514 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



Nov. 



entirely lost their sight, and it is accounted for by 

 the fact tlmt during the warm weather they would 

 stand in the water, and that the reflectioa of the 

 sun on the water affected their sight to such an ex- 

 tent as to cause it to be ultimately lost. 



— The late warm weather, rain and moist atmos- 

 phere, is said to have had a dis^astrous effect on 

 the portion of hops not previously picked. Prices, 

 however, remain unchanged, — 15 to 25c. per lb. 



Grapes are said to do best when planted among 

 rocks, because the best of the sun is retained and 

 radiated in the night, giving an equable tempera- 

 ture. 



— The Illinois Industrial University commences 

 its first academic year with about eighty scholars, 

 nearly the same number as attended the prelimi- 

 nary term last spring. There is a full corps of 

 eflScient professors and teachers on duty. 



— The Freshmen Class in Dartmouth College 

 numbers about eighty. Five have joined the 

 upper classes, nineteen the scientific department, 

 and the agricultural department, just instituted, 

 opens with a class of ten or twelve. 



— To keep dust from cream, take rattans and 

 make hoops a little larger than the pans — stretch 

 thin muslin across, thin enough to admit some air, 

 but not flies and mites. Cover the milk with these 

 as soon as it is cool, and they will prove of great 

 value. 



— Wool is so cheap and old sheep so plentiful 

 on the River Plate, South America, that many 

 sheep are being "tried out" for grease. As they 

 can be bought at from twenty-five cents to a dollar 

 per head, it makes a very good business at the 

 present time, yielding something like 100 per cent, 

 profit. 



— The Countrij Gentleman discusses at length the 

 importance of simple farm machinery, giving in- 

 stances where complex machinery, although work- 

 ing well when in good order, failed to come into 

 general use simply on account of its cumbersome 

 character. 



— The dry weather at the West has affected the 

 hop crop adversely in some sections, especially in 

 Wisconsin, inducing the belief that the yield in 

 that State will not exceed that of last year. The 

 aspects in Michigan are more favorable, while in 

 this and the Eastern States a large yield is antici- 

 pated. The picking season, it is supposed, will be 

 two weeks earlier this year than it was the last. 



— A new cheese hoop has been introduced among 

 the dairymen in tlie Es'stcrn section of New York. 

 It is made of metal and has a malleable iron clasp 

 or lock which, when opened with a key, lets the 

 hoop free from clieese and follower at once. These 

 hoops greatly facilitate the labor of handling 

 cheese, a point of considerable consequence in a 

 large dairy. 



— In one of the milk dairies near London, Eng- 

 land, the cows in full milk each get 13 pounds of 



hay, 76 pounds of mangolds, two pounds of meal 

 and two pounds of cake per day. Distillery wash 

 is thought to be the most productive of milk of any 

 food, but its use is not common. Distillers' grain 

 is found to be much superior to brewers' grain. 

 In an examination of over 60 cow houses, only one 

 was found where the cow food was steamed or 

 cooked, and in that the cooking was confined to 

 the manufacture of a gruel to be thrown over un- 

 cooked food. 



— The Ohio Farmer says the most rapid potato 

 digging he ever witnessed was done with a com- 

 mon barn shovel. The shovel was driven into the 

 earth beside and under the hill, and a portion 

 lifted out, and by a quick jerk scattered over the 

 surface, entirely separating soil and vegetables, 

 leaving the potatoes clean. Generally two appli- 

 cations of the shovel finished the work upon a 

 hill. 



— A correspondent of the Country Gentleman is 

 led to ask, does wheat bran diminish the quantity 

 of milk when fed to cows ? by the following facts : 

 on the first of September, he commenced feeding 

 two favorite cows on wheat bran, six weeks after 

 their calves, (then five weeks old,) had been taken 

 from them; and although the pasture has daily 

 increased in richness since the removal of the 

 calves, the flow of milk from these cows has 

 greatly decreased in quantity. 



— A plant thrives better where the air is "foul" 

 with fertility. Malarious districts are often — and 

 may we not say generally ? — the richest. After- 

 wards, when cultivation has progressed, they are 

 less fruitful, while the air is more healthy. It 

 was in the carboniferous period that vegetation 

 was the most luxuriant. The air, then, was highly 

 charged with carbon, and with other matter dele- 

 terious to animal life, but favorable to vegetation. 



— The Prairie Farmer speaks of the wide spread 

 failure of the potato crop this year, from the 

 amount of rain in the spring, the scarcity of it 

 during the time when it was most needed for the 

 growth of the potato, together with the ravages of 

 insects heretofore unknown, or known only in 

 small quantities, and urges greater care in the 

 growth of this important vegetable. It recom- 

 mends the ploughing of turf land this fall, which 

 will only require to be gone over with the cultiva- 

 tor next spring to be ready for planting. 



— The Countrrj Gentleman publishes a lengthy 

 article from its correspondent "F.," who occasion- 

 ally contributes to our own columns, in explana- 

 tion of the fact that a good crop of wheat no longer 

 results in a large surplus and low prices. Among 

 the reasons assigned are insect ravages, a greater 

 variety of products, the growth of towns and 

 cities, facilities of transportation, making a market 

 for hay, vegetables, &c., decrease of production in 

 old States, and an annual increase of population 

 that requires an increase of production equal to 

 five or six millions of bushels per year, &c. 



