1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



511 



lose one half of them. The work should be com- 

 menced farther from the stem than is usual. Find 

 the extremity of a root, then trace it to the tree by 

 digging under it, and saving all the smallest 

 roots. When they are loosened, cover them with 

 soil again to keep them from sun and wind. 



The hole in which the tree is to be set should 

 be amply large, and the soil loosened to the depth 

 of a foot or 18 inches. The soil upon which the 

 roots are spread out ought to be a good loam, and 

 if mixed with a fine compost manure, so much 

 the better. The drainage should be such that 

 water will not remain long in the holes in which 

 the trees are set. 



The plan you suggest about excavating imme- 

 diately is an excellent one. You can then trans- 

 plant at any time after the leaves have fallen — per- 

 haps November would be better than October. 



TILE FOR COVEKING ROOFS. 



1. Are Tile used anywhere at the present time 

 for covering roofs ? 



2 Of what dimensions are they usually made, 

 and in what manner are they affixed to the roof? 



3. What is the cost of them at the manufactory ? 



4. Are they burned like bricks, or baked like 

 pottery ware ? A. N. Townsend. 



New Ipswich, N. H., 1868. 



Remarks. — We are always glad to notice in- 

 quiries going on tending to find some material for 

 covering roofs which will be more permanent, 

 and less costly in the beginning, than our perisha- 

 ble shingles. Anciently, clay was moulded into 

 curious forms, in various parts of Europe, and 

 used for covering roofs. The pieces were called 

 "tile," were baked or dried in the sun, and were 

 fastened to the roof with pins of oak. Many of 

 the old churches, cathedrals, and other buildings 

 were covered with them, and some are remaining 

 to this day. We have never known them used in 

 this country for covering roofs. They would 

 probably Ije more expensive than the slate which 

 is so abundant in our country, and which is so 

 well adapted to the uses for which it is employed. 

 Tile are also exceedingly heavy and necessitate 

 large and expensive timbers to support them. 



more than half a peck of salt to a barrel of cu- 

 cumbers. The salt is added, with a little cold wa- 

 ter, as the cucumbers are put into the cask. Thus 

 salted they will keep a long time. Before putting 

 them into vinegar they are freshened and "greened" 

 by being kept several days in water, changed once 

 a day, when they are put into vinegar. 



PICKLING CUCVMEERS. 



My method for preserving cucumbers for pickles, 

 which I think preferable to any that has been given 

 in the Farmeu in reply to the inquiry of your 

 Subscriber in Shelburne, is as follows : For a bar- 

 rel of cucumbers, say of thirty or thirty-two gal- 

 lons, make a brine of five quarts of salt and five 

 ounces of pulveiizcd alum, with three or four pails 

 of water. After preparing your cucumbers, put 

 them in, adoing water if required so as to keep 

 them under the brine with a follower on top of the 

 pickles. Tnis method will be found to Ije much 

 the best. It saves salt as well as labor in freshen- 

 ing or preparing them for vinegar, and it; preserves 

 them fresh and sound ; better, I think, than it does 

 to saturate them with salt. Lorenzo J. Day. 



Bristol, Vt., ^ug. 22, 1868. 



Remarks — One of the West Cambridge market 

 gardeners informs us that in preserving cucumbers 

 for market pickles he uses less than a peck, but 



CANCER IN A COW's EYE. 



I asked a few weeks since what I should do for 

 a cow that I feared had a cancer in her eye. You 

 expressed a hope that it was not cancerous and 

 wished fur a more particular statement of the case. 

 Sometime last January I noticed that the eye was 

 constantly weeping. The discharge continued and 

 increased until the eye has entirely disappeared, 

 leaving the whole socket an unsightly sore. 



East Jay, Me., Sept. 1, 1868. Jack. 



Remarks. — We now think it probable that the 

 disease in the cow's eye is cancerous, in which 

 case remedies will do little good. A strong solu- 

 tion of alum applied to the ulcerated surface may 

 be useful. Powdered bloodroot and iodide of po- 

 tassium are recommended by Dr. Dadd. The fol- 

 lowing fatal case was reported by an English Ve- 

 terinarian, and shows that in animals, as well as 

 in human subjects, the cancer is a most malignant 

 disease, and one over which we have but little con- 

 trol. He says : — "On examination we perceived a 

 cauliflower excrescence growing from the mem- 

 brana nictitans, [the inside "winker"] about the 

 size of a strawberry, from which issued an ichor- 

 ous discharge that excoriated the adjacent parts, 

 and which bled on the slightest touch. We at 

 once decided upon taking it out, and this was ac- 

 cordingly done, the parts being subsequently 

 touched with argent, nitrat. After this, the cow 

 appeared to go on well for about twelve months, 

 without any re-appearance of the cancerous growth. 

 At the conclusion of that time, we were again sent 

 for, and found the cornea had become of a bottle- 

 green color, and that the sight of the eye was com- 

 pletely gone. About three months after this, a 

 fungoid growth sprouted from the cornea, which, 

 increased in size very rapidly, but was repressed 

 by the application of a little bufnt alum. Shortly 

 after this, the eye receded considerably into the 

 socket, and eventually it sloughed entirely awny. 

 Some weeks afterwards, she became partially 

 paralyzed, and was unable to masticate. The 

 lower lip was pendulous ; the ear hung down 

 by the side of the neck on the affected side; diffi- 

 culty of deglutition was experienced, and the saliva 

 flowed from the mouth, mingled with the partially 

 masticated food. Attenuation of the paralyzed 

 muscles quickly followed, and much general ema- 

 ciation of the frame. The animal was then killed, 

 to avoid a more lingering and painful death." 



PEAR SHAPED APPLES. 



I send you a curiosity worth noticing, — a pear 

 and apple growing on the same twig. They grew 

 in the orchard of N. O; Phelps of this town. The 

 tree on which they grew is an apple tree of the 



