1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



109 



of rainy weather, and was the first month of ex- 

 cessive rains during the season. The rains com- 

 menced on the third, and on the ninth Otter Creek 

 overflowed its banks, covering nearly the whole ex- 

 tent of interval meadows, A vast amount of hay 

 v,-as swept away by the flood, and the standing 

 grass much damaged, which had not all been cut 

 on account of the rainy weather which continued 

 through the fall. 



The cold weather of the last of May, with a 

 temperature of thirty-nine degrees, together with 

 cold rains and east -winds, probably had some effect 

 on the destruction of fruits, for the fruit nearly ail 

 disappeared during the first stages of its growth. 



The rot, that mysterious disease of the potato, 

 has prevailed to a considerable extent,' perhaps not 

 as malignant as in some form^er years. The ef- 

 fect of climate on the disease is as much unknown 

 as the cause of the disease, with the exception of 

 warmth and humidity, which we know increases 

 the rot. 



July was the hottest month in the year. The 

 thermometer for the last eight days ranged from 

 eighty-seven to ninety-one degrees at 2 P. M., and 

 continued so till nearly night. The lowest tem- 

 perature of the last eight days at morning or night, 

 was seventy-three degrees, while the mean temper- 

 ature of the whole month was about seventy-one 

 degrees, with no excess of humidity. 



The amount of rain which fell during the sum- 

 mer in inches and hundreths is as follows : The 

 last ten days of May 1.42, June 1.91, July 2.64, 

 August the enormous amount of 9.65, September 

 3.31, which during four months and ten days 

 amounted to 18.94 inches. D. Bucklaxd. 



Brandon, Vt., 1856. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



DISEASE AMONG HORSES. 



My Dear Sir : — A disease somewhat resemb- 

 ling that prevailing in Boston and New York, and 

 described by Dr. Dadd, in the monthly JV. E. 

 Farmer for February, 1856, lately broke out in a 

 stable of nine horses in this neigiiborhood, and so 

 rapid were its ravages, that four of the nine died 

 in fortj'-eight hours from its first discovery. 



An experienced farrier was called the second 

 morning after the disease broke out, who recom- 

 mended as a preventive a plug of tobacco nailed 

 to the manger before each horse, he stating that 

 he had known it a successful preventive Avhen the 

 black tongue was prevalent among horses. 



The recommendation was carried out, and a week 

 from its adoption, the time we write, there has been 

 no new case of the disease. 



We make the disclosure with the impression that 

 if the tobacco is a preventive it should be known. 

 If it is not, in all cases, it is a cheap and simple 

 operation ; try it, and it can do no harm. 



Richmond, Jan., 1857. Vv''. Bacon. 



Fine Cranberries.— .Vrs. E. B. Macintosh, of 



Xeedham, has left M'ilh us a sample of cranberries 

 grown by her on high laud, which are large, juicy, 

 and high-colored. She made wine of cranberries 

 and barberries last fall, samples of which — not yet 

 tasted by us — are probably on her shelves. Mrs. Mac- 

 intosh has our hearty thanks for the excellent ex- 



ample she gives the women of Massachusetts, in 

 her efl'orts to promote the interests of agriculture. 



For the New England Farther. 



CHINESE SUGAR CANE. 



Mr. Farmer : — I believe you have published 

 comiiiunications from all the New England States, 

 except Vermont, on this new article ; and, just to 

 show that we are not behind others in making ex- 

 periments, I send you our experience. 



I received the seed last spring from Gur attentive 

 Commissioner of Patents. Supposing it of no val- 

 ue in this high latitude, I paid no attention to it. 

 But the "wimmin," to make up a variety, planted 

 some on a border near shrubbery in ^lay. A row 

 eight feet long came up as "thick as carrots." — 

 When about eighteen inches high, I pulled up most 

 of it, leaving ten plants only. It grew luxuriantly 

 ten and eleven feet high, but I paid no further at- 

 tention to it, unless to laugh about the fine broom 

 corn which I supposed it might be. 



About the 1st of Sept., one of our learned col- 

 lege professors recognized it as Chinese sugar cane ; 

 and, having spent two winters on a sugar estate in 

 Florida, he at once determined to make "von 

 grande experiment," and for more than a month, 

 watched it daily. On his return^ from church, on a 

 Sunday early in October, as Paul Pry would say, he 

 "just popped in" and said, "there will be a frost to- 

 night, you must cut up that sugar cane." His or- 

 ders were obeyed, though we had no frost for more 

 than a week after. 



Our learned Professor was now much troubled 

 to devise a plan by which he could express the 

 juice; he would have built a sugar mill, but for the 

 reason that his ten cane-stalks, with their side suck- 

 ers would dry before comi^leted. So he examined 

 my printing, book-binder's and lithographic ])ressep, 

 but, finding nothing to answer his purpose, decided 

 to take a small sugar crusher used by grocers. This 

 he had removed to my back kitchen, washed and 

 put in working order. I went to my house about 

 ten o'clock in the evening, and found him in a vio- 

 lent perspiration, without coat or cravat, with a 

 stout servant boy running the cane stalks through 

 the crusher. He extracted two and a half quarts 

 of juice, which he took to his house, from which he 

 made a pint of as light, ckar, thick and fine syrup 

 as I ever saw from any source. 



fie did not succeed in graining it, but says that 

 in the Sandwich Islands, (where he has a nephew,) 

 they made syrup many years, and were unable to 

 make sugar; that now they make sugar without 

 difficulty ; and he fully believes that another sea- 

 son, by some chemical process, he will grain it. — 

 He made accurate calculations, and came to the 

 conclusion that, at the present wholesale prices of 

 molasses, the yearly product of an acre would 

 amount to FIFTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS! On the 

 whole, the professor was perfectly satisfied. He 

 says New England will soon be a large exporter, 

 instead of importer of molasses and sugar. 



C. Goodrich. 



Burlington, Vt., January, 1857. 



JVote. — The above is the professor's opinion ; my 

 own is, that it may be acclimated, and grown in all 

 parts of New England, and that it is of more value 

 than any other article introduced during the pres- 

 ent century. 



