90 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



hog 18 months old, recently, which weighed, when 

 dressed, 536 lbs. Who can beat this ? Even the 

 usually quiet mountains and valleys of Vermont 

 are now Avide awake by reason of the war, confi- 

 dently believing that right will triumph over op- 

 pression. . Cyrus. 

 EaM Hardioick, Vt., 1861. 



MATCHING steers' HORNS. 



I noticed in a late Farmer an article in regard 

 to matching steers. I would like to know if you, 

 or any of your subscribers, can inform me how to 

 match the horns of steers, in case one horn is in- 

 cHned to turn down? I have often asked the 

 question, and some say if they turn down, by 

 scraping them on the upper side they will turn up, 

 and some say on the under side ; so I am left en- 

 tirely without the true knowledge. 



Marlboro', N. II., 1862. Clark Hill. 



Remarks. — We have no knowledge in this 

 matter, and hope those who have will reply. 



BRONZE TURKEYS. 



R. Goodell, of Antrim, N. H., can obtain full 

 blood bronze turkeys of the subscriber. Price $4 

 per pair. N. B. RowE. 



Laconia, N. E., Dec. 18, 1861. 



HENS' NESTS. 



Fowls of all kinds, when laying, like a secret 

 place where their fellows cannot see them. They 

 do not like to squat down in the hennery, sur- 

 rounded by a greedy flock, that are ready to pounce 

 into the nest as soon as an egg is laid, and devour 

 it. Therefore, to gratify the hen's secretiveness, 

 and at the same time save the eggs from being de- 

 voured by one of the flocks, my practice has been, 

 for a number of years, to make their nests in nail 

 kegs, not those that are very small, nor the largest 

 ones, but of those that will hold about one hundred 

 pounds of nails. In years past, I have been accus- 

 tomed to fill a keg about half full of straw for a 

 nest ; but the past winter I have sawed all the kegs 

 in two equal parts, knocking out the heads, and 

 then nail a piece of cloth over the large end of 

 each half keg, for a bottom. Any kind of old, or 

 new cloth may be tacked on with small trimming 

 tacks. During the winter, these half kegs are 

 nailed up against the side of the hennery, about 

 four feet from the floor. Hens that lay, will soon 

 leam that when they get into these nests, their fel- 

 lows cannot see them, as they are completely se- 

 cluded in their cosy little nests ; and if they them- 

 selves are disposed to eat eggs, they find that, if 

 they attempt it while standing on the edge of the 

 keg, they cannot reach them conveniently ; and if 

 they hop down into the nest, and attempt to pick 

 the eggs, they will roll down against their feet, and 

 they soon learn that they are not able to pick hard 

 enough in such a position to break the shell. I 

 find that a cloth bottom is superior to a wooden 

 bottom, covered with a nest of straw. As the 

 weather becomes warmer, so that the hens seek 

 nests in the yard, we make nests in secluded nooks, 

 or the kegs might be removed from the hennery, 

 and nailed against the side of the fence, and a lit- 

 tle roof made over them. — Anonymous. 



For the Neto England Farmer. 

 "WASTE NOT, WANT NOT." 



This was a Frankhn motto. Apply it to the 

 farm, and its bank deposits. Manure heaps are the 

 sub-treasuries of the farming interest. Waste of 

 manure is waste of wealth. Every miner who digs 

 for gold, must dig in the dirt. But the farmer first 

 deposits the gold in the ground, and afterwards 

 digs it out with increase. The gold he plants, he 

 gathers from the sources of consumption and de- 

 cay, where carelessness may leave a loss. 



Wisdom is wealth; time is money; money is 

 money; and equally so, manure is money, to the 

 farmer. Where shall we dig for riches ? Where 

 shall we go and gather up wealth ? "Go to the 

 ant, thou sluggard ;" go to the squirrel, thou 

 spendthrift; go to the manure-composter, thou 

 foolish farmer, who hast nursed poverty, by work- 

 ing a hungry soil, and getting nothing, because 

 you gave nothing as a basis of production. 



Gather it at the stable. Mix well the soHd 

 droppings of the cow with twice its bulk of meadow 

 muck ; money in mud. Loam will serve a good 

 purpose, if nothing better can be had. Pine leaves 

 are almost priceless in the compost. And be very 

 sure, if no great loss would be allowed, to put 

 enough dry peat, old rotten straw, or other sub- 

 stance suited to the purpose, to take up all the h- 

 quid that she voids. Take like care, also, of the 

 voidings of the ox and younger cattle. The noble 

 horse, well fed, well used, furnishes much material 

 to mix with muck ; three times the measure of his 

 solid excrements, with dry peat, saAvdust or old 

 straw, sprinkled with old brine, plaster, refuse salt, 

 to save the urine — money from many things made 

 into manure. 



Gather a pile from the pig-pen. Piggy does 

 not appropriate much for muscle, from the fat of 

 his feeding, but pours out big bottles of ammoni- 

 acal liquor to magnify the manure heap. The gift 

 is a great one, and never to be despised by the 

 man of a flourishing farm. Pile the pine scrap- 

 ings into his pen, with old leaves, loads of loam, 

 and let him make his mark as a manufacturer ; 

 and he will do it in defiance of war or tariffs. 

 Piggy's first work in the world is to provide for 

 the corn crop, and when that comes in, in lusty 

 loads, he will consent to be put into pork, for the 

 benefit of princes, or paupers. 



Gather gold from the hen-house. Pile the peat 

 under the hen-roost ; scatter ashes lightly over, or 

 old lime, and saturate it with slops from the cham- 

 ber, and i-epeat the same often, layer upon layer, 

 mixing it all well, before each fresh addition of 

 muck or peat. It will be cheaper than poudrette 

 from Lodj, and as rich as a California quartz gold 

 mine. 



Gather gold from the sink drain. The suds and 

 grease that go away there, contain gold ; gather it 

 up for the garden grounds ; mix it with muck, or 

 carry it to the currant bushes, or almost anywhere 

 to feed the growing crops, and gold will grow out 

 of it. 



Save the suds from the wash-room. There are 

 wonders of wealth in such mineral waters. They 

 are good for sickly cabbages, melons, pears, 

 squashes or tomatoes. They make all growing 

 things to glisten in the glory of their growth. 



Save the slops from chambers. Waste is as 

 wicked there as anywhere. Man need not i)ride 



