544 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



RAIN FROM THE ROOFS. 



In our climate, ^vhen rain water is most needed, 

 for washing, for cattle, and for watering ])lants, it is 

 not to be had. There is a sufficient quantity falls, 

 however, unless in seasons of extreme drought, to 

 give every farmer a full supply, if he had the proper 

 reservoirs for holding it. These may be made much 

 more readily and cheaply, than most people believe 

 they can be. On any soil but a very sandy one, the 

 earth may be removed, and the sides and bottom ce- 

 mented without brick or stone, and the top covered 

 with chestnut plank, and any amount of rahi water 

 ])reser'\'ed. If slanted outward half an inch to one 

 inch to each foot in height, and well cemented, a cis- 

 tern will last for many years. Such cisterns would 

 be a matter of economy to many of our farmers. 



We fhid a paragraph in the papers which has sug- 

 gested these remarks, stating that "every inch of 

 rain that falls on a roof yields two barrels to every 

 space ten feet square ; and seventy-two barrels are 

 jielded by the annual rain in this climate on a sim- 

 ilar surface. A barn thirty by forty feet yields an- 

 nually eight hundred and sixty-four barrels ; this is 

 enough for more than two barrels a day for every 

 day in the year. !Many of our landlords have, how- 

 ever, at least five times that amount of roofing on 

 their dwellings and other buildings, yielding an- 

 nually more than four thousand barrels of rain wa- 

 ter ; or about twelve barrels, or about one hundred 

 and fifty ordurary jJailsfuU daily. 



doubt, that charcoal is, in its nature, nearly indes- 

 tructible. It remains in the soil for generations 

 without scarcely any perceptible change or altera- 

 tion, and when applied in large quantities, as a stim- 

 lant of vegetable life, acts from year to year, and 

 even from generation to generation, without any ob- 

 viously apparent diminution of energy or effect. — 

 Fountain and Journal. 



CHARCOAL FOR WHEAT. 



There are many instances on record, going most 

 conclusively to demonstrate the very high value of 

 charcoal as a manure for wheat. We scarcely, in- 

 deed, take up an agricultural publication in which 

 its efficiency, as a stimulant, is not rendered appa- 

 rent b}- the most convincing and imdeniable facts. 

 A late writer in the Lewisburg Chronicle, in some 

 remarks upon this subject, says: — "A few days since, 

 in company with Mr. Jacob Dorr, of East Buffalo, I 

 visited a spot on the land of my brother, John Dorr, 

 on which the excellent effects of charcoal were plain- 

 ly visible. Before reaching the spot, I noticed the 

 Ijeautiful bright green of the wheat in the lower 

 part of the field, even at this season — the dead of 

 winter — and remarked to j\Ir. Dorr, that that must 

 be tlie spot. He stated that he had not visited it for 

 a number of years, but was under the impression 

 that it was higher up the field. When we arrived 

 at the spot of beautiful green wheat, we found, in- 

 deed, tliat it was the locality of the charcoal. In 

 some places the soil was black with the coal, and the 

 Avheat jjlants were very large and healthy. Their 

 appearance is very fine, and they can be seen from 

 all parts of the field, so superior are they to those 

 surrounding them." It appears from the commu- 

 nication, that some fifty or sixty years ago, a black- 

 smith shop occupied this spot and near it there was 

 a coal pit. This accounts for the presence of the 

 coal, but not for the continued and undiminished fer- 

 tility and suprising productiveness of the soil en- 

 riched by it. 



But it is well known to many of your readers, no 



SALT FOR ANIMALS. 



Professor Simonds, Veterinary Inspector to the 

 Royal Agricultural Society, observes, in relation to 

 the action of salt on the animal economy, that "it 

 is exceedingly beneficial in moderate quantities, but 

 prejudicial in large ones." He thought horses 

 might take with advantage from an ounce and a 

 half to two ounces of salt daily ; but that an excess 

 of it would render animals weak, debilitated and 

 unfit for exertion. Similar facts were apphcable 

 also to oxen, which accumulate flesh faster by the 

 judicious use of salt, than without it. He cited 

 Arthur Young, and Sir John Sinclair, to show that 

 salt had a tendency to prevent the rot in sheep. 

 Prof S. added as his own opinion, that salt, by its 

 action on the liver, and the supply of soda it yield- 

 ed to the bile, led to a greater amomit of nutriment 

 Ijeing derived from the food. Tlie substance, he 

 said, was also well known as a vermifuge, destroy- 

 ing many kinds of M'orms in the intestines of ani- 

 mals, and conferring a healthy tone of action which 

 prevented their re-occurrence. Several members' 

 of the R. A. Society, as Col. Challoner, and Mr. 

 Fisher Hobbs, stated that their experience led them 

 to agree with Prof. Simonds in regard to the value 

 of salt for animals. In reference to the mode of 

 gi\ing it, the practice of placing large lumps of 

 rock salt in fields or yards, where it was accessible 

 to the stock, was mentioned with approbation. 

 This practice is now adopted by many farmers in 

 this country, and after several years' trial, is pre- 

 ferred to the former mode of giving salt j^eriodical- 

 ly. When animals are only allowed to have salt 

 once or twice a week, it is sometimes the case that 

 they eat too much at once, but by having it con- 

 stantly in their reach, they eat such quantities as 

 their systems require, and it assists the digestion, 

 and promotes health and thrift. 



SANATORY SUBSTANCES. 



As the warm weather is now at hand, it will no 

 doubt be very useful information to many persons 

 to be told what are the best substances for remov- 

 ing offensive odors from smks, &c. Copperas, or 

 sulphate of iron, is a very excellent substance for 

 slushing drains and sinks. By dissolving half a 

 pound of it in a jjail of hot water, and throwing it 

 into a sink once per week, it will remove all offen- 

 sive odor ; and from the situations of many houses 

 in all our cities, it would greatly tend to health and 

 pleasure for the inhabitants of each to do tliis. The 

 chloride of lime, or the chloride of zinc, will answer 

 just as well, but these are expensive substances in 

 comparison with co^jperas (sulphate of iron.) Lime 

 is also very useful, and is, no doubt, a cheap deod- 

 orizer, but it is not a very good one ; copperas, 

 therefore, is preferable to all these substances. 



But there is another substance which is far supe- 

 rior to either copperas, the chloride of hme, or zinc, 

 as a deodorizer, both as it respects its qualities and 



