1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



151 



RECEIPT FOR WASHING FLUID. 



A very excellent article for this purpose may be 

 made by dissolving 4 oz. saltpetre in 2 qts. water, 

 and add this to a solution of 1 oz. borax in 1 pt. 

 water. Mix about five tablcspoonfuls with a pint 

 of common soft soap, and add to the water in 

 which you soak your clothes. It is more effective, 

 if they are allowed to soak over night. 



__ Washer. 



to cure warts. 



I will say on the authority of one of the first 

 physicians in Hampden county, and one well ac- 

 quainted with horses, that the application of equal 

 parts of lamp oil and molasses, will cure the worst 

 of warts on man or beast. T. 



Chicopee, Jan., 1860. 



WINTER BUTTER. 



L. R. Havins, Foxboro', scalds the milk, sets 

 it where it will not freeze; sprinkles on a little 

 salt each time cream is added. Gets good sweet 

 butter. 



FOUNDERED HORSES. 



I wish to inquire the best method of ti'eatment 

 for a horse that is foundered in the chest ? Also, 

 for the thrush in the foot ? H. c. 



CARROTS OR POTATOES FOR HOGS. 



Which is the best food for hogs in the winter 

 season, carrots or potatoes ? E. Quimby. 



For the New England Fanner. 

 DISTUBBAOTCE OF TILE DRAINS. 



The statement made by a correspondent in the 

 N. E. Farmer that tiles in drains are liable to be 

 displaced by loaded teams passing over them, is 

 contradicted by my experience, and I cannot be- 

 lieve that it is borne out by fact in any case where 

 tiles are avcII laid. W. D. may lay tile even on 

 his meadow land without fear that they will be in- 

 jured if ordinary care is used. Stone drains are 

 much more liable to disturbance from every cause 

 than tile drains, and any assertion to the contra- 

 ry must be based upon extraordinary experience, 

 if upon any. 



A tiledi-ain about two hundred feet long was 

 laid by my direction in a swamp where the trench 

 was three feet deep, and the tile laid on hard-pan 

 bottom. A drive-way was immediately construct- 

 ed over it, and all the stone for a house cellar, and 

 loads of other heavy material carried over without 

 any disturbance. A constant use has been made of 

 the drive-way since that time, and for two years, 

 without ceasing, the drain has discharged an aver- 

 age of two thousand and four hundred gallons of 

 water, daily. In another case, drains were laid 

 four feet deep in a meadow where the mud was 

 soft and of undetermined depth ; after the drains 

 had been discharging for two or three months, 

 and the meadow had dried enough to allow teams 

 to cross, sand and other earth was carted on to 

 the depth of six or eight inches ; no care was used 

 in driving over the drains, and yet they have con- 

 tinued to discharge to their fidl capacity for near- 

 ly a year since the earth was hauled on. 



I have directed about twelve thousand dollars' 

 worth of draining, and never used any care about 

 the crossing of loaded teams, yet no drain of the 

 whole number has, to my knowledge, failed, or 

 been at all injured from that cause. 



J. Herbert Shedd. 



Boston, January 30, 1860. 



A MONKEY'S AFFECTION FOR RATS. 



One of the principal objects of attraction at the 

 Aquarium in Bromfield Street, is a female mon- 

 key that exhibits an extraordinary affection for 

 rats. She is one of the "Happy Family" belong- 

 ing to the establishment, and soon after being 

 placed there, conceived a fondness for a rat, that 

 was also a member of the "family." Upon every 

 occasion when she could catch the rat, she would 

 hold it in her arms, fondling it as a mother does 

 her child, and caressing it with every mark of af- 

 fection. The rat soon began to like this kindness, 

 and would remain for hours in the arms of its 

 friend. Finally the monkey would not allow the 

 rat from its arms a moment, even to feed, and at 

 last the pet was actually starved to death. The 

 monkey met this bereavement much in the same 

 manner as human parents do the loss of offspring 

 who have died in consequence of over-fondness, 

 Avith sobs and moans, and she would not be com- 

 forted. 



For twelve hours .she held the dead rat to her 

 breast, refusing all the time to eat, or to take no- 

 tice of any of the other animals of the "family." 

 At last Mr. Cutting took the rat from her by force, 

 and fearing that she would voluntarily starve her- 

 self to death, he placed three other rats in the 

 cage. This addition to her "family" brought the 

 bereaved animal to her senses, and the care requi- 

 site to the government of these pets takes up all 

 her time, and she is twice as cheerful as ever be- 

 fore. She is never for a moment without some 

 one of them in her arms, and frequently fondles 

 two of them at a time. But the new comers are 

 not altogether grateful for her attentions, and 

 most frequently, while she is holding one of them, 

 the others are eyeing her askance from some dis- 

 tant part of the cage. — Traveller. 



For the Neio England Farmer, 

 MR. PORTER'S SQUASH. 



The magnificent vegetable, a description of 

 which I gave you last autumn, has now reached 

 the last stages of its being. It shrunk 24 pounds, 

 weighing only 140 pounds on the day it was cut. 

 The halves appear as large as a common wash tub, 

 the meat measures four inches in thickness ; and 

 is as yellow as a bright carrot. It has probably 

 lost some of its vitality, by being kept in a warm 

 room so long. The seeds are numerous, plump, 

 fair and handsome ; many of them had sprouted 

 one inch or more. I am thus particular, in dis- 

 cribing its present condition, because much in- 

 quiry has been made about it, by letter or other- 

 wise ; and much solicitude to obtain some of the 

 seeds. Mr. Stevens, of the Legislature, is an ex- 

 perienced cultivator of fruit, Avho lives near Mr. 

 Porter, and will tell you all about this truly ex- 

 traordinary squash. J. W. Proctor. 



South Danvers, Jan. 28, 1860. 



