10 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Hens need various condiments, such as lime, chalk, 

 or pounded bone and oyster sheU.s. Egg shells are 

 also good. Lime may be given in old mortar. They 

 must have some material to form egg shells, when 

 they cannot have access to the ground, even if they 

 have a supply of graveL They should also hare, 

 occasionally, some green food, such as cabbages, or 

 raw tuniips, potatoes, or apples, cut in large slices, 

 and they will peck and eat what they waTit, 



Though hens should be kept warm in winter, they 

 should not be crowded together in large lots without 

 ventilation, as they will be liable to disease from im- 

 pure air. In mQd weather, when the grotmd is 

 bare, they should go out in the sixn. In feeding 

 boiled potatoes and othci'warm food to hens, it should 

 be given early in the morning, and the grain should 

 be covered up at night, else they will fill themselves 

 with that before they get a warm brealtfast. Give 

 dry loam or ashes to roll in, 



"With good management, generally in accordance 

 with what we have recommended, hens will lay well 

 iu winter, Lf they are of good breeds, and not too old, 

 and are in healthy condition. If they do not lay, 

 with much care and attention, give them a very little 

 cayenne in their mixed food, and warm, stimulating 

 food. Hens often suffer in winter for want of exer- 

 cise. They wiU fly from l\icir roost, eat their break- 

 fast, and stand almost mntioijlf^ss, and go to roost 

 again soon after noon, especially ii tbey are in rather 

 a dark house. 



We avoid this evil by covering their gTain up in 

 gravel, and let them scratch for a living, which gives 

 them exercise that is conducive both to their health 

 and comfort, and to their laying. "Whether they have 

 gravel in large boxes, or on a ground floor, mix the 

 grain up several inches deep in It. This is often 

 essential to success, as sometimes hens will iiot lay 

 without their being reduced to the necessity of taking 

 exercise. Bury the grain so that they must have 

 considerable labor in finding it, leaving a little cm the 

 top and near the surface to induce search for more. 

 This is the best remedy for laziness ; as that exercise 

 ■which gains the food, gives a good relish for it. 



"We wLU name a few among the many instances of 

 the profit of hens in winter when well managed. 

 One Avinter, we had eight hens, which were well 

 supplied with water, grain, and gravel, but did not 

 lay in winter — not one egg in January. The next 

 winter, we tried what could be done with the same 

 hens, then the worse for age, as they were mostly 

 old hens. They were in the same house. "We gave 

 them warm food and condiments, and buried their 

 grain in gravel and old plaster, and they laid eggs 

 enough in January to pay throe times the expense for 

 their food. 



J. S. Sayward, Esq., editor of the Bangor Courier, 

 in an article furnished to us for the Yankee Farmer, 

 stated that from one himdred and fifty hens he had 

 nineteen hundred eggs in the month of January. 

 This was in the cold region of Down East. Nu- 

 merous other cases might be named of large profits 

 from extra attention in managing hens in cold 

 weather. 



PROFIT IN PEARS. 



In the fall (rf 184^8, Mr. John Washburn, of Plym- 

 outh, bought two dwarf pear ti-ees, (on quince 

 stocks,) at .$1.25 each. He set them that fall, and in 

 less than a year from planting the trees, he took a dozen 

 pears from them, and exhibited them at the annual 

 show of the Mass. Horticultural Society, for which 

 he received a premium of $G, and he sold the pears 

 for $3 — making a dividend of $9 on the small in- 

 vestment of only !^2.50. The pleasure and reputa- 

 tion of so successful cultivation will paj^ ten times 

 the trouble. The variety was the Louise Bon da 

 Jersey. 



Town AGKicuLTtmAL Meetings. — At a late meeting 

 of the Hillsborough, N. H., Agricultural Society, voted, 

 as a means of promoting an interest among farmers 

 and mechanics, to hold monthly meetings in different 

 towns during winter, for the purposes of hearing 

 addresses from competent persons, and discussing 

 such subjects as have been proposed at a previous 

 meeting. 



Large Potatoes from Seed. — Mr. Anthony Hatch, 

 of Saugus, has shown to us some handsome, full- 

 grown potatoes raised from seed planted in a hotbed 

 last spring. 



Lime. — It is a singular fact, that in many parts of 

 the world, soils resting on limestone, which is within 

 a few feet of the surface, contain no more lime than 

 those where is no limestone. 



Agriculttjral Meetings. — The first meeting at 

 the State House will he held on Tuesday evening, 

 the loth inst. 



'^^W Wo have on hand several communications, 

 ■which 'vill appear in our next number. 



SWELLING OF THE THROAT IN HOGS. 



In order to contribute to the usefulness of your 

 valuable periodical, and to irSovm the public of what 

 I find to be an infallible cure for a certain disease 

 with hog-3, viz., the swelling of tl,.^. throat I here- 

 with send you a receipt for the disease with a 

 desire that you publish the same iu your work, if you 

 deem it of any import, and the same meets your ap- 

 probation. 



Take of molasses one half a pint, and a teaspoon- 

 ful of hog's lard ; to this add of brimstone a piece an 

 inch long. Melt it over the fire, and when it is cold, 

 or in a liquid state, drench the hog with it ; and nine 

 times out of ten it will be found to have the desired 

 effect. !My hogs were aff'ccted with this disease dur- 

 ing the past year, and I found the above to be effec- 

 tive when all else failed. — Far. Reg. 



Money skilfully expended in drying land by drain- 

 ing it, or otherwise, will be returned with ample 

 interest. 



