14 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



their food &c., I can do no better than state the 

 method adopted by Mr. A. H. Oilman of Portland, 



Maine. 



Mr. Oilman is a person possessing good taste and 

 an enlightened and liberal mind, and by judicious 

 selections, is in possession of superior specimens of 

 Uie best kinds of fowls in the country. The fowls 

 exhibited by him at the late show of the New Eng- 

 land Society for the improvement of domestic poul- 

 try, give evidence of the skill and care bestowed 

 upon them. There were but few, very few fowls 

 at that exhibition which equalled those shown by 

 Mr. Oilman, and there were none that excelled 

 them. The system pursued by Mr. Oilman in the 

 management of his fowls is most excellent. His 

 poultry house is so constructed that each kind or 

 breed of fowls have separate roosting places under 

 tlie same roof, and a separate yard or walk, so that 

 there is no chance of one breed being crossed by 

 another. 



The house is perfectly ventilated, having been 

 built by Mr. Oilman, after a plan conceived by him- 

 self. The lower story is without floor, and in it 

 are placed the nests, separated into wards for the 

 different breeds, each ward opening to its respec- 

 tive walk or yard . A hen ladder extends from each 

 ward to the corresponding roosting place in the sec- 

 ond story. The floor of the second story does not 

 extend to the ends and sides of the building, but the 

 space of one foot is left uncovered for the purpose 

 of securing good ventilation. The yards or walks 

 are covered in part with gravel, and each yard has 

 plat of gra-ss growing in it. 



Each yard is furnished with a constant supply of 

 ivater and all kinds of grain, vegetable and animal 

 food; lime and pulverized bones are always within 

 the reach of the fowls. The house and yards are 

 carefully swept, and every particle of excrement 

 and filth is removed d;iily, and the building and 

 fences are washed with a solution of lime every 

 week. 



Whenever the hens show an inclination to incu- 

 bate, their desires are gratified, and when conve- 

 nient each hen incubates her own eggs. 



By pursuing this course Mr. Oilman has beei: 

 amply repaid for the care and attention he has de- 

 voted to his fowls, and has the sitisfaction of being 

 more successful in rearing the different breeds in 

 his possession, than most of the breeders and fan- 

 ciers have been. I have been thus particvilar in de- 

 scribing the system adopted by Mr. Oilman, inth^ 

 hope that others will pursue it, and find it as ad- 

 vantageous to them as it has been to him. 



Yours, &c. S. BRADFORD Morse, Jr. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 OCJLTIVATION OF CRANBERRIES. 



Mr. Editor: — Dear sir — Much has been said and 

 written on th^ subject of raising that delicious fruit 

 that is now considered an indispensable article in 

 every family, the cranberry. Having taken partic- 

 ular notice of the plant and its fruit for the last 

 three years, I will make some remarks, as they have 

 occurred to me. It has been often said that it was 

 advisable to flow the meadows or bogs to get a good 

 crop. Now my experience hais not proved it to be 

 useful to flow the meadows. I have found that the 

 fruit has been better, and less liable to be injured 

 by frost, when it was not covered with water dur- 

 ing the fall, winter and spring. 



I have come to the conclusion that it only makes 

 the vines tender, as the water is usually drawn oft 

 m April, or the first of May; and in such meadows 

 the vines are put back, and if not injured in blos- 

 som, are likely to bs injured when the fruit is green 

 in September. I have never know'n the fruit in- 

 jured oi the upland or meadows where the water 

 did not stand. But my fruit never escapes injury 

 from the frost on my low meadows, especially 

 when in wet and unfivorable seasons the wa- 

 ter remains on the meadow late, and it is flowed in 

 time of freshets. So I prefer not to have my cran- 

 berry plats covered with water any part of the sea- 

 son. 



Since! have drained my meadows, I have more 

 than doubleil the quantity of fruit, and if I could 

 prevent the water from coming on at all, I think I 

 should have no cranberries injured bv the frost. I 

 have furthermore observed that wlieu I spread sand 

 ir mud on the meadows, the vines grow much 

 stouter and the berries larger; also on the edges 

 ind banks of ditches I find the best fruit, and more 

 if it, without injury from heat or cold. I think the 

 nore cranberries are cared for by spreading mud, 

 sand or gravel on the vines (I mean a slight coat 

 so as to cover the old dead grass and stubble,) the 

 greater and safer will be the yield. It appears to 

 me that they want cultivating as much as corn or 

 potatoes. 



Yours most truly, S. A. Shurtleff. 



Sprmg Grove, Dec. 2, 1850. 



Remarks. — It is for want of ventilation, that 

 fowls are so often affected with the roup, or ca- 

 tarrh, which is a very severe, and frequently a fa- 

 tal disorder. We sometimes take the roost out ol 

 our poultry house in suqimer, and make the fowls 

 roost out door, with some boai-ds over them to keep 

 off the storms. This gives them a free air, as the 

 boards over them does not impede the circula- 

 tion. 



One of the most remarkable facts in the diet 

 of mankind, is the enormous consumption of tea 

 and coffee. Upwards of 800,000,000 pounds of 

 these articles are annually consumed by the inhabi- 

 tants of the world. 



Remarks. — The subject presented by Dr. Shurt- 

 leff" is very important. Some cranberry growers 

 "ontinue the water upon their vines till the first of 

 May, in order to retard the season of blossoming un- 

 til the weather has become permanently warm. The 

 ■vil effects of their course is shown by the above in- 

 teresting communication. 



We now present to cranberry growers a very im- 

 portant subject for investigation. Will cranberries 

 Nourish as well without being covered with water 

 in the winter? A few years ago. Dr. Brown, of 

 Wilmington, showed to us his cranberry grounds, 

 which were flowed by a mill pond in winter. He 

 showed the line to which the water flowed in the 

 winter, and there were cranberry vines above and 

 below that line. Below the line there was an ex- 

 cellent crop of fruit, even on extremely poor, 

 dry and gravelly soil; but above the line of water 

 there was no fruit. We solicit facts on this sub- 

 ject. Eli. 



