1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



471 



nseful in cases of poison from stings, &c., Mr. Cole 

 suggests its use when catfrle are poisoned. Possi- 

 bly well salted cattle may have less appetite for 

 cherry leaves. 



NTJTS ON A GRATE VINE. 



Accomp: nying this please find a piece of a 

 grape vine with a cluster of nuts or something 

 else. There was another like cluster next them 

 on the same vine. I do not know how to account 

 for it, and should be glad to hear from you or 

 some of your readers a solution. We are informed 

 in Scripture that "men do not gather gjapes of 

 thorns, or tigs of thistles ;" but we have in this 

 something that appears to be nuts from ijrapes. 

 Lorenzo Brown. 



West Northfield, Vt., Aug. 7, 1868. 



Remarks. — This probably is simply one of those 

 monstrosities which are occasionally seen in the 

 vegetable kingdom, and which have parallels also 

 in the animal world, but for the production of 

 which naturalists are not able to give a satisfac- 

 tory reason. We generally content ourselves by 

 saying, "they are out of the common order of na- 

 ture" — "unnatural productions," &c. In this case, 

 instead of a bunch of grapes, we have a "bunch' 

 of something that has somewhat the appearance 

 of immature hazel-nuts. On opening the nuts we 

 found that many of the seeds which they contain 

 had been eaten into by a very small yellow mag- 

 got. The eggs from which they hatched may have 

 been laid in the embryo grape and produced the 

 iiTCgular growth, or these worms may have been 

 bred in the abnormal development. We have 

 heard of similar cases before, and hope that some 

 grape grower will give Mr. Brown a more satis- 

 factory explanation of this freak of his vine. 



WHITE SPECKS IN BUTTER. 



Having read in the Farmer of July 4 and 18, 

 different opinions as to the cause of what we call 

 striped butter, all of which I think are erroneous, 

 I beg leave to express my conclusions. I have 

 long been satisfied that there is but one cause and 

 one remedy. If the butter is worked thoroughly 

 after it is salted, it will not be striped. You may 

 n(jt believe tSiis at first, but if you taste of the 

 white spots, you will find they are perfectly fresh. 

 The butter is oftener striped in very warm weather, 

 when the hands, by softening it, prevent its being 

 worked properly. Did any one ever keep the 

 "spotted butter" in a cool place twenty-four hours, 

 then work it till it was waxy, and find any white 

 specks in it .' If so, it is not what we call "striped 

 butter." s. 



Waltham, Mass., July 18, 1868. 



8H0E-B0IL. 



I notice in the Monthly Farmer an inquiry for 

 information as to the best method of treating a 

 shoe boil, or swelling caused by the shoe, or, as 

 some say, the frog of the foot, when the horse lies 

 down. VVith no pretensions to any great experi- 

 ence as a horseman, I feel that I ought to commu- 

 nicate a "method" which proved entirely success- 

 ful with me in a very bad case. 



To reduce the swelling I applied a solution of 

 saltpetre and vinegar. But the real cure is effected 

 by a contrivance which prevents the animal from 

 folding the foot in such a manner as to cause the 

 trouble. This I do as follows: I make a strap 



long enough to pass around the fjjot, close down 

 to the heel of the shoe, with the buckle in front. 

 Through the part of the strap which comes on the 

 frog I drive outwardly, four or six sharp nails, 

 which should stick through at least half an inch. 

 I then stitch another piece of leather over the 

 heads of the nails to keep them firmly in place. 

 With this spur snugly buckled on, the patient will 

 be careful, after the first experiment, to turn the 

 foot out where it belongs when it lies down. Don't 

 raise a hue and cry about the inhumanity of this 

 arrangement for you will never be able to discover 

 a sign of a scratch, nor will the beast lose a night's 

 rest. G. H. Arnold. 



Braintree, Mass., Aug. 10, 1868. 



Remarks. — We are much obliged for the fore- 

 going practical method of curing and preventing 

 shoe-boil, and take pleasure in publishing it for 

 the benefit of horse owners generally. 



SANBORN HILL, N. H. 



What is known as Sanborn Hill was settled by 

 two brothers, Jonathan and Joseph Sanborn, from 

 the town of Hawk, now Danville, and is about 

 one mile square. It contains eleven families. 

 Five of these eleven families made the past sea- 

 son four tons one hundred and fifty-four pounds 

 of maple sugar. As the Sanborns have almost all 

 left the Hill, would it not be well to change the 

 name to Sugar Hill ? I made twelve hundred 

 pounds from two hundred and fifty-four trees. 

 John S. Sanborn. 



West Springfield, N. H., July 21, 1868. 



Remarks. — We think the change would be very 

 appropriate. But as "he who hath builded the 

 house hath more honor than the house," are not 

 they who made the sugar entitled to more credit 

 than the hill on which the trees grow ? What say, 

 then, to changing the names of the people instead 

 of the hill? Mr. Maple sugar, Mrs. Crystalline 

 Syrup, and the young Cakes, might, like all new 

 words be a little awkward at first, as were prob- 

 ably such names as Smith, Joy, Sweet, Black,. 

 Lightfoot, Carpenter, Mason, Fletcher, Woodward, 

 Grey, &c., when first applied to individuals ; but 

 time, which mellows all things, would soon famil- 

 iarize them to our use. 



short-horns in termont. 



Knowing that there is always a desire among the 

 stock men of the different sections of country to 

 know what there is in other localities, by those 

 engaged in the same business, I will give a brief 

 account of some of the herd of Short-horns of D. 

 R. Way, as I saw them recently. His herd is not 

 so large as that kept by him previous to his re- 

 moval from Landgrove to his present farm, in the ' 

 north-eastern part of Rockingham, Vt. At the 

 head of the herd stands the superb bull. Earl of 

 Oxford, bred by J. O. Sheldon, Geneva, N. Y., by 

 Third Lord of Oxford, dam. Third Maid of Ox- 

 ford. Earl of Oxford is two years old; won the 

 first prize at State Fair last year; possesses fine 

 handling qualities, great depth and breadth of 

 brisket, perfect straightness, and great breadth of 

 back ; high head, with a majestic stylish look, 

 rarely seen. He is a fine feeder, has great consti- 

 tution, and possesses altogether, a fixity of type 

 that is sure to make its appearance in his calves. 

 He will turn seventeen hundred pounds, and is- 

 unquestionably one of the first bulls in the New 

 England States, as the stock he leaves will show. 



Third Lord Oxford has four consecutive duchesa 



