556 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec- 



feeding of sheep, we find the following experi- 

 ments reported by English farmers. 



One hundred sheep were placed in a shed, and 

 ate 20 pounds of Swedish turnips each, per day ; 

 while another hundred, in the open air, ate 25 

 pounds each, and at the end of a certain period, 

 the former animals gained each 30 pounds more 

 than the latter ; plainly showing that to a certain 

 extent, warmth is a substitute for food. 



Five sheep were feed in the open air, between 

 the 21st of November and the 1st day of Decem- 

 ber. They consumed 90 pounds of food per day ; 

 at the end of this time, they weighed two pounds 

 less than when first exposed. 



Five sheep were placed under shelter at a tem- 

 perature of 49"^; consumed at first 82 pounds, 

 then 70 pounds per day, and increased in weight 

 23 pounds. 



A similiar experiment was made by another dis- 

 tinguished farmer in the same country. He placed 

 80 Leicester sheep in an open field ; they con- 

 sumed 50 baskets of cut turnips per day, besides 

 oil cake. On putting them into a shed, they were 

 immediately able to consume only 30 baskets, 

 and soon after but 25, being only one-half the 

 quantity required before ; and yet they fattened 

 as rapidly as when eating the largest quantity. 



Every farmer expects that his cattle will have 

 keen appetites in cold weather, but few probably 

 know exactly how much more fodder they con- 

 sume with the mercury at zero, than when it 

 stands at some sixty degrees above that point. 

 We therefore invite practical farmers to write out 

 for our columns their opinions and experiments 

 on the effect of temperature in feeding stock, and 

 other topics relating to this important subject. 



DKAIlSr TILE— NEW STYLE OP. 



There is now on exhibition at our office a new 

 kind of drain tile, made by mixing Rosendale ce- 

 ment with sand, in sufficient quantities to leave it 

 porous for the admission of water ; and we are 

 surprised to find this tile so very strong, contain- 

 ing so large a proportion of sand. The discoverer 

 of this process has patented it, and will be pre- 

 pared at an early date to supply orders. Of course, 

 tile made in this way requires no baking, and as 

 Rosendale cement is now sold at $1 10 per bar- 

 rel, capable of tempering eleven barrels of mate- 

 rial for tile making, the tile is very cheap. Li a 

 few days after being made, it becomes extremely 

 hard, and the longer it remains in the soil, the 

 stronger it will be. When both ends are stopped, 

 and it has been immersed in a pail of water, it 

 fills itself in a few seconds. This promises to be 

 a great improvement in districts where a suitable 

 kind of clay for tile making, or the necessary fuel, 

 cannot readily be procured. — Working Farmer. 



SuBsoiLiNG vs. Drought. — We have had an 

 opportunity during the late season, of observing 

 the benefits of subsoiling on corn crops. The 



drought has been very severe, and subsoiled fields 

 can be picked out as far as they can be seen, ex- 

 hibiting corn in full vigor ; while on shallow- 

 plowed land the crops were scarcely worth the 

 care necessary to maintain them. Where a lifting 

 subsoil plow of the smaller size has been used in 

 place of the hand hoe, and in place of the small 

 mould-board plow, in the cultivation of corn, the 

 crop has been saved, even where drought most 

 prevailed. How long will it take our farmers to 

 learn that subsoiled land never suffers from 

 drought ? — Working Farm.er. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE BIRDS OF WEW ENGLAND— No. 5. 



BUZZARDS. 



Red-tailed Buzzard — Common Buzzard — Roush-legged Buz- 

 zard — Black Buzzard — Red-shouldered Buzzard — Winter 

 Buzzard — Marsh Hawk, or Harrier. 



The fifth and last sub-family of the Falconidce, 

 the Buzzards, {Buteoninaj, or Circince of some 

 authors,) embraces those birds of the Falcon 

 tribe characterized by their slothful and inactive 

 habits, comparatively weak bills, feet and claws, 

 a softer and more downy plumage, and a rather 

 heavier form than most others of this extensive 

 family. Their flight is graceful and protracted, 

 generally performed in sweeping circles ; and 

 several of the species delight in soaring to im- 

 mense heights, apparently enjoying the coolness 

 of the upper atmosphere, yet will remain perched 

 for hours, in idleness, until forced to exertion by 

 the calls of hunger. They breed in trees, gener- 

 ally in the interior of forests, many of the spe- 

 cies retiring to high northern latitudes during the 

 period of incubation. Their chief subsistence con- 

 sists of such humble prey as small or wound- 

 ed bird?, the smaller mammalia and reptiles, 

 and when forced by hunger, sometimes prey upon 

 the poultry in winter and early spring ; but from 

 the multitudes of Arvicola;, or field-mice, they 

 destroy, are rather beneficial to the farmer than 

 otherwise. The Buzzards are allied in form to 

 the Eagles on the one hand, and on the other 

 approach the Owls in some of their characteris- 

 tics. All undergo great changes of plumage, and 

 one or two species are somewhat nocturnal. The 

 New England genera that we shall recognize are 

 Buteo and Circvs. 



The Red-tailed Buzzard, {Buteo horealis, 

 Swain,) a species peculiar to America, inhabits 

 the United States from Canada to Florida and 

 Mexico, and far to the westward, and is even 

 found as far north as the 58th degree of latitude. 

 It frequently breeds in the forests of New Eng- 

 land, but is said to be more abundant in the 

 Southern States, great numbers retiring from the 

 higher latitudes at the approach of winter to 

 these milder regions. From its occasional dep- 

 redations upon the poultry in winter and early 

 spring, when its more common diet of birds, rab- 

 bits, squirrels, meadow mice and reptiles, is not 

 easily obtained, it is generally well known as the 

 Hen Ilavi'k, Bed-tailed Hau'k, &c. It is one of 

 the most active of the Buzzards, being somewhat 

 allied to the true Hawks and Falcons, and seems 

 to delight in soaring in the higher regions of the 

 air in fine weather, rising until it is lost to view 

 amid the fleecy clouds, or clear blue of the sky ; 



