512 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



Sopsovine, grafted by Mr. Phelp8 ; and there is no 

 pear tree in the same orchard, and none nearer 

 than the other side of the street. We have other 

 specimens at the store of Mr. Pike, where any one 

 can see tbem if they wish. There are several of 

 the same sort on two trees. Now, Mr. Editors, 

 can you or some of your learned contributors ex- 

 plain the philosophy of this uncommon occurrence. 

 1 have one specimen where there are three in one 

 cluster, two apples and one pear. Mr. Phelps has 

 tasted those of the pear shape, and says that the 

 pear is pear flavor and not apple. 



P. S. Since writing the above I have cut one of 

 the pears, and it cuts, looks, and tastes more like 

 pear than apple. Z. E. Woodbuky. 



Groton, N. U., Aug. 31, 1868. 



Remarks. — We have also received from O. H. 

 Vaughan, Esq., proprietor oi the Laconia Demo- 

 crat, specimens similar to those above described, 

 which grew on a limb of a Sops of Wine tree, of one 

 of Mr. Vaughan's neighbors, in Laconia, N. H. 

 There were pear trees within a few feet of the 

 apple tree, but not near enough for the limbs to 

 intermingle. 



Wishing to obtain the opinion of pomologists as 

 to the probability of the apple blossom being im- 

 pregnated by bees or otherwise from the pear trees 

 in the neighborhood, we submitted the specimens 

 to the fruit committee of the Massachusetts Hor- 

 ticultural society, and they were placed on exhi- 

 bition at their rooms in Horticultural Hall, where 

 they attracted considerable attention. Col. Mar- 

 shall P. Wilder, Charles M. Hovey and other ex- 

 perienced pomologists, regarded it as a mere freak 

 of the apple, — a sport neither very common nor 

 very rare, — and not the result of impregnation, 

 which they regard as impossible. Keith's Botani- 

 cal Lexicon was referred to for the assertion that 

 "no one has ever yet succeeded in fertilizing the 

 apple with the pollen of the pear, or the gooseberry 

 with the pollen of the currant," which opinion is 

 also confirmed by Wilson's Cyclopedia. Mr. J. 

 Breck, however, was disposed to admit the possi- 

 bility of impregnation. The Horticultural com- 

 mittee do not agree with our correspondent as to 

 the pear taste of the pyriform apple, as they 

 thought it had none of the peculiar flavor of the 

 pear. • 



A BLixD cow. 



I have a cow that has become blind. I know of 

 no cause for it unless it may have been caused by 

 lightning. The cow went out apparently all right 

 in the morning and came home blind at night. 

 She has every indication of perfect health, save 

 the loss of her sight. Can I do anything for her ? 



D. M. Hodge. 



Grafton, X. H., Aug. 28, 1868. 



Remakks.— If the blindness is caused by light- 

 ning, we should expect that the nerves of sight 

 would gradually recover their natural functions. 

 The causes generally assigned for occasional blind- 

 ness in cattle, such as congestion, tumors or water 

 on the brain, aftbrd little hope for successful treat- 

 ment. An English writer, Mr. Percival, says 

 blindness may proceed from some disease of the 

 retina, or from some abnormal condition of the op- 



tic nerve or brain ; or it may prove the last link of 

 a scries of morbid phenomena, originating in some 

 remote part of the body, operating sympathetical- 

 ly on the nervous system, and through it, extend- 

 ing to the eye. If there is no obvious improve- 

 ment within a few weeks, the butcher will aid you 

 to dispose of the cow. 



erECKLED AND STRIPED BUTTER. 



In the Farmer of August 22, 1 find an article on 

 White Specks in Butter. It is asked, "Did any 

 one ever keep spotted butter in a cool place twenty- 

 four hours, then work it till it was waxy, and find 

 any white specks in it? Now if there are white 

 specks in butter they were there when churned, 

 and no amount of working will entirely free the 

 butter from them. I, for one, do not wish you or 

 your many readers to think that we dairy women, 

 of twelve or fourteen years' experience, do not 

 know the cause of and remedy for striped butter. 

 Butter should never be worked with the hands. 

 The salt should be thoroughly worked in with a 

 ladle, and after stfinding twenty-four hours in a 

 cool place worked with a butter-worker until free 

 from buttermilk, and then packed, using a pestle 

 to pound it down, and a ladle to smooth the top of 

 the tub. If this is done, there will be no striped 

 butter, though at times there may be white specks 

 in it, the cause of which we dairy women are not 

 agreed upon. Sue. 



RoyaUon, Vt., Sept. 14, 1868. 



a horse bleeding at the nose. 



I have a five-year-old horse that occasionally 

 bleeds at the nose. The blood will flow from the 

 nostrils almost as freely as from a stuck pig, until 

 the horse falls to the ground from weakness, and 

 the flow of blood will cease, apparently because it 

 is all out of his body. After resting a while 

 he will get up and gradually gain strength, until 

 from exercise or otherwise, another bleeding spell 

 occurs. What shall I do for him ? Jack. 



East Jag, Me., Sept. 1, 1868. 



Remarks. — Give the horse a teaspoonful of oil 

 of vitriol in a pail of water three times a day. It 

 is possible that there is a polypus growing in the 

 nostril, which is the source of the bleeding. 



BEST breeds of SHEEP FOR COMBING WOOL. 



What variety or breed of sheep is best and most 

 profitalile for combing wool ? Is the best breed for 

 this purpose good to raise lambs from for market ? 

 One Interested. 



North Boscawen, N. IT., Sept. 19, 1868. 



Remarks. — The English sheep of the Lincoln- 

 shire, Leicestershire and Cotswold races, such as 

 are bred in Canada, and such as are being rapidly 

 introduced into various parts of this country, pos- 

 sess in perfection the necessary qualities for pro- 

 ducing combing wool, which Mr. Hayes, secretary 

 of the National Wool Growers' Association of 

 Manufacturers, says should "be long in staple — 

 from four to seven inches in length — comparative- 

 ly coarse, having few spiral curls and serraturcs, 

 and possessing a distinct lustre." Most of these 

 long wool breeds are also celebrated for their ex- 

 cellence in the production of "lamb" and mutton. 

 Mr. Spooner, an English writer, in his work on 

 sheep, seems to give the preference to the Cots- 

 wold, which he says is "a large breed of sheep, 



