88 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



I cut several cords early in September, which has 

 not sprouted until this day, while wood cut on 

 the same slope in winter sent up sprouts five and 

 six feet the first year after being cut. My meth- 

 od of managing woodland is to thin out all the 

 small trees after they get to be of considerable size, 

 [What size is considerable ? What diameter ? 

 Ed. ?] and leave the main ones to grow ; by this 

 process I find the timber makes very fast, and 

 when I cut clean, if there are any thrifty trees I 

 leave them until the wood is ready to cut again. 

 By this mode of procedure I get large and tall 

 timber. For instance, twenty or twenty-five years 

 ago, I left on an acre thirty or forty chestnut 

 trees from six to eight inches through ; and they 

 are now from fifty to seventy feet high, and from 

 twenty to thirty inches in diameter. Twenty-one 

 years ago I set about twenty-five rods of board 

 and post fence. I cut the posts and peeled them 

 the year before. I set the fence as soon as they 

 were perfectly dry, the butt ends all in the 

 ground. The posts wei-e from six to eight inches 

 in diameter and are nearly all standing now. The 

 soil where the fence was built is gravel. 



Spencer Byington. 

 Stockhridge, Jan., 1861. 



now TO KILL VERMIN ON CATTLE. 



Having noticed articles in the leading agricul- 

 tural journals in relation to killing lice on cattle, 

 many of which I have tried with little effect, I 

 propose to add another to the list for the benefit 

 of those not already acquainted with it, and which 

 I have tried with entire satisfactory results, in 

 every instance where I have used it. Take poke 

 root, sometimes called blue dragon or hellebore, 

 and boil enough to get a very strong tea or wash, 

 and apply it as a wash thoroughly, and it will 

 surely kill every one of the vermin, and without 

 the least detriment to cattle. One good applica- 

 tion is sufl[icient, Silas Mason. 



Hartwellville, Vi. 



THE concord GRAPE. 



Can the Concord grape be relied upon in this 

 latitude (44^°) without winter protection ? I am 

 anxious to raise grapes, and I want the best, if I 

 can find them ? L. Varney. 



Bloomfield, C. IF., 12ih Mo., 6th, 1860. 



Remarks. — We do not think you would be 

 able to cultivate the Concord grape vine in your 

 locality without winter pi-otection, and unless 

 vegetation is very rapid during the summer 

 months, the fruit would not ripen even if the 

 vines came through the winter in perfection. 

 Still, if you raise Indian corn in your climate, you 

 may get the Concord grape. 



KING PHILIP corn. 



Have you the King Philip corn, and the im- 

 proved King Philip corn ? What is the price of 

 each, per bushel, and for smaller quantities ? 

 What is the difference in the time of ripening, 

 and in the yield ? Benjamin Doe. 



New Market, N. H., Dec, 1860. 



Remarks. — The corn inquired for is usually 

 for sale at the seed stores for about $2 per bushel 



-perhaps at the rate of $2,50 or $3 in small 

 quantities. We cannot answer the second ques- 

 tion. 



cattle disease. 



How is the cattle disease ? I have been led to 

 believe that you have not had any fresh cases 

 since July last, as you are silent on the subject in 

 your monthly. But other indications induce me 

 to suppose that new cases occurred last fall and 

 this winter. Please give us the facts as you 

 know them. T. H. Collins. 



Locust Lavm, New Albany, Ind., Jan., 1860. 



Remarks, — There were several new cases of 

 the "cattle disease," last fall, and as soon as they 

 were discovered the sick animals were either iso- 

 lated or immediately killed. The decided action 

 of the Commissioners undoubtedly checked the 

 disease and prevented its spreading over the 

 country. There are now, happily, no recent cases 

 of the disease in our knowledge. 



PLANTING potatoes IN THE FALL. 



I would inquire through the Farmer if any one 

 has planted potatoes in the fall, and covered 

 them with straw or sea drift, with success ? I 

 think I saw something to that effect in some pa- 

 per. N. Y. Hall. 



Deering, N. E., Dec, 1860. 



horse cart. 

 Can you give a good drawing or description for 

 a horse cart ? Chester Baker. 



Amherst, Mass., 1860. 



Remarks. — When we can obtain a good illus- 

 tration of a good horse cart, we will give it in the 

 Farmer. 



A fine crop of oats and ■wheat. 



Mr. William Hanson, of Barre, Vt., raised 

 the past season, 1450 bushels of oats on 23 acres, 

 twenty acres of which was green sward. He 

 also raised 60 bushels of wheat on 1^ acres. 



Barre, Vt., Dec, 1860. 



For the Netp England Farmer. 

 A PEOLIPIC BOBEB. 



The 18th of the 6th month, while walking near 

 an elder-bush in one corner of my garden, I dis- 

 covered signs of a borer near a thrifty sprout of 

 this year's growth. On examination, I found one 

 had entered about fifteen inches from the ground, 

 and had devoured the pith upwards about thirteen 

 inches, where I found him. The insect was an 

 inch and a quarter long, of a greenish color, 

 spotted with black. It had 16 legs — 6 black, 

 pointed ones near the head, and 10 posterior ones 

 of the color of the body, which appeared to be 

 concave on the under side. It could crawl back- 

 wards or forwards equally well. I placed a piece 

 of the bush with the worm in it, under a glass, 

 and in about two weeks found it dead, but it had 

 left in the piece of wood thirty-six eggs. 



Was this the apple tree borer ? 



Bloomjield, C. W., 1860, L. Varnet. 



