364 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Aug. 



they built the more insecure it became. One day, 

 when the tower had been carried up about fifty 

 feet, there was heard a tremendous crash. The 

 building had fallen, burying the men in the ruins. 

 All the previous work was lost, the materials 

 wasted, and worse still, valuable lives were sacri- 

 ficed, and all from one brick laid tvrong at the 

 start. The M'orkman at fault in this matter little 

 knew how much mischief he Avas making for the 

 future. Do i/07i ever think what ruin may come 

 of one bad habit, one brick laid Avrong, while you 

 are now building a character for life ? Remem- 

 ber, in youth the foundation is laid. See to it 

 that all is kept straight. 



PRESEBVIITG SHINGLES ON" KOOFS. 



The following article we copy from the Rural 

 Intelligencer, as worthy of attention by those who 

 desire to preserve the roofs of their habitations 

 and buildings : 



"Some paint roof-shingles after they are laid. 

 This makes them rot sooner than they otherwise 

 would. Some paint the courses as they are laid ; 

 this is a great preservative, if each shingle is 

 painted the length of three courses. But al)out 

 as sure a way to preserve shingles, and that with 

 little or no expense, is a mode recommended in a 

 letter to us by Hon. David Hunter, of Clinton, on 

 the 23d of February last. We republish so much 

 of his letter as relates to this subject, in hopes 

 that it may be of service to many of our readers : 



" 'There is one thing more that nearly all people 

 know, if they Avould only attend to it: that is, to 

 sprinkle slaked lime on the roofs of their build- 

 ings in rainy days. Put it on considerably thick, 

 so as to make tke roof look white, and you will 

 never be troubled with moss ; and if the shingles 

 are covered ever so thick with moss, by putting 

 the lime on twice, it Avill take all the moss off, and 

 leave the roof white and clean, and will look al- 

 most as well as if it had been painted. It ouglit 

 to be done once a year, and, in my opinion, the 

 shingles will last almost twice as long as they will 

 to let the roof all grow over to moss. I tried it 

 on the back side of mv house, ten A-ears aso, Avhen 

 the shingles Avere all covered over Avith moss, and 

 they appeared to be nearly rotten. I gave the roof 

 a heavy coat of lime, and have folloAved it nearly 

 every year since then, and the roof is better now 

 than it Avas then ; and, to all appearance, if I fol- 

 low my hand, it Avill last ten or fifteen years long- 

 er. The shingles have been on the roof over 

 thirty years. There is no more risk about sparks 

 catching on the roof than on a nCAvly shingled roof. 

 Those that do not have lime near by, can use good 

 strong Avood ashes, and these Avill answer a very 

 good purpose to the same end.' " 



Tobacco. — Gen. John H. Cook, of Virginia, 

 has recently written a pamphlet entitled "Tobac- 

 co, the Bane of Virginia Husbandry." He says : 



That tobacco is the bane of Virginia husband- 

 ry, will be shoAvn under the three folloAving heads : 



1st. It requires more labor than any other crop. 



2d. It is the most exhausting of all crops ; and, 



3d. It is a deniorali'Jer, in the broadest sense 

 of the term. 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



A QITEER HEIFER. 



I have a Iieifer fifteen months old the 20tli of June ; 

 her bag began to groAV in April so that it attracted my 

 attention. It has increased in size from the first, 

 and about the fifteenth of May I found that her bag 

 contained milk, and concluded she mnst be Avith calf, 

 •IS her bag, too, has till noAV grown larger. But on 

 the eleventh of June she Avas in heat for the bull. 



I do not milk her for fear of consequences, leaking 

 her milk, &c., hereafter ; think her bag might contain 

 a quart of milk or thereabouts. Think she cannot be 

 "springing" bag from natural causes ; and as it seems 

 to me a "strange freak," I report the case for Aviser 

 heads than mine. Will your readers please notice, (not 

 exclusively the Editor,) and inform me if they knoAv of 

 such instances, and the course pm-sued. 



Manchester, N. II., June, 1860. James Walker, 



Remarks. — We have a fine coat now, one that Ave 

 raised on our oavu f\irm, that gave an abundance of 

 milk before having a calf. We turned her to pasture in 

 April, at two years old, with other heifers. Her bag 

 was then hardly discernible, and of course, "as dry as 

 a charity box." On going to her ten days after, we 

 found her bag very much enlarged, and took aAvay 

 nearly or quite a gallon of milk from it. She contin- 

 ued giving a liberal mess until the middle of Septem- 

 ber iblloAving, v.iien she dropt a line calf, Avhich we now 

 haA'C, and is one of the handsomest yearling heifers 

 in our knowledge. Young heifers Avill have their own 

 Avays, as well as other folks, but avc cannot tell you the 

 Avhy or Avherefore ! 



CATTLE DISEASE IN CONNECTICUT. 



The all-absorbing topic of conversation among us at 

 the iiresent time is the cattle disease ; and so high does 

 the panic run that there is scarcely a town around 

 Avhere there are not supposed cases of the disease al- 

 ready existing ; but probably there is not in reality a 

 case of it this side of the Connecticut riA'cr; yet there 

 is great reason to fear that it may at any time break 

 out in many places around us. Several droves have 

 been driven through here, and others arc lying back 

 ready to come, all of Avhich are supposed to have been 

 bought in Massachusetts near the infected district. 



My nearest ncighl^or is an exile from Russia, is 

 highly educated, and is teacher of languages in our 

 family Ijuarding-schools. He has also been an officer 

 in t he armj'. lie says that in the earlier stages of the 

 disease it can be cured. He is to give a lecture before 

 the farmers' club in this place tomorroAV evening upon 

 the subject, and it is supposed that he is well acquaint- 

 ed with the disease and its ti-eatment. 



June 10. — The lecture was well attended, and was of 

 such a character as to convince all Avho heard it that 

 its author, (M. Schmiedeberg,) is avcU acquainted Avith 

 the disease in all its stages, and also of its treatment in 

 his native country, he liaving lieen a veterinaiy sur- 

 geon in the Prussian army, and tAvo years a student in 

 the medical schools of that country. He has been Avith 

 us a year, and avus knoAvn in the county before he came 

 here. He has gained the re.-pcct and confidence of all 

 Avho kuoAV him, and it is fully liclicA'cd that no one in 

 our countiy is better qualified to treat the disease than 

 he, he having been familiar with its treatment in Ger- 

 many. T. L. Haut. 



West Cormcall Ct., June 19, 1860. 



HORSE RAKES — MOAVING MACHINES. 



What is the price, each, of Bradley's and Whit- 

 comb's Horse Ilakcs, and of Wood's IMowing Machine ? 

 Rockville, June, 1860. J. II. Stark. 



Remarks. — We have made inquiry, and cheerfully 

 answer the questions of our correspondent, but wish to 

 say that ice hace no connection icith any agricultural 

 warehouse, and when Ave ansAver such inquiries, are 

 obliged to go purposely to get the information. 



Bradley's horse rake is $>10; Whitcomb's, with 



