1869 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



573 



indicate the way here as well as elsewhere. Did 

 their funds give out jast here, or didn't they think 

 this "fork ' worth roticinjr, or did they take it for 

 pran'cd that everybody knew the road as well as 

 they ? 



bimn old guide-boards are suffered to remain 

 just win re they were nailed in the days of turn- 

 pikes and staging, from capital to capital, juntas 

 liiough tailroads and telegraphs were n t in oper- 

 ation. Tiicy are pleasant reminders of the guod 

 old nm(s, and call up many gho^rs of d parted 

 wa- faiers and teams; hut they fall to divert the 

 ru.-liing 'ide of trnvi I hack into the old wnys. 



n he ( (liror of Our Dumb /hiimals ]/leuds fi)r 

 more guiJe-b.iards, from recent expi.rienrc in driv 

 i>ig over roads wiih which he was unacquainted 

 in Was achu-etts, New Hampshire, &c. Let mc 

 adit iiy humlile pita, after an;e!nt lirivc over cer- 

 tain s;rarigt! roads in Coi.necticuc. Ltt me al>o 

 hire rnuin hanks to sundry men, women and 

 cliildren, who supplied the defiiueiicy as wdlaas 

 they could by micliigcnc answers to a perplexed 

 and 1 ewiidered stranger's appeals, ia the pursuit 

 of f nowlidge under difficulties. av. e. b. 



J Mtig meadow, Mass., 1869. 



OIL AND COTTON SEED MEAL. 



Can you give me tome information concerning 

 the qualities and value of oil meal and cotton 

 seed meal ? — what kind of stotk they are suitable 

 for. Low fed, value as compared with corn meal. 



There seems to he a strong prejudice among our 

 old larmer.s against oil meal. T lie y say it ii/juies 

 the fl.ivor of butter and makes the milk unhealtHy. 



Oct. G, 1869. D. 



Remarks. — In small quantities, oil, cotton or 

 Indian corn meal are excellent for milch cows or 

 working or fattening oxtn. A quart of either, each 

 day, for an animal, would probably never harm it. 

 Butter made from cows so fed would not, we 

 think, be flavored with oil or cotton seed meal. 

 We should prefer to have hay cut and the meal 

 mixed a ith it, to feeding the meal alone. As prices 

 range, tliev iadie-ato that oil meal and cotton seed 

 meal are more nutiiiijus than corn meal. They 

 probably are so. Mi k producers want to get all 

 the milk they can from their cows, and s.me of 

 them fled two, three, or fmr quarts a day of meal 

 to each cow. It preduces a large flo v of milk lor 

 a time, but is highly iijurious to the hedth of the 

 cow, producing abortion and shortening tho life of 

 the animal. 



EAKLY ROSE IN NORTHERN VERMONT. 



We admire the i-traighttorward, fearless manner 

 in which thp Farmer exposes humiaigs, and 

 guards the pub.i ; against error and )mpo?i;ion. 

 But we did feel just a little as if it was over zi-al- 

 ous last spring wuen, in common wi h all who had 

 not provid tins Vctriety, it spjke quite disparaij- 

 ingly of it, qua ity. 



Ill regard lo the table quality of the Early Rose 

 there is only one < pinion nuw, in this section. 

 Our best hout-es offer twice the price of ordinary 

 varieties for them, but they will be mostly saved 

 lor seeel. 



Aii.oiig the scores of reported crops, we have 

 h ^d <<iil.v a single eumplaint: One man told me 

 ih It Ills i<oui,d raistel imly 'Si pounds. The ma- 

 J Illy lia»e rangeel fiem 80 to 100 full, from small 

 qu.iiiuies of sied. I nave grmvii tlie lio-e tins 

 .^•la-.ii wKii ihe Excilsie.r, vVcMcrii Cbief, Ptiil- 

 L.li h.'j Eiil>, b.iZee'ij I'rolitie, and oiair iica- 



varieties. In productiveness, they are equalled 

 < nly by the '-Prolitie-," which exceeds it. Mr. 

 Amos il^binson of Swanton, Vt., a gentleman 

 of well known veracitv, makes the following 

 statement in the St. Albans Messmger: — "From 

 three Eirly Rose potatoes, wlii>h weighed one 

 p und, he this >ear raised 359 pounds, which is 

 wittiin one pnund lA' six bushels. Had he not dug a 

 few fortrial, this one pound would have been more 

 thanmadenp. Thirty-one of the potatoes weighed 

 41 pounds 7 ounces. Tlie land on which the crop 

 was rai-ed had not been manured this year. 

 West Georgia, Vt , Oct. 1, 1869. 0. C. Wait. 



NORWAY OATS. 



I have some oats of which I was qnite boastful 

 when your first aciouiit of a heavy yieltl came, as 

 mine had more than twi e as many grains in a 

 head as tho«e you described. But m^re recent 

 Stat ments have so completely ecli()-ed mine, that 

 I now simply enclose to you two or three heads, to 

 ask whether they are the "Norway" or not. 



BoAKUMAN F. Stafford. 



South Wallingford, Vt., Oct. 1869. 



Remarks. — On comparison, we think yours are 

 the same as those which have been sent by others 

 as specimens of ihe Norway. 



Having read the statements about Norway oats, 

 I thought 1 woultl see what I could find in my 

 own lielel, which I thought could not be beat. First 

 1 pulled up .1 stool with eight stalks trom one seed, 

 pri)duci(ig 1511 grai' s. Ihen I found another 

 buneh of 13 stalks and 17G2 grains. Afterwards a 

 stool of 17 stalks, but have not counted the grains. 

 These oats were sown on pasture land after two 

 crops of potatoes with no manure. 



Chas. E. McIntire. 



Lancaster, N. U., Oct, 1869. 



Remarks. — That must be good land. After 

 such a cropping, will it produce grass that 

 will fatten stock ? The failure of our New Eng- 

 land pastures is a subject that has been con- 

 siderably discussed of late. Please give us your 

 views as to the proper management of this im- 

 portant part of our farms. 



FALL CROPS IN N FW HAMPSHIRE. 



One yeir ago today snow fell to the depth of 

 three inches in this town. Now we have grape 

 vines, b^^aiis, Ac, untouched by fro;t, late planted 

 fodder corn, vines, &c., as green as in July, and 

 • ■iigj quanutii s of tomatoes as fresh as ihuse that 

 first 1 ipentd. This is remarkable f jr New Hamp- 

 :-hire. Alter fdl cur tears our corn crop is good, 

 some farmers sav ihey never had bitter. 



Concoid, N. H., Oct. 18, 1869. N. P. Rines, 



MUCK, LIME, AND SALT. 



Can salt or lime be economically used with 

 muck ? 



Whatifi the best way of managing a meadow 

 once reclaimed and elraiued, but by neglect suf- 

 fered to revert to waier jEras.-es, hassocks, &c. 

 Can it be done wi.hout ploughing ? p. 



Remarks. — Where lime or salt can be procured 

 at moderate cost — as they sometimes can in a par- 

 tially damsged state — we think they may be eco- 

 nomically employed. That lime, salt and muck, 

 well mingled, will have an excellent tll-ct upjn 

 meis, lanus, we have no doubt. 



We sec no other way of i\ claiming a backsliding 

 meadow than to treat it as it was treated origin- 



