620 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



come^«e in the soil, witliout throwing over and 

 reiiuing before spreading; and that where both 

 horse and cow manure were spread, the soil in 

 spring would be in excellent condition for corn 

 again. J. W. Snow. 



Cumberland, R. I., Aug., 1869. 



Remarks. — You are precisely right, according 

 to our ideas, in regard to using green manure in 

 the fall. If ploughed under in the most crude 

 condition, it will undergo a slight fermentation, 

 and the escaping gases will be absorbed and re- 

 tained by the soil. It will make the land rich and 

 light, and place it in the best possible condition to 

 feed a crop the next season, so far as the manure 

 is concerned. It is, probably, the b est possible 

 way to use manure. 



NORWAY OATS. 



In a late number of the Farmer, I read your 

 description of a fine field of Norway oats ; three 

 heads of which contained respectively seventy-five, 

 seventy nine and ninety grains. On which I went 

 to a piece of my oats of the same variety, and 

 selected three heads that gave 240, 229 and 217 

 grains each. Then I selected five heads, all from 

 one seed, with the following result,— 155, 214, 226, 

 219 and 237 grains, which make ten hundred fifty- 

 two grains, all from one seed. G. P. Hibbard. 



East Brookfield, Vt., Aug. 23, 1869. 



SWEDEN OATS. 



A friend of mine gave me a handful of oats — 

 less than half a pint — which were brought from 

 Sweden last season. I sowed them about the first 

 of June, on land that was not highly manured 

 last yenr and not at all this. Enclosed find a head 

 of oats raised from that seed. It has 110 grains, 

 if counted correctly. Many other heads have as 

 many. The average growth of stalk is four feet. 

 Have not harvested them yet. If I live another 

 year you may expect to hear from them again. 



Temple, N. H., Sept. 6, 1869. Daniel Felt. 



Remarks. — Head full thirteen inches in length. 

 It is a white oat of very fine appearance. 



BLACK-LEG. 



In the Farmer of July 17, (Monthly, page 413,) 

 I read a communication upon black leg that was 

 of interest to me, as I had just lost a calf by that 

 disease. And having had a little experience since 

 then with the disease, I send the following state- 

 ment to you, thinking perhaps it may be of inter- 

 est to some of the readers of your valuable paper. 



About two weeks after losing the calf above re- 

 ferred to, another was taken in the same manner, 

 lame in one hind leg. I immediately upon the 

 discovery of the attack, made an incision through 

 the skin, and slightly into the flesh of the thigh, 

 of some five or six inches in length, and filled it 

 with fine salt and sewed it up. In about six liours 

 the lameness had decreased in the hind leg, hut he 

 wa5 lame in one fore leg. I then performed the 

 same operation on the shoulder, after which for 

 two or three days he seemed to be doing well, and 

 had lu arly recovered from his lameness, when the 

 other fore leg was taken lame. I then cut a 

 smaller ga-h in this shoulder, treating it the same ; 

 but in twelve hours after he was much worse, be- 

 ing so bad he could hardly touch his foot to the 

 floor. I then made a longer and deeper cut, and 

 found the flesh quite dark. Into this I put all 

 the salt the wound would contain. This has 

 cfl'ectcd a cure, I think, as this was five or six 

 weeks ago, and the calf is now in a thriving con- 

 dition, and to all appearance quite well. 



The cause of the disease in this case, it appears 

 to me, could not have been any sudden change in 

 flesh or condition, as there was no such change. 

 In both cases the animals were in a fair thriving 

 condition. I attribute it to their drinking muddy 

 water, as they had been under the necessity of 

 drinking that or none for some time. I have been 

 told by others since then, that drinking muddy 

 water would produce black-leg. L. Jones, Jr. 



Dover, Vt., Aug. 30, 1869. 



attleboro' farmers' club. 



Subject discussed at the session of September 6, 

 held at Charles Hay ward's — Improvement of Dairy 

 Stock. George Pierce, President, remarked that 

 there are between 800 and 900 cows in town, and 

 the greater part are comparatively inferior. Can 

 some one mention some way in which e.-^ch cow 

 can be made to give at least one quart per day 

 more, and so add over $8000 to the income of the 

 town in one year. 



Mr. S. M. Stanley thought that more than one 

 quart per day can be gained by better feed and 

 care. 



Mr. C. Hay ward said that in addition to good 

 care, you must have good stock. In order to get 

 good stock, we must select the best breeds, and 

 then breed from the best animals of that race. 



H. K. W. Allen remarked that as far as his ex- 

 perience goes, he has found the Alderney or Jersey 

 to be the best stock for butter; the Durham for 

 beef, and Ayrshire for beef and milk. It was de- 

 cided that the Ayrshires were best adapted to the 

 wants of the farmers of Attleboro'. 



Mr. Wetherell, of the Boston Cultivator, ad- 

 dressed the meeting on this subject, and gave the 

 farmers some very useful and important informa- 

 tion. 



The meeting was then adjourned for two' weeks 

 to meet at the farm of S. M. Stanlev, Monday, 

 Sept 20th at 1^ o'clock. Subject "the Art of 

 Farming." J. E. Hunt, See'g. 



SUDDENLY DRIED UP. 



I have a three-year-old heifer which has been 

 giving about a pail of milk to a milking, until a 

 day or two since, when she suddenly dried up to 

 about half a pint to a milking. She eats the same 

 as usual ; chews her cud and seems perfectly well. 

 Can some of your readers tell me what is the mat- 

 ter, and what is good for her, and oblige a sub- 

 scriber. E. w. K. 



Stoughton, Mass., Sept. 1, 1869. 



Remarks. — We can scarcely conceive of such a 

 sudden change, and are entirely at a loss to ac- 

 count for it. Who can tell ? 



POULTICE FOR DRY AND HARD HOOFS — DRAFT FOR 

 FEET AND LLTNGS OP CHILDREN. 



A subscriber in East Taunton wants to know 

 what to do for his horse's feet. I should not use cow 

 manure — think it will create more fever, but would 

 make a poultice of corn meal and soft soap, bind a 

 quantity while warm all around the hoof, top and 

 bottom. Let this be on over night or longer; it 

 will soften the foot the best of anything I Ivnow of. 

 If the heels are contracted, there is a patent .>-hoe, 

 made like any shoe except a small lip or spur 

 turned up on the inside near the heel (each side) 

 and the shoe made weak a little back of the toe 

 cork on each side. The shoe is now nailed on and 

 then spread with a pair of tongs a little ; do thiS 

 while the hoof is soft ; and in a few days a little 

 more. Don't spread too much at a time. Af;er 

 you get the hoof soft, keep it so by keeping him 

 olf the hard floor. 



And I may as well say here that a poultice made 



