246 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Mat 



EXTRACTS AND EEPLIES. 

 GRASS SEED — TURNIPS — CARROTS — HORSE AIL. 



When i8 the best time to sow grass seed ? 

 There was a general complaint among farmers the 

 past season, about their grass seed not catching 

 well, on account of the dry weather. I would 

 like to know which would be the surest way on a 

 piece of land that was sown down to grass seed 

 last year and did not catch, — to plow it up and 

 sow with grais, or sow it on the land? 



Are turnips a profitable crop? I have tried 

 the ruta baga turnip for some years past, and I 

 think I can get more profit on the same number 

 of rods in turnips than any other crop, but I can- 

 not raise half a crop of anything else the next 

 year with all the manure I can produce. If they 

 are as exhausting to the soil as it appears, I would 

 like to know it. 



TURNIPS FOR CATTLE. 



I would like to inquire if turnips are good for 

 cows that give milk, and if you can fat cattle on 

 them ? 



CARROTS FOR THE HORSE AIL. 



I have a young horse that I have kept frequent- 

 ly on hay, grain and potatoes, and as the horse 

 ail is about this spring, I noticed a week ago, 

 that my horse had it coming on ; he had a cough 

 and all the other symptoms of it; I went to feed- 

 ing him on carrots and his cough ceased and I 

 have not seen any symptoms of it since. If car- 

 rots will prevent it, I would like to know it. 



I have, also, a young horse that I do not work 

 that is troubled with worms. If you can tell me 

 of any cure for them, you will oblige me very 

 much. S. Hyde. 



Vermont, 1861. 



Remarks. — It will be best to plow the land, 

 manure a little if possible, and sow grass seed 

 with some grain. 



Many people think turnips a profitable crop — 

 we have no doubt they are so, when skilfully cul- 

 tivated. They are excellent for cattle, making a 

 grateful change from dry fodder. They should be 

 fed to milch cows sparingly, and always just after 

 they are milked. Ruta bagas are considered an 

 exhausting crop, and should be followed by some 

 hoed crop well manured. We have no doubt but 

 carrots would be highly useful for a horse sick 

 with "horse ail," but have never known it pre- 

 scribed as a medicine. 



For the other trouble you mention, give the 

 horse a gill of clean wood ashes in cut feed, 

 twice a week for two weeks. 



1 



PINE LEAVES AND SEA-WEED. 



I would be pleased to know if the debris of our 

 pine forests is a suitable material to form a por- 

 tion of the manure heap or compost heap. 



I have used it myself for eight or ten years as 

 a bedding for my horse and cow, and find it a 

 good absorbent and easily decomposed, but some 

 of my neighbors think the jjitchy substance inju- 

 rious to the growth of grass or other vegetables, 

 and ])r(ffr the use of sea-weed. I would like to 

 know its chemical components, and will furnish 



any necessary quantity of either or both for that 

 purpose. My own experience leads me to con- 

 clude the pine needles to be decidedly the best, 

 and as there is any quantity of this material ia 

 our vicinity, it would sensibly benefit our farming 

 interest to know the facts in this case. 



Nathan Briggs. 



Remarks. — We know of no means of giving 

 you the precise facts you desire. We should cer- 

 tainly use a large amount of pine leaves, if we 

 could get them cheaply. What the comparative 

 value of such leaves and sea-weed is, we have no 

 means of knowing. 



VERMIN ON COLTS — SAWDUST AS BEDDING. 



Will you, or some of your numerous subscri- 

 bers to the Farmer, inform me of the best meth- 

 od to exterminate lice upon colts. I have tried 

 various remedies, but have not as yet been quite 

 successful, although I have to some extent. Also, 

 will you inform me what your opinion is as to the 

 practice of using sawdust for bedding for cattle. 

 I have used it, more or less, for two years past ; 

 but I find my manure heaps heat badly, and un- 

 less I take pains to spread it about often in my 

 cellar it is apt to burn. Will it injure the ma- 

 nure materially if it simply heats but does not 

 burn ? A Subscriber. 



East Princeton, April, 1861. 



Remarks. — For your colt try the new prepara- 

 tion of tobacco, sold by Fisher & Co., 23 Central 

 Wharf, Boston. 



Sawdust is undoubtedly useful as bedding for 

 cattle. A slight heating accelerates decomposi- 

 tion without at all injuring the manure. 



guano and COMPOSTS FOR GARDENING. 



Having been a reader of your valuable paper 

 for a number of years, and having undertaken for 

 three years paft to do something at gardening, 

 and calculating to continue in that line of busi- 

 ness, I wish you would inform me whether the Pe- 

 ruvian guano is considered a profitable fertilizer 

 for a garden. Is it good for the raising of onions, 

 beets, carrots, cabbages, and other kinds of gar- 

 den sauce ? If so, how best applied ? 



S. Acworth, N. II., 1861. Joseph Ball. 



Remarks. — We have no doubt that Peruvian 

 guano may be profitably used, if it can be pur- 

 chased for $40 per ton. At the present price, 

 $65, we do not believe it can be. You may find 

 several recipes in the monthly Farmer, since Jan- 

 uary, for making special composts for the garden, 

 that will be excellent. Bridgman's Gardener's 

 Assistant will be a good book for you. 



CHINESE SUGAR CANE. 



I wish to inquire if the Chinese sugar cane 

 can be raised in this State, and if so, would it be 

 profitable ? I have been in Wisconsin for the 

 last five years, where I saw it raised, and the pro- 

 cess of making mohsses from it; they planted it 

 about the 201 h of May, and by the fiVst of Sep- 

 tember it was ready for the sugar mill. They 



