2o4 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



OATS FOR SHEEP. 



A correspondent inquires if oats ■will injure 

 sheep, and you ask some of your subscribers to 

 answer the question. 



I can assure him that they will not, if fed to 

 them properly. It is not safe to give sheep too 

 much grain of any kind when you commence 

 feeding them, but after they are accustomed to 

 eating it there is no danger. I have kept sheep 

 for thirty years, and always fed more or less oats. 

 Have wintered 400 the present winter, and have 

 not fed the"> any hay until since the middle of 

 March, 'i'heir feed has been oats unthrashed, 

 once a day, oat straw once and corn fodder once, 

 and they have done well. My last spring lambs 

 I have fed on hay. H. 



Newbury, Vt., 1861. _ 



SHEEP, "WITH COLDS OR INFLUENZA. 



Will you or some of your correspondents in- 

 form me of a cure for sheep that are troubled 

 with a severe cold or influenza ? The snow in 

 January and February accumulated in my yard, 

 higher than the floor to my shed, and having a 

 heavy rain and thaw about the middle of Februa- 

 ry, the water ran into the shed, making it very 

 wet, and nearly all of my sheep took a cold or in- 

 fluenza. Some have nearly recovered — two have 

 died — several others discharge freely from the 

 nose, and lose flesh. The symptoms are a thin, 

 mucous discharge from the nose and eyes. As 

 the disease advances they become dull, eat but 

 little, stagger in walking, grate their teeth and 

 droop their ears. N. B. 



Haddam, Vt., March 21, 1861. 



Remarks. — Much cannot be done for the poor 

 animals by administering medicine. A warm 

 drink made of ginger, or something of that kind, 

 may be given, or if the bowels need motion, 

 something to accomplish this may be used. Most 

 that can be done is to furnish them with a warm, 

 dry place, where they can be quiet, and to feed 

 them on warm food, such as a bran mash, oats or 

 cracked corn soaked in hot water, or a little sweet 

 hay soaked in the same manner. We have had 

 considerable experience with sheep, and find that 

 these opinions are sustained by the best books on 

 the subject. We have referred to them, hoping 

 to find something definite to off'er, but cannot. 



WHITE PINE SEED. 



Will you inform me the best way to seed land 

 with white pine ; how much seed per acre, where 

 can it be obtained, &c. Any information in re- 

 gard to this will be thankfully received. 



Auburn, N. H., 1861. CiiAS. C. Grant. 



Remarks. — Will some correspondent having 

 the knowledge impart it to brother Grant through 

 the Farmer "^ 



oats and beans. 

 Oats and beans, two or three parts of the for- 

 mer to one of the latter, ground, make good feed 

 for cows. A neighbor says that beans are a pre- 

 ventive and a remedy for the garget. Farmers, 

 try the above mixture. I will warrant it beneficial. 



soiling cows. 



Will you inform me through your paper how 

 to manage in feeding cows in the barn, in sum- 

 mer ? shall I mow grass for them, or raise some 

 other green crop ? If a crop, what kind ? 



Enjield, Conn., 1861. A Subscriber. 



Remarks. — Tliere is nothing, in our opinion, 

 equal to good pasture for cows — but as that can- 

 not always be had, we must resort to some other 

 mode of feeding to "help out." This may be 

 done by keeping the cow's in the barn ever)' other 

 day, or by feeding them plentifully for two or 

 three hours each morning, and turn them out for 

 air and exercise during the rest of the day. For 

 this purpose, a crop of early clover or oats is 

 good ; then follow with millet, and corn sown 

 thickly for the purpose. 



bee hives. 



Will you, or some of your subscribers, favor 

 me through your columns with the information 

 where the bee hive invented by Rev. L. L, Lang- 

 stroth can be found, and if it is a good one, — if 

 not, whose is the best ? A Subscriber. 



Worcester County, April 3, 1861. 



Remarks. — George T. Angell, 46 Washing- 

 ton Street, Boston, will supply you with Lang- 

 stroth's hive. Mr. R, S. Torrey, of Bangor, Me., 

 has a hive which we also think highly of. 



vegetable CUTTER. 



I saw in the Farmer for March an article on 

 root or vegetable cutters ; the writer speaks of 

 one which has not been in the market yet, which 

 he thinks is preferable to others on account of 

 its cleansing the roots by a revolving cylinder 

 and separating the dirt from the roots. Now, 

 can the editor or the writer of this article inform 

 me where this machine can be obtained, and at 

 what price. George Putnam. 



Andover, April, 1861. 



For the Ketc England Farmer. 

 BEE CULTURE. 



Mr. Editor : — There is one branch of farming 

 which is very much neglected, and which is not 

 only the most interesting and instructive but the 

 most profitable. I refer to the keeping of bees. 

 There is no farmer, however much his time may 

 be occupied, but could attend to an apiary with 

 from two to ten hives of bees, and for his labor, 

 (I will not say labor, for it is only recreation,) he 

 will get from 20 to 40 lbs. of honey from each 

 hive. 



The great objection to keeping bees has been, 

 the want of a proper hive to enable one to feed 

 his bees if the season should prove unfavorable, 

 and to so ventilate the hive, that the bees may 

 be kept in a healthy state and the comb free from 

 frost and ice. 



These difficulties are completely obviated by a 

 very simple hive invented by R. S. Toruey, of 

 Bangor, Me. His hive is so constructed that a 

 perfect ventilation is kept up, and the apiariaa 



