1860, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



279 



ens more thoroughly, and the tree has more vigor 

 to resist changes of temperature. 



Another precaution is, not to force the growth 

 of the tree, either by placing it on a strong, rich 

 soU, or by high manuring. Let it grow sloAvly, 

 on a sandy loam, and annually, in the spring, head 

 in the ends of the branches, so as to keep the head 

 low and compact, with spurs growing out on the 

 sides of the limbs, even down to the main stem. 



We hope the peach tree will be planted, a few, 

 at least, by those who have suitable land, all over 

 New England, and by observing the suggestions 

 we have offered, with such others as will occur to 

 observing persons, we may once more have good 

 peaches. Plant the pits and allow the trees to 

 stand pretty closely until they fruit, then dig out 

 the worthless ones, and leave the others foe bear- 

 ing trees. The natural tree is more hardy than 

 grafted or budded ones, and fruit from the former 

 is quite often very fine, though not equal to some 

 of the budded varieties. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SEEDING GRASS LAND. 



Fkiend Brown : — I have for a long time felt 

 it a duty that I owe to my brother farmers to say 

 a word or two to them through the medium of the 

 Farmer on the subject of seeding down to grass. 



My way of doing it has been, for the last twelve 

 years, to sow my seed before plowing, the first time, 

 I think best, but if possible, before cross plow- 

 ing. I generally plow deeper than my neighbors, 

 and bury the seed deep, but it will como up in 

 time ; the roots are so deep that the hot August 

 sun, instead of killing, strengthens, and when the 

 ground lays bare and exposed as it has the past 

 winter, and does more or less every spring, the 

 roots are not liable to be drawn out and killed. 

 I have sown on five different farms in this way, 

 and on every variety of soil, from fine plain to 

 heavy clay soil, from gravelly ledge to black muck, 

 and never failed of getting a fair crop of grass 

 when seeded in this way. When I used to bush 

 or roll it in, about half the time I lost my grass. 

 I have a piece seeded down with oats May 9th, 

 1859, where a large portion of the stubble is drawn 

 out by the roots, but I have not found any grass 

 roots drawn out, and where exposed to the sun it 

 begins to look green, though high upon the back- 

 bone of creation. I should like to say a Avord, 

 sometime, if agreeable, about curing seed, and 

 raising potatoes. One dollar's worth extra seed 

 often makes ten dollars' worth of hay. 



What will cure a large blood wart on my colt ? 



Nelson, N. H., Ajyril, ISGO. 0. L. Uow. 



Remarks. — We hope the suggestions of friend 

 Dow, in regard to sowing grass seed, will be tried 

 by our readers, as it strikes us that they may be 

 valuable. We shall try his mode. Li reply to 

 his question about certain Hungarian cattle pas- 

 tured for us under his care on the New Hampshire 

 hills, we have to say that they did not do well ; 



we never succeeded in getting a calf from the 

 fawn-colored Hungarian cow. The white heifers, 

 short horn grades, are very promising. We shall 

 be glad to hear from you again. 



CRIBBING, OR CRIB BITING. 



This article is introduced for the purpose of an- 

 swering the inquiry of C. D. N., of Lexington, 

 Mass. 



"Is Cribbing a Disease?" — I answer that it 

 is not. It is not injurious to the horse that prac- 

 tices it, and the Court of Appeal have pronounced 

 in favor of its innocuousness, Cribbing comes 

 under the denomination of a bad habit or vice, 

 which, like other bad habits and vices, are both 

 inherited and acquired ; it prevails mostly among 

 horses of a windy or colicy predisposition. Yet 

 any horse with a bad example near him, in the 

 form of a confirmed cribber, and having but little 

 to do except to devour hay and grain, may finally 

 become a cribber ; hence horses, like men, are 

 not benefited by keeping bad company. 



1 am willing to admit that ci'ibbers are not al- 

 Avays in the best condition, although some of them 

 have little to do and plenty to eat ; in fact, many 

 such animals appear lank and lean, yet it will be 

 noticed that they almost always have a bulky ab- 

 domen, which is generally occupied by gas ; this 

 gas is not swallowed in the act of cribbing, as 

 many persons suppose, but is generated within 

 tlie stomach and intestines, in consequence of 

 functional derangement of the digestive organs ; 

 hence, in plain language, most cribbors may be 

 considered as the suljjects of a most prevalent and 

 fashionable malady, known to prevail among the 

 members of the human species, called indigestion 

 or dyspepsia. 



The following paragraph I select from Mr. Per- 

 cival's writings, which is more authoritative than 

 anything I may possibly offer. 



"In general, crib-biting ought rather to be re- 

 garded as a vice or habit than a disease ; the lat- 

 ter I have never been able to regard it. Horses 

 that are old crib-biters present the inconvenience 

 of being faulty feeders, they require a great deal 

 to satisfy them, and those which generate air in 

 their stomachs are very subject to attacks of win- 

 dy colic." 



Finally a crib-biter often grows poor, not be- 

 cause he is a cribber, but for the simple reason 

 that in his dyspeptic condition the digestive or- 

 gans fail to elaborate from the food the requisite 

 amount of chyme, chyle and blood, for the reno- 

 vation and groAvth of the animal fabric. — Ameri- 

 can Stock Journal. 



Remarks. — Turn the horse out so that he can 

 come to the bare ground for an hour or two each 

 day for a few weeks, and see if he will then bite 

 his crib. — Ed. N. E. Farmer. 



Rents and Wages in England. — During the 

 eighty years preceding ISoO — 51, Mr. Tucker 

 states, in his New Haven lectures, the rents of 

 2G counties had increased a Httle more than 100 

 per cent., while the wages of laborers had advanced 

 only 34 per cent. 



