304 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



puUins? screw, which would take up anything ; 

 but, like others, was not practical. Then I got a 

 better idea, and after spending $300 or $400 in 

 experimenting, testing and re-constructing, I have 

 got what I was after ; a machine that can be han- 

 dled with perfect ease by three men, stand any- 

 where, lift vertically, with tremendous power, 

 stumps, rocks, trees with frozen balls, sunken 

 ships, massive castings, or forgings at iron works, 

 or any heavy weights ; has no revolving shafts, 

 gears, bolts, or machinery, to get out of order ; 

 without friction, requiring no oil, all of iron, 

 weighing less than 300 pounds, excepting the tri- 

 pod from which it is suspended, when at work in 

 the open field. 



What appeared the great obstacle in the way 

 of making the swamp valuable, vanishes, when 

 we have an implement that we can set over stumps 

 that measure from ten to twenty-five feet in diam- 

 eter, [circumference, Ed.] and hoist them out in 

 a few minutes, without digging, or cutting. 



Kingston, Mass., 1860. Caleb Bates. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



BEET SUGAR. 



Your con'espondent, "W. D. L.," New Ipswich, in- 

 quires, "Can any one give mc the process of manufac- 

 turing the juice of the sugar beet into sugar ?" 



Process of Makinr/ Beet Sugar. 



Gi'ind the beets, put the pulp in a bag, press out the 

 juice, lieat the juice to 160 degrees, add cream of lime, 

 stir well. Let the mixture rest a little, then raise the 

 heat to the boiling point. When a sctmiis formed, stop 

 the boiling, and when the juice 1)ecomes clear take off 

 the scum completely, then evaporate as in making ma- 

 ple sugar, skimming off the Halving stuff from time to 

 time. When reduced to a thin syrup, filter through 

 animal charcoal ; let there be a coarse cloth strainer 

 placed over a vat or boiler, put the charcoal in the 

 strainer and cover it with another coarse cloth, said 

 strainer to be large enough to hold a given amount of 

 syrup; when filtered, Ijoil down till a lirittle thread is 

 formed from a little syrup placed between the thumb 

 and finger; it is then sulttciently concentrated to form 

 sugar. 



Cream of lime is madeof lime and water; 40 grains 

 of dry lime to one gallon of thin syrup, more or less, as 

 experience may show needful. 



Animal charcoal is made of charred bones — not cal- 

 cined bones. 



The juice of beets is very liable to take on fermenta- 

 tion. Sulphite of lime will prevent that. 



Full-grown beets will not yield so much sugar as 

 those will do which are a little short of full growth. 



A cider mill will do to grind the beets. The residuum 

 may he fed out. The French white sugar beet is pre- 

 ferred. D. Fraseu. 



New Lebanon, N. T., Ajiril, 1S60. 



THE SECRET OF HAVING GOOD MILCH COWS. 



I have twenty cows, mostly grade short-horns, all of 

 my own raising. I carry my milk to town every night, 

 and retail it to customers at five cents a (piart in sum- 

 mer and six in winter; liy so doing I save a great deal 

 of tunc by being at home mornings. As my pasture 

 is small, I raise a great lot of corn fodder, which I con- 

 sider the best of green crops for milk. I raise 1000 

 bushels of mangolds and 500 bushels of carrots yearly, 

 which I feed to my cows at noon each day, giving them 

 chop feed morning and evening, with four quarts of 

 shorts at each feed. 



My cows average seven quarts of milk daily for the 

 year. I often hear persons complaining that their cows 

 arc doing poorly, but I think the men are mostly to 

 blame, as I anrsatisficd that a cow cannot give milk 

 on meadow hay and poor attendance. 



Marblehead, Mass., 1860. Samuel Graves. 



LEGHORN FOWLS. 



In reply to your correspondent who asks for a de- 

 scription of Leghorn fowls, I would say that in size 

 and haliits they are very much like the Black Spanish. 

 I like them much better than the Black Spanish, for 

 while the latter are good layers only in warm Mcather, 

 and have dark legs and skin, the Leghorns lay young- 

 er, (mine being but four months old when they com- 

 menced, and have laid from that time to this without 

 offering to sit,) their legs and skin are yellow, their 

 color white tinged with yellow, except a few which are 

 Dominique or hawk color, with very large single combs 

 and wattles, much larger than the Spanish. I have but 

 eight hens, which average over six eggs a day, which I 

 am selling at one dollar per dozen. They hatch re- 

 markably well and are very hardy. L. II. Hewins. 



Foxboro', Mass., May, 1860. 



BUGGY peas. 



I once tried an experiment, and to ray great satis- 

 faction found out something that I never knew befoi-e. 

 Finding an immense numlier of bugs in some peas 

 that I was about to sow, I thought to ascertain where 

 they came from. So after I had raised a crop from the 

 buggy peas, and as soon as they were ripe, I gathered 

 a phial part full of the aforesaid peas, and corked them 

 up tight so that nothing might get into them. I then 

 placed the phial in safe keeping, and in the course of 

 six or eight weeks examined it and found it swarming 

 with living bugs ; then I came to the conclusion that 

 they must have bred in the pea. By opening many of 

 them, lings would roll out like chickens from eggs, and 

 soon after uncorking the phial they left their place of 

 confinement. Now it remains a mystery to me to 

 know from whence they originated. If j'ou will inform 

 me of the mystery, and give me a remedy so that my 

 peas may not be eaten up by bugs, you will much 

 oblige a querist. For where stones and stumps occupy 

 so much of the soil, it is well that we make every pea 

 count. L. T. D, 



Green Mountains, Vt., Ajjrll, 1860. 



Remarks. — The pea weevil deposits its eggs in the 

 iilossom of the pea, where the young grub Is hatched, 

 and feeds upon the inside of the pea. Pour boiling wa- 

 ter upon the peas before you plant, let them stand in 

 it ten minutes and the bugs will be destroyed. 



a VALUABLE SALVE. 



I was the inventor of the "Golden Salve," which I 

 have used for more than twenty years. I have given 

 a receipt for making it to many of my friends, some of 

 whom are manufacturing it quite extensively. I con- 

 sider it the best salve or ointment, ever used for man 

 or beast. So valualde a receipt I thinlv I ought to 

 withhold from the puldic no longer. Many a poor 

 person could make it and sell to their neighbors, who 

 did not choose to make it for themselves. 



Linseed Oil 2 qtg. 



Beeswax 3 lbs. 



Rosin 3 lbs. 



Heat and stir the ai'ticles until well mixed. 

 Rutland, Vt., Mai/ 3, 1860. J. Westox. 



HENS AND CHICKENS. 



Keeping a few hens for the firsf^time, I thought I 

 would ask advice through your excellent magazine, 

 in regard to the feeding and care of them. I have fed 

 them on oats and what bits arc taken from the table. 

 About three times a week I have given them a gill of 

 flaxseed to every six hens, having a lot of it, for which 

 I had no use. My rooster, one of last June's chicks, 

 a black Spanish game, has died. He had no use of his 

 legs for three days ; he refused his food, but would 

 drink a large quantity. After death his comb turned 

 to a dark purple. I have a hen of the same breed tak- 

 en in the same way. If yon, or any of your farmer 

 friends, can give me light on this subject, you will 

 greatly oblige A Somerville Boy. 



P. S. Is linseed oil in small quantities, as above, 

 good for them ? and would chicks thrive ou it ? 



