1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



223 



EXTKACTS AND REPLIES. 



EXPOSURE OF OllCHARDS. — COB MEAL. 



I am a reader of both the JJew England Far 

 MER and tlie Maine Farmer. In a recent number 

 of the Maine Farmer there was an article in re- 

 gard to orchards in sheltered places. It was stated 

 that in a choice of two situations, a sheltered one 

 and one open to the west winds, that the choice 

 would be the open unsheltered spot. This was 

 contraiy to the opinion I had formed. I have a 

 young orchard of New York trees that is sheltered 

 by a belt of woodland from all but the south 

 and souih-west winds. Would it be best to cut 

 away the wood so as to open to the west winds ? 

 Will some one who can speak from experience, 

 please give me the benefit of that experience ? 



I do not agree with Rusticus in regard to corn 

 cobs. I have never considered clear cobs worth 

 grinding, but have had some experience in feeding 

 corn on the cob ground, and clear corn meal. I 

 give a decided preference to corn cob meal. I 

 think it is less likely to become solid in the sto- 

 mach. M. 



Paris, Maine, March 4, 1868. 



Remarks. — What is a sheltered, and what an 

 exposed situation ? Half of the controversies and 

 half of the misunderstandings between men arise 

 from not understanding what each other mean by 

 the words they use. There can be no question, 

 we think, that an apple orchard may be too little 

 or too much exposed to winds, and that neither 

 the most bleak nor the most sheltered situation is 

 to be preferred. The late S. W. Cole, a most care- 

 ful and thoughtful writer on pomology, who cul- 

 tivated fruit trees both in Maine and in Massachu- 

 setts, and who was editor of the New England 

 Farmer at the time of his death, has this para- 

 graph in his Frziit Book, page 83 : 



Moderate elevations, or undulating lands, or 

 hills are the most suitable locations. In very low, 

 sheltered situations, there is more exposure to the 

 extremes of heat and cold, and late spring frosts, 

 and early fall freezes ; yet the apple is hardy and 

 will generally succeed in such situations. On 

 very high locations, especially on the tops of 

 mountains and high hills, and some other bleak 

 places, there is too great exposure to winds and 

 pelting storms, which may injure the blossoms, 

 fruit and foliage. 



Mr. Chaunccy Goodrich, late of Burlington, Vt., 

 who published a little work entitled The Northern 

 Fruit Culturist, in speaking of favorable locations 

 for an orchard excepts natural meadow or bottom 

 land, and says, "in the northern part of New 

 England, in situations one thousand feet or more 

 above tide water, places sheltered from cold by 

 hills or natural forests, and having a fair exposure 

 to the sun should be selected when practicable. 

 Among the hills of New England there are many 

 rocky glens of little value for agricultural pur- 

 poses which are best placoe for fruit trees." He 

 also alludes to the fact that on the banks of some 

 of the small rivers emptying into Lake Champlain 

 young trees grow vigorously for a few years, but 

 invariably die before producing fruit, while apples 

 are easily raised on the hills a few miles distant. 

 But he ascribes this to the unfavorable soil of the 

 valleys rather than to the benefit of hill exposure. 



The benefit of straining the ocean wind through a 

 very high lattice garden fence, as practiced by Mr. 

 Tudor, at Nahant, is often cited in favor of protec- 

 tion for fruit trees. ■ 



Withou . a better understanding of the situation 

 of our correspondent's orchard; without any 

 knowledge of the elevation of his farm above the 

 level of the sea, or above the general level of the 

 land in his vicinity, or how bleak would be the 

 situation of his orchard after the removal of his 

 belt of woodland, we should certainly hesitate 

 about advising him to cut it down; and so we 

 think would the writer of the article in the Maine 

 Farmer. 



red or bloody "WATER. 



Though conscious of my inability to write, I 

 cannot forbear an attemi)t to give my reasons 

 against the advice of Mr. Taplin in a late number 

 of the Farmer, to knock an animal in the heaa, 

 and save its hide, that has been troubled with this 

 disorder ten or twelve days. I will confine myself 

 to facts that have come under my own personal 

 observation. When I was a boy, my fiither had 

 an ox taken with the above disease. Some simple 

 remedy being administered without much effect, 

 the ox was fattened and killed; thus more than 

 the hide was saved. A few years later he had a 

 cow taken in the same way, but as she was a very 

 extra milker, he wished to keep her as long as he 

 could, and therefore tried all the remedies he 

 heard of; among which was resin, which appeared 

 to do the most good, but none entirely cured her. 

 She was, however, a good cow for two or three 

 years, and was finally turned into beef. Since that 

 time he has had a number 'of others, similarly 

 troubled, including all, I think, of that cow's 

 calves that were kept to maturity, and with the 

 same result as to remedies and cure, except the 

 last. That one showed the first symptoms in the 

 early part of the winter, when she was with calf. 

 When she calved she was so weak that she could 

 not get up alone for a long time ; but disliking to 

 kill her and having heard that some strong acid, 

 sulphuric, I think, had been used with benefit, it 

 occurred to him that vinegar might Ije good, and 

 he therefore commenced using it, and the result 

 was that in a short time she regained her strength, 

 did well through the summer, was fattened in the 

 fall, and slaughtered and brought ^-SS. 



The bladders of all were examined, and each 

 one found to be lined with what appeared to be 

 seed warts. In the last one, the warts had the ap- 

 pc. ranee of being healed over; while in the others, 

 blood .was oozing from them. 



No one would advise a neighbor to kill an ani- 

 mal that had a wart on its neck or leg that would 

 bleed when chafed, yet friend Taplin's advice is 

 just as unreasonable in my opinion, and I hope it 

 will not be rashly followed by those unacquainted 

 with the nature of this disease. b. b. s. 



Dover, Me., March 4, 1868. 



FATAL DISEASE AMONG THE CALVES. 



Charles C. Kimball, of Webster, has lost five 

 calves this winter, say from eight to twelve 

 months old. The first symptoms of disease no- 

 ticed was their heads being drawn towards one 

 side; then a staggering gait, sometimes falling, 

 and rising only to stagger and fiiU again. There 

 was no loss of appetite, as they would eat as long 

 as there was strength to masticate. Soon they 

 were prostrate, when copious drenching resultccl, 

 and death ensued in a few hours — perhaps six or 

 seven — from the first indications of disease. They 



