358 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



■without any injury to the bagas. Without any ex- 

 tra pains, I raised last year, on a very little over 

 one-fourth of an acre, one hundred and eleven 

 bushels bagas and three and one-fourth bushels of 

 beans, besides some of each kind used in the fam- 

 ily. If any farmer is disposed to try the above 

 method he may feel pretty sure he will get some- 

 thing for his labor. A Young Faemer. 

 J\'orth Charlesiown, May 25, 1857. 



MALADY AMONG COWS. 



About three months since I lost a valuable cow, 

 under circumstances which give no information as 

 to the cause. I gave her at night her usual allow- 

 ance of hay and grain, which consisted of oil meal 

 and cob meal. This she ate and appeared perfect- 

 ly well. I then left the barn for thirty minutes or 

 more ; when I returned, she was apparently near 

 dead ; she died in about fifteen minutes. Nothing 

 further of this was observed, until one morning 

 lateh^ I found another cow dead in her stanchions 

 No disease was discovered, but there was a marked 

 deficiency in her quantity of milk the night previous, 

 The hay and grain of these cows were difiierent. If 

 you or your correspondents can give any information 

 as to this, I shall feel greatly obliged. c. 



Wayland, May 23, 1857. 



Remarks. — We have heard of another case 

 where a person lost five or six cows, and has not 

 been able to discover any cause for the loss. 



SHADE TREES AROUND DWELLINGS. 



Your article on this subject, in the number for 

 May 30, is worthy of consideration, inasmuch as 

 shade trees too closely planted around dwellings 

 must not only be injurious to the health of the in- 

 habitants, but also to the building itself. It is a 

 noticeable fact that when trees are too thickly 

 planted so as to exclude sunshine and air, the out- 

 er walls will become mouldy, moss-grown, and 

 consequently brought into a decaying condition. 

 Such an atmosphere must, of course, become mias- 

 matic and unhealthy. 



Nevertheless, these objections should prevent no 

 one from planting trees around their dwellings; 

 for where this neglect is indulged, equally serious 

 disadvantages will arise. I'rees have a tendency to 

 purify llie atmosphere, by absorbing from it vapors, 

 which, if taken irto the lungs, would certainly gen- 

 erate disease, and if the writers alluded to in that 

 article have known sickness produced from the too 

 damp atmosphere occasioned by trees around dwel- 

 lings, we have known miasmatic localities, where 

 sickness was common, rendered healthy by planting 

 out trees. The world needs no caution to neglect 

 this matter, while the common tendency is to let 

 the buildings of all kinds stand fully exposed to the 

 glare of sunshine and the fury of storais, either of 

 which in too great power, o])er;ites to the injury of 

 the dwellings and the discomfort of their inhabi- 

 tants. 



_ As a matter of healthfulness, comfort and protec- 

 tion, then, we advocate the planting of trees around 

 buildings, not only dwellings, but buildings in gen- 

 eral, and until some new argument can be brought 

 to capsize the results of our experience and obser- 

 vation, we shall continue to do so with a hearty 

 love to all mankind and good will to our neighbors, 

 only cautioning them not to Itring trees of a large! 



size too near, which, judging of their future by 

 their size at transplanting, we are liable to do.— 

 They should be sufficiently distant to allow a free 

 circulation of air between them and the build- 

 ings, and allow the sun's rays to fall upon a 

 small portion of each day. Otherwise a damp, sour 

 and unhealthy atmosphere may be the result. Let 

 them be planted with these precautions, and let the 

 leaves which fall be removed so as not to decay 

 around the front door, and we have little fears of 

 any evil that may result from their location. 

 June 3, 1857. w. B. 



CANKER WORMS. 



The best way to destroy them is to tie strips of 

 paper six or eight inches wide, round the body 

 of the tree, then with a pole strike the limbs, which 

 will cause them to leave the tree, and suspend 

 themselves by their web ; then with a pole strike 

 them to the ground ; as soon as this is done, put 

 tar upon the paper and your work is done. If the 

 worms should make a bridge over the tar, then you 

 must replenish the tar. The time to do the above 

 work is when the worms are small, beforp they do 

 any damage to the tree, or as soon as they are large 

 enough to be knocked off" the tree, which may be 

 learned by close observation. The best time to 

 knock them off the tree is from nine o'clock in the 

 morning to three in the afternoon, in a fair day, 

 when the sun shines ; the warmer the better. 



JVorthville, May 16, 1857. Uncle Philip. 



A GOOD PAINT. 



In answer to "N. P.," of South Londonderrj', 

 Vermont, "What paint is best ?" here is a receipt 

 for making paint which I have used and found a 

 durable, cheap and economical white house paint. 

 Skim milk, two quarts ; fresh slaked lime, eight 

 ounces ; linseed oil, six ounces ; white Burgundy 

 pitch, two ounces ; Spanish white, three pounds ; 

 the lime to be slaked in water, exposed to the air, 

 mixed in about one-fourth of the milk ; the oil, in 

 which the pitch is previously dissolved, to be add- 

 ed a httle at a time ; then the rest of the milk and 

 afterwards the Spanish white ; this quantity is suf- 

 ficient for twent5-seven square yards, two coats. 



PEARL- GREY HOUSE-PAINT. 



If a particle of blue be added to the preceding 

 composition, or if this blue be combined with a 

 slight portion of black, a silver or pearl-grey will 

 be obtained. J. M. B. 



Charlestoivn, Mass., 1857. 



A QUERE FOR DR. ALCOTT. 

 I have been much interested in reading the dis- 

 cussions in your valuable paper, and would like to 

 ask your correspondent, "W. A. Alcott," what are 

 his reasons fcr wanting his corn, wheat, &'c., 

 ground ? It would seem by his statements that he 

 would go by nature as much as possible. Did na- 

 ture intend him to have his food ground, when she 

 gave him a mill in his head to do his own grind- 

 ing with ? And yet he says, "he prefers to have his 

 meal fine, if it can be made so without heating so 

 as to take away or pliange a part of its nutritive 

 richness !" I agree with him in wanting meal 

 instead ofjoitr, but I would like to know_ why he 

 would have his grain ground? Is it habit? 



QUERE. 



