112 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



QUESTIONS AS TO SHEEP. 



1. What aged wethers are best to buy in spring 

 to turn out through the summer for mutton ? 



2. What breed is best ? 



3. How much will they gain in the season Avith 

 good feed ? 



4. How much will the May and November prices 

 vary, per pound, live weight ? 



5. How many can be kept well on the feed of 

 one cow, or how many to the cow ? 



Hardwick, Jan., 1862. Inquirer. 



Remarks. — We hope that friend Elliott, of 

 Keene, George Campbell, of Westminster, or 

 some other person who understands this matter, 

 will answer these questions. 



AN UNMANNERLY PIG. 



I have three Chester county sows with pig, which 

 are kept together ; one of them is continually 

 rooting the others Avith her nose, to their great 

 annoyance and injury. I have given her salt, 

 bone meal, and various other foods, but fail to 

 check it. Can any of your readers inform me of 

 the cause and the remedy ? J. S. Ives. 



Salem, 1862. 



Remarks. — Place her in a pen by herself, 

 friend Ives, for a few days, and take away a por- 

 tion of her food, and if she is not more respectful 

 in her "conductions," we shall be mistaken. 



THE AHmrZ TEIiEGRAPH. 



The army telegraph now consists of over one 

 thousand miles of wire stretched through the dif- 

 ferent camps, from the headquarters of General 

 Hooker on the left, running toward the right wing 

 till it reaches Hancock, Md. One hundred and 

 ten operators are now in the employ of the govern - 

 inent. Mr. Eckert, the assistant superintendent 

 in charge of this department, has run a separate 

 line to the headquarters of each general command- 

 ing a division. 



For instance. General McClellan can sit at the 

 table in his private house, and talk to the different 

 Generals, all at one and the same time, and in- 

 dependent of one another. When any division 

 moves, the line can also be extended, as each di- 

 vision has a corps of builders, and a supply of wires 

 poles and insulators always ready. 



Lai'ge wagons have been provided for the opera- 

 tors and their batteries to travel in, with sleeping 

 apartments, tents, equipage and everything neces- 

 sary, thus making the telegraphic department the 

 most efficient and thorough branch in the whole 

 army ; and in connection Avith the balloon corps 

 of Professor Lowe, will, should the army move, 

 prove incalculable in detecting the operations of 

 the enemy, and the prompt transmission of their 

 movements to headquarters, and the conveyance 

 of orders to different divisions and brigades. 



So effectual are the means that have been taken 

 to prevent accident and delay, that it will be im- 

 possible for more than one out of a dozen lines to 

 fail at once. Strong guards will be kept all along 

 the wires wherever they cross over exposed coun- 

 try, as the army moves, to prevent obstruction in 

 any form, and to prevent an opportunity of steal- 

 ing information from the wu'es. Never before, in 



the history of the world, has science been enabled 

 to reduce to such a mathemetical certainty and re- 

 liability, the use of the telegraph and ballooning 

 as it has been brought to under the management 

 of Professor Lowe, Mr. A. P. Stager, and Mr. 

 Eckert. — Philadelphia Inquirer. 



INSECTS IWJUKIOUS TO VEGETATIOW. 



Through the kind attention of the editor, 

 Charles L. Flint, Esq., Secretary of the State 

 Board of Agriculture, we have before us a copy 

 of the new edition of Harris' Treatise on some of 

 the Insects of Massachusetts which are Injurious 

 to Vegetation. This was ordered to be printed 

 by a resolution of the Legislature of lSo9, and 

 with suitable additions and illustrations. The 

 care of the execution of this work was entrusted 

 to Mr. Flint, and well .and faithfully has he dis- 

 charged the task. The work does as much credit 

 to the arts, as to the science to which it is devoted. 



In acknoM'ledging the aid which he has received 

 from others, the editor says : 



"The drawings for the steel plates were made 

 by Mr. Antoine Sonrel ; those for the Avood 

 cuts by the Messrs. SoNREL and J. Burckhardt. 

 The engraving and coloring of the steel plates is 

 the Avork of Mr. John H. Richard ; the engrav- 

 ing on wood, that of Mr. Henry Marsh. The 

 printing has been done by Messrs. Welch, BlG- 

 ELOAV & Co., of the University Press, Cambridge." 



It is as much pleasure to us to record the names 

 of persons Avho have exhibited such rare skill iu 

 their various professions, as it is to accord praise 

 to the author of a book of undoubted merit. 

 With our people, mechanical skill and scientific 

 research keep pretty even pace Avith the jjrogress 

 of literary acquirements. It is this, in consider- 

 able degree, that keeps society evenly balanced, 

 and makes a people strong. 



The book is a credit to old Massachusetts, and 

 AA'ill stand as one of numerous evidences of her 

 liberality and enlightened discernment. The Leg- 

 islature that ordered it, directed that a copy of the 

 Avork should be sent to each toAvn in the State, — 

 so that provision is made for all Avho desire it to 

 have access to the Avork. 



If Ave are pleased with one part more than 

 another, of this book, it is with some of the loood 

 cuts. They surpass anything of the kind Ave have 

 before seen, in beauty and elegance of execution. 

 It seems as though one could touch the Aving of 

 the Dutterfly on page 293, and rob it of some of 

 its down ; and so of cuts on pages 223, 410, and 

 indeed many others. We have long and often 

 referred to the former edition of the Avork, in our 

 labors as editor and farmer, and shall continue to 

 do so Avith increased pleasure, now that so many 

 of the insects spoken of are made plain to the 

 eye as Ave study their habits. 



