128 



NEW ENGLAXD FARiVIER. 



March 



qnainted with the milkmen of Boston end vicinity 

 know very well that no farmer could long keep 

 out of the iilmsliouse if lie spent his money as freely 

 for fast horses and in fast living, as many of tlie 

 millcnien are in tlie lialiit of doing. ' In fact, if you 

 find a milkman, who is as careful and saving as 

 farmers are obliged to lie, he is sure to ac<piire 

 property very much faster than tlie farmer, and 

 with less care, anxiety, and jierplcxity, and cer- 

 tainly with nmeh less capital invested. 



A Milk Consumer. 

 Reading, Mass., Jan. 6, 1868. 



EAISIXG POTATOES. 



In your issue of 28th inst., "A Sniiscrihcr" at 

 Plymouth, N. H., says he has raised 260 I)ushels 

 ofpotatocs from less than oneand ahalf daj^s' laljor 

 of self and hand, with horse and cultivator part of 

 the time. I wish he would give us. through your 

 columns, the exact method of ploughing, planting, 

 hoeing, and of harvesting, if he included that part 

 of the work, on nearly two acres ofpotatocs, with 

 so little time and labor. It is not fair he should 

 keep the process to himself, unless he intends to 

 apply for a patent. L. E. Bicknell. 



Windsor, Mass., Dec. 30, 1867. 



Remarks. — We hope "A Subscriber" will define 

 his position, and explain his statement. We sup- 

 posed that the labor expended related simply to 

 the small amount of hoeing necessary on land clear 

 of weeds and well cultivated. 



exposure of stock to cold. 



In travelling through the northern part of New 

 Hampshire and Vermont, during the cold spell of 

 last month, I was surprised to see that most farm- 

 ers ke|)t their cattle and sheep, and in some cases 

 their horses, out of doors most of the day. It 

 seems to me that it is a mistaken idea, and one 

 that should have been given up long ago, that cat- 

 tle and sheep are hardier and more healtliy for lie- 

 ing exposed to the chillmg blasts of winter, where 

 the thermometer is from 12 to 20 degrees below 

 zero. So far as my experience goes, it is nearly 

 iinpossiljle to make any animal take on fat while 

 shivering with cold, though they certainly I'eqnire 

 more ha.y than when kept warm. z. 



Reading, Mass., Jan. 1, 1868. 



large grape vine in claremont, n. h. 



Seeing an account in the Farmer of the 7th 

 December, of a large grape vine, I will show the 

 people, through your paper, what Old Claremont, 

 Is'. H., can ])rodtue. I have a grape vine in my 

 yard, running on, or trained to the outbuildings, 

 that measures in length 95 feet one way, and 2.5 

 feet the other ; makmg a growth of 120 feet of vine. 

 This vine is in good bearing condition; the name 

 ami age of which I am unable to tell. Tliis I 

 think beats Mr. Stewart's Clinton vine, which is 

 onlv 70 fea in all. W. P. Tukasher. 



Claremont, \. H., Dec. 8, 1807. 



CUKE AND PREVENTION OF LICE ON CATTLE. 



To cxtcnnlnate lice on cattle, all you have to do 

 is to cut thrnu<;h the skin on the back side of the 

 ear and close to the head where the skin is loose, 

 put in a I'lece of tmgucntum the size of a small 

 pea, and in lour days' time you will be unable to 

 find a live kmse, and you will perceive no injury 

 to the animal. 



As a sure preventive, bore a hole with a half 

 inch bit into the stanchions, on the side where the 

 animal stands, and fill it with ungucntum. This 1 



did sixteen years ago, and I do not recollect of 

 having seen a louse on one of the cattle which 

 have occupied these stanchions. 



M. M. Tall ANT. 

 East Concord, N. H., Dec. 26, 1867. • 



THE STORY OF SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. 



In a late number of the Farmer, "Inquirer" 

 suggests that winter is a good time to give the ex- 

 perience of the past year. Though an old sub- 

 scriber to your valuable paper .lam still a young 

 farmer and take great interest in reading it, espe- 

 cially the column of "Extracts and Replies." 

 Much information might lie given, that would help 

 and encourage young farmers, if the older ones 

 would give their experience. A great deal may 

 be learned from books and papers, as book 

 farming is not so deadly a poison to me as it is to 

 some farmers that I know. 



In using books, we must not throw aside com- 

 mon sense. If a man does not use common sense 

 and judgment in his business, whether he be a 

 farmer or a mechanic, he cannot long prosper. 

 What young farmers want is the practice and the 

 practical experience of older farmers, wlio com- 

 menced life umler circumstances similar to their 

 own. I know a number of young men of about my 

 own age who have bought farms and run in debt 

 for one-half or two-thirds of the purchase money. 

 Now we want the experience of men who began as ' 

 we are beginning, and who are now out of debt, — 

 having done it all on the farm. c. b. k. 



Berlin, Mass., Dec. 14, 1867. 



Remarks. — There are several reasons why the 

 conductors of agricultural papers find it difficult 

 to obtain the information which "C. B. R." asks 

 for. In the first place, farmers are proverbially 

 modest. They live a comparatively retired life 

 and associate but lit le with their fellow men. Their 

 business or occupation is a personal or private 

 affair. They belong neither to the "trades" nor 

 the "professions ;" much less are they public men. 

 They may like to read about the lawyer, the doc- 

 tor, the merchant, or the mechanic who secures a 

 place in the front rank of his calling. It is all 

 well enough to know how our Franklins, Law- 

 rences, Becchers, Grants, &c , worked their way 

 up ; but who cares to inquire into the means by 

 which an individual farmer paid for the land he 

 owns and the buildings he occupies ? The review 

 of his life maj^ afford some satisfaction to himself. 

 He may remendjer verv* well how slowly the first 

 hundred dollars accumulated ; with what economy 

 of self, wife and familj' the mortgage for the bal- 

 ance of the purchese-money was finallj' lifted, and 

 with what pleasure he has provided for the educa^ 

 tion of his children, — but how would all this look 

 if printed? 



In the second place, few farmers are in the habit 

 of writing down their thoughts. To do this im- 

 plies the performance of two distinct operations — 

 thinking and writing. The dilTiculty of doing two 

 things simultaneously is often illustrated by patting 

 the forehead witli one hand and rnl)bing the chest 

 with the other. In childhood, after much practice, 

 we learn to think and talk at once; but nnvny fail 

 to acquire, cither in j-outh or in miturer life, a 

 facility in writing and thinkmg at the same time 

 at all satisfactory to themselves. Hence many of 



