1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



359 



they shall judge necessary to ei-adicate the dis- 

 ease. They should not be crippled in their efforts 

 to accomplish the beneficent work in which they 

 are engaged. 



The price of beef is lower than it has been for 

 some years, and probably will be so through the 

 season, and this is owing in part to the panic oc- 

 casioned by the disease. 



The drovers, generally a very shrewd class of 

 men, purchased cattle in the spring, and turned 

 them into the pastures. They now fear they shall 

 not get the prices in the autumn which they an- 

 ticipated. Is not this the chief source of the hue 

 ind cry which has been raised against the Com- 

 missioners and the Legislature ? There are men 

 in the State, as experience has already shown, 

 who are willing to get diseased cattle, or cattle 

 which have been exposed to disease, off their 

 own hands, without regard to consequences — 

 such men cry out against any laws that restrain 

 their movements. But if the drovers should not 

 make as large a profit as they anticipated, the con- 

 sumers of beef will have no reason to complain. 



Should the price of beef be less than usual, the 

 people of this State will not be the principal losers, 

 for at least seven-eighths of the beef brought to 

 our market comes from other States. 



Yours, s. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 SPAYED COWS. 

 About the first of May, 1859, a gentleman at 

 Nevvburyport had two cows spayed ; one a fine 

 Durham cow, four years old, six weeks after drop- 

 ping her second calf; the other, an old native 

 cow, eleven years old, but a good milker. In Oc- 

 tober, he had a third cow spayed. In April, 1860, 

 a fourth, and the seventh of the present month, a 

 fifth. The two first, which were altered more than 

 thirteen months ago, are now in good condition. 

 The young cow is tolerable beef. They give as 

 much milk as they did a year ago. The milk is 

 very rich, like the milk of farrow cows. The two 

 cows that were altered thirteen months ago, to- 

 gether with the one spayed on the first of Apiil, 

 this year, give regularly thirty quarts of milk, ev- 

 ery day. The cow that was altered in October, 

 has been troubled this spring with garget, but is 

 now getting well of it. The lumps in the udder 

 are disappearing, and she will doubtless soon 

 be in good condition. Their owner says he has 

 his milk fountain guaged ; he knows how much 

 he will have daily, and his milk is better than ev- 

 er before. He says he cannot afford to keep a 

 good cow without having her altered. There has 

 been no difficulty in the operation, and no inju- 

 rious effect has followed in either case. The 

 wounds all healed well, and the cows soon re- 

 turned to a full flow of milk. J. Reynolds. 



"Tired and Sick of a jNIeecantile Life." 

 — We could be of more service to our corres- 

 pondent, "J. Subscriber" — who is "sick and tired 

 of a mercantile life," and who is determined to 

 try farming, — by a personal interview with him, 

 than by replying to his note through the Farmer. 

 Indeed, it is not in our power to reply in writing, 

 short of making a large pamphlet, or a book. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 RAISING THE PEACOCK:. 



Mr. Editor: — In the monthly Farmer for 

 June, "Oak Hill" would like information on the 

 raising of the peacock. If he would like my way 

 of telling him, it shall be very much at his service. 



In the first place, the peacock does not gener- 

 ally care much about more than one mate, though 

 he will sometimes play the Mormon. They breed 

 at two years old, at Avhich time the cock has a 

 small tail ; at three years he is equipped in full. 



The hen, a modest looking bird, lays, at two 

 years' old, from three to five large eggs ; she sets 

 on them five weeks, at which time they will come 

 forth perfectly fledged, and they generally go to 

 roost the first night. The hen lays her eggs early 

 in June — so, by the first or second week in July, 

 she is off with her young, which she is pretty sure 

 to bring out and bring up. There used to be a 

 fabulous story of the cock ; that he would kill the 

 young if he found them before they had the tuft 

 on their heads. The truth is enough to tell of him, 

 and about as much as he can bear. And for the 

 information of "Oak Hill," I will enumerate a few 

 facts. He will not be confined ; he will perch on 

 the top of your highest chimney, or the ridge of 

 your highest building, and give forth such screams, 

 that any one who is fond of such things, will be 

 induced to exclaim, delectable ! If you have a hen 

 with small chickens, he is sure to follow up and 

 sui'vey her brood with the most apparent inquisi- 

 tiveness, though he never appears to hurt them at 

 all, although extremely annoying to her. He ap- 

 pears to be determined on the mastery of the 

 feathered family, which he generally effects. The 

 young hen seldom lays more than three eggs, but 

 as she grows older, she lays more, and finally 

 comes up to nine or ten. They are easily raised, 

 require little or no care, and are excellent for the 

 table. Alf. Baylies. 



Taunton, June, 1860. 



SHOEING HENS. 



"A friend of ours boarding in the country 

 found his hostess one morning busily engaged in 

 making numerous small woolen bags, of singular 

 shape. Upon inquiry he was informed that they 

 were shoes for hens, to prevent them from scratch- 

 ing. The lady stated that it had been her prac- 

 tice for years to shoe her hens, and save her gar- 

 den. These "shoes," (I believe they ai-e not pa- 

 tented,) were of woolen, made somewhat of the 

 shape of a fowl's foot with ease, after which it is 

 closed with a needle and sewed tightly on, ex- 

 tending about an inch up the leg. Our friend ob- 

 served that some of the biddies, possibly conceit- 

 ed with their new honors, appeared to tread as 

 though walking on eggs — particularly was this 

 the case when from the width of the shoe one 

 would conceive that their toes might be a little 

 pinched." 



This is not a bad idea. We have seen hens 

 shod before, and with good results ; it is not ne- 

 cessary, however, to make a regular s/ioe for them ; 

 even a piece of cloth embracing their foot and se- 

 cured to the leg, the bag being large enough to 

 allow their toes to expand in it, will answer the 

 purpose very well. By such an appliance, hen- 

 yards and tight fences arc ur.necessary, the hens 



