1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARINIER. 



84g 



having any feed except what they obtained from 

 their dam, weighed respectively 13^, 15^ and 16 

 pounds, — in all 45 pounds. A. J. Morse. 



Fayeiteville, Vt., June, 1868. 



AQRICULTUKAIi ITEMS. 



— "One year's seeding 



Makes seven years' weeding." 



— A coiTespondent of the Country Gentleman 

 says the Germans are rapidly settling in Illinois, 

 and he predicts that in twenty years they will have 

 full possession of the central part of that State. 



— A correspondent of the Country Gentleman 

 obtained an abundant crop of plums from some 

 trees in which portions of the oflfal of a pig were 

 hung, while the fruit on trees in a henyard were 

 all destroyed. 



— In England and France, dried fern leaves are 

 used very extensively for packing fresh fruit, 

 grapes especially ; they seeming to possess to an 

 unusual degree the property of preserving vegeta- 

 ble and even animal substances for a long time. 



— It is said that a handful of oil meal in a hill 

 of corn, will occupy the cut worms, till the kernel 

 is decayed, and no longer liable to be injured by 

 them. As a manure it is worth about as much as 

 guano, so that where cut worms abound, it will 

 pay to use it freely. 



— Grafton and Coos counties, N. H., have at 

 least forty starch nnll>>, twenty mills in each county. 

 Each of these mills turns out fifty tons of prime 

 starch annually, worth $150 per ton. Five hun- 

 dred thousand bushels of potatoes are annually 

 manufactured into 20U0 tons of starch, which is 

 sold for the round sum of #300,000. 



— A coiTespondent of the Valley Farmer saw 

 iron ox-bows at use at the navy-yard in Philadel- 

 phia, found the teamsters approved of them, went 

 home and for eight years used none but iron. He 

 used a three-fourths inch rod of round iron with 

 screws on the ends with a nut three by two inches. 

 With a one-and-a-half inch hole required by wood 

 bows, the yoke is much more weakened than by 

 those of only three-fourths inch for iron. 



— A correspondent of the Western Rural says 

 that when he perceives his horses inclined to rub 

 their manes and tails he feeds them a little oil- 

 meal, say from one to two quarts a day for a week 

 or ten days, and at the same time makes a good 

 brine, as warm as he can bear his hand in it, and 

 washes the scaly substances out of the mane and 

 tail, and mixes about a tablespoonful of lard to a 

 teaspoonful of powder, and rubs it in well about 

 the roots of the mane and tail. 



— The Ohio Farmer objects to plugging maple 

 trees as recommended by our correspondent "W. 

 V- H.," and says : By leaving the hole open the 

 sap of the tree forms a cambium or jelly on the 

 wound which becomes a new bark and under this 

 prot«ction new wood is formed and in a healthy, 

 tree the hole gradually closes up ; whereas, if a 



wooden plug is driven in the sap keeps the plug 

 moist, no bark can form on the lips of the wound 

 and the hole is more likely to rot than to heal up. 



— A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer says 

 that the past winter has been unusually severe on 

 grape vines in Iowa. It is estimated that fully one- 

 half of the vines in the county of Benton, are 

 dead. He ascribes this to shallow planting, by 

 which the buds start prematurely in the spring 

 and are destroyed by frost. His own vines, with 

 the crown about one foot below the surface, have 

 escaped injury. He is not sure that this plan 

 would answer in other climates and in heavier soils. 



— C. L. Hoyt, President of the Potter County, 

 Pa., Agricultural Society, and probably a pretty 

 sharp man generally, writes to the Rural New 

 Yorker that he will warrant the following to be an 

 infallible cure for hoof rot in any flock of sheep in 

 America : 



Perseverance 500 fts. 



Jack knife 100 " 



Blue vitriol (pulverized) 3 " 



Spirits turpentine K pint. 



Apply the latter to keep away the flies. 



— Mr. Vanmeter, of Salem, New Jersey, says, 

 "Most of our farms along the Delaware river and 

 inland creeks, have meadows. Some of these 

 meadows are classed as number one far grazing 

 purposes. The portions called inferior are noted 

 for producing herdsgrass. The cattle will not eat 

 the hay ; it is thrown after threshing into the barn 

 yard for manure ; but the seed is in great demand, 

 worth at the. present time #1.50 per bushel. Some 

 formers the past season have received from $1000 

 to $3000 for the seed, according to the number of 

 acres in meadow." Here is proof of the import- 

 ance of cutting herdsgrass early for hay. If al- 

 lowed to ripen its seed, it is nearly worthless for 

 hay. 



— :A German horticulturit^t recommends the fol- 

 lowing method to cover a steep bank with grass. 

 For each square rod to be planted, take half a 

 pound of lawn grass seed, and mix it intimately 

 and thoroughly with about six cubic feet of good 

 dry garden earth and loam. This is placed in a 

 tub, and to it liquid manure, diluted with about 

 two-thirds of water, is added, and well stirred in, 

 so as to bring the whole to the consistency of mor- 

 tar. The slope is to be cleaned off and made per- 

 fectly smooth, and then well watered, after which 

 the paste just mentioned is to be applied with a 

 trowel, and made as even and thin as possible. 

 Should it crack by exposure to the air, it is to be 

 again watered and smoothed up, day by day, until 

 the grass makes its appearance, which will be in 

 eight to fourteen days, and the whole declivity will 

 soon be covered by a close carpet of green. 



A SELF-REGUI.ATING WiNDMILL, Called the 



"SanchoPanza," was recently exhibited at New 

 rork, which attracted considerable attention. 



