1861. 



NEW ENGLAND PARMEH. 



251 



them into his pasture to be the sport of dogs, and 

 in a few days be grieved and vexed by finding the 

 m-angled carcass of some of his most choice 

 lambs, or ewes, others wounded, and the remain- 

 der frightened, and fled to parts unknown ? Af- 

 ter such scenes have been enacted among them, 

 the fences offer but little resistance to their flight, 

 and they might as well be put under the charge 

 of the drover, and marched off" to the shambles 

 at once. The law that awards the damage done 

 to our sheep, is not the thing. We wish to have 

 secured to us the privilege to keep our sheep, for 

 the profit in the business. The law must prohib- 

 it dogs from running at large, to secure a safe- 

 guard to sheep husbandry. 



Such a law is demanded. It would injure no 

 man. If our fancy men wish to select their 

 companions from the canine race, and keep com- 

 pany with dogs, let them provide safe quarters 

 for them where they will do no one any damage. 

 If we keep a pig, or a cow, we must keep them 

 within our own inclosure. But dogs may be kept 

 without number, to go wheresoever they list ; and 

 thus prevent one of the most profitable and in- 

 teresting branches of husbandry in our country. 

 This ought not to be. If I wish to keep sheep, 

 I must flee back to the hills of Vermont, or New 

 Hampshire, to get out of the way of the dogs. 

 It is not entirely safe there ; but altogether out 

 of the question here. Where is our remedy ? 

 We want something done in this direction. 



A. Philbrook. 



East Saugus, March, 1861. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



SOWING HEEDS GRASS SEED WITHOUT A GRAIN 

 CROP. 



I saw an inquiry in the Farmer whether herds 

 grass would do well without a grain crop. I have 

 sowed herds grass in this way two years, and 

 raised a ton and a half, or two tons to the acre, 

 on ground that had not been manured. It wants 

 to be sowed the last of April, or the first of May. 

 It will be in the blow the last of August. I have 

 sowed Hungarian grass the past season. I sowed 

 one piece of Hungarian, and stocked with herds 

 grass. It yielded three or four tons to the acre. 

 The herds grass took well ; headed out a good 

 deal of it. I sowed a piece of wheat and stocked 

 it ; it did not catch a quarter as well. 



Chester S. Allen. 



Goshen, Vt., April, 1861. 



SNOW ON A CRANBERRY MEADOW. 



Will cranberries succeed on a low, muck swamp, 

 where the snow lies until the first of May, and 

 does not blow off in winter ? Will the snow ly- 

 ing on so long answer the purpose of flowing? 

 William F. Gibson. 



Ryegate, Vt., April, 1861. 



Kemarks. — If the snow falls upon the plants 

 before severe cold weather sets in, remains until 

 the first of May, and does not settle down into 

 ice, we think it must perfectly protect the plants 

 through the winter. This will not, however, ren- 

 der flowage unnecessary in June, to kill the worm, 

 if the plants should be attacked by it. 



CRANBERRY PLANTS. 



What time is the best to transplant cranberry 

 plants ? Where is the best place to procure 

 them ? How long will it do to keep them out of 

 the ground, as I want to carry them about eleven 

 hundred miles ? What is the general price per 

 hundred ? N. P. 



North Providence, 1861. 



Remarks. — Transplant in April or May, or 

 even later, if they were taken up before the leaves 

 had started. They abound in this State and Con- 

 necticut, and can be procured in many places. 

 We cannot refer you to an individual who makes 

 it a business to sell plants. If the plants are 

 well packed in moss, and kept damp, they may be 

 safely kept out of the ground for several weeks. 



ABOUT dissolving BONES. 



In the March number I saw two statements for 

 dissolving bones ; one with ashes, and the other 

 with sulphuric acid. I would like to know the 

 cost of sulphuric acid per pound, what the 

 mixture is worth after being prepared, and what 

 it is worth dissolved with ashes. I should like 

 to know the value of carrots, mangolds, round 

 and Pennsylvania turnips, compared with pota- 

 toes, to feed to hogs in the winter. 



Hardvoick, Vt., April. Inquirer. 



Remarks. — Sulphuric acid sells at three or 

 four cents per pound. We cannot give you the 

 comparative values you inquire for. 



A GOOD WHEAT CROP. 



Horace CoUamore, Esq., of Pembroke, Mass., 

 raised the last season fifty-four bushels of prime 

 Java wheat on one and a half acres of land. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ARE OATS INJURIOUS TO SHEEP P 



Messrs. Editors: — Perhaps I cannot better 

 answer this inquiry, made by a correspondeut in 

 a late number of the M'eekly Farmer, than by giv- 

 ing a brief account of my method of feeding sheep 

 at this season of the year. It is very essential 

 that sheep should receive extra care and keeping 

 during the months of March and April, or until 

 the growth of grass ; especially such sheep as are 

 expected and desired to raise lambs. It has been 

 my practice to feed sheep upon oats, or a mixture 

 of oats and beans in the proportion of two and 

 one. The amount of feed is from ten to twelve 

 quarts of oats, unground, to thirty-three sheep 

 per day ; or six or eight quarts of the mixture to 

 the same number. I commence feeding about 

 the first of March, and continue it until the sh'^ep 

 leave the barn. This amount of grain, together 

 with a sufficiency of good hay, I think sufficient. 



The result is, my sheen are kept in good con- 

 dition ; the lambs come' trong and remain so, at- 

 tended with no losses, .f properly sheltered and 

 attended to, of sheep/ r lambs. Such has been 

 my experience. Should be glad to learn the ex- 

 perience of others. I. W. Sanborn. 



^' The Meadows," Lyndon, Vt., 1861. 



