1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



149 



month, at a retail cost of 60 cents — or two cents 

 per twenty-four hours. The cost of the case was 

 as follows : 



Lumber and making, $2,2-5 ; copper boiler bot- 

 tom, 70 cts. ; zinc and making of pan, &c., lo cts. ; 

 two squares glass, 50 cts. ; lamp, 20 cts. ; paint- 

 ing, 50 cts. ; castors, (for convenience of moving,) 

 17 cts-; hinges, 6 cts.; thermometer, 37 cts.; to- 

 tal, $l),oO. These are city prices. In most locali- 

 ties they would be somewhat less. 



A case of the above dimensions contains room 

 for fifry-four No. 7 Hower-pots. It will be readily 

 seen from this, that it can be made to do a great 

 deal of work. 



PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN HELPED. 



There is really very little that can be done for 

 one man by another. Begin with sense and ge- 

 nius, keen appetite and good digestion, and the 

 work goes on merrily and well ; without these, we 

 all know what a laborious aflair, and a dismal, it is 

 to make an incapable youth apply. Did any of 

 you ever set yourselves to keep up artificial respi- 

 ration, or to trudge about for a whole night Mith a 

 narcotized victim of opium, or to transfuse blood, 

 (your own, perhaps) into a poor, fainting, exani- 

 mate wretch ? If so, you have some idea of the 

 heartless attempt, and its generally vain and mis- 

 erable result, to make a dull student apprehend, a 

 debauchee interested, active, or knowing in any- 

 thing beyond the base of his brain, a weak, etio- 

 lated intellect hearty and worth anything. And 

 yet how many such are dragged through their 

 dreary cnrricula, and by some miraculous process 

 of cramming, and equally miraculous power of 

 turning their insides out, get through their exami- 

 nations ; and then — what then ? Providentially, 

 in most cases, they find their level. The broad 

 daylight of the world, its shrewd and keen eye, 

 its strong instinct of what can and what cannot 

 serve its purpose — puts all, except the poor ob- 

 ject himself, to rights. Happy is it for him if he 

 turns to some new and more congenial pursuit in 

 time. — Dr. Brown. 



SixGULAE, Detection of a Thief. — A musi- 

 cian employed at one of the London theatres, pos- 

 sessed an ebony flute with silver keys. He sel- 

 dom used it, however, in consequence of one of 

 the upper notes being defective. The muscian 

 had for a lodger, a young man, a theatrical tailor, 

 and between the two there existed a considerable 

 friendship. Well, one night, while the musician 

 was away at his l)ushiess, some one stole the flute 

 wilh the silver kejs, and suspicion fell on an old 

 char-woman, who used to come to do the house- 

 work. However, nothing tended to show that the 

 old lady really was guilty, and the aflfair was 

 shortly forgotten. In a few months the tailor left 

 the house of the musician, and went to live in a 

 town a few miles off" ; but as the friendship be- 

 tween the two men still existed, they occasionally 

 visited each other. Nearly a year afterward, the 

 musician paid the tailor a visit, and was pleased to 

 find him in possession of a beautiful bulfinch who 

 could distinctly whistle three tunes. The jierform- 

 ance was perfect, with this exception — whenever 

 he came to a certain high note, he invariably 

 skipped it, and went on to the next. A very little 

 reflection convinced the musician that the note in 



which the bulfinch was imperfect, was the very one 

 that was deficient on the flute. So convinced was 

 he, that he at once sharply questioned his ex- 

 lodger on the subject, who at once tremblingly 

 confessed the guilt, and that all the bird knew, 

 had been taught him on the stolen flute. — Beeton's 

 Home Pets. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 

 SALT AND PIGS — SCRAPING TREES. 

 Being a reader of your valuable paper, I will 

 take the liberty to make a few inquiries. 



Is salt good for young pigs ? If so, in what 

 manner, how often, and in how large a quantity 

 must it be given P I have a pig that has a cough 

 — is there any remedy for it ? 



Is there any harm in scraping trees in the fall 

 or spring ? If not, when is the best time ? 



A. I. Newil^ll. 

 East Scmgm, Feb. 8, 1862. 



Remarks. — All animals, even fowls, need salt. 

 We know of no rule for giving it to them. Feed 

 a small quantity two or three times a week to the 

 pigs, and if they flourish under it, continue to do 

 so, and increase the quantity as they increase in 

 size. 



Feed the pig with a cough on warm, nutritious 

 food, but not in large quantity, and give him a 

 dry, warm place, where he can lie and sleep with- 

 out being at all chilled. He will be grateful 

 enough to soon recover. 



If trees are thickly covered with moss, they are 

 probably in on unhealthy condition. Scraping 

 will be useful to them, but breaking up the sward, 

 manuring and cultivating will be better. It is 

 doubtful whether scraping young trees is of fur- 

 ther use than to gratify the eye. The bark upon 

 a tree which has always had a healthy growth, 

 will sometimes be very rough — but that it does 

 any injury, either by harboring insects or in any 

 other way, we have never learned. It may be 

 some protection against summer suns, and perhaps 

 winds. We are not aware, however, that it does 

 any special injury to scrape away a portion of it, 

 if it is done with care, at any season of the year. 



"WILL the army worm come again ? 



Can you tell me if the army worm is sure to ap- 

 pear again where it was last year ? ISIany farmers 

 in this vicinity had fine crops completely destroyed 

 by them ; they seemed to relish everything "but 

 potatoes. So unexpected was their appearance 

 last season, (I never saw any before,) that we come 

 to you to know if they are to make their advent 

 again this summer coming. 



I am exceedingly anxious to know, not wishing 

 to go to the expense and labor of sowing seed the 

 profits to be reaped by them. 



Fishcrville, 11. 1. Caleb Congdon. 



ReMjVRKS. — ^We have no doubt but the army 

 worm, so called, that did so much mischief last 

 summer, will appear next summer. But we can- 

 not promise this positively. 



