10 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



priely of bringinff none but those of the tirst 

 quality — Should some of the gentlemen, "ho 

 purchased at Brookline on comparison find ihey 

 had as good, or belter sheep before — let them 

 not condemn all Saxony sheep, but remember 

 the old adage that " it is not all gold that 

 shines." A YANKEE FAKMER 



SOAP SUDS FOR DESTROYING INSECTS— MILK- 

 ING COWS, &c. &c. 

 To the Editor of the JS'ew England Fwrner, 



Sir, — In compliance with your request, I 

 havi' ap;.rpd so.ip stida to rry npple-treeu in or- 

 d- T fo '•.M ih lice. I( will he sufficient for me 

 to .say thai )!)•<( siirinklinfj them with suds will 

 not kill th'.^m ; oi'itii'M >vill dipping the branches, 

 which are infested with them in the suJs kill 

 them. But dipping and holding them in about 

 as long as I can conveniently hold my brer-.th, 

 will destroy every one. The suds do not ap- 

 pear to injure the leaves. 1 tried suds, made 

 op, purpose, and suds which had been used for 

 family-washing. The latter answers the pur- 

 pose much the best. 



1 observed some directions for making butler 

 in your last paper, written by Mr. " Cultivator," 

 in which he assures us that cows ought always 

 to be milked by the same person. That, how- 

 ever, is next to impossible, when a person has 

 a dozen or more, especially if he keeps them 

 many years. I keep 12 cows and either raised. 

 or bought them when heifers. I have so train- 

 ed them (hat it makes no difference who of us 

 milks them. The first who gets to the cows 

 takes his or her choice, till they are all milked. 

 This prevents, if nothing more, all contenlion 

 among domesticks about the best coivs to milk. 

 The same person seems to think that putiinp- a 

 little carrot juice, or the yolk of an egg or two, 

 into cream, in order to give it a little higher 

 colour is a species of knavery, and much endan- 

 gers the lives and health of those who eat it; 

 but says nothing about the cheese, which is al- 

 most as high coloured as anotta itself.* 



i have seen very promising heilers spoiled 

 when first beginning .to milk them by banging 

 and hallooing at Ihem because of their kicking. 

 1 have seen good cows for milk, knocked down 

 for beef on account of their bfeing addicted to 

 kicking. I have al'io seen co\'^ give a good 

 mess of milk, and tvhon Ihey had done kick it 

 over. I can nlways tell \vhen a heifer is going 

 to he inclined to kick, bi'lbre her calf is gone. 

 If she is, I take a strong strap, buckle it tight 

 round her hind legs below the gambrel joints, 

 including her tail if it is long enough. This 

 method will cause mvch uneasiness at first. If 

 the now falls down, no matter for (hat, let her 

 lie a minute or two. Then unbuckle the strap, 



* ' Cultivator' says "that the practice of colouring but- 

 ter] ought to reprobated, and abnndoneit and even pro- 

 hibited by law," &c. He says nothing about colouring 

 cheese, probably because he was not treating ofcheese. 

 Anotta, (or arnotta, as it is sometimes spelt) is often us- 

 ed for colouring cheese, and probably sometimes for col- 

 ouring butter. In either case we should consider it as a 

 species of deception, as it tends to give the article an ap- 

 pearance of being better than it really is. But there is 

 nothing dangerous or injurious to health in Arnotta, 

 which is the pulp that surrounds the seeds of the Arnot- 

 ta tree, a native of South .America. On the contrary 

 the Indians prepare from it a cordial, which they mix 

 with their chocolate for improving its flavour, and 

 heightening its colour. They also use it in l^roths, ami 

 it is said to pojsiss qualities which are rathi-r salutary 

 •ban uijuriouo to health — u£rf. .V. £. FanMr, 



let her get up, and put it on again. Perhaps 

 she may throw herself down again, but she will 

 be very careful how she throws herselt down 

 the third time. After she stands still put the 

 calf to her, and let her stand in Ibis manner till 

 he has done sucking. Let this be done a few 

 times, and it will generally break the cow of 

 kicking, also of starting and running when part 

 milked, as some cows will. I put on the strap 

 before the calf is gone, because if let alone till 

 afterwards, the cow is a])t to hold up her milk, 

 when the strap is first put on. 



If 1 were such a farmer as Mr. Prince or 

 Col. Jaques, I should think it worth the while 

 to write many things more, and at greater 

 length. But, as I am, 1 will write one thing 

 about harvesting oats. It is much the best 

 way, 1 know it by several years' experience, 

 to mow (not to reap) oats, when beginning to 

 turn yellow, whether they are wanted for fod- 

 der, or for the oats together with the fodder. 

 If a farmer wants to make the most of his oals, 

 if they are ever so stout, let him jnow Ihem 

 when beginning to turn yellow. Dry them 

 well, thrash Ihem as much as he pleases, and 

 his cattle will eat Ihe straw in preference to 

 the best of meadow hay ; and besides, the 

 grain will be much hrighler and heavier than if 

 ihey stand in the field till quite ripe, and ihe 

 straw is spoiled. 



Some person intimiites in one of your pa- 

 pers, that he does not know what time these 

 lice come on apple trees, which you call plant 

 lice, or when they go away. 1 believe Ihey 

 come as early as June, and I know they stay 

 sometimes till the frost kills them. Sometimes 

 a very wet season will kill them, or drive them 

 off sooner. B 



entirely out of the ground, he ploughed tlie re- 

 mainder of the field and sowed rather over a 

 bushel of wheat of his own raising, from 

 which he obtained only 10 bushels of most 

 miserable, smutty grain, such as was generally 

 raised in this part of the country in the unfa- 

 vourable year of 181 G. The seed in each case 

 was steeped in lye and mixed with ashes. The 

 ground is a gravelly loam on a rather steep 

 northern declivity. He tells me he never has 

 smutty wheat when he sows on frozen ground. 

 Perhaps you, or some of your scientific readers, 

 can explain the reason why frost should have 

 that efl'cct — whether you can or not, it is a (act 

 that deserves attention. He likewise is con- 

 vinced of the advantage of changing seed. — 

 Belfast is about 100 miles westerly of Machias, 

 and he derived a benefit of 20 per cent, by 

 obtaining seed from that place. 



A. BUTTERFIELD. 

 Machias, Me. July, 1824. 



July 26, 1824. 



ON RAISING WHEAT. 

 To the Editor of the A''ew England Farmer, 



Sir, — If practical farmers were more in the 

 habit of communicating the result of their ex- 

 periments and even accidents, they would con- 

 tribute much to the common stock of agricultu- 

 ral information. Mr. William Emerson, a re- 

 spectable fanner in (his town, has related to 

 me his success in the cultivation of wheat, 

 which I will communicate. In the year 1:^4, 

 he broke up one half acre of pasture land, on 

 which he put 17 small loads of barn manure in 

 the hills and planted with potatoes. The next 

 spring as soon as the frost was out so that 

 he could plough to (he depth of (hree inches, 

 he ploughed and sowed i( wi(h wheal. The 

 produce was 40 bushels of excellent grain, free 

 from smut. 



The same year, 1815, he broke up ra(h- 

 er less (ban two actes adjoining, on which 

 he put seventeen loads of manure and planted it 

 with potatoes, — the produce was about 350 

 bushels. The next spring, as soon as Ihe lop 

 of the ground was a little thawed, without 

 ploughing, he sowed a bushel of wheat he 

 had olitained from Belfast, but before he could 

 fini>^h harrowing a snow storm came on, after 

 rthich it froze so that be could not complete 

 it until Ihe seventh day, when the grain was 

 sprouted. The produce was 20 bushels free 

 from smut. He, at the same time, sowed half 

 a bushel of wheat of his own raising, which 

 I'loduced but 8 bushels — that, however, was 

 good and free from smut. After Ihe frost was 



REARING BL.\CK CATTLE WITHOUT .MILK. 

 To the Agricultural Board ofTrusteis. 



1 lay before you Ihe following method of 

 rearing Black Catlle widiout milk : 



In two or three days after they have calved, 

 I take the calves Irom Ihe cows, anil put Ihem 

 in a house by themselves; I then give them a 

 kind of water gruel, composed of barley about 

 one third, and Iwo-lhirds of oats, gioumi togeth- 

 er very fine ; I then sift Ihe mixture thro' a fine 

 sieve ; jiul it into the quantity of water (men- 

 tioned below); and boil it half an hour — when 

 I take it o(T the fire, and let it remain till it is 

 milk warm — I then give each calf about a 

 quart in the morning, and the same quanti- 

 Iv in Ihe evening, and increase it as the calf 

 grows older. It requires very little trouble to 

 make them drink it. After the calves have 

 had this diet for about a week or ten days, 

 I tie up a bundle of hay, and put in the middle 

 of the house, which they will by degrees, come 

 lo eat. I also put a little of the meal (above 

 mentioned) into a small trough for them, to eat 

 occasionally ; which I find of great service to 

 them. 1 keep Ihem in this manner, till Ihey 

 are of proper age lo turn to grass ; before which, 

 they must be at least two months old. There- 

 fore, the sooner I get them in the spring the 

 belter. 



About a quart of the aforesaid meal, mixed 

 with three gallons of water, is sufficient for 

 twelve calves in Ihe morning, and the same 

 quantity in Ihe evening. 1 increase Ihe quan- 

 tity in proportion as they grow older. 



By this method I have reared between fifty 

 and sixty beasts within these four years; forty 

 of which I have now in my possession, having 

 sold olV the others, as Ihey become of a proper 

 age ; and by the same method calves may be 

 reared with a trifle of expense. 



I am gentlemen, your most humble servant, 



AVM. BUDD. 



This account was deemed fully satisfactory, 

 and the Gold Medal was accordingly adjudged 

 to Mr. Budd. — London Magazine 



From the American Farmer. 



TO M.4KE CURRANT WINE. 



Stcubenville, June 20, 1824. 

 Dear Sir, — The appearance of Ihe currants 

 ripening reminds mo of your request, to have 



