1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



cussion upon a topic previously announced, which 

 shall be commenced by four members designated 

 at the preceding meeting by the presiding officer ; 

 and such other exercises as the Club shall deem 

 proper. 



Art. 7. — There shall be in the Club twelve 

 Standing Committees : — One on Manures ; Hoed 

 Crops ; lloot Crops ; G rain Crops ; Grass Crops ; 

 Live Stock ; Farm Buildings and Farms ; Farming 

 Tools ; Reclaiming Waste Lands ; Garden Fruits ; 

 Ornamental Gardening ; Fruit and Ornamental 

 Trees. 



A^T. 8. — Select Committees may be appointed 

 as the exigencies of the Club may require. 



Art. 9. — Each Committee shall make report in 

 writing, from time to time, as the Club may or- 

 der, and the reports so made shall be at the dis- 

 posal of the Club. 



Art. 10. — Any person may become a member 

 of this Club by paying one dollar to the Treasurer. 



Art. 1L — The Annual Meeting of the Club 

 shall be holden on the first Monday of Noverabe;- 

 of each year, for the election of officers ; and all 

 officers to hold over until new officers are elected. 



For the Neio Vlngiand Farmer. 

 CORN-COBS— BESS. 



I have been a reader of the IS. E. Farmer for 

 fche past year, and I trust that it has not been 

 without profit. I have tried some of its directions, 

 and particularly those relating to the management 

 of fowls, and have realized a larger amount of eggs 

 this year than any year heretofore ; this I must 

 attribute to the reading of the Farmer. 



Now I want to ask you a question or two. And 

 first, in regard to corn-cobs. Much has been said 

 in our section for and against their use. Some say 

 that corn ground with the cob is worth as much 

 as its bulk in oats, while others say that cobs are 

 entirely worthless. 



Now I want to know your opinion in re- 

 gard to this matter ; whether there is any nutri- 

 ment in them or not ; if there is, what is the best 

 manner of feeding them to cattle or swine ? The 

 next question is in regard to E. Jordan's Honey 

 Bee Feed, a notice of which I send you. Now 

 I would like to know how many lbs. of feed 

 will make a pound of honey ? Do you believe that 

 the one dollar invested in this business may, as he 

 says, be made worth ^50 twice told, or is it all a 

 humbug r A. D., 2d. 



Dudley, Dec. 1852. 



Remarks. — We have no analysis of the cob, and 

 can, therefore, only speak of it in general terms. 

 Without possessing nutrient properties it may 

 be used to advantage on other accounts. For in- 

 stance, if you find it necessary to feed store pigs on 

 com entirely, for want of less concentrated food, 

 such as potatoes or pumpkins, we have no doubt it 

 would be better to grind the cob with the corn 

 for them. But for fattening swine, the pure meal 

 would be far better. A certain amount of bulk 

 is as necessary as nutriment itself, to the healthy 

 growth of the animal in all its parts. For cattle, 

 fed daily with hay, the cob would be of little or no 

 service ; but deprived of a considerable portion of 



the hay usually fed to them, the cob would be 

 beneficial. There is considerable potash in the 

 cob, and it may possibly answer some good pur- 

 pose on that account. Fowls flourish finely, fed 

 on cob-meal mixed with scalding water, as a change 

 firom dry food. 



We know nothing of Mr. Jordan^s mode of feed- 

 ing bees, and of course cannot say whether it is a 

 " humbug " or not. Persons do feed bees advan- 

 tageously,- with West India honey and the com- 

 mon molasses sugar, heated together and strained, 

 at an expense of three or four cents a pound. 

 Seven swarms of bees, to which we fed this com- 

 position, carried off eighteen pounds in two hours, 

 but how much it added to our profits we had no 

 means of ascertaining. 



There is little doubt but that bees may be aided 

 in their business when their pasturage is short, as 

 is sometimes the case, by a mixture somewhat like 

 the above. But probably not to any great extent, 

 as all that they receive,, must pass through a 

 thorough elaboration in their bodies, and cannot 

 be greatly hastened, as one would a water wheel 

 by raising the gate and letting on a stronger head 

 of water. 



FARMERS' vvIVSS, 



We gladly give room to the following extract, ^ 

 and doubt not but that the sentiments therein ex- 

 pressed will agree with those of our readers gen- 

 erally : — 



The farmers. of this country occupy a position 

 of honor and usefulness. They are the source of 

 a nation's wealth and prosperity, and by their 

 vote and influence can, at any moment, decide its 

 destiny. Farmers' wives occupy a position of cor- 

 responding importance in our own country's his- 

 tory ; they are and have been the mothers of the 

 men whom our nation delights to honor, whose 

 voice of wisdom and warning is heard in our na- 

 tion's councils. Lebanon shorn of its stately ce- 

 dars, would be her sad emblem, were our land be- 

 reaved of our patriotic and heroic men whose ear- 

 ly youth was associated with rural scenes, with 

 woods and streams, and the bird voices that fill 

 the air with melody. But the sweet voice that 

 stilled the cry of infancy, the kind hand tliat led 

 them to the altar of prayer ; the counsels that 

 conducted them in the paths of wisdom, the in- 

 fluence that developed their moral nature — those 

 were the pledges and presages of their future great- 

 ness. The wives of our farmers, wliose thrift and 

 industry have secured for their husbands a com- 

 petency, whose intelligence is the light of the so- 

 cial circle, and whose piety is the guardian of do- 

 mestic peace, are emphatically "the mothers of 

 our men . " A failure in the country — with all the 

 opportuidties of success, away from all_ the moi-al 

 contaminations of a crowded city, amid the free 

 refreshing winds, among all that is pure and poetic 

 in nature, amid all that is suggestive of truth and 

 beauty, and all that is bountiful and beautiful in 

 agricultural pursuits and success— rightly to train 

 up children, should awaken the voice of instruc- 

 tive warning. There may have been no failure in 



