1861. 



NEAV ENGLAND FARMER. 



331 



For the New England Farmer. 



BEDDINO- CATTLE AT NIGHT— CATTLE 

 DISEASE— THE ■WAR— CROPS. 



Mr. Editor: — The annexed letter from the 

 ^'Wilmington farmer," written in reply to an in- 

 quiry about bedding of cattle, will sufficiently ex- 

 plain itself, and be instructive to farmers gener- 

 ally. If you should think proper to use it in any 

 \vay, it is at your service ; only return the origi- 

 nal to me by mail. I know no man better quali- 

 fied to express an opinion on this question than 

 friend Sheldon. As to the other opinions he ex- 

 presses, they will be valued according to the 

 tastes of the readers ; they accord with my no- 

 tions. John W. Proctor. 



South Danvers, June 6, 1861. 



Wilmington, June 5, 1861. 



Friend Proctor: — I thank you for your kind 

 and friendly criticism on my statement at a dis- 

 cussion at the State House, that I had rather my 

 oxen would travel twenty miles a day and have a 

 good bed of litter or straw at night, than to travel 

 only fifteen miles per day, and be made to lie on 

 a naked floor. 



Now I say to you, what I am willing to say to 

 all men, and it is the result of long experience, it 

 is my rule in cold weather to bed my working 

 oxen with straw or poor meadow hay ; when there 

 is no danger of freezing, sand or loam are as good ; 

 these should be made smooth every night, and 

 sometimes in hot weather sprinkled with water. 



Men and oxen are made of flesh, blood, bone 

 and sinew ; both derive growth and strength from 

 the same mother earth ; both drink at the same 

 spring of water, and both live under the govern- 

 ment of the same God. O, that man would treat 

 with kindness the faithful ox, that labors through 

 life to do his master's will, and at the end gives 

 himself up to feed the human family. 



It might be some satisfaction to you if I should 

 give some proofs in favor of my opinion. In 

 1835, I had in my employ in Boston 120 working 

 oxen ; in the summer months they travelled nine- 

 teen miles per day, beside turning at each end, 

 which made in all twenty miles ; they had their 

 bed made every night. Now can as many oxen 

 be found that will travel fifteen miles per day on 

 pavements, lie on a naked floor, and stand it 

 through the summer months ? I have, too often, 

 seen the skin off and blood flowing, even from 

 near the stifle joint, caused by the ox lying on 

 the bare floor ! I know, from experiment, the 

 cow will give more milk with straw for a bed than 

 with a hard floor, other things being equal. Do 

 you think Washington could have rested quietly 

 at night, if he had thought the noble horse that 

 served him in the battle of the day was compelled 

 to try to rest his bended knee on a hard floor ? I 

 hope that Banks, Butler and other officers serv- 

 ing in the glorious cause of our country, have too 

 much feeling for the horse to allow him to lie on a 

 hard floor. 



In regard to your inquiries about the cattle 

 disease, I have had but one mind about it. I 

 think it originated in over feeding, and if what 

 we have suffered from it will teach men of Mas- 

 sachusetts to refrain from over feeding and from 

 going to Europe to buy cattle at ten times their 



worth, we shall have nothing to fear from the 

 disease. 



As to the war, I look at the prospect of the 

 country as better than it has been for some years 

 past. During Pierce's administration the coun- 

 try received a great national bruise ; under Bu- 

 chanan it matured to a great national sore ; at 

 Lincoln's election it broke out. Wise men at 

 Washington are taking every wise measure they 

 can to probe this great ulcer, and being backed 

 up by Union-lovers and the wealth of the coun- 

 try, I fear not but before Lincoln's term expires, 

 this sore will be purified and healing. 



I believe it the duty of every farmer to plant 

 such things as his land is suitable for, so long 

 as manure can be found about his premises. Af- 

 ter the farmers have planted and cultivated all 

 they can with best skill and judgment, (in an- 

 swer to your inquiry concerning the same,) I say 

 let them come together in the name of an agricul- 

 tural society and cattle show, and exhibit their 

 flocks, the products of the earth, such as He who 

 governs all things has blessed them with, and 

 hold a day of rejoicing. God demands it of us. 

 Be sure and waste no powder on the Fourth of 

 July ! Yours truly, Asa G. Sheldon. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE BIRDS OP NEW ENGLAND— No. 13. 



WARBLERS. 



Water Thrush— Golden Crowned Thrush or Oven Bird— Amer- 

 ican Tit Lark — Bluebird. 



In the extensive and vefy interesting family 

 Sylviadce, to which we have now arrived, we 

 meet a very numerous group of small but exceed- 

 ingly active and interesting species. They are 

 nearly all migratory, some passing even from 

 tropical countries where they spend the winter, 

 to high northern latitudes to pass the breeding 

 season, and are thus transient visitors in New 

 England, while a few only are residents, and 

 the majority only spend with us the warm sea- 

 son of summer. Subsisting almost wholly upon 

 insect food, no mischievous depredations on the 

 products of the agriculturist can be laid to their 

 charge ; many, and even most of the species, 

 possess agreeable songs, and none are guilty of 

 any misdemeanors that need to remove them from 

 our affections. Although there are strong mutu- 

 al resemblances attaching to all the members of 

 this large group, there is yet a great diversity in 

 the peculiar habits of different species, and conse- 

 quent modifications of form, upon which are 

 based the numerous subdivisions. 



In the genus Seiunis of Swainson are found 

 several American birds that exhibit in their econ- 

 omy a curious combination of some of the char- 

 acteristics of the Thrushes and Warblers, with 

 each of which they are often classed, and also are 

 much allied to the Larks (Anthi) and the Wag- 

 tails of Europe, thus strongly resembling in gen- 

 eral characters the Motacillance, under which 

 sub-family they are now noticed. 



The Water Thrush, (Seiunis aquaticus, 

 Swain.,) or New York Aquatic Thrush, is not a 

 very numerous species in New England, yet is 

 frequently met with in May, while migrating gen- 

 erally near streams or ponds of water ; it at all 

 times exhibits a peculiar partiality for watery sit- 



