1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



437 



till it thaws, will not be essentially injured, eith- 

 er in its eating or keeping qualities ; the soil ab- 

 stracts the frost and leaves the texture of the veg- 

 etable fibre nearly unimpaired. It is of impor- 

 tance to give the roots a cool place, whore they 

 can be occasionally ventilated during the winter, 

 as in warm positions they are liable to become 

 "corky," and are much injured as to their nutri- 

 mental properties ; besides, when stowed in large 

 and compact masses, they will heat and most 

 likely spoil. When ruta bagas are raised in large 

 quantities, they require much room. If piled up, 

 like cord wood, into stacks, the air will pass 

 through the heaps much better than if thrown in- 

 to one large mass. Barn cellars in which the 

 temperature can be retained a little above the 

 freezing point, will be found sufficiently warm for 

 this purpose. 



POISONOUS PROPERTIES OP BRINE. 



It may not be known to all that brine, in which 

 meat or fish have been salted, is poisonous to do- 

 mestic animals. If left in their way they will 

 partake freely of it as they will of pure salt, when 

 it very often proves fatal. The U Union Medi- 

 cate, a French publication, gives an account of 

 the researches of M. Reynal in regard to the 

 poisonous properties of brine. From a series of 

 experiments detailed, he draws the following con- 

 clusions : 



First — That three or four months after its prep- 

 aration, it acquires poisonous properties. 



Second — That the mean poisonous dose for a 

 horse is four pints ; for the hog, one pint ; and 

 for a dog four to five gallons. 



Third — That in less doses it prodoces vomiting 

 in the dog and hog. 



Fourth — That the employment of this sub- 

 stance, mixed with the food, continued for a cer- 

 tain time, even in small quantities, may be fatal. 



We know from experience, that brine, if swal- 

 lowed by hogs and other animals, will prove fa- 

 tal, yet we doubt if the subject is susceptible of 

 the definite results as stated by M. Reynal, for 

 the degree of the poisonous properties of the 

 brine depends on various circumstances. We 

 have known a much less quantity to prove fatal 

 than that stated above. — Valley Farmer. 



A Canine City. — On the southern arm of the 

 Red river there is a village of prairie dogs, which 

 is no less than 25 miles in length by as many in 

 breadth. It consists of subterranean galleries, 

 sometimes nine feet deep and about five inches 

 wide, and the superstructure is formed of earth 

 thrown up by these curious little animals. 

 Towards the end of October, when these little 

 dogs feel the approach of cold winter, they fasten 

 up all the passages leading to their burrows with 

 straw, then they fall asleep until the return of 

 spring. They are happy little fellows, and if 

 they could speak, they might boast of a city 

 spreading over a greater space than London, and 

 containing a greater number of special inhab- 

 itants. — Scientific Ameiican. 



For the Nets England Farmer. 

 PRUNE IN WINTER— KILL THE CROWS. 



Mr. Editor : — I have long been a subscriber 

 to the monthly Farmer, and I frequently find an 

 article which I think worth a year's subscription. 

 I consider it of such value that I have preserved 

 every number to be bound, and yet there is oc- 

 casionally something taught which seems to me 

 erroneous. One of these is summer pruning of 

 fruit trees. I have followed this teaching for 

 several years ; but I constantly noticed the stump 

 would bleed and turn black, and this bleeding in 

 some cases continued several years. Last winter 

 I pruned several trees at difl"erent times during 

 the winter, and into March, and the stumps all 

 look healthy, and have not bled a particle. There 

 is no black stripe running down the tree. These 

 facts, with the fact that our fathers pruned in 

 winter with apparent good results, and the fact 

 that grafting is most successful when performed 

 in February or March, with many other reasons 

 which I could adduce, inclines me to think winter 

 the best time for pruning. But this summer 

 pruning, if it should destroy every fruit tree in 

 the land, is a trifling error compared with 

 another, which is, spare the crows. I shall be 

 thought extravagant when I say a greater error 

 cannot be promulgated ; one more destructive to 

 the interests of our country. 



It is a remarkable fact that the great crime of 

 the crows has never (to my knowledge) been pre- 

 sented to the public. 



He is the wholesale murderer of smaller birds. 

 In early summer, his business is to watch the 

 birds' nests, and when they hatch he voraciously 

 swallows all the young in a nest for one meal. 

 The result is, that small birds are vanishing 

 away, and, as a natural consequence, grubs, 

 worms, caterpillars, ants, millers, &c., are multi- 

 plying at a fearful rate. Should this course con- 

 tinue it is easy to see that the time will come 

 when it will be difficult to raise anything. 



Small birds are very scarce now compared with 

 forty and fifty years ago. I should think there 

 are not more than one now to ten at that time, 

 and there are several kinds of small birds which 

 were frequent when I was a boy that I have not 

 seen for years past. I would advise a war of ex- 

 termination against crows, hawks and owls. I 

 would set the boys to shooting them, and I would 

 also use strychnine. The crows might be exter- 

 minated in a few years by feeding them with corn 

 impregnated with strychnine upon the seacoast 

 where they congregate in winter. 



Stephen Adams. 



West Neivfield, Me., Aug. 10, 1861. 



Remarks. — We cannot agree with our re- 

 spected correspondent in either of his proposi- 

 tions. 



Wintering Calves. — Calves should have 

 loose stables, or stalls to run in during winter, 

 with a little yard or paddock for exercise out of 

 doors in fair weather, and plenty of air always. 

 Good soft hay, a few oats, say a pint a day for 

 each, or an equal quantity of corn, oats, or barley 

 meal, and in mild weather a quart of sliced roots 

 is their best food. In very cold weather, roots do 

 calves — ^such is our experience — more hurt than 



