174 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



appertains to horses, but as a man of letters. 

 If he CITS in recommending the remedy in ques- 

 tion. Dr. "Woodger also errs. 



It does not follow that, because 15 grains of tar- 

 tarized antimony would kill a man, that the same 

 amount would kill a horse ! Some things that are 

 poison to men are said to be entirely innocuous 

 when swallowed by dogs. We are glad to notice 

 that what we suggest ourselves, and what we pre- 

 sent as the opinion of others, is observed and con- 

 sidered. Under such a course all parties will be 

 quite likely to get at the truth. Black antimony is a 

 common remedy for various diseases of horses, and 

 is the crude article, remaining much as it is when 

 taken from the ground. 



Still it is well to be cautious in the use of drugs 

 which are not well understood, and we close this 

 article with the judicious remark of Dr. Dadd, who 

 says, "It was customary in former times to give 

 powerful vermifuges for the expulsion of these 

 parasites ; but the most rational method is to im- 

 part tqne to the digestive functions and organs in 

 the use of tonics, stimulants, and alteratives." 



FOUR VARIETIES OF APPLES IN ONE. 



In reply to the inquiry of Z. A. Gilbert as to how 

 the sweet and sour apples were produced that 

 were raised by Mr. Allen of Greene, Me., I would 

 say that some forty or tifty years ago there lived 

 in my native town, Townshend, Vt., a Mr. T. Sum- 

 ner, who experimented somewhat in grafting fruit, 

 and succeeded in producing a variety similar to 

 the kind named in the Farmer of Dec. 7. It was 

 produced by taking four varieties of scions, quar- 

 tering each scion, then taking one-quarter from 

 each variety and putting the four quarters together 

 to form one scion. This bound together and set 

 in the limb produced four varieties in one apple. 



Westminster, Vt., Dec. 9. 1867. N. F. 



Remarks. — The fact of there being occasionally 

 different flavors in different parts of an apple is ad- 

 mitted by pomologists. But that it can be pro- 

 duced by the means described by our correspon- 

 dent is not generally believed. Some years smce 

 Solon Robinson, agricultural editor of the New 

 York Tribune, offered a reward of $100 for proof 

 that any one had succeeded in producing sweet 

 and sour apples, by uniting buds from sweet and 

 sour trees, but we understand he has not as yet 

 paid over the money to any claimant. 



SALMON AND SHAD FOR CONNECTICUT RIVER. 



The experiment which has been undertaken by 

 the New Hampshire Commissioners of River Fisher- 

 ies, of stocking the Connecticut river with salmon, 

 has so far succeeded well. Of the impregnated 

 eggs deposited at the Cold Spring hatching works, 

 at Charle.-town, N. H., over ninety-nine per cent, 

 have hatched, and are apparently healthy. 



It is tiie intention of the Commissioners to rear 

 them artificially, till they arc ready to go to the 

 sea, which will be a year from next spring. In 

 the fall (1869,) they will return, seeking the sources 

 of the river, and will then weigh, it is estimated, 

 from 3i to 10 pounds, which weight they will soon 

 double and quadruple. It is hoped before that 

 time, tiiat all olistractions at the mills on the Con- 

 necticut river will be removed, and that nothing 



will prevent the salmon from ascending the river 

 as high as they like. 



If the present plans are carried out in regard to 

 stocking this river, a million or more of young 

 salmon will be put in every year, and of such a 

 size that they can safely go to the sea and return ; 

 and judging from data obtained by experiments 

 tried in English waters, we are authorized to sup- 

 pose that, by this means, the productive wealth of 

 the Connecticut river will be increased millions of 

 dollars annually. 



Great credit is due in this matter to Dr. Fletcher 

 of Concord, who, out of several that made the ex- 

 periment, was the only one who succeeded in pro- 

 curing salmon spawn for the New England rivers. 

 It should be known also, that the merit of this 

 undertaking of obtaining salmon eggs for these 

 rivers, is due to the New Hampshire Commission, 

 ers, acting independently, and not to the New 

 England Commissioners, generally, as has been 

 before stated. 



Should the promises of the present be only one- 

 half fulfilled, the time will come before long when 

 salmon will be a common article of food, and to- 

 gether with the vast quantity of shad, which are 

 expected in a few years from our rivers, will very 

 perceptibly reduce the cost of living in New Eng- 

 land, and enable the poor man to have every day 

 on his table, food that has long ranked with us 

 among expensive luxuries. Salmo. 



Charlestown, N. H., Jan. 26, 1868. 



TIGHT BARNS. 



One of your correspondents is in favor of tight 

 barns for keeping hay, but he says nothing about 

 keeping stock in the same barn with his hay. In 

 some parts of this State, there are many barns 

 where hay is kept and no stock in them; the hay 

 being sold and the land that produced it kept in good 

 heart by applications of fish manure, ashes, guano, 

 poudrette, or some other material, without the aid 

 of barnyard manure. Tight barns in such cases 

 doubtless answer very well, but my experience 

 goes to prove that where cattle are kept in tight 

 barns without ventilation, it is impossible to keep 

 hay in good condition in the winter season. The 

 steam from the breath and exhalations of the cattle 

 will gather in moistui-e on the hay and cause it to 

 mould, and in fact will so effect the hay before it 

 moulds that cattle, and especially horses, will turn 

 up their noses at it. Barns should be tight enough 

 to keep cattle comfortably warm and still have 

 proper ventilation. z. 



Heading, Mass., Jan. 6, 1868. 



SUMMER AND WINTER FEED OF COWS. 



Many farmers, I think, might find it for their 

 interest to pastui-e their cows in winter, and to feed 

 them with hay in summer! I will explain. Sev- 

 eral years ago, having turned a newly purchased 

 cow into my yard, the other cows seemed to look 

 upon her as an intruder, not entitled to equal priv- 

 ileges with themselves. Indeed, so great was their 

 antipathy, that it was unsafe to keep them co.> 

 fincd in the yard together. This being the case, 

 when I turned them out of the barn, I let them 

 range where they cho:?e in the pasture. Having 

 pursued this course one winter from necessity, ana 

 having made up my mind that they were all the 

 better for it in the spring, I have pursued the same 

 course ever since, from choice. This would indeed 

 be inconvenient if one had not a lane leading to 

 the pasture. But many farmers have such a lane, 

 and many more ought to have one. If not used 

 in winter, it would be found to be very convenient 

 in summer. From this experiment and from more 

 general observation, I have become convinced that 

 a sudden change from hay to grass, or from grass 

 to hay is iqjurious to cows. It is also obvious 



