1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



259 



not. If you have ever raced after animals 

 galloping away, you know there is precious 

 little fun in it. We met a couple of fellows 

 ■who insisted upon stopping the cattle. The 

 more I called to them to let them go on, the 

 more did they exert themselves to hinder 

 them. The result was that the animals were 

 separated, — the calf first leaping into the 

 woods. The cow came home alone. I tied 

 her afterwards in the woods near whert^ 

 the calf disappeared. She would eat and lie 

 down, — 1 never heard her bellow once after 

 her calf. The nights were now becoming very 

 cold, and 1 felt distressed to think of my poor 

 calf, shivering in the woods. I went to every 

 farm around the woods, which is several miles 

 in extent, and advertised my lo'-s. 



Dec. 27th, I heard that the lost calf was alive 

 in a swamp in Stow. I took a good hunter, 

 living near, and got a sight at him. He was 

 wilder than ever, and hearing our approach, 

 disappeared in the woods. 'We thought he 

 might be so reduced as to be cornered or over- 

 taken ; so we followed tracks, but saw no 

 more calf that day. I had a great deal of ad- 

 vice, — much of it was like that of the sage 

 mouse in the fable "to fasten a bell to the 

 cat!" I did, however, ride to Sudbury and 

 hire a powerful dog, (it was a fresh trial to 

 me, as I have always been down on dogs,) 

 and his master, to join the hunt. 



This ^preparation for his speedy capture 

 gave the calf great life, and he dashed miles 

 away. At last, by hard riding and harder 

 running, we surrounded the calf in a grove. 

 Now for the dog ! Would he be good enough 

 to seize him by the nose ? then each man 

 could grasp a leg, — there were four of us, — 

 panting with excitement ; but no! the extra- 

 ordinary dog kept a rod or two oiF, and barked 

 at him ! Away went the calf so fast and so 

 far that we lost sight and track of him for a 

 time. 



One of the company knew of another dog 

 that would "fetch him," certainly. So we or- 

 ganized another party, and tore coat-s through 

 miles more of woods, with no success. I think 

 less of dogs ! But we had driven the calf from 

 his leeding ground, lie missed the tender 

 sprouts and the long meadow grass that held 

 up through the snow. In about ten days, 

 (Jan. 22,) a company of school boys captured 

 him. He was led a prisoner to a neighboring 

 barn. I found him disposed to jump towards 

 me threateningly, but soon coaxed him into a 

 perfectly docile condition. He was very poor, 

 his eyes were sunken, and his h;iir was long 

 and shaggy. Since getting him home he has 

 picked up rapidly, — is turned out with the 

 otiier cattle daily, and seems the most com- 

 pletely reformed prodigal you ever saw. 



W. D. Brown. 



Concord, Mass., Jan. 29, 18G8. 



Remarks. — We once had a somewhat simi- 

 lar calf chase. From its first appearance, the 



calf we speak of was so remarkably shy and 

 wild that, instead of turning it from the small 

 stable or "calf-pen," in which it was kept, to 

 put upon the cow, as usual with other calves, 

 the cow was turned in to him. One day, on 

 letting out the cow, the calf slipped into the 

 yard. As soon as he found himself in the 

 open air, he appeared to be perfectly intoxi- 

 cated or crazed with his new-found liberty, 

 and bleating and jumping as though a tin-pan 

 were tied to his tail, he cleared dung-heaps 

 and fences, and, bounding across the open 

 fields for some half a mile, entered a piece of 

 woods. The cow called and started after him, 

 but followed no further than the yard fence. 

 She was then driven into the woods and left 

 alone, while one of the party, being a good 

 mimic of soimds, hid himself, and so success- 

 fully imitated the call of a calf that the cow 

 responded and soon met her "prodigal son," 

 and the two were carefully driven home. 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



MANAGEMENT OF MANUBE. 



I have taken the Fakjier for eighteen years, 

 but until the past few weeks have never read 

 another man's paper. The enclosed I hope will 

 put me right again. 



I wish you would tell us whether we shall put 

 our manure on top or plough it under. Is ihere a 

 waste of the strength of manure l>y dropping it in 

 small heaps, as it is taken from the barn ? Where 

 a dozen loads are put in a heap and lioats, do the 

 gas and ammonia escape, provided it does not burn 

 or tirefang ? It seems to me this is a sulyect th;it 

 is very imperfectly understood. Please give us 

 your ideas andol)lige A Subscriber. 



Hanover Centre, N. H., April 13, 1868. 



Remarks. — When m.anure is hauled out in the 

 winter, it should be overhauled early in the spring, 

 before it heats, and thrown into a compact heap. 

 .Undoubtedly much valuable material is lost long 

 before manure is burned or fircfanged. Many ex- 

 periments have been made within a few years with 

 respect to the depth to which manure should be 

 covered. The general conclusion ■we believe is 

 that it should be covered from three to tive inches. 

 This is best done with a cultivator or light plough. 



HOME-MADE SUPERPHOSPHATE. 



I read with cons-iderable interest, in your last 

 issue, an article by Dr. Jas. R. Nichols, on the 

 iiianufactiu^e of hume-made superphosphate. I 

 have made what I have required for my own use 

 for the last ten or twelve years, and have experi- 

 enced the most satistVietory results, l)ut my pro- 

 cess has been so entirely different from that of Dr. 

 Nichols, that I venture to olfer it, as I thinly that 

 I obtain nearly the same results, with vastly less 

 lalior. 



I use oil barrels to dissolve my bones in, which 

 can be bought at most any woolen mill for about a 

 dollar each, and by selecting good ones with imn 

 ho6ps, they will last live or six years. I break the 



