148 



NEW ENGLAOT) FARMER. 



March 



butter qualities as with most cows that give a less 

 quantity. "VVe have never seen working oxen of 

 the Dutch breed, but cannot conceive why tbcy 

 should not be excellent workers. . 



DISEASED FOWLS. 



I wish to inquire through the Farmer, the 

 name and treatuient of a disease I have in my 

 flock of fowls. 1 have never seen anything like it 

 until this winter. The first symptoms are, a 

 drooping of the fowl, dis^inclination to move or to 

 eat; after a few days, their legs seem unable to 

 support them ; it is "with great difficulty they can 

 move; their breathing is loud and difficult; they 

 continue growing worse, when, at the expiration 

 of a week or ten'days they die. My hens always 

 have all they will ear of corn and oats, orts from 

 the table, a few scraps, shells, lime, &c., with 

 pure water. x. 



Rochester, Jan., 1868. 



Remauks.— The disease you describe resembles 

 what is called the roup, the prominent symptoms 

 of which are difficult and noisy breathing, and 

 gaping. Tbe head swells and is feverish. The 

 eyes swell, and sometimes the fowl becomes en- 

 tirely blind. The appetite fails, the crop feels 

 hard, and the feathers lose the glossy appearance 

 wh'ch they have in health. 



Dr. Bennett gives the following as a remedy, in 

 his work on poultry. Take finely pulverized, fresh 

 burnt charcoal, and new yeast, of each three parts ; 

 flour of sulphur, two parts ; wheat flour, one part ; 

 water, quantity sufficient; mix well, and make 

 into pills of the size of a hazel nut, and give one 

 three times a day. Bathe the eyes and nostrils 

 with warm milk and water, or soap suds. This 

 disease is probably caused by taking cold. The 

 bird should be kept warm and away from other 

 fowls. 



CORN COBS. 



In the weekly Farmer of Nov. 23, 1867, and 

 Monthly, page 39, 1868, under the heading, "The 

 Value of Corn Cotis," a writer deduces from 

 statistics of the "State Reform School," published 

 in Monthly Farmer, 1867, page .542, the conclusion 

 that one iiound of coUs fed to a cow produces in- 

 jury to the auioniit of 10 cents and 4 mills. This 

 is incrediDle. If figures will not lie, I think that 

 figures in this case, or those who used them, must 

 have made some mistake. Some cows will grccdi- 

 Iv eat large qu;intities of cobs unground. Others 

 will not eat ili'in in this state, probably because 

 they find it diffii'iilt to chew them. Biit I never 

 knew cows to refuse to cat cobs after they were 

 ground. If, therefore, cows are injured by eating 

 cobs, or, eveu if thcv are not benefited by it, their 

 instincts, in this instance, must be unaccountably 

 at fault. E. B. 



Dcrnj, N. H., Jan., 1868. 



PEACH RAISING IN SOITHERN OHIO. 



I thought I would give you a description of 

 peach growimr in our vicinity. Our hills and 

 mountiiins are from 100 to 1.50 feet above the level 

 of the Ohio river. The soil of these hills facing 

 cast and south-east is a deep san<ly loam. During 

 the la«t six years some of this land has been culti- 

 vated by orcliardists, and it lias proved favoral)le 

 to tlie peacli, and a large number of select peach 

 trees have l)een set out and much fruit has been 



shipped. Specimens ranging from 10 to 15 ounces 

 have been produced. One man's profit on 15 acres 

 this past season, amounted to three thousand two 

 hundred dollars. Ira A. M'Conxell. 



Stouts, Adams Co., O., Jan. 10, 1868. 



CURE FOR LAUREL POISONING. 



Having used eggs myself and knowing of others 

 who have used them with uniform success, even 

 after the sheep or laml) was bloated so badly that 

 it could scarcely breathe, I can confidently recom- 

 mend them. The head of the animal should be 

 raised up high and an entire egg, — all but the 

 shell, — forced down its throat. I have known of 

 very salt grease being administered in the same 

 way, and have heard of a small quantity of shot 

 boing given with good results. A Subscriber. 



Strafford Springs, Vt., Jan. 6, 1868. 



CRANBERRY CULTURE. 



Can you oi- some one of your Reply writers, in 

 form me of the latest and best work on the culti- 

 vation of cranberries, aside from that of B. East- 

 wood, of 18-56 ? Is good cranberry land, newly 

 and well set with cranberries, at a cost of !^400 

 per acre, when completed, a good investment. 



E. Douglas, Mass., 1868. s. N. J. 



Remarks. — We are not aware that there is any 

 book devoted entirely to the culture of cranberries, 

 besides that of Eastwood. 



The sum you mention, $400, is a pretty large 

 investment in a single acre of land, but where the 

 location is entirely favorable to the crop with re- 

 gard to frost, flowage, &c., the investment may be 

 an economical one. Some of our readers, if so 

 disposed, can give you valuable information on 

 the subject. 



NORWAY OATS. 



In reply to the inquiry, on page 73 of the Month- 

 ly Fanner, about Norway Oats, I submit my ex- 

 perience as follows : — Seeing the sample exhibited 

 at the State Fair at Nashua, N. H., in 1866, I paid 

 $1 for a pint, and received a package the following 

 winter, which I found to be a small, green, inferior 

 looking oat ; but I sowed them on a good spot of 

 intervale land which had been planted with pota- 

 toes the previous year, a few days after sowing my 

 other oats, in May. They grewa very little higher 

 than my common oats, which were on much poor- 

 er land; init when tilling they mildewed, antl not 

 considering them worth thresiiing 1 put them with 

 the straw to cut for feed. My oilier oats yielded 

 a very fair crop, weighing 32 pounds. 



J. A. Holmes. 



Fisherville, N. H., Jan., 1868. 



THE SICK OX. 



The inquiry in a late number of the Farmer in 

 relation to a sick ox, reminded me of some expe- 

 rience I once had with a cow. For a relaxed state 

 other bowels, which had existed for two or three 

 months, I gave lier tansy tea, after trying various 

 other remedies, l)y pouring it down her throat. 

 This was a troublesome job, and although it ap- 

 peared to afford some relief, I became discouraged 

 and concluded to kill her. I employed a man to 

 kill her who had some knowledge of cattle. On 

 examination he pronounced her disease to be 

 "overflow of the gall," and we thought it possible 

 that a patient continuation of the tansy tea, might 

 have ctrccted a cure. e. e. r. 



South Troy, Vt., Jan., 1868. 



