506 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



lent milkers,— though according to my experience 

 the quality does not equal the best Short-horn 

 grades. 



The unwillingness of the cows to be milked has, 

 in many instances, been a serious drawback on 

 their value ; and in numerous instances within my 

 knowledge have they been put off, because no 

 amount of patience and coaxing would induce 

 them to willingly give their milk. J. o. b. 



Chestnut Hill, Mass., Aug. 6, 1868. 



CABBAGE "WORM — PieHs Rapcs. 



Enclosed in box you will find five worms; a 

 sample of the kind that destroys cabbages. They 

 commence in the head. What kind are they ? 

 What do they originate from, and what shall I do 

 to get rid of them ? H. H. Ballou. 



Essex, Vt., Aug. 16, 1869. 



Herewith I send you a box containing a piece of 

 a cabbage leaf, with small nits or eggs attached to 

 the under and upper side of it; also, a cabbage 

 worm and butterfly for the inspection of Mr. 

 Samuel H. Scudder. I have not been able to raise 

 a respectable cabbage for some four or five years, 

 on account of the ravages of this species of vora- 

 cious rascals. Three weeks ago I had some nice 

 looking plants ; now there is nothing left of them 

 but the fibres covered with filth. I tried to pro- 

 tect them by applying salt, also hard wood ashes ; 

 but in vain. Again I think I shall use a thin 

 screen for a certain length of time. 



Garland, Me., Aug. 23, 1869. H. C. Preble. 



To the Editor of the New England Farmer : — 

 The specimens sent to you by Messrs. Ballou and 

 Preble, were the same as those of which I had 

 previously written to the Farmer — Pieris rupee. 

 It is an unfortunate English importation, and 

 is spreading very rapidly. I have myself seen it 

 this summer in the city of Boston, and have re- 

 ceived it irom northern New Jersey, where it is 

 doing great injury. 



I cannot find any eggs attached to the leaf sent 

 by Mr. Preble; if there were any they have either 

 been broken in transmission, or the enclosed cat- 

 erpillar has escaped and eaten its shell — as is its 

 cu=tom. The egg will undoubtedly prove to be a 

 minute, pale, conical nit, like the tip of a pin. 

 S. H. Scudder. 



Natural History Rooms, Boston, Aug. 30, 1869. 



Remarks. — The previous article ivritten by Mr. 

 Scudder, was published in the Weekly Farmer 

 of June 12, and in the Monthly at page 362. In 

 that article he said this species produce two broods 

 a year, — one in May and the other in July ; the 

 butterflies are of feeble flight, and can easily be 

 taken in a scoop net, which is, perhaps, the easiest 

 way of keeping them in check. 



When we first opened Mr. Preble's box, we no- 

 ticed a very small worm on the cabbage leaf, which 

 had probably hatched on the way and died before 

 Mr. Scudder examined it. This species is not 

 mentioned in the "Synopsis of the described Lepi- 

 doptera of North America," published by the 

 Smithsonian Institute in 1862, although Mr. Har- 

 ris' Oleracea is. 



CURING TOBACCO. 



in the production of fine colored leaf, and in guard- 

 ing against pole sweat. It is probably true that a 

 good whistle is very seldom made from a pig's tail ; 

 and equally true, that good, firm wrappers are not 

 made out of originally thick, heavy leaf. Still 

 much can be done to secure the best possible re- 

 sults, from the quality of leaf grown. 



It is now the practice to give our tobacco all the 

 air that is practicable, until the sweating period is 

 over. If the weather is hot and sultry, attended 

 as this weather frequently is, by a humid, foggy, 

 atmosphere, it is well to shut the sheds as tightly 

 as practicable, during the dampest portion of the 

 time, and then give all the air you can when the 

 air is the dryest. If there is a breeze s'.irring, give 

 the tobacco the benefit of it. If the weaiher is 

 rainy, shut your sheds, and keep the moisture out 

 of them as much as possible, but open as soon 

 as the weather clears up, and let it dry ofi" as soon 

 as possible. 



After the sweating stage has passed, we think 

 it well to keep the shed shut more, giving it less 

 and less air. And when the leaf is nearly all 

 cured down, it is well to let the shed be open in 

 damp, rainy weather, and closing it in dry weather, 

 so that the leaf may dry off slowly. la this way 

 a more uniform color is obtained. Unless this 

 course is pursued the leaf often has a variegated 

 look or appearance, which is very forcibly ex- 

 pressed by the term "calico." 



After the tobacco has dried down, it is best to 

 keep the sheds shut for another reason, — to pre- 

 vent the wind from blowing it about and whipping 

 and breaking the leaves. When tobacco cures 

 down quick we think it is apt to be lighter colored, 

 and perhaps this end is attained in a measure by 

 hanging the plants with lath, as the splitting the 

 stalk hastens the drying process. Observer. 



North Hatfield, Mass., Aug. 30, 1869. 



TREATMENT OF SICK PIGS. 



A few years since I had a fine shote, four months 

 o\A taken with spasms, and purple or red spots 

 came out on it, similar to the case described by 

 Mr. Brewster in the Farmer of August 28. One 

 neighbor said. "Rub the issues on his fore legs 

 with a cob;" another said, "pull out his black 

 teeth;" all which I did, to no good. An old lady 

 advised me to give it half a pint of lard melted in 

 a pint of new milk. I gave it according to direc- 

 tion, and in a few hours my pig was well. Two of 

 my neighbors have had sick hogs, (150 and 250 

 pounds, respectively.) I assisted them in adminis- 

 tering the same dose to them, and both were cured. 

 I think in every instance it was a stoppage, which 

 the lard and milk at once removed. Put the lard 

 and milk in a tin dish, set on the stove and heat 

 until the lard is melted. Administer warm. 



L. L. Pierce. 



East Jaffrey, N. H., Aug. 30, 1869. 



In reply to H. M. Brewster I would say, that a 

 few years since I was called to see a sick hog; I 

 found him precisely the same as Mr. B. describes 

 his hog to have been. I started the blood by clip- 

 ping his ear, threw cold water on to him, made a 

 mud hole for him to wallow in, which he fre- 

 quently used, and in a few days got well. I think 

 if costiveness prevails, an injection of soap suds 

 would be beneficial. d. 



Groton, N. H., Aug. 29, 1869. 



I would say in reply to H. M. Brewster, that a 

 neighbor of mine had a valuable hog attacked 

 with the disease he descriiies, the name and cause 

 of which is unknown in ttiis section. The remedy 



It occurs to me that perhaps a few words would 

 not be amiss at this time, upon the methods adopted 



by oui best growers in curing their tobacco after ! used was a small piece of garget root inserted in 

 it is housed. Much depends upon the care and j each ear, in a manner similar to that employed in 

 skill of the grower, at this Important point of time ' gargeting cattle; the ears the day following were 



