182 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



from the barn. Such fields can frequently be top- 

 dressed or irrigated to the best advantage, and the 

 interests of the owners of such should prompt 

 them to experiment in one or the other of the 

 above named ways. 



NOTES ON BACK NUMBERS, 



Eds. Genesee Farmer : — In looking over a vol- 

 ume of the Connecticut Homestead, for 1855, 1 find 

 an article accredited to your valuable paper upon 



Miloh Cows and Calves — It which it is stated 

 that " the first milk should be drawn out of the 

 bag before the calf sucks." The writer's name is 

 not given, hence I am unable to learn its author — 

 that is, whether it is editorial or not; but, as far 

 as the proposition is concerned at present, it will 

 make but little difference. Still, when an article 

 is taken from one agricultural paper and published 

 in another, it would be satisfactory to have the 

 writer's name, when given, appear with the se- 

 lected article. But to the point. Is it according 

 to nature's law to deprive the calf of the first 

 drawn milk or beastlings? Is not this milk just 

 what the calf wants to clean out and set into 

 healthy action the whole alimentary canal? Says 

 Youatt, after advising that the calf should remain 

 with its mother till the milk is suitable for use, 

 " The farmer acts wrongly when he throws away, 

 as he is too much in the habit of doing, the beast- 

 lings, or first milk of the cow," because it is that 

 " which nature has given an aperient property " to 

 carry off" "the black and glutinous foBces" which 

 always accumulate in the intestines before partu- 

 rition. 



Sowing Clover Seed. — Your remarks upon this, 

 in the April number, are to the point, and ought to 

 be read and re-read by a large proportion of far- 

 mers, till its teachings are as familiar as "house- 

 hold words," so that the echo of their own steps 

 would sound in their ears as though the walls were 

 chanting, Sow more clover, sow more clover ! 



In respect to the amount per acre, I think you 

 have set it rather too low, though it grows so 

 bountifully under many unfavorable circumstances. 

 Eight to ten lbs. used to be the usual amount per 

 acre here, but farmers now put in fifteen to twenty 

 lbs. per acre as frequently as they used to ten ; and 

 besidas, those who raise it and seed as they think 

 land ought to be, quite generally put in twenty to 

 thirty lbs with four to eight quarts of timothy per 

 acre, when it is intended to raise seed a year or 

 two and then to be cut for hay. I have known 

 twenty-five lbs. seeding to give two hundred to 

 three hundred lbs. of seed, when half the seed, on 

 just the same quality of land, side by side, other 

 things being equal, would not give half the amount, 

 and this repeatedly. It is found to hold out longer 

 and to yield a fine nutritious hay where twenty lbs. 

 and more is put on with timothy. The timothy 

 will not show itself much the first, and perhaps 

 the second, year, it is true, when the clover does 

 well, but after this the two will be about equal. It 

 is an object to seed down land, where it is not suit- 

 able for tilling, for durability, and this is accom- 

 plished by sowing bountifully of several kinds of 

 seed. 



Potatoes for Horses. — "Are raw postatoes 

 wholesome food for an idle horse ?" is given out 



for farmers to answer if they please. " Inquirn 

 and Answers " is a useful feature, growing more i 

 repute. They are generally perused next to th 

 war news, it seems, and well it is so. 



For an occasional feed, say once or twiceaweel 

 when a horse is fed on dry feed, they are a goo 

 change, but for daily use for an idle or workin 

 horse they have not been found so desirable a fee 

 for the horse as for neat stock or sheep. Were 

 feeding coarse, dry feed to a horse, I should preft 

 a few potatoes to all corn, at one-fourth the price 

 but if the feed was to be good English hay, 

 should take the corn ; and farther, I should, as 

 general thing, rather have the same value in oat 

 than in corn. Let the farmers and those who hav 

 used horses to hard labor and tried different kind 

 of feed, speak forth upon thts question, because i 

 is one of importance to a large class of laborers. 



Lice on Cattle. — What kind of kerosene oi 

 they have elsewhere, I know not, but such as i 

 made in Maine will kill lice on cattle sure, and jus 

 as sure will it take the hair and outer skin (epider 

 mis) off as it is put on sufficiently to kill tha lice 

 I saw it recommended a year and a half ago, an< 

 tried it on cows and calves very carefully, fearin) 

 its effects, and have seen it tried this past winter 

 and wherever it was tried it made clean work 

 The hair grows out in due time. Why this differ 

 ence in experience with this oil ? o. w. true. 



Rural Home, near Phillips, Maine. 



Receipts foe Hard Soap. — In reply the inquin 

 of D. E. Davis, in the may number of the Genese 

 Former, I send you the following receipts for niak 

 ing hard soap : 



1. 6 lbs. washing soda, 6 lbs. fat, 3 lbs. unslacke< 

 lime, 1 teacupful fine salt, and 5 gallons soft water 

 Put the soda and lime in a tub, and pour over then 

 the water boiling hot. Stir to dissolve. Let i 

 stand until it is clear and all dissolved, then pou: 

 off the clear liquid. Add the fat and salt and boi 

 all together four hours. Then pour into pans o: 

 deep dishes to cool. Then cut out into bars o; 

 squares to harden. 



Tallow makes the most beautiful white soap 

 There should be very little of the sediment lef 

 after the liquid is poured from the lime and soda 

 The sediment left is a purifier of sinks, etc. 



2. To Make Soap without Grease. — 1 lb. rosii 

 soap, 1 lb. sal soda, 1 oz. borax. Dissolve the sodj 

 and borax in 4 quarts of rain or soft water. Thei 

 add the soap, and boil until dissolved. Pour ou 

 to cool. Cut in bars. 



The above first receipt has been tried, and wil 

 make more than 30 lbs. of excellent white hard 

 soap, at a very small cost. To the farmer, the out- 

 lay will only be for soda, 24 cents. Perhaps the 

 addition of 6 oz. of borax would be a great im- 

 provement, as borax is good for washing clothes 

 and hands. Any one can try for themselves. — A 

 Subscriber. 



A Cure for Fistula. — One ounce sal ammoniac, 

 one-fourth lb. of May apple root, one-half lb. of 

 lard. Pound the root fine. Put all together and 

 fry on a slow fire about half an hour* Rub on the 

 sore, and heat with an iron. Two or thres appli- 

 cations will effect a cure. — J. W. 



