1869. 



XEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



473 



the field must have been very nearly four feet ! 

 The oats are of the Norway variety. On 

 counting the number of grains on each of three 

 heads, one was found to contain 75, another 

 79, and the third 90 grains. Counting the 

 grains on three of the finest heads that conld 

 be found in a field of common oats, there 

 were found on the first, 23, the second, 25 and 

 the third, 2G grains. 



It is generally supposed that oats are a poor 

 crop to seed down land with ; that they occupy 

 the land too much, both by their roots and 

 their shade. In our practice, however, we 

 have never succeeded better with any other 

 crop. We gave special attention to this point 

 in examining Mr. Ho^mer's fields, and found 

 as handsome a "catch" of both clover and 

 herd-'^grass as we ever saw, notwithstanding 

 the very heavy crop of oats standing on the 

 ground. We understood him to favor the use 

 of oats as a crop, when seeding land to grass. 



We were much interested in the appearance 

 of Mr. H.'s farm, and hope to be a'ule to 

 spend more time on it at some future daj'. 



Since writing the above, we have received 

 a single stool of the same variety of oats from 

 the farm of Mr. George Brooks, of Con- 

 cord. The stool before us has every appear- 

 ance of having sprung from a single oat, and 

 3'et the head contains, according to Mr. 

 Brook's counting, — one thousand and seven 

 hundred disiinct grains ! On a piece of Nova 

 Scotia oats, the average grains on a head were 

 only about 27. He states that the "catch" of 

 grass seed surpasses anything of the kind he 

 ever saw; the herdsgrass standing about a 

 foot high all over the field, and the clover, 

 soived at the same time, thick and luxuriant. 



MILK FEVER. 

 A correspondent of the Ohio Farmer gives 

 the following account of his treatment of a large, 

 fat cow which began to have symptoms of 

 milk fever, on the second day after dropping 

 her calf. Her milk stopped, she breathed 

 hurriedly, and her flesh trembled. She grew 

 rapidly worse. I gave her a pint of linseed 

 oil, and then threw over her a linen horse- 

 blanket that I kept constantly dripping wet 

 with cold spring water. In about two hours 

 after the first dose of oil I repeated it, and 

 continued the use of the water. I was up with 

 her the whole of the night. The next day I 

 continued the use of the water, but used less, 

 as the heat of the body seemed to subside. 

 At night she ^as able to stand, and her milk 



began to flcv. In a few days she was well 

 and had no further trouble. While she was 

 sick I gave her what wa"er she would take, 

 though at first 1 gave it warm. Her physic 

 opf^rated freely. 



On this the editor of the Ohio Farmer re- 

 marks, "cold water is, doubtless, one of the 

 best remedies that can be used in cases of 

 milk fever, and the most natural, i'or cows will 

 often seek streams or springs when fir.t at- 

 tacked, and lie in the water until re^tored. It 

 is nevertheless important to exercise care in 

 the use of cold water, for although ot great 

 potency in the early stayes of thii disease, it is 

 fital if applied freely after the animal has lost 

 her vital energy." 



For the New Englaiid Farmer, 

 "WHERE SHALL I LOCATE? 



This question is, without doubt, a fruitful 

 theme for discussion at many a fireside where 

 the F^utMER is a regular visitor ; for it has 

 been constantly agitated for many years past. 

 It is heard in private conversation, is seen in 

 the papers ; it is put by friend to friend, by 

 stranger to the stranger. The press teems 

 with articles in one form oranother tending to 

 help decide it ; and will you, Messrs. Editors, 

 permit me to add to such contributions by call- 

 ing the attention of your readers, contem- 

 plating an early removal, to a county where 

 good farms can be bought cheap ? 



It is in one of the older States, lies upon 

 the sea shore, and has long been settled. Its 

 surface presents an ever varying succession of 

 plain, hill and dale It is well watered by 

 rivers, brooks and springs. Every town has 

 its poud or ponds of a size which, in the old 

 world, would be called lakes, with some roman- 

 tic name. The scenery is everywhere pleas- 

 ant and attractive — and around some of these 

 lakes, by the rivers and along the rock-bound 

 coast it is picturesque and beautiful. With 

 this great diversity of scenery, there is every 

 opportunity for displaying an equally varied 

 St) le of rural embelishment, and where the 

 hand of man has adorned his home according 

 to the best rules of landscape gardening, it is 

 difficult to find in this country more cozy and 

 attractive residences. 



The county embraces a large variety of soils, 

 which are so intermixed, that three and four 

 kinds are often found upon the same farm. 

 Their general character is good. They are 

 rather hard to be worked, but are retentive of 

 manure and seldom fail to repay well directed 

 labor. Only the light lands, or those easily 

 worked, have been impoverished. The wet 

 lands of which there is a large area in the 

 runs, meadows, marshes and peat bogs, are 

 richer than when the first settlers begun to 

 clear up their farms. It is only within a few 

 years that the subjugation of these lands com- 

 menced in earnest. It requires but little en- 

 gineering skill and outlay, to relieve them of 



