1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



457 



than to pay the board of his men ; thus nearly 

 two hours of each day in the wetk is stricken off, 

 leaving a fraction >'l)0ve nine hours a day lor these 

 five munths. The two or three nmntlis is one hour 

 per day less, averaging, perhaps, 8% h-mrs of con- 

 stant work for the s< a-on of s-ix or seven months. 

 Wh n we take men by the yt-ar, which iudu.ies 

 one-third Win-er for the whnle year, 1:| hours less 

 per diy will be the average tor these months, fur 

 we cann' t expect to work men in snow, slet t, and 

 rain ihougb ihe days are shor ; nir drive them 

 out into ilie wood lot when the therm'Tnectr i-- 25 

 degrtes hi low zero. Tbis reduies the average 

 day n work fir the year t) not over eijiht hours. 

 Ii otiic^- farmers will gocirefully into this nek 

 oni! g they will find u a cotrtct oni', unless they 

 h ive a better faculty to g t work out of men in 

 b.id and wet weather than h.is your humMe ser- 

 vant. In this lueality the faim- r doi s m-t get so 

 mai.y hours' work on an average the season 

 ihiough, or by the year, as is now established by 

 the manufacturers and mechanics. 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



REMEDY FOR LICE ON CATTLE. 



What can I use to destroy the vermin on my 

 stock, that IS safe ? Many cattle, in my opiuion, 

 are injured by the use of kerosene, unguentum, 

 and other powerful applications. 



Jfsse Willicutt. 



Cummington, Mass., July, 1869. 



Remarks. — Our correspondent is correct in his 

 opinion that cattle are injured by the use of the 

 applications which he mentions. But it is the in- 

 judicious use. We have seen a cow's hide tanned 

 on her body in spots where too much kerosene 

 was used. The hair did not come off in the spring 

 on those places when she shed the rest of her 

 coat, and the skin felt as hard and dry as sole 

 lea her. It was two or hree years before she got 

 over the operation. There was too much applied. 

 If a tablespoonfiil had been used by dipping the 

 fingers in it and then rubbing every part of the skin, 

 ■with the hand, the probability is that no harm 

 would have been done, and the vermin destroyed. 

 The same kind of treatment should he observed in 

 the use of unguentum, or any of the pungent oils 

 that are employed. 



Dry, fine loam is an excellent remedy. The 

 cattle themselves resort to it frequently by pawing 

 it up and throwing it over themselves until the 

 hair is filled with it. Ashes is good, but must be 

 used with care. If sifed on too profusely and the 

 cattle are then exposed to rain, a ley may be 

 formed which will cause the hair to fall off. 



All stalls where horses or cattle are kept, should 

 be occasionally swept and then washed out with 

 strong soap suds, or with water in whi. h a bit of 

 potash has been dissolved, or in which ashes has 

 been soaked. The water will find its way into the 

 crevices where the vermin "do mo-^t congregate," 

 and ki!l them in their hiding places. It is of little 

 u.-:e to dose the stock with remedies, s j long as 

 every dry crack in the floor, about the stancheons 

 and in the walls, has a hungry legion in it ready 

 to come out and eat your cows up while they are 

 still alive. An ounce of prevention is worth a 



pound of cure. So runs the old adage, and it is a 

 true one. Cleanliness is one of the cardinal vir- 

 tues, and it ought to shine in most barns a great 

 deal more than it does. 



AMERICAN TENT CATERPILLAK. 



Enclosed I send you something taken from a 

 era) apple tree. Please tell us in the Weekly 

 Farmer whit it is, and what its future would 

 have been had it not been removed ? 



TiMOTHv Wheeler. 



Walerbury Centre, Vt., July 26, 1869. 



Remarks. — You have sent us a nest of Clisio- 

 campa'a eggs. But as that is not plain English we 

 are very much obliged to Mr. Harris for a literal 

 translation — the tent caterpillar. These eggs area 

 great curiosity. How 8\ stematically they are 

 placed upon the limb, how firmly glued, how 

 thoroughly protected by a warm, 

 water-proof, elastic covering ! With 

 an ordinary magnif^>i(ig glass we 

 count some twenty-five to twenty- 

 eight rows of eggs with twelve to 

 sixteen in a row, sufficient for a 

 colony of 300 to 400 worms, which 

 would have been called into activ- 

 ity by the same sun which expanda 

 the buds and starts forth the leaves 

 in the spring for their sustenance. 

 If your trees are not large these 

 cocoons may be removed with the 

 fingers. Where trees are large, 

 some gardeners use a pair of shears 

 on the end of a long pole, worked by a cord, to 

 clip off the twig which holds the eggs. Every 

 batch of eggs thus removed prevents a nest of 

 caterpillars in the spring. 



TREES AS SCREENS FOR FEAR ORCHARDS. 



Every pear orchard should be screened from the 

 full force of our bwtepiug winds. Oherwise a 

 great deal of fruit * ill he blown from the trees in 

 a premature state, while that which ri mams will 

 never attain either the size or the beauty that it 

 would if hanging qui. tly on sheltered houghs. 



Th'^se who have travelled in France atid Belgi- 

 um will remember thi high stone walls that almost 

 invariably surround the pear gardens, tff.-etiug the 

 doiiiJe purpose of weataer screens and thief- 

 guards. They will also recall the enormous size 

 of the pears that grow in these qjiet en. losures. 

 UncJouhteclly this is the most elfeccual mode of 

 gaining complete protection. 



In this country where labor and materials are 

 now so hign, it would he very costly to attempt to 

 surround our pear trees with wails of masonry. 

 la default of this a row of Norway spruces, or 

 white pines, will serve us exceedingly well, and if 

 these hardy tvtrgreens are ke^,^t headed down to a 

 height of about fitteen feet, they will gradually 

 thicken up into a mass of gr^en, which will not 

 only conceal the tempi ing blushes of Flemish 

 Beauties and Louise Bonnes, from the eyes ot en- 

 amored depredators, but will also make a pleasant 

 lee from summer gales, and at the same time allow 

 Che sun to shine in over the tops, bringing the light 

 and heat so necessary for the perfect coloiiug and 

 ripening of the fruit. 



Perhaps in low lands it would be better to make 

 our living wall of aeciduous trees, thereby allow- 

 ing the full force of the sun to Ue on the ground 



