14 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



secretions. Breeding ewes may be kept in too 

 high condition to bring a healthy and vigorous 

 lamb. The error is usually on the other side. 

 Sheep that are kept up in close winter quarters 

 for five months,not being permitted to roam in the 

 fields, greatly feel the need of succulent food. 

 Beets, carrots, turnips and bran, or mill-feed, are 

 fine substitutes for winter pasture. 



If these hints shall aid any one in swelling 

 the increase of the American flocks, which have 

 been on a stand-still for eight years — owing in 

 part to the vast numbers that are annually con- 

 sumed by this meat-eating nation — our object will 

 be attained. S. B. Rockwell. 



— Wool Grower. 



THE FOREST TREES. 



BY ELIZA COOK. 



Up with your heads, ye sylvan lords, 



Wave proudly in the breeze, 

 For our cradle bands and coffin boards 



Mu8t come from the forest trees. 



We bless ye for your summer shade, 

 When our weak limbs toil and tire; 



Our thanks are due for your winter aid. 

 When we pile the bright log fire. 



O, where would be our rule on the sea. 



And the fame of the sailor band, 

 Were it not for the oak and cloud-crowned pine 



That sprung on the quiet land? 



When the ribs and masts of the good ship live, 



And weather the gale with ease, 

 Take his glass from the tar who will not give 



A health to the foresttrees. 



Ye lend to life its earliest joy. 



And wait on its latest page; 

 In the circling hoop for the rosy boy. 



And the easy chair for age. 



The old man totters on his way. 



With footsteps short and slow; 

 But without the stick for his help and stay, 



Not a yard's length could he go. 



The hazel twig in the stripling's hand 



Hath magic power to please; 

 And the trusty staff and slender wand 



Are plucked from the forest trees. 



COLDS IN SHEEP. 



These animals are not unfrequently affected with 

 colds and coughs during the winter season, attend- 

 ed with mucous discharges, or a running at the 

 nose. The best and most effectual remedy with 

 which we are acquainted, are the spines and 

 boughs of the white and yellow pine and hemlock, 

 and common tar. The latter should be rubbed over 

 their noses, which may be easily and effectually 

 accomplished by spreading it on a board, and 

 sprinkling salt over it. The animals will devour the 

 tar with the salt, and not with so much care as to 

 prevent their noses from becoming pretty well 

 smeared with it. Careful attention and liberal keep 

 will strengthen sheep, and greatly assist them in 

 bearing up against this disease. 



After sheep have been kept on dry fodder sever- 

 al weeks, they highly relish green or succulen, 

 food. If they are confined to the yard, scatter over 



it the evergreens mentioned above, and they will 

 be found to leave the best timothy or clover, and 

 feed on the pine and hemlock leaves. Turnips, 

 beets, or carrots chopt, and fed to sheep, tend to 

 keep them strong and in a healthy condition, and 

 there is nothing lost to the farmer in feeding these 

 and occasionally a few beans or a little corn. They 

 yield more wool, and larger and stronger lambs, 

 under such treatment, and afford more profit than 

 if scantily fed. 



For the Ifew England Farmer. 



PREPARATION AND APPLICATION OF 

 MANURES. 



Mr. Editor : — If there be any one subject that 

 demands the attention of the Massachusetts far- 

 mer more than any other, it is, "/Ae preparation 

 and application of manures, -^^ the means whereby 

 the recuperative energies of the soil can be re- 

 stored. We have no lands on which crops can be 

 grown year after year, without the application of 

 fertilizing ingredients. Animal manures, are the 

 first for this purpose^but their quantity is so 

 limited under ordinary circumstances, as to fur- 

 nish only a small part of the needed supply. With 

 the best economy in the preservation of the mate- 

 rials found in or under the stable of the cattle, or 

 in the pen of the swine, it will not be practicable 

 to make more than one-third part , as much manure 

 as is needed upon the farm. How shall the other 

 two-thirds be supphed? This is the question. For 

 those lands situate on the borders of the ocean, as 

 are many farms in the counties of Esses, Plymouth 

 and Barnstable, the best resource is the material 

 thrown upon the beach, and on the rocks along the 

 shores ; where these materials can be had, there 

 need be no want of manures. Another rich and 

 valuable supply is found in the muscle beds, and 

 on the flats along the shore. For many purposes, 

 the very best of fertilizing materials may thus be 

 obtained. Hundreds and thousands of loads of mud 

 and muscle bed are gathered every year,in the coun- 

 ty of Essex, and spread by means of railroad con- 

 veyances in all the towns between the Meri-imac 

 and the sea. I have myself procured a supply of 

 muscle bed , to be sent to Andover, to an intelli- 

 gent cultivator of vegetables there — who was much 

 pleased with the article — and found his benefit in 

 procuring it ; as will every man, who has a young 

 orchard of apple trees, that he wishes to keep in 

 thrifty bearing condition. No better application 

 can be made when properly applied, and on ground 

 properly managed. I have again and again seen 

 its benefits ; and therefore speak of it with confi- 

 dence. But the source of fertilizing material to be 

 relied on more than all others, is the bogs and 

 swamps every whore to l)e found. Here are the rich 

 materials gathered for centuries, washed from the 

 adjoining hills, waiting to be restored to their orig- 

 inal position. The wonder is, that so much of the 

 richness of the soil remains on tliese hills ; one 

 would suppose it would all have been washed into 

 the valleys. Still, there is found, on steep declivi- 

 ties,much of fertility. How to gather and how to 

 compost the materials found in the swamps and 

 meadows, should be the grand study of the farmer. 



Here let it be remarked, all mud is not alike — 

 some needs to be managed in one way, some in aa 

 other ; some can be beneficially applied to the up 



