572 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



on climbing vines — the hop, the Lima bean, and 

 the morning glory. He finds that they will climb 

 around a transparent glass pipe just as well as 

 anything else, and that they are warmest in their 

 embraces when the pole is Avarmer than the sur- 

 rounding air. During the day, the vine is all at- 

 tracted toward the light, but at night, especially 

 on cool nights, it turns to the pole. He learned, 

 also, that the color of the pole makes no differ- 

 ence ; the caressing instinct of the vine has no 

 prejudice against any shade. The element of con- 

 stancy is very largely developed, the vine, after it 

 has reached its pole, showing a much stronger 

 tendency to wind around it than it did before to 

 reach it. 



EXTRACTS AISTD REPLIES. 



VERMONT APPLES. 



You will please accept a few Vermont apples ; they 

 arc not sent because we think tlicy are equal to some 

 of your Massachusetts apples, but only to let you see 

 some of our native varieties. 



The dark red apple is a native of Barnet, and keeps 

 well until late in tlic spring, and is familiarly known 

 here as the "Granny Baylcy." The other two varie- 

 ties originated on the old Wliiteland farm in this town, 

 a part of which I now occupy. 



The sweet one we call the VVhiteland Winter Sweet. 

 It is a good keeping apple and a good baking apple. 



The other variety has been known here as the 

 Pumpkin apple ever since my earliest recollection. 



You can test the eating and keeping qualities, and 

 while doing so please accept the l)est wishes of 



Ryegate, Vt., Oct. 29, 1860. W. T. Whiteland. 



Remakks. — Thank you for the "Vermont apples." 

 "VVc have tested the eating qualities, but shall find it 

 somewhat difficult to test their Jceeping qualities. You 

 must depend, mainly, upon your native varieties of 

 apples for your supply. They will probably be i-elia- 

 ble when those introduced from other localities would 

 fail. _ 



SKIM MILK — APPLES FOB COWS. 



Will you, through the columns of j'our paper, in- 

 form your rcAders whether milk fed to cows is injuri- 

 ous, or not ? It is said by some to cause garget, and by 

 others to cause them to shrink in their milk. Are ap- 

 ples injurious to a cow giving milk ? 



West Orange, Nov., 1860. L. Gage. 



Remarks. — We have never heard that skimmed 

 milk fed to cows in proper quantites is injurious to 

 thcui, and we do not think it is. Some persons place 

 little value in apples as a feed for cows ; others value 

 them highly, and we are inclined to be found with the 

 latter class. A friend who keeps two or thi'ee horses, 

 and who is an excellent judge of them, told us the 

 other daj', that when his apples began to fall in Sep- 

 tember he gave his horses no more grain, but substi- 

 tuted about a peck of apples each day ; that the horses 

 had continued to perform their work as they had be- 

 fore, af.d that they continued in good flesh and spirits, 

 and that while they enjoyed the apples highly as food, 

 tliey had every appearance of doing as well as they did 

 upon the grain. 



Fed jadiciously to cows, why should they not have 

 a similar influence ? Byjud/ciouslg, we mean as grain 

 is fed, — as a rclishcr and vai'iety, but still as affording 

 valuable nutriment. 



now TO RELIEVE CHOKED CATTLE. 



Seeing a communication in your last showing a good 

 way to relieve choked cattle, I thought, for the benefit 

 of your numerous readers, I would send a remedy 

 that I have known for over twenty years. I have been 



called upon to administer it several times during that 

 period, and have never known it to fail. In some in- 

 stances where all others have proved abortive, it has 

 given the desired relief. 



Take a small quantity of powder, enough to load an 

 old-fashioned musket, do it up in some soft paper like 

 a cartridge, raise the animal's head, draw its tongue, 

 put down the cartridge as low as you can, so that the 

 creature will attempt to swallow. After a few minutes 

 let it move about, and soon the creature will be re- 

 lieved and no damage be done to it in any way, which 

 I have known done by the other remedy. 



Wancick, Nov. 5, 1860. Hervey Barber. 



WOMEN AND HARD WORK. 



Permit another New Hampshire girl to say a few 

 words in your columns — not to complain of the hard 

 tasks of fiirmers' wives and daughters — though I am 

 glad the sul)ject has been introduced ; but to state 

 briefly a fact or two in my own experience. 



I am one of those farmers' daughters who have com- 

 pleted a regular course of education ; of substantial 

 acquirements, rather than mere accomplishments. J 

 Many an hour have I spent at home upon preparatory 

 studies, while my hands were busily employed. When 

 at school my l)ills were promptly paid, nearly half by 

 myself; and I may safely say that had it not been for 

 my own exertions, I should now have only a common 

 education. Thus much has one farmer's daughter 

 been able to accomplish ; and I doubt not that many 

 others have done even more, while obtaining an edu- 

 cation. 



I do not feel called upon at present to decide wheth- 

 er I will be a farmer's wife or not ; but, were I placed 

 in such a situation, I would endeavor to have good 

 books and papers (among v/hich should be the Neio 

 England Fanner;) and I think that almost any one 

 engaged in farming can afford a few of these for him- « 

 self and family. J 



I hope your correspondent, "A. E. P.," will inform ^ 

 farmers' daughters how to get money, rather a scarce 

 article among that class ; and also reveal the secret 

 spoken of, for the benefit of those, (myself included,) 

 who are not afraid of hard work, and will not refuse a 

 man merely because he is a farmer. 



Oct., 1860. _ Sallie, ofX. II. 



cows — fall feed — APPLES. 



I wish to inquire of you, or of any who can tell me 

 through the Farmer, what ails my cows ? They had 

 l)een in rich after feed aliout two weeks, at which time 

 they all, four in number, dried up their milk full one- 

 half, in, perhaps, two or three days. They had been 

 put in the stable at night, and in the morning fed with 

 a few apples, each ; the ([uautity did not exceed eight 

 quarts to a cow. Some of my neighl)ors think that 

 the apples did the mischief; but I have been in the 

 practice of feeding my cows with apples, when I have 

 had them, and thought I knew how to do it, as the 

 results have always been favorable. Please give your 

 opinion of the cause of the evil, and also name a rem- 

 edy, if you know of one, and olilige, 



Snow's Store, Vt., Nov. 5, 18C0. Adin Bugbee. 



"WHEAT IN WARWICK, MASS. 



Sowed 30 qts. of wheat on 75 rods of ground, April 

 24, and sowed broadcast three barrels of wood ashes. 

 May 22. No other manure the present year. Planted 

 with corn and manured highly last year. Reaped Aug. 

 16 and 17, rather green, 390 bundles. Threshed 50 

 bundles Aug. 24, yielding 2 bushels, 2 qts. Making liy 

 estimation on the piece, 16^2 bushels, or 35 'i bushels 

 to the acre. Hervey Barber. 



Wanoick, Sept. 9, 1860. 



P. S. Since the above I have, with Hill's threshing 

 machine, threshed the remainder and winnowed up 

 13^3 bushels of No. 1 wheat and Vi bushels of No. 2. 

 Making 16 7-8 Inishels in all. 



Remarks. — This wheat was raised on the hard, 

 rocky soil of Warwick, where it is somewhat expen- 

 sive getting in a crop, — but it is a soil upon which 

 wheat generally flourishes well. 



