1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMEH. 



363 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



can't get the milk. 



I have a very nice heifer that has a calf some 

 three weeks old. U •> to the time the calf was 

 two weeks old we stiiiiped her night and morn- 

 ing after the calf, and as a milker she was all that 

 could be desired. Last Thursday night we found 

 that the calf had not sucked the two front teats, 

 neither were we able to get any milk from them. 

 The teats are soft, the udder is not caked, and 

 one would suppose he was going to get a big 

 stream of milk, but it shoots up into the udder — 

 and a stream not larger than a cambric needle is 

 the best one we can get. I have probed the teats 

 to the depth of five or six inches, meeting with 

 no sort of obstruction — and producing a benefit 

 that is scarcely perceptible. The teats are soft 

 and natural, and no signs of inflammation exists. 

 Such, I believe, comprise all the facts in the case ; 

 now if you will give us the cause and cure, you 

 will much oblige a constant reader of the Far- 

 mer. A. P. Slater. 



Somerset, June 25, 1861. 



Remarks. — The orifice through which the milk 

 passes is sometimes obstructed by being trodden 

 upon, or by disease. When this is the case we 

 have known a complete remedy gained by grind- 

 ing one part of a pair of scissors sharp on both 

 sides, and pushing it up the orifice in the teat 

 with care. Take hold of the teat with the fingers 

 of the left hand, and take hold of the scissors 

 with the thumb and finger of the right hand, and 

 with a quick but gentle push, cut the orifice so 

 that a free stream of milk will flow out. 



"OVERFEEDING OF STOCK." 



Farmer Sheldon, of Wilmington, remarks in 

 his letter to Mr. Proctor that he has attributed 

 the "cattle disease," so called, chiefly to overfeed- 

 ing. It may not be easy to demonstrate this theory 

 of the disease ; but it has enough of plausibility, to 

 commend it to investigation. As the learned 

 Secretary of the Board of Agriculture has devot- 

 ed many of the pages of his last report to this 

 disease, and as a large proportion of the agri- 

 cultural appropriation from the Treasury of the 

 State for the last three years, has been thus 

 applied, I respectfully suggest the topic to the 

 consideration of the Board of Agriculture, and 

 hope that Mr. Dawes, Mr. Loring, Mr. Grennell, 

 or some other equally intelligent and persever- 

 ing member of the Board, will give it their atten- 

 tion. I would not presume to dictate — but sure- 

 ly there can be no harm in the suggestion — as it is 

 said "a cat m^y look upon a king." Essex. 



June 22, 18Q1. _ 



CROPS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



The fruit crop is a total failure, with the ex- 

 ception of apples, and they are mostly bitten by 

 the curculio. Wild berries promise well ; straw- 

 berries abundant ; grass good and forward; corn 

 backward and failed to come up well in many 

 cases ; other grain and potatoes look as well as 

 usual at this season of the year. A. J. DoDGE. 



Francestoivn, N. H., June 22, 1861. 



THE CHAFFING MACHINE — EXPLANATION. 



In your reply to E. S. Fletcher, inquiries re- 

 specting the Chaffing Machine alluded to by "K. 

 O.," you suppose that a common hay or straw cut- 

 ter is meant. It is not so. The machine crush- 

 es first and then cuts very much finer than any 

 other I have ever seen. A large quantity of the 

 chaff is not much thicker than a wafer. 



It is called the Telegraph Tedder cutter No. 1, 

 made by T. H. Wilson & Co., Harrisburg, Pa,, 

 Patented in Feb., 18o8. Joseph Coe. 



Rochester, June 24, 1861. 



PLASTER ON MOWING LANDS. 



Would it be beneficial to spread plaster on 

 land immediately after the grass is taken off? 



How much would be the best quantity per 

 acre? 



In slaking the lime for the incombustible wash, 

 should it be dry when it is done slaking, or thin 

 enough to run ? A. F. Flagg. 



Sheepscoi Bridge, Me., 1861. 



Remarks. — Certainly. It would undoubtedly 

 be economical. Sow two or three hundred pounds 

 per acre. The lime should be dry. 



TO KEEP FOWLS FREE OF VERMIN. 



Throw all the refuse from your onions into the 

 hen-house, and all vermin will soon quit the 

 premises. H. 



New Britain, Ct., 1861. 



CHEMISTRY FOR THE MIIiLIOJS". 



Hydrogen. — A colorless gas, about fourteen 

 times lighter than air, used on account of its lev- 

 ity for filling balloons. Water is composed of 

 one part by weight of nitrogen to eight parts of 

 oxygen. If you simply heat a gallon of water it 

 will expand into some 1700 gallons of steam ; but 

 if you decompose a gallon of water, that is separ- 

 ate the oxygen from the hydrogen, it makes 1000 

 gallons of the former, and 2000 of the latter ; and 

 then if you mix the two and set fire to them, they 

 return back with a violent explosion, to one gal- 

 lon of water. It is quite possible to educe light 

 and heat from water, but as no economical mode 

 of doing it is yet discovered, we shall probably 

 have to resort to other materials for replenishing 

 our hearths and lamps a while longer yet, not- 

 withstanding Mr. Paine's promises to the contra- 

 ry. We do not despair, however, of important 

 discoveries being yet made in this line ; and if 

 they should be, let us not be more surprised than 

 our fathers would have been at the thought of 

 sending our errands by electricity across the 

 ocean in a second, a thing which we hope is on 

 the eve of being done. 



Iron. — This is too well known to require us to 

 speak at large here. In another place we shall 

 illustrate facts concerning it of great importance 

 to the farmer as well as to many others. 



Manganese. — This is a metal somewhat resem- 

 bling iron. Like iron it exists in most soils, like 

 that it is never found separate from other sub- 

 stances, but has to be prepared like iron by sep- 

 arating it first from other matters with which it is 

 combined. 



