14G 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



March 



saying that it was made by Mrs. Julia Cha- 

 PIN, wife of F. Chapin, Esq., of Newport, 

 N. li., and that it was sent as a token of her 

 appreciation of the New England Farmer. 

 Mrs. Chapin has made over ninety cheeses 

 this season, and our travelling agent, E. P. 

 Frost, who enjoyed the hospitality of this 

 family during the late snow storm, and speaks 

 of their cheese room as a model of neatness, 

 desires us to include in our acknowledgment 

 of her gift, an expression of his gratitude for 

 the kindness extended to him. 



Before Mrs. Chapin allows her cheese tub 

 to follow the spinning wheel from the family 

 circle to the factory, may we ask on behalf of 

 those of us who eat her curd, and those who 

 read this notice, for an account of her process 

 of manufacture. 



EXTRACTS AND EEPLIES. 



BEONZE TURKEYS. 



I take my pen to get information in regard to 

 the bronze turkey. Wiicrc did they oriirinate, 

 and wIk re ran they be bought ? I would like the 

 full breed. I have been tuld that the hens weigh 

 twenty-five pounds and gobblers forty. Try and 

 give liie infonrii'.tion ahout them. I would write 

 you something about my county, but I am very 

 busy imprDving my farm. I am now building the 

 third barn, and after two more seasons I will s^how 

 mv friends around me whether taking four agri- 

 cultural ))apcrs pays or not. We have a county 

 fair. It is lield at Getty^burg, on the battle ground. 

 We have twenty acres enclosed. There is too 

 much attention paid to horte rating, and if that 

 is not stopped our fairs will go down. I am very 

 much pleased with your paper and would like my 

 ncighljors to take it, but they think it costs too 

 much. CuAKm-.s W. Giuest. 



York Sulphur Spri7iffs, Pa., \2thmo. 30, 1867. 



Remakks. — As to the origin of the Bronze tur- 

 keys, we find ihe following statement, Iiy Mr. C. 

 N. Bement : "A few years ago. Rev. R. II. Avery, 

 of Wampsville, N. Y., exhibited a cross of the 

 wild and tame turkey, which were beyond compe- 

 tition; the largest weighed thirty-three pounds 

 and several others thirty pounds each. Their 

 plumage almost vied with the peacock in bril- 

 liancy. These are supposed to be the origin of 

 the now famous lironzc turkeys." Mr. Bement 

 al.-o says that turkeys of a bronze black, resemb- 

 ling as closely as possible the original wild stoek, 

 arc the finest and strongest breeds, and are reared 

 more easily aud fatten more rapidly, than the 

 white or pied and coi)pcr-colorcd varieties. 



We have consulted an extensive poultry breeder, 

 who has rai-ed the Bronze turkeys, some of which 

 weighed as high as twenty-four pounds, but he did 

 not like the variety ; does not keep them now, and 

 would not recom i end tliem to others. 



The following inquiry was recently put to the 

 New York Fanners' Club, by Mr. J. C. Sherfeldt, 



of Chatham Four Corners, N. Y. "Where are 

 those huge turkeys, that weigh forty pounds 

 raised ? I want to get some." To which Mr. 

 Lawton, a member of the club, replied, "They 

 were raised in Brooklyn, and fed on shot, just be- 

 fore 'the death.' " 



We cannot inform our correspondent who has 

 them for sale, but presume that a line addressed 

 to Mr. Bement, New- York, or A.M. Halsted, Rye, 

 N. Y., will secure the desired information, and 

 thus save the dealers in this description of goods 

 the expense of advertising. 



We are encouraged in our efforts to make a good 

 paper by friend Griest's good opinion of the Far- 

 mer, and hope after he has finished his third 

 "Pennsj Ivauia barn" he will find time to give 

 northern farmers some description of them, and of 

 some other of his farming operations. 



SUGAR MAKING. 



The season is near at hand when many of the 

 readers of the Farmer will be occupied in mak- 

 ing maple sugar. Success to them. I have had 

 my daj% and night too, at this business. I always 

 liked the work, and the products of the work ; but 

 can now only tell the boys how to do it. Much 

 they already know, Init some things they do not 

 know. I will therefore give such directions only 

 as I regard needful. 



Spouts. — Metalic spouts are extensively adver- 

 tised; but I object to them, because they let the 

 air in too freely ; which checks the flow of sap in 

 a few days, rendering it necessary to ream out the 

 holes. Spouts should not be less than eight 

 inches long, and should not be shaved ott' on the 

 top. They may be made of sumach, elder or 

 white ash, and liurned out with a wire; or they 

 may be made of some other wood, and bored the 

 whole length and then burned, and the end turned 

 in a lathe. 



Tapping. — The bit used should never be over 

 half an inch in size. The rough bark should 

 never be hewed off, as this injures the tree. To 

 make the spout fit well, ream carefully with a 

 common taper bit, but not so as to cut the outer 

 grain of wood. Never set more than two tubs to 

 a tree, or more than one spout to a tub ; tap as low 

 down as you can find a good spot ; and bore into 

 the tree lis far as the wood is white and sound. 

 If you have good trees, and follow these direc- 

 tions, you will need some tubs that will hold three 

 paill'uls each, or you will sometimes need to gather 

 twice a day. Piiini-.uas Field. 



East Cliarlcmont, Mass., Jan. 15, 18G8. 



Remarks. — Our correspondent's objection to 

 metallic spouts cannot, we think, apply to the 

 "Livcrniore Spout," a cut of which was recently 

 given in the Farmer. 



ALL HAIL, YE FARMER OF YE OLDEX TIME. 



From the above heading yoil will perhaps be re- 

 minded of an article in a recent issue of the Far- 

 MEK, entitled, "Practice, vs. Pen and Ink." It 

 calls to mind a farmer of a hundred j'cars ago. 

 As my ex|ierience covers scarcely a qnurtcrof that 

 period, pel haps modesty w^ould dictate sikiu'C on 

 my part, but still as I have had some experience 

 in" raising hay and farm truck generally, peihaps 

 a few remarks will do no harm. 



Under the head of "grass" he says, "never mow 

 your grass until the seed begins to shell, and the 

 salmon color appears." I have cut hay both early 

 and late ; but give me p«rly cut hay or none at all. 



