412 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



the Country Gentleman has usrd petroleum with 

 good suc>ess. lie advises the application of a 

 coat of light petroleum alone firs-t, and then after a 

 few months give a coat of the heavi^-r petroleum 

 mixed with the ochres or oiher paint. He has 

 seen sueh a coat on a barn of six years' stnnding, 

 hard and unchanged. It is recommended for roofs 

 as well as for the t-ides of huildings. 



With coal tar on shingles we have had no expe- 

 rience. The Am':> ican Agriculturist sa3'S, soon alter 

 gas or coal tar became abundant ic was utilized in 

 many ways, and more or less as paint fur wood 

 and metals. Upon metals it gradually dried and 

 f.iraied a varnis-h-like surfa 'e little acted on by 

 the weather. On wood a similar surface was 

 fijrmed, but not altogether by evaporation, for a 

 portion of the tar struck in, and though it looked 

 well ("black, but comely"), the result proved that 

 when exposed to moi>ture, tar-coated wo(jd 

 would absorb it more or lei-s, and generally decay 

 quicker than if not coated at all. This is the ca^e 

 probably when shingle roofs are coated with tar. 

 The practice is now generally, if not universally, 

 condemned. 



SANFOKD, YORK COUNTY, ME. 



With the exception of hay, the crops in this sec- 

 tion liok very promi,^ing, and are at least a week 

 in advance of same time last year. Thouah we 

 have had little very warm weather, vegetation is 

 pu-hing along very fa-.t. We are having plentv of 

 ram, ami larmers are busy thinning out ''the tares 

 that spring up to choke" the plants, jjreparatory 

 to the approaching haying season. Inconsequence 

 of winter-killing, hiy will be rather light. There 

 is very iittle old hay on hand, and that little will 

 be held ou to, not f ^r a ''big price," but to be fed 

 to ^tock the commg winter. 



The farmers of f^anford, though perhaps rather 

 behind some of their neighbors in respect to the 

 improvement of stuck, are moving in the right di- 

 rection. Durham and their grades are taking the 

 pl.ice of "scrubs." Still, farmers are somewhat 

 discouraged by the probability of low prices for 

 stock this fall. 



Whi-at enough to furnish their own families 

 with flour is laised by niany of the farmers here, 

 and some have a little to sell. The crop averages 

 about twenty ou.-<hels per acre, one year with an- 

 o her, and the crop this year promises to be a fair 

 one Tliough the farms are nut large, the soil is 

 g od, and tew taiming towns in New England caa 

 show better huildings than Sanf(jrd. 



I'Ue township comprises atiout tifty-six square 

 miles, and is situated ou the Mo'isam nver, wuich 

 thou^'h uiily twenty miles in length, furnishes 

 twelve good water privileges. There are two vil- 

 lages in the town; Sanford Centre and Springvale, 

 — ot whicii tilt laitei is the largest. Here are a cot- 

 ton mill wiih lib looms ; the shoi; factory ot Messrs. 

 Cumimngs, emp.oying about lOO men and girls; a 

 saw, bhiiigle and cl.iphoard mill, a lL)ur mill, &c., 

 with some ten stores, two churches, &c. The vil- 

 lage is aUuriiL-d with hue .-hide trees, and greatly 

 increa-ed rai.ro.id facilities are soon expected. 



Spnngvule, Me., June '26, 1889. Zen. 



Remarks.— Our correspondent, "H. C. P.," 

 writing at Garland, Penobscot County, says that 

 as there was plenty of snow in that section, last 

 winter, grass did not wiucerkill as iu the more 

 southern part of the State, where there was less 



snow and more rain and sleet, and is looking quite 

 well, though the crop may not be quite as heavy 

 as last year. He mentions particularly some 

 splendid looking grass on the farm of Warren 

 Percival, Esq., of Vassalboro', which was estimated 

 at two tons per acre, — the result of good manage- 

 ment and high manuring. 



CHIMNEY CAPS. 



The jngged tops of many chimneys thnt we 

 see remind us of the sailor who, while listening 

 to the wailings of a tempest as it played among 

 the shrouds of his ship in the open sea, pitied the 

 poor landsmen whose heads were exposed to fall- 

 ing bricks and oi her perils by land in such a storm ! 

 But these fugitive bricks sometimes fall inside as 

 well as outside of the chimney ; and thus not only 

 endanger those outside of the building, but by 

 clogging up the flue obstruct the draught and fill 

 the interior with smoke. To remedy all these 

 evils, Mr. E. My rick, of Groton Junction, Mass., 



has invented and patented a cast iron chimney cap, 

 which being made in sections, corresponding to 

 the length of bricks, is adapted to chimneys of all 

 sizes. The sections being firmly locked together 

 secure the chimney-head effectually. They are 

 cheap, durable, and, as will be seen by the above 

 illustration, are neat and ornamental. 



OBSTRrCTIONS IN COWS TEATS. 



Last year one of my neighbors had a cow 

 troubled with an obstruction iu one teat, very near 

 the orifice. It seemed to act like a valve; when 

 squeezed no milk could be obtained. Various 

 methods were tried, such as inserting quills, knit- 

 ting medles, &c. These seemed to irritate. It 

 finally got so inflamed and sore that he was obliged 

 to dry the cow, which was fattened and sold for 

 beef. 



He purchased another valuable cow to take her 

 place, and in about a fortnight after she calved she 

 was taken in precisely the same way as the other. 

 Any amount of squeezing would not biing a drop 

 of milk. A quill was inserted as before ; but it 

 was very painful, and it took two of us to perform 

 the operation. It was evident that ntdess some 

 other method could be devised the milk would 

 cake, and the l)ag, and perhaps the cow, be s|)oiltd. 



I then ordered fur him one of Barlaiid's Eni^lish 

 Cow-mi king Tubes, whirh came prumpily by re- 

 turn mail at a cost of forty cents. Part of the bag 

 was by this tituc inflamed and the milk hud begun 

 to curdle. The tube was inserted without the 

 least pain or trouble, — the cow never wincing. It 

 re(iuired a little pressure at first to remove the 

 curdled milk, but afterwards it run freely until 



