1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEIVIER. 



293 



ket are used in tbis p^ace, except Bradley's super- 

 phosphate of lime. This will be quite largely used 

 this spring, and mostly on corn. Last season it 

 was used by several, and gave general satisfaction. 

 Some planted corn wi hout any dressing except a 

 little phosphate in the hill, and had good crops. 

 Others mixed ashes and phosphate together — two 

 parts of a^hes to one of phosphate— and put a 

 table spoonful in a hill, after the land had received 

 a fair dressing of manure, and thought it paid well. 

 Stoice, Vt.,^Ap) il 12, 1S69. s.w. 



HEN MANURE. 



"Will you or some of your contributors inform 

 me as to the best way of preparing and using hen 

 manure. I have say fifiy bushels which I intend 

 to mix with fifteen loads, thirty-five bushels each, 

 of meadow muck. Shall I mix ashes or lime or 

 both so as to evolve the ammonia powerfully, be- 

 fore applying the manure ? or shall I mix the 

 ashes aud lime, one or both, and plaster to fix the 

 ammonia ? or shall I simply mix the manure and 

 muck with just water enough to moisten it ? 



Berlin, Vt., 18G9. S. F. Nye. 



I wish to plant an acre of corn and have about 

 four barrels of gond hen manure, but no stable 

 manure. What shall I mix with the hen droppings ? 



Norihboro', Mass., 1869. A Young Farmer. 



Remarks. — We should not add cither ashes or 

 lime to the manure, but apply them to the land 

 separately. Many thiak ashes neutralize the val- 

 uable portions of the manure. Muck, charcoal 

 dust, woods or other soil or earth are good divi-ors 

 and absorbents. The hen manure, at least, should 

 be moistened with water, to which some book far- 

 mers add a little sulphuric acid. It; should be well 

 mixed with the muck, &c., and be shoveled over 

 several times after mixing. Broadcast the ashes 

 and lime and harrow in. We think it is well to 

 add muck to the droppings from the roost fre- 

 quently, and remove the whole often, both for 

 the health of the hens and the economy of the 

 manure. 



USE FOR AIR-SLACKED LIME. 



I have a barrel or more of air-slacked lime ; also 

 a small lawn, a tiuit garden, and small patch for 

 corn and OeJns, and to feed these a pile of good 

 compost. What is the best use I can put the lime 

 to? 



Also, what is the sweetest kind of sweet corn ? 



Arlington, Mass., March 31, 18G9. C. 



E,em\rks. — Spread the lime broadcast over the 

 garden, after it is ploughed, and rake it in. It 

 will have an excellent tff>.ct there. It is just what 

 old gardens often need. 



A GOOD cow. — PLEEDINO OLD CATTLE, 



I see on pase 47 of the Monthly Farmer that 

 Luther Stanley of ."pnngvale, Me., has a raiive 

 cow fiom I he miik of which in seven days, eleven 

 pounds of batftr were made. I have a cow five 

 years old la t spr-ng, that dropped htr c;.lf March 

 26. and in .-ix days Irom the first Monday 1 i Jane 

 we made from hi.r milk alone thirteen 'and one- 

 half pounds of butter. On the ioui th of December, 

 when she was seven monihs on the way to come in 

 again, the gave tive quarts of miik, and Januaiy 

 the twelfth she gave one and three-fourths quarts. 



In your remaiks on IViend Jamcion's visit in 

 Suncook Valley, you ask what is tlie practice of 

 farmers m relation to bleeding their cattle. My 



practice is to let my young ones keep all they have, 

 but for an old one that is to be fatted, whether 

 cow or ox, the very best thing that can be done for 

 them when first turned to pasture, is to bleed them 

 smartly. A few years ago I bought a pair of large, 

 old g.xen to work a few weeks and then turn out 

 to fatten. They were sent to pasture the last of 

 May, and were very poor. I sent \?ord to the man 

 that had the care of the pasture to have them bled 

 in a few days. But it happened by some misun- 

 derstanding that they were bled by two diffeient 

 men. I was tearful that too much blood had been 

 taken; butthey throve remarkably well, and Isold 

 them for beef in July, and they went to Brighton. 

 Fitchburg, Mass., 1869. i. u. w. 



superphosphate and ashes. 



Last spring I tried an experiment with a mixture, 

 in equal parts, of Bradley's Superphosphate and 

 ashes on a piece of worn out sandy soil, that was 

 considered almost worthless, and which had not 

 been manured fir years. On about half an acre 

 planted with Jackson White potatoes I put a spoon- 

 ful of the mixture in each hill, and raided 70 bush- 

 els of as good potatoes as I ever saw, and which 

 are as good now as they were last fall. I also 

 tried the mixture on a few rows of corn tiy the side 

 of the potatoes with equally good results. I do 

 not claim that I raised great crops on this land, but 

 considering the nature of the soil, I think I got 

 well pail I for the experiment. John Savage. 



East Haverhill, N. H., April 12, 1869. 



Remarks. — This experiment would have been 

 more satisfactory if a portion of the field had been 

 planted without any fertilizer, a portion with the 

 ashes alone, and a portion with the super- 

 phosphate alone. 



SUGAR MAKING. 



Notwithstanding the numerous predictions to 

 the contrary, the season has been a very good one 

 for making maple sugar. Several persons in this 

 vicinity have made from 800 to 1000 pounds, be- 

 sides a considerable quantity of molasses. 



One of my neighbors made 736 pounds in four 

 days antl nights, and burned only three cords of 

 wood and that of rather a poor quality. lie uses 

 two sheet-iron pans, one as a heater, and the other 

 for boiling. He cuts his wood about two feet to 

 two and one-half feet long, and keeps hi-* fire at 

 the mouth of the arch. Some suow banks still 

 remain bv the siJe of fences. Granite. 



Bloomfield, C. \V., Uh mo. 20th, 1869. 



B.URNT AND RAW BONES TOR HEN.S. 



Will it pay to buy ground bone at 4^ cents per 

 pound to Iced to hens, the olject being thi pro- 

 duction c'f C'Jgs ? What ]s the difference in value 

 l)et\veen burnt or calcined and raw bones to feed 

 as above. S. F. Nye. 



Bt:rliti, Vt., April, 1869. 



Remarks.— We think it will pay, if you cannot 

 get them cheaper. Much is destroyed by burning 

 bones, still hens eat them with avidity. We should 

 not like to have our steak "calcined," and we 

 think the gelatine, &c., in raw bones is valuable 

 for hens. 



CRACKING UP NEW THINGS, 



I think friend Smith of Barre, Vt., asks a silly 

 question about agricultural papers noticing new 

 things. That is one of ihe best features of anews- 

 papt r. Would he prohibit people from advertising 

 what they have to sell, or is he obliged to believe 



