CORHESPOXDEXCE— SELE'CTIONS FROM PATENT OFFICE REPORT. 



ll'i 



GREAT ■YIELD OF CUCTTMBEES. 



Mr. Editos: — For the benefit of your readers I 

 give you the production of eislit liills of cucumbers, 

 planted in my garden last spring. Tlae manner of' 

 planting was taken from some of the agricultural jour- 

 nals, Uaviug fully prepared a good garden soil by 

 repeated spadings, I placed barrels at a distance 

 each way of eight feet, and about si.x inches in the 

 ground. The barrels were then filled with barn-yard 

 manure, and seeds previously soaked for twenty-four 

 hours and planted around, and about four inches from 

 the barrels. After the plants made their appearance, 

 and when there had been no rain during the day, two 

 pails of water were put on the manure in each bar- 

 rel every night, which found its way through holes 

 bored in the lower head. About four plants were 

 left to each of the eight barrels. The end of each 

 vine was pinched off just before fruiting. Now for 

 the result and number of each picking. 



li^t gathering 70 



10th 



11th 

 12th 

 13th 

 14th 

 15th 

 16th 

 17th 

 Mth 

 19th 

 20th 



214 



Total 4355 



Tours, Jfcc, Daniel Morse. 



LOCKPORT, N. T. 



BLDfD OK WOLF TEETH. 

 Mr. Editor: — In answer to the inquiry of "J. 

 M.," of Fairfax, Virginia, in the February number of 

 the Gejtesee Farmer, I would say that there have 

 been many strange stories told of the " bhnd or wolf' 

 tooth," as he pleases to call it, in regard to giving 

 pain, and even causing blindness in the horse. This 

 wolf's tooth is one of the first set of the molar or 

 grinding teeth. 'When at the ago of two years, the 

 second set of molars begin to appear; they frequent- 

 ly push the first and lower molar forward, and it re- 

 mains ir. the gum until it is absorbed. It is supposed 

 to have an injurious effect on the horse's eyes by 

 many; but in my opinion, they have nothing to do 

 with the eyes. I can not say what is the cause of- 

 "J. M.'s" horse's blindness, but I can say that science 

 is getting the advantage of ignorance in these days. 

 , Chelsea. Bill Johnson. 



SELECrnONS FROM PATENT OFFICE REPORT. 



SuKEP.— Statement of T. L. Hart, of West 

 Cornwall, Litchfield Co., Ct. — I bought my farm in 

 183.5, and stoclied it with sheep, and with fair pros- 

 pects of success. My first clip of wool sold for G5 

 cents per pound, and the fleeces averaged over three 

 pounds each. This, together with the price of the 

 lambs, which was $il.75, afforded a fair remuneration. 

 My sheep cost me $3 per head, and I spared no pains 

 in improving my flock, by selling off the poorest and 

 buying better, until I had added about 2.5 per cent, 

 to their value. At that time, between this place and 

 Foughkeepsie, a distance of forty miles, there were 

 many more thousands of sheep than at present. 



Statement of Horatio JV. Andrits, of Brandy- 

 wine, Pi ince Co., Md. — In 1847, I commenced 

 driving Spanish Merinos, mostly from Vermont, to 

 Virginia, between which and the fall of 185'2 I sold 

 upwards of 13,000 for wool-growing purposes. Find- 

 ing it a profitable business, I established a sheep 

 farm, where I now reside, in the autumn of the fol- 

 lowing year. I have now on my place 1,000 Span- 

 ish Merinos, consisting of about 600 old ewes and 

 400 lambs, among which are about 20 bucks. The 

 committee on sheep at the agricultural fair, in this 

 county, last fall, awarded me their premiums on ewes. 



To show that sheep raising in this section of the 

 Union is a profitable business, I wovdd state that my 

 clip in Virginia of 18.50, from 200 ewes, brought, on 

 an average, $1.60 each fleece. They also produced 

 200 lambs, which sold for S2.62J each. The cost of 

 keeping, exclusive of superintendence, was about 25 

 cents a head, feeding each on a gill of corn a day, 

 and this for only ninety days. The rest of the year 

 they took care of themselves. 



Horses. — Statement of ffm. Upton, of Dixmont, 

 Penobscot Co., Me. — The rearing of good horses has 

 always been regarded by us, and no doubt truly so, 

 as a profitable business. The various grades of the 

 Messenger breed are here considered most valuable 

 for the carriage. "Bush Messenger," owned by 

 Hiram Reed, of Augusta, fifteen years old, light 

 gray, took the third premium at the late National 

 Horse Fair at Springfield, Massachusetts, Many of 

 his colts are scattered through this State, and gener- 

 ally bear the distinguishing traits of their sire. 

 They are docile, good travelers, and seldom shy. 



The large Pennsylvania horses have been tried 

 here for the purpose of heavy teaming, but have been 

 found deficient in strength of muscle, powers of 

 endurance, and their feet usually give out, apparently 

 from the mere weight of their bodies. They are 

 excelled by a low, heavy-limbed French horse, 

 brought from Canada, and deservedly popular for 

 heavy work, as they possess great powers of endu- 

 rance and thrive under hard work and coarse fare. 

 Farmers generally here, as elsewhere, are far from 

 taking that pains to breed from the best animals 

 which its importance demands. 



As the rearing of good blooded horses costs no 

 more than those of indifferent kinds, not unfrequently 

 hundreds of dollars reward a proper discrimination 

 in this particular. The risk of rearing is such, from 

 the various accidents to which they are peculiarly 

 liable, that the apparent profit is considerably 

 reduced. The cost of rearing tiU four years old, 



