NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



473 



mower at a round price, is much cheaper in the 

 end, than an indifferent one as a gift. 

 JVew York, Aug. 22, 1857, A. B. Allen. 



PAINT FOR SAP TUBS. 



Plumbago (black lead) paint, if pure, will prove 

 all your correspondent, "G. W. S.," wants. Mix 

 the first coat with turpentine, same as other paint, 

 second and third coat, nothing but good linseed oil 

 and a dryer — asphaltum varnish is thebest dryer. 

 It is also the cheapest and most durable paint that 

 can be used. Its nominal price is higher than other 

 paint, but its bulk is twice as great, being so much 

 lighter, and from its nature, it will cover with a 

 thicker and more durable coat, three times as much 

 space. I speak knowingly, from having formerly 

 manufactured the article, but had to give it up on 

 account of its price and color, and from inability to 

 put it properly before the public. If thoroughly 

 dry, acid has no effect on it unless strong enough 

 to burn out the oil. 



DAMP WALLS. 



It is also an effectual cure for the damp walls 

 complained of by another correspondent. One 

 good coat, mixed with linseed oil and a dryer, will 

 effect his purpos'e. D. C. 



WHAT WILL KILL COMMON WILLOWS? 



Can you, or any of the readers of the Farmer, 

 give some plan to kill the common willow ? I have 

 about an acre of intervale covered with them ; 

 they have withstood every effort to suppress them 

 and are now doing finely. 



Please give a plan that will kill them, if possible 

 and oblige a Young Farmer. 



East Poultney, Vt, 1857. 



CHINESE SUGAR CANE. 



Mr. C. Goodrich, of Burlington, Vt., in writing 

 Nourse, Mason & Co., of whom he purchased seed 

 for gratuitous distribution, says : — 



"I started some under glass, and transplanted at 

 two different times, — also planted some as late as 

 May loth ; the first is now some eight feet high, 

 and beginning to show the flowers, or as they say 

 of broom corn, brush, and, I believe, will ripen seed, 



From an experiment with a few stalks last year, 

 and its appearance this, I have full confidence of its 

 acclimation in New England, and believe syrup 

 equal to Porto Rico will be made from it at an ex 

 pense of less than one shilling per gallon. 



The expense of starting plants under glass is tri- 

 fling, and nothing is easier transplanted, or more 

 tenacious of life." 



Will you ])lease inform me through your valua- 

 ble paper, the latest and best treatise on agricuL 

 ture, and where it can be had ? o. H. 



JVashua, Jlug., 1857. 



Remarks. — For a single book we should redom 

 mend "The Farmer's and Planter's Encyclopedia." 

 Price $4,00. May be had at this office. 



Windsor County (Vt.) Agricultural So 

 CIETT. — We have received a pamphlet of sixteen 

 pages, giving the "Rules and Regulations," the 

 iiames of officers andthe -list of premiums of the 



Agricultural Society of this county. Its twelfth 

 annual Fair is to be held at Woodstock, September 

 29th and 30th, and October 1st. We also learn 

 that our esteemed friend, S. Fletcher, Esq., of 

 Winchester, Mass., is to deliver the Address on the 

 second day of the Fair. Mr. F. was born and 

 brought up on a farm in that county ; but as he 

 left there in his boyhood, we presume that some of 

 the readers of the Farmer in that section will know 

 better what to expect on the occasion, from the i«- 

 timattion we venture to give, that he is the writer of 

 the articles which appeared in our columns a year 

 or two since with the signature " A City Mechan- 

 ic," than they would from the simple announce- 

 ment of his name. Mr. Fletcher is an ardent lover 

 of the country and country life, an observing, prac- 

 tical man, sound in his views, and a terse and 

 perspicuous writer. We believe the good people 

 of Windsor county have never listened to a better 

 address than they will hear from Mr. Fletcher. 



How TO Rii) Animals and Plants of Ver- 

 min. — The Jlgricultor publishes a letter from M. 

 Raspail, giving an account of a plan for destroying 

 vermin on animals, and also trees and plants. The 

 process he recommends is to make a solution of 

 aloes, (one gramme of that gum to a little water,) 

 and by means of this solution, which will speedily, 

 he says, destroy all the vermin on them, and effec- 

 tually prevent others approaching. In order to 

 clean sheep and animals with long hair, they must 

 be either bathed with this solution, or be well 

 washed in it. The writer mentions several trials 

 which he had made of the solution with the mosi 

 complete success. 



Grain for Sheep. — The best shepherds are gen- 

 erally in the habit of giving sheep extra attentions, 

 in the shape of grain or roots, at this season of the 

 year. If corn is fed, one gill per day is about the 

 right quantity; but just previous to lambing, oats 

 are recommended as least heating. Half a pint 

 will be none too much, and if feeding " mutton " 

 sheep, for the purpose of raising lambs for the ear- 

 ly market, the quantity may be increased after a 

 few weeks. Roots are an excellent addition or sub- 

 stitute, and of course, good hay should be supplied. 



Relieving Choked Cattle. — I will give you a 

 simple, yet very certain mode of getting a potato 

 or apple out of a creature's throat. People fre- 

 quently resort to harsh remedies, and sometimes 

 lose a valuable cow or ox thereby. My plan is to 

 fire a gun under the animal, when the animal makes 

 such a desperate spring that the wind from the 

 stomach throws out the obstruction in the throat at 

 once. — JVorthwestern Fanner. 



{Cf» Mr. Neeming, of Orwell, Vt., sold "Addison," 

 a Black Hawk colt of six years, to Messrs. Pierce 

 & Penn, of Belville, 111., for five thousand dol- 

 lars, on Saturday. The Burlington Free Press 

 says that he trots a three minute gait with ease, 

 though not considered fast by Black Hawk breed- 



