126 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



but as it may be of interest to "Young Farmer," 

 we publish it, with our apology to "J. F. D." for 

 the delay. 



ACCOUNT ■WITH MY BIDDIES. 



I have averaged fourteen laying hens for the 

 )'car, beginning Dee. 5, 1865, and ending Ulc. 5, 

 1866, which laid 187 dozen and two eggs; have 

 ^old from this amuiint 129 dozen ; u.scd in the 

 house forty-live dozen and two eggs ; have set, and 

 otherwise disposed of six dozen and nine eggs. 

 My hens were fed with corn, whole and ground, — 

 clear, and with the cob, — wheat, barley, rye, oats, 

 buckwheat, potatoes, fresh )ieef, woodehneks, 

 frogs, fresh v/ater clams, mnd worms, butcher's 

 Glial, &c. They are a cross of the Black Poland, 

 Game, China, and common barn yard fowls. 



My account with them stands thus : — 



Ckedit. 



Poultry killed and to kill $=5 00 



Four old hens eold alive .... 2,00 



Twenty-eight to keep over 1400 



One bundled and twenty-nine doz. eggs sold . . 31 37 



Forly-tive aiid five-twelllhs dozen used 10 50 



Total $63 87 



Dr. 



Fourteen layers and one rooster $7 50 



Ten cents per day for keeping one year . 38 50 



$44 00 



Balance $19 87 



or nearlv $150 per layer, after deducting expenses. 

 Bradford, N. H., Jan. 8, 1867. J. f. d. 



COMPOSITION OF VNGVENTUM. 



Please inform me as to the composition of the 

 "unguentum" mentioned in your paper of this 

 date as a cure for lice on cattle. o. g. k. 



Dorchester, Mass., Jan. 4, 1868. 



Remarks. — Unguentum is a Latin word, and 

 means simply an ointment. Popularly it is ap- 

 plied to an ointment composed of mercury or 

 quicksilver and lard. It is called tinguentum hy- 

 drargyri in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which gives 

 the following directions for its manufacture. The 

 process though apparently simple, we are in- 

 formed by an apothecary, is one that requires both 

 skill and patience. "Take 24 advoirdupois ounces 

 of mercury, and 12 troy ounces of lard and the 

 same of suet. Rub the mercury with a troy ounce 

 of the suet and a small portion of the hird imtil 

 the globules cease to be visible ; then add the re- 

 mainder of the lard and of the suet softened with 

 a gentle heat, and thoroughly mix them." 



Our apothecary friend said that no one not 

 familiar with compounding drugs and medicines 

 ought to undertake to make unguentum, or to have 

 much to do with it after it is made, if less danger- 

 ous medicines can be substituted. 



MINERAL COMPOl'NDS. 



In renly to t he "Information Wanted" by " J. F.," 

 of Shci horn, Mass., in the New England Farmer 

 of Janiiaiy 4. in regard to the success of the schol- 

 ars of Prof. Dodge Hay ward, by the aid of his in- 

 structioti in agricultural chemistry, in producing 

 hay, grass, fruit, potatoes, &c., I will say a few 

 words, as I am happy to give information so far 

 as I am able. I can speak for only a very limited 

 number of his scholars, and for those, perhaps, not 

 so detini ely as may he desired. Five years ago 

 this winter I attended one of the agricultural 



schools of Prof. Hayward in this place, and was 

 disapi)ointed in the man and in his "teachings." 

 He is truly one of "Nature's teachers," and is as 

 correct in his chemisti'y of plants as Warring or 

 Liebig, 



His mineral compounds for supplying the wants 

 of plants, 1 have used more or less every j'car since, 

 usually with good results. Whether, as he states, 

 you can always, with $1.50 worth, produce an ex- 

 tra tun of hay, I am not prepared to say, but have 

 my "honest doulits.'" I can say that 1 ha\e used 

 it on 7uowing land, and know that the effect may be 

 seen for a numljer of years. One crop does not seem 

 to exhaust it, as the effect is more apparent the 

 second year than the hr>t. I have used it for grain 

 with marked results ; have raised the best corn 

 when I manured partly with that, and partly with 

 common manure, that I ever raised. 



For fruit, or old pasiuies, I have never tried it to 

 any extent, but am acquainted with one of his 

 former pupils who has tried it to a consideralile 

 extent on old pasture land, and claims to have re- 

 ceived a bcnetit far cxceedmg the expense, or even 

 his most sanguine expectations. 



Royalton, Vt., Jan. 6, 1868. J. G. Bennett. 



RoniNS and cold weather. 



On the fourteenth of December the thermometer 

 at this place was 16° below zero in the morning, 

 9° aljove at noon, and at zero at night. In the 

 middle of the day a robin red breast spent some 

 three hours in the trees about the house. In the 

 town of Weston, I also understand that robins 

 have been seen within a few days past. We should 

 like an explanation of these untimely visits. 



Ukin Haoab. 



Walling ford, Vt., Dec. 25, 1867. 



Remarks. — In the southern part of Massachu- 

 setts it is not uncommon for robins, especially in 

 mild seasons, to pass the winter in sheltered low- 

 lands. We saw a notice lately of a flock having 

 been seen on Christmas day near Salem. AVe be- 

 lieve that Mr. Thompson, in his History and Gazet- 

 teer of Vermont, mentions a few cases in which 

 they have wintered in that State. It has been sug- 

 gested that the robins which winter in this latitude 

 are those bred near the northern range of the race, 

 and consequently find here the change in climate 

 their instinct demands. Others h.ave thought that 

 those which stay with us are of the second or third 

 broods of the season, and that the winter comes 

 upon them before they are sufficiently matured to 

 endure the hard marches which the old veterans 

 perform with ease. 



HARROAVINft IN MANIRE. 



I have noticed the expression of various opin- 

 ions in the Farmer relative to ploughing in ma- 

 nure, and have come to the conclusion that it has 

 different effects in different localities. Until about 

 ten years ago, we knew no other waj' in preparing 

 our land for English grain and for seeding down. 

 But the practice has been nearly abandoned in 

 this vicinity. I have become satisfied by experi- 

 ence that tiiree loads of manure put in with a har- 

 row is well worth five buried with a i)lough for 

 a prain crop or grass, and will hold out longer. I 

 think the best potato crop of which I ever had any 

 knowledge from my own oljservation was planted 

 on rather worn out land without manure, until 

 just before hoeing, when about twelve loads per 

 acre were spread on. In hoeing tlu m the manure 

 was drawn around the hills and left upon the sur- 

 face. With the little experience 1 have had, if I 



