1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



THE BORER — PRUNING. 



Please to inform me of some method of prevent- 

 ing the apple borer from attacking our apple trees ; 

 can there not be some wash or mixture of some- 

 thing applied to the tree at the proper season to 

 prevent the eggs deposited there from hatching ? 

 I have tried whale oil soap suds, but with little ef- 

 fect for this purpose. Whole orchards are being 

 destroyed here, and also throughout the State to a 

 great degree. I think trees once attacked are ru- 

 ined; unless we can keep them away from the 

 trees, we may give up raising apples, 



I would also say one word about pruning peach 

 and other fruit trees ; which is the best time of the 

 year for this work ? Subscriber. 



.Yew Haven, Ct., 1857. 



Remarks. — Keep the trees perfectly healthy and 

 growing slowly ; that is, naturally ; not forced by 

 too much manure and too high cultivation. Exam- 

 ine them frequently, and you will soon learn where 

 the borer has made a lodgment — then extract him 

 with a wire. 



From the 10th to the 20th of June is the best 

 time to prune apple and peach trees ; the next best 

 time as soon as the leaves have fallen in the au- 

 tumn. March and April, the time when this work 

 is usually done, are the most unseasonable months 

 in the year. 



CURRANT BUSHES. 



Please inform me what is the best remedy for re- 

 moving and keeping worms from currant bushes; 

 also the best method of cultivating this fruit, and 

 oblige, A Subscriber. 



Miiford, Mass., 1857. 



Remarks. — We cannot tell you what will keep 

 borers from currant bushes, having never found a 

 remedy. Keep them in a soil, such as would bring 

 a good crop of corn, and cultivate carefully. Set a 

 few cuttings each year, and you will have no diffi- 

 culty in keeping a supply. 



prices in ILLINOIS. 



Potatoes are selling at $1,25 per bu. ; lard 18 cts. 

 per lb. ; pork 15 cts. ; corn, 50 cts. per bu. ; oats, 

 50 cts. ; wheat, $1,25; butter, 25 cts.: cheese 14 

 cts. at retail. The prices are almost double what 

 they ever were before in this place, I am told. 



Syracuse, III., May, 1857. J. H. Roberts. 



northern clover and southern clover. 



Thousands of pounds of Southern clover seed are 

 sold to the farmers yearly, for Northern seed, re- 

 sulting not only in a great loss to them by paying 

 the difference in price, but a much greater loss in 

 quantity of grass, seed, &c. Cannot the scientific 

 readers of your valuable paper set their ingenuity 

 to work and see if it is not possible for a difference 

 to be found, so that the trade may know, as well as 

 the farmers, for a certainty, what kinds they are 

 purchasing ? Who will give the important infor- 

 mation so that the farmer may not depend upon 

 the trader, or vice versa. No farmer now knows, 

 till his grass matures, whether he has sown the one 



kind or the other. Selling Southern seed for 

 Northern seed is more disastrous in the sequel than 

 theft. Who will move in this matter to set the 

 public on their guard, and prevent so great an im- 

 position ? Charles S. Weld. 

 Olamon, Me., May 9, 1857. 



seed sowers. 



Have you any seed sowers for sowing carrot 

 seeds ? If so, which is the best kind, and what the 

 price ? E. Morse. 



Bethel, Ft., Muy 12, 1857. 



Remarks. — There are several seed sowers now 

 in use, costing from $3 to $15 each. Nourse, Ma- 

 son & Co. have just placed one on sale, invented 

 by Mr. Aaron Howe, of Groton, which is the most 

 simple. 



cabbages and turnips. 



I wish to inquire the cause and remedy of cab- 

 bages and turnips growing stump-rooted ? I have 

 been much troubled the past year with this disease 

 in turnips, and wish to prevent it this season. 



5th Mo., lllh, 1857. A Subscriber's Son. 



A large calf. 



I have a bull, half Durham and half native, one 

 year old the 13th inst., that never sucked a drop 

 of milk from a cow nor eat one bushel of grain, 

 that weighed, without being stuffed on the day he 

 was weighed, 810 lbs. Yours, A. NiCHOLS. 



Bradford, Mass., May 18, 1857. 



A big calf. 



I have a Durham bull calf a little over a year old 

 now, which, when he was 10 months old, weighed 

 1128 lbs. So little Vermont stands a little ahead, 

 as yet. Osgood Evans. 



Middlesex, Vt. 



correction. 

 The Palmer churn is manufactured at Danhy, 

 Vt., instead of Danbury, Vt. 

 Danhy, Vt. Leonard Palmer. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A HORSE POWER. 



A subscriber suggests the use of a one-horse pow- 

 er for cutting hay, straw, &c. I have used one for 

 several years with the best of success. I use "Em- 

 ery's Horse Power," and Daniels and Raymond's 

 Hay Cutter, $50 size, made in Woodstock, Vermont. 

 It is necessary to have the driving pulley of the 

 horse power 6 inches larger in diameter than the 

 one furnished by them for other purposes, in order 

 to give sufficient speed to the cutter. The horse 

 power must be elevated to about the same height 

 as in threshing, and the horse must never be al- 

 lowed to drive the machine more than 15 minutes 

 without stopping ; a rest of five minutes is sufficient 

 after the horse is accustomed to the work; the 

 power and cutter must be kept well oiled, and the 

 cutter sharp. 



I cut up all my corn at the ground, and feed out 

 all the stalks after cutting them with this machine ; 

 mix them with an equal quantity of cut hay, wet 



