420 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



many cases. It is always worth doing, however, 

 on land where plants are known to be affected, in 

 the case of cauliflower or broccoli, which gets it 

 sooner than the cabbage itself. 



^ good deal can be done in ridding cabbage of 

 lice, if seen to in time, and that is directly after 

 they make their first appearance. Tobacco dust 

 \vould prove effectual, only that it cannot be made 

 to lay on the shiny leaf of a large cabbage. Other 

 remedies are, lime dusted over them, and wood 

 ashes. — Country Gent. 



LAMENESS FROM CONTRACTED 

 HEELS. 



A farmer of Niagara county, New York, states 

 Bome important facts in relation to the proper and 

 improper way of Shoeing Horses. He says : 



"About six months since I adopted a plan for 

 the cure of this complaint, which has been so suc- 

 cessful in three cases, that I am disposed to com- 

 municate it. My opinion is, that nine-tenths of 

 the foundered horses are made so by the shoer. 

 For a number of years my horses were shod by 

 one man, who fitted his shoes very carefully — open- 

 ed the heels handsomely, by trimming the frog 

 and the heel of the hoof, and thinned the sole 

 nicely, taking off all appearance of bars — making 

 the shoe nearly straight from the ball of the foot 

 to the heel. First, one horse became lame in one 

 foot, then in the other ; soon another one began 

 to be lame, and in spite of all our experiments, 

 the third one was beginning to show the effects of 

 this shoeing, when I changed the praclice. Now 

 the two latter are perfectly sound, and the first 

 one, that had become so bad that it was painful to 

 drive her even upon a walk, is so much improved 

 that she feeds and acts like a different animal. 

 Now for the plan. 



Pare the foot pretty close ; thin the sole in front 

 of the bars, but cut no more off the bars than that 

 the shoe may not press upon them ; fit the shoe 

 to the shape of the foot, making it come fairly un- 

 der the heel of the hoof and as wide as you can 

 have it and get the nails in. Do not open the 

 ieels — at any rate cut nothing from the frog, 

 •whether ragged or not ; if you choose you may 

 take a very little from the heel of the hoof where 

 it comes in contact with the frog, but the practice 

 is questionable. I think the bars and the frog are 

 intended to keep the heels apart ; therefore, save 

 all the strength you can in the former and do not 

 disqualify the latter from accomplishing its object 

 by putting it away so that it cannot come in con- 

 tact with the heels. Now cultivate the growth of 

 the frog by applying daily either soap and tar 

 boiled together, or soft soap, or urine, which 1 

 think best of all. Take up the foot, clean it out 

 tarefully, and make your application to the sole 

 of the foot, the frog and the heel. Standing in 

 mud of blue clay for a few hours every day, is ex- 

 cellent." 



Two Crops of Peaks in a Year.— S. O. West, 

 of East Brookfield, informs the Boston Journal 

 that he has a pear tree which last year blossomed 

 at the usual time, and the fruit set and grew finely. 

 In July it again blossomed on wood of the same 

 year's growth, the fruit set and both crops ripened. 

 This yeai- the same tree has again blossomed for the 

 second time, with a prospect of raising two crops. 



For ike New England Farmer. 



NATIONAL TRIAL OF REAPERS AND 

 MOWERS. 



Mr. Editor :— The National Trial of Reapers 

 and Mowers, under the direction of the United 

 States Agricultural Society, has been successfully 

 terminated, and as I do not find that the worthy 

 Treasurer has chronicled it for your columns, I will 

 endeavor before leaving to give a brief review of 

 the most prominent features. The details of the 

 Exhibition, the "pomp and circumstance" with 

 which it was inaugurated, the distinguished gentle- 

 men in attendance, with the hospitable entertain- 

 ments of the Syracusians, have been noted down 

 by an array of professional reporters, and, ere this, 

 I suppose, are known over the length and breadth 

 of the land. 



It was, however, something more than a "festi- 

 val." The high price of agricultural labor, and the 

 necessity for securing grain crops without delay 

 when they are ripe, has doubtless convinced every 

 man who has a hundred acres to be mown or cra- 

 dled that he should own a "machine." The ques- 

 tion then naturally arises, "what machine shall 1 

 purchase V There have been trials in abundance, 

 in various sections of the country, where commit- 

 tees have given decisions after seeing two or three 

 machines cut an hour or two each. But it was re- 

 served for the United States Agricultural Society 

 to bring into competition the best machines in the 

 republic,'and to submit them to a thorough and 

 accurate trial, before a jury composed of nineteen 

 practical men, coming from sixteen different 

 States. The conception and carrying out of this 

 excellent idea belongs to Col. Wilder, of Mhom 

 Horace Greeley so truly remarked, (in an editorial 

 written here for the NewYork Tribune,) "He is not 

 in public life, and we believe does not aspire to be — 

 he has by diligence in business acquired a compe- 

 tence, and has attained an age at which most men 

 in comfortable circumstances are inclined to throw 

 aside the cares and labors of active life, and en- 

 joy that repose for which they have honorably 

 struggled so long. Yet Col. Wilder continues to 

 give his time, his means, and his best energies, to 

 the cause of agricultural progress, with the enthu- 

 siasm of youth, and a constancy befitting the prime 

 of life. Long may he live to pursue his career of 

 honorable usefulness, and at its close may a fit 

 successor be found to follow in his footsteps." 



The citizens of this saline city were not back- 

 ward in affording all necessary facilities, and the 

 owners of the good farms in the vicinity tendered 

 the use of fields of grass, rye and wheat, measur- 

 ing in the aggregate over four hundred acres. They 

 also gave bonds for a guarantee fund of fifteen hun- 

 dred dollars, to be assessed for any deficiency of 

 the receipts to meet the expenses. Through the 

 ood management of Col. Wilder, this liberal 

 "backing-up" was not required, as the entrance- 

 fees ($50 a machine,) paid the bills. 



On Monday, the 13th, the competitors were 

 generally on hand, but I regret to be forced to 

 state that many of those at Syracuse, with others 

 who remained at home, had not the courage to 

 face the music." They will of course be report- 

 ed as having "failed to appear," and no one can 

 think much of machines in which the owners have 

 so little confidence as to evade a fair testing of 

 their capabilities. 



