74 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



Milkers of cows should understand the udder 

 and teats are highly organized, and consequently 

 very sensitive, and these facts should be taken in- 

 to consideration by amateur milkers, especially 

 ■when their first essay is made on a young animal 

 after the advent of her first impregnation ; at this 

 period the hard tugging and squeezing which many 

 "dumb brutes" have to submit to, in consequence 

 of the application of hard-fisted and callous fingers, 

 is a barbarity of the very worst kind, for it often 

 converts a docile creature into a state of vicious- 

 ness, from which condition she may not easily be 

 weaned. — Exchange. 



For tlie Hew England Farmer. 

 COE'S SDTERPHOSPHATE OP LIME. 



After having read in the Farmer of Dec. 21 

 friend White's statements in relation to Coe's su- 

 perphosphate of lime, I concluded I would give 

 you, and the readers of the Farmer, a short ac- 

 count of my own experience with it. One year 

 ago, this fall, I plowed up about one acre and a 

 half of an old mowing field which was pretty much 

 bound out, as the saying is. The next spring I 

 carted on fifteen horse cart-loads of stable manure 

 and spread it evenly over the whole piece. I then 

 took my horse and plow and cross-cut it about 

 four inches deep, in order to cover the manure, 

 which I think is a much better way than it is to 

 undertake to do it with a harrow. I then harrowed 

 smoothly, and commenced on one side of the piece 

 with my hoe, and opened rows 3i feet apart with 

 the hills 3 feet apart, which I think is the right 

 distance for corn. On the first eight rows I put 

 about one pint of night soil and loam mixed to 

 each hill ; I then left one row without any fertili- 

 zer whatever ; in the next row I put one small ta- 

 blespoonful of Coe's superphosphate of lime in 

 each hill ; on the next row I put a handful of 

 compost, made of equal parts of lime, leached ash- 

 es and plaster, and a very little salt, in each hill. I 

 then commenced again with the phosphate, using 

 a spoonful to each hill, until I used three bags, 

 which nearly completed my piece, which was 

 finished with unleached ashes in the hill. 



Now for the result : — The corn where the night- 

 soil and phosphate was put came up pretty well, 

 also the compost row ; the row without the ferti- 

 lizer was two or thi'ee days longer in getting up, 

 and after it got up, it looked as though it did not 

 know which way to go ; in fact, it did not go 

 much any way, it Iboked as though it was planted 

 in the dead furrow, — but that was not the case, — 

 the land there was as good as anywhere on the 

 piece. When the corn was fit to harvest I cut up 

 the three rows fii'st described, husked and weighed 

 the corn from each row, with the following result : 

 The row without any fertilizer had 21 pounds of 

 corn, about one-half of which was unsound ; the 

 phosphate row had 84 pounds, about all of it 

 sound ; the compost row had 72 pounds, mostly 

 sound. 



I would here state that the worms injured my 

 corn somewhat, though less where the night-soil 

 was put than anywhere else, and very much worse 

 in the row where there was nothing, than else- 

 w'here. It has been claimed by some, I believe, 

 that worms would not work where there was phos- 

 phate, but that is a mistake ; for I lound them 



right in among it. But notwithstanding the worms 

 I had a good piece of corn. Where the night- 

 soil was, the corn was as good, or better, than on 

 any other part of the piece. 



I am perfectly satisfied with my experimenting, 

 and have come to the conclusion that any man 

 who has got to buy fertilizers will do better to 

 purchase Coe's superphosphate of lime than any- 

 thing else. 



I would here state, that on a part of the piece, 

 I covered the phosphate up before dropping the 

 corn, and on the other part I dropped the corn 

 right on to the phosphate, but could see no differ- 

 ence in the result. Both came up well, and grew 

 after it came up. 



I think phosphate, for squashes, is excellent, as 

 I raised about a cart-load right amongst my corn, 

 the same as many people raise pumpkins. I 

 planted squashes amongst my corn in order to get 

 rid of the stinking black bug, which I did most 

 effectually. I will close this article by joining with 

 friend White in requesting that others who have 

 tried Coe's superphosphate should give the results 

 in the Farmer. GEORGE MORRISON. 



Franklin, N. H., Dec. 28, 1861. 



Remarks. — We are glad to get accounts of such 

 thorough experiments as the above. It is through 

 these that we shall be able to come to well settled 

 conclusions as to the profitableness of using con- 

 centrated manures. 



FACTS AND FANCIES. 



Healthiness of Room Plants. — The editor 

 of the Horticulturist, in an article on Room Plants, 

 says, "It has been objected by some that it is un- 

 healthy to keep plants in rooms ; but their argu- 

 ments lacks coherence and force, and we are com- 

 pelled to record our experience against the posi- 

 tion. We believe them, on the contrary, to be 

 conducive to health, not only by their soothing 

 and cheering influence on the mind, but as purifi- 

 ers of the air, so that all may indulge their tastes 

 without the least apprehension of injury to their 

 health." 



Fattening Sheep in Winter. — When ani- 

 mals are in the process of being fattened, several 

 things should be observed beside that of giving 

 them as much food as they will eat. There are 

 certain conditions in which the food itself may be 

 placed so as to make it more or less nutritious and 

 valuable to the animal using it. In very cold 

 weather its value would be enhanced if the drink 

 and food were warmed, or better still, if it were 

 cooked. If roots are fed, they are taken with less 

 labor, and consequently, are better digested, than 

 if the animal felt obliged to swallow them in large 

 pieces. These things should be so arranged as to 

 allow it to remain in a quiet condition, and so that 

 it may stand or lie down at pleasure. All these, 

 with regular feeding as to time and quantity, are 

 of little less importance than the quality of the 

 food itself. Mr. Silas Bush, of Skaneateles, N. 



