 hair^of his head, he can guess how pleasant it is 

 for a sheep to be hauled about by the wool. 



— Wild horses have become so numerous in New 

 South Wales that they are regarded as a pest and 

 are trapped in various ways. They sell by the 

 hundred at two cents apiece ! 



— A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer, who 

 sowed a sample of the Arnautka wheat from the 

 Department of Agriculture in 1867, is well pleased 

 both with the yield and the quality of the grain. 

 He raised at the rate of fifty bushels per acre. 



— Kennicott says plant small trees. They cost 

 one-half less at the nursery, less in transportation, 

 and in planting you will scarcely lose any. You 

 can form the tcps to suit yourself. Form the 

 heads as low as you please. 



— If it is true, as is often said, that one of the 

 secrets of successful farming is to sell when others 

 are buying, and buy when others are selling, the 

 present is just the time to buy or set out a hop 

 yard. 



— The Commissioner of Internal Revenue has 

 recently made a decision to the etfect that cheese 

 factories are manufactories and liable to pay a tax. 

 Butter and cheese manufactured upon the farm 

 where the milk is produced is held to be exempt 

 from taxation. 



— A correspondent of the Ohio Farmer whose 

 sheep were dying from a disease known in that 

 section as "paper skin," similar, we think, to the 

 bloodless disease described by Dr. Boynton of 

 Wocdstock, Vt., a year or two since, killed one or 

 two of these diseased sheep, about on their last 

 legs, and on dissecting them, found the tubes of 



