1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



3t 



posed to form such a dub, notice of the same 

 should be sent to the Secretary of the Board, with 

 a request, if there is any desire for it, to have the 

 aid of some person familiar with the modes of es- 

 tablishin<ij such oro;anizations. Such a person will 

 then be furnished by the Board, and his expenses 

 paid from the appropriation referred to in the 

 Act mentioned above. 



EXTRACTS AlfD REPLIES. 

 USE OF PINE SAW-DUST. 



I wish to know if ])ine saw-dust is of any use 

 for bedding cattle at this time of the year ? Is 

 it an}- damage to manure thrown from the stable 

 daily ? Can it be composted to advantage ? If 

 so, how ? Farmers here do not make any use of 

 it ; many say it is poor ; some say, worse than 

 nothing. It seems to me it is worth something. 



Nortli Orange, Mass., 1859. J. A. French. 



Remarks. — Where pine saw-dust can be readi- 

 ily obtained, we have no doubt but that it may 

 be profitably used as an absorbent on manure 

 heaps. We do not know that its precise value 

 has been ascertained, and cannot, therefore, sug- 

 gest how far it will do to team it in order to use 

 it profital)ly. If Ave could procure it by hauling 

 it one mile, we should not hesitate to use it freely. 



PUMPKINS FOR cows. 



I will give you my experience in feeding com's 

 with pumpkins. First, I fed my cows one week 

 with one large or two small pumpkins to each 

 cow twice a daj'. Their milk decreased two or 

 three, quarts to each cow a day, frflm what they 

 gave the first week previous. 



I then fed them one week with the same quan- 

 tity of ])umpkins as before, and took out the seeds. 

 They increased in a greater proportion of milk 

 than they decreased the week previous. 



I then fed them alternately, three or four weeks, 

 and they varied in their milk very much as the 

 first weeks. A. Clary. 



Hartford County, Conn., 1859. 



CHARCOAL — CORN FODDER. 



Mr. Editor : — The first question asked in all 

 business pursuits in these days is, Will it pay ? 

 If onco decided in the affirmative, then go ahead, 

 and do it with a will ; for in farm work, like all 

 other work, what is worth doing at all, is worth 

 doing well. Will it pay to haul pine charcoal, 

 the burning of a large lot of pine lumber, four 

 miles, to be used on the farm as a fertilizer ? If 

 80, in what manner can it be most advantageously 

 applied H Can it be used in a compost with good 

 swamp muck ? 



I have seen several articles in the Farmer in 

 regard to harvesting corn. Some are for topping 

 it, others for cutting it up by the ground. I have 

 some years topped it, and other years cut it by the 

 ground. This year I have done both ways, and 

 can see no perceptible difference in the filling or 

 shrinking of either ; but I think the fodder on 

 that cut by the ground worth more than double 

 the same quantity left to stand and bleach. Oth- 



ers may do as ex])erience teaches them best ; but 

 I think that no farmer, who gets his living by the 

 sweat of his brow, can afford to lose so large a 

 quantity of good feed. J. K. Buri.ingame. 

 North Proindtnce, It. I., Nov. 17, 1859. 



Remarks. — Charcoal dust, usually found at the 

 bottom of, and about coal pits, is valuable as an 

 absorl)ent. A portion of it scattered over the ma- 

 nure heap twice or three times a week during the 

 winter, would keep the barn sweet, and save val- 

 uable fertilizing agents that would otherwise float 

 or flow away. Such dust is richly worth carting 

 four miles. 



IS DRAINING AN UNSETTLED THEORY? 



Your somewhat witty correspondent in Win- 

 chester, "S. F.," concludes his strictures u])ou 

 drainage by saying that the "subject of drainage" 

 is, in his opinion, among the unsettled theories of 

 the age. Now if S. F. will consult the Re])ort of 

 the Commissioners of Patents for 1858, Agricul- 

 ture, under Improvement of Land, page 273, he 

 will find a detailed account well worth reading. 



Harvard, Mass., 1859. C. T. Savage. 



THE POOR M.\N's CAKES. 



I take buttermilk, add a little saleratus and salt, 

 stir in Indian meal, and a small pro])ortion of 

 wheat flour, so as to make it rather thick. I then 

 fry them in fat, rather hot, and after making a 

 sauce of cider and molasses, pass them over to 

 my family, who eat them with a very good relish. 



Sujjield, Conn., 1859. Miis. Beebe. 



A LARGE PIG. 



Mr. Daniel Howard, of West Bridgewater, fat- 

 ted a spring pig which he killed on Monday, Nov. 

 28th, it then being eight months and twenty-seven 

 days old, weighing, when dressed off, 420 pounds, 

 beside sixteen pounds of fat taken from the caul ! 



THE COUNTRY CHILD. 



Child of the country ! free as air 

 Art thou, and as the sunshine fair ; 

 Born like the lily, where the dew 

 Lies odorous when the day is new ; 

 Fed 'mid the May flowers like the bee, 

 Nursed to sweet music on the knee, 

 Lulled on the breast to that sweet tune 

 Which winds make 'monj^ the trees of June; 

 I sing' of thee ; — 'tis sweet to siny 

 Of such a fair and gladsome thing-. 



American Stock Journal. — This popular jour- 

 nal is devoted to the Improvement of our Domes- 

 tic Animals throughout the United States. It is 

 printed on large, clear type, and fine, white pa- 

 per, and filled with articles valuable to those who 

 are engaged in rearing stock, or for those who de- 

 sire to know more in regard to the management 

 of stock. D. C. Linsley, is the Editor and Pro- 

 prietor ; Dr. Dadd, of Boston, attending to the 

 Veterinary Department. 



