1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



235 



no nourishment, he would soon be as much below 

 par as he was above, after the first drink. There- 

 fore, I say, brother farmers, make your own ma- 

 nure, and apply it in the way and time when you 

 will receive the most benefit. 



Stockbridge, 1861. S. Byington. 



EXTRACTS AW^D KEPLIES. 

 HATCHING CHICKENS. 



To what degree of temperature is it necessary 

 the atmosphere should be raised to correspond 

 with the heat of a hen's body while she sets ? or 

 in other words, to what temperature, (Fahrenheit,) 

 is it generally thought necessary to raise the air 

 by artificial means to hatch an egg P Secondly, 

 is there, at present, any establishment carrying 

 on the business of hatching chickens artificially ? 

 And if so, with what success is it done, and if 

 not, what difhculties or objections are there to 

 discourage such an undertaking. 



Walpole, March, 1861. J. R. Sanborn. 



Remarks. — We cannot tell, precisely. Take 

 a small thermometer and place it under a sitting 

 hen, and you may easily learn. We know of no 

 establishment carrying on the hatching business. 

 A gentleman somewhere West recently attempted 

 it, and after sinking two hundred dollars, states 

 that he abandoned the enterprise. 



MANURES — AND A DIFFICULTY. 



I am going to farming for myself, this year, and 

 as the hay was mostly sold off from my place last 

 year, I have got to buy manure. 



The Baker and Jarvis Island guano is adver- 

 tised in your paper, I would like to know if it is 

 as profitable to buy as any? The "Muck Man- 

 ual" speaks of muck and potash as a valuable ma- 

 nure. Pearlash is cheaper here than potash — will 

 it do as well ? 



A part of my land has a dark, moist, heavy 

 loam, and some of it a light and somewhat sandy 

 loam. I intend to make a few experiments, and 

 will give you an account of them hereafer, if you 

 would like. Abner L. Butterfield. 



West Dummerston, Vt., 1861. 



Remarks. — No questions are more difficult for 

 us to answer than those which i-elate to manures. 

 They are used under so many different circum- 

 stances, and in many instances with so little 

 skill, that what gives a satisfactory result in one 

 case is equally unsatisfactory in another. There 

 is one infallible rule, however, which is of uni- 

 versal application, viz. : Plant corn on good land, 

 and apply not less than six cords of manure to 

 the acre — which would be eighteen ox-loads, of 

 about thirty-Jive bushels each. To this should 

 be added to the hill, while planting, a small hand- 

 ful of guano made from the hen-droppings, or 

 some other domestic fertilizer, recipes for mak- 

 ing which we have already given, and which every 

 farmer may have. We have no doubt but that 

 American guano, superphosphate, potash, pearl- 

 ash, plaster, &c., may be profitable when moder- 



ately and judiciously used. After liberal manur- 

 ing, howevei-, there is nothing we should more 

 earnestly recommend, than a handful of wood 

 ashes, either leached or unleached, applied to the 

 hill at the first hoeing. 



If a farmer v/ishes to plant an acre and a half 

 with corn, and has but eighteen loads of manure, 

 he will be very likely to get more corn by apply- 

 ing all the manure to one acre, than by applying 

 it to the whole. Sow the half acre with oats, and 

 turn them under as manure. 



A GOOD washing FLUID. 



I noticed in a recent Farmer an inquiry for a 

 washing fluid; I will give one which my wife 

 has thoroughly tested, and finds that it will save 

 much of the labor of washing — to say nothing of 

 the saving in other matters, such as "strained 

 backs," "cross words," "short dinners," &c, com- 

 mon to washing days. 



Take one pint spirits of turpentine, one pint of 

 aloohol, two ounces of hartshorn, one ounce of 

 gum camphor ; shake well together ; then to one 

 quart soft soap add three table spoonfuls of this 

 mixture. Wet the clothes first, then soap them 

 with the mixture, lay them in a tub, and pour 

 warm water on them ; let them remain half an 

 hour or more, then wring them out of that water, 

 soap them again and put on to boil ; then finish 

 by rinsing, &c. c. M. F. 



Cabot, Vt., March, 1861. 



Remarks. — Mrs. "Experience" will please ob- 

 serve the above, and be comforted. 



seeding without a grain crop. 



I would like to inquire whether it would be 

 profitable to seed down land with herdsgrass, 

 clover and red-top without grain, and if I should 

 get a crop of hay the first year ; and if so, should 

 the seed be sown early or late in spring? 



Andover, N. IL, March, 1861. A Farmer. 



Remarks. — By sowing early, a light crop might 

 be obtained, if the season proved a moist one. 



poultry raising by a little boy. 



I read the account of poultry raising by Mr. 

 "J. B.," in the Farmer of last week. I send you 

 the account I kept with my Black Spanish fowls 

 from Jan. 1, 1860 to Jan. 1, 1861, I had 8 hens 

 and 1 rooster. During the year I bought 7^ 

 bushels of corn at $1,00; meal and meat 7o cts.; 

 father gives me the refuse from the kitchen. In 

 the course of the year my hens have laid 70§ 

 dozen eggs, that I sold to father, charging him 

 the price each week that you put down in the 

 Farmer. My eggs come to $13,79. I raised 8 

 fowls that 1 sold for $4,00, and 7 more which I 

 keep. The account will be something like this : 



Cost of keeping 9 fowls one year $8,00 



E^jgs they have laid " 13,79 



Chickens sold 4,00 



Chickens kept 3,50 



this leaves $13,29 in favor of the fowls. 



Maiden, Feb., 1861. C. 0. Gwynneth, 



10 years old. 



