268 



NEW ENGIAND FARIVIER. 



Juke 



so as to sink the head, for the purpose of hav- 

 ing the heads of the nails hold up the buts of the 

 next row of shingles, to allow the circulation of 

 air. Dr. Silas Brown, late of "Wilmington, Mass., 

 prepared sap shingles by throwing them into a 

 large kettle of white wash, made as above, and 

 kept boiling, where they remained a few moments 

 and were then thrown aside to dry. A roof thus 

 covered was good twenty-five years afterwards, 

 and he remarked "it may do for years to come." 

 Sometimes shingles are soaked in a tub or trough 

 large enough to admit one end of a bunch up to 

 the band, and after soaking two hours or so are 

 turned end for end. But they are better soaked 

 when dry and loose. We have heard complaint 

 of nails rusting in shingles that had been dipped 

 in clear salt brine. 



CRinBING HORSES. 



I believe all veterinary surgeons agree that after 

 a horse has become a confirmed cribber there is no 

 known cure for him ; and all agree that the first 

 cause is a disordered stomach. Therefore the best 

 remedy for a horse just commencing to crib is to 

 regulate the stomach Ijy a change of food or other- 

 wise. Of a valu;il)le pair of young horses that we 

 once owned, first one and then the other com- 

 menced cribbing. The first one began to crib on 

 the pole, while in harness. We tried various plans ; 

 among the rest, ruljbing hard soap on the carriage 

 pole and on the edge of the crib. That seemed to 

 answer for a short time until the soap wore off. 

 At last we changed their feed throughout ; giving 

 salt marsh hay instead of English hay ; oats in- 

 stead of Indian meal ; also kept by them in one 

 corner of the crib plenty of fresh loam, — it was 

 mid-winter— and plenty of clean salt. They soon 

 left off cribbing, and' although we owned them 

 some six months longer, they never offered to crib 

 again. In the above cases there was no alteration 

 made in the crib or manger. By taking away the 

 crib, and obliging the horse to eat from the floor, 

 be is unable to crib in the stable, but will show 

 his propensity if he is allowed to reach a post or 

 top of a fence out of doors. A strap fastened 

 tight around the neck will prevent the horse crib- 

 bing while that is on, but docs not cure. z. 



Reading, Mass., Feb. 8, 1868. 



TREES GIRDLED BY MICE. 



Will some one of the numerous correspondents 

 of the Fakmkr please inform me, through its col- 

 umns, how to restore apple trees that have been 

 previously gnawed l)y the mice. 



A Reader of the Farmer. 



Windsor, Vt., April-8, 1868. 



Remarks. — As the sap ascends in the sap-wood, 

 and descends in the inner bark, the girdled tree 

 may start well in the spring, but unless some 

 means are provided for the descent of the sap the 

 tree will die. To save girdled trees, Mr. Cole, in 

 his Fruit Book, gives the following directions: 

 Take large scions, long enough to reach over the 

 girdling or decay, scarf off each end on the side 

 to go next to the tree, like the lower end of the 

 scion in side gi-afting, and insert each end in the 

 same way, under the bark, the upper end being 

 the reverse of side grafting, and like inarching. 

 In large trees 12 or 15 scions arc inserted. We 

 have seen trees 8 or 10 inches through that were 



girdled, or otherwise dead in the bark, saved in 

 this manner. 



mendenhall's improved self-acting hand 



LOOM. 



About two years ago we published, in our column 

 of "Extracts and Replies," portions of two or three 

 letters from farmers' families asking for informa- 

 tion in relation to the truth of certain rumors that 

 had reached them of a newly invented hand-loom. 



said to be a great improvement over the rude im- 

 plement with which our grandmothers wove their 

 webs which "became garments" and "covered 

 themselves" and their families "with their works," 

 and an improvement, we presume, over the looms 

 of old that suggested to thoughtful Job the remark 

 that his "days were swifter than a weaver's shut- 

 tle." 



Having recently seen one of these looms, and 

 with our o^sTi hands set all its cunning machinery 

 in full operation, we arc ready to verify the claim 

 of the proprietors, that it is so simple that a child 

 can understand and operate it. We were also 

 pleased with the perfection and apparent durabili- 

 ty of its construction, and do not think it can be 

 liable to get out of order. Occupying a space of 

 less than five feet square, it is, in fact, a pocket fac- 

 tory, turning out on the same warp, Jeans, Satinets, 

 Tweed, Linsey, Blanket, Twill, Double-plain, Fenc- 

 ing Twills, Ribbed Goods, Balmoral Skirting, and 

 by a recent improvement, rag-carpets may bo 

 woven with great case and expedition, and with a 

 fly shuttle. 



The advantages of such a machine to fanners 

 who have a good family of boys and girls, are so 

 obvious that any enumeration must weaken the 

 force of those which suggest themselves to every 

 thoughtful parent and housekeeper. 



farmers' wives and AMERICAN MOTHERS. 



Those sensible articles on Domestic Economy 

 induce mc to express a few of my ideas. It seems 

 to Ijc a prevailing notion among'young people, es- 

 pecially females, that farming is a low business, 

 inconsistent alike with beauty and accomplish- 



