1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



195 



TAN BAKK FOR SOILS. 



As the questions which you were kind enough to 

 answer in your February number of the monthly 

 Farmer seem to have brought out some ideas dif- 

 ferent from your own, in regard to the best time 

 and manner of sowing grass seed, Avill you please 

 allow me room in your valuable paper to propose 

 a few more, for your own and your correspondents' 

 consideration ? 



On my farm I have three distinct kinds of soil ; 

 the first is a hard, deep upland soil ; the second is 

 a shallow, light and much worn pine plain, and the 

 third a deep, heavy loam and clay, or commonly 

 called run land. Now I have a large quantity of 

 spent tan from hemlock bark, and as I believe 

 there must be valuable fertilizing qualities in it, I 

 wish to know the best way of applying the same, 

 and which of the three soils will receive the quick- 

 est and most lasting benefit from a generous ap- 

 plication ? 



I am but a young man, and am obliged in some 

 respects to be guided by older and more experi- 

 enced persons than myself; therefore, whatever 

 thoughts those questions bring out will be of ben- 

 fit to me, and I believe to others of your readers. 



North Dunbarton, N. H., 1862. P. 



RemaPvKS. — We should think the tan bark, in 

 an old, partially decomposed state, would operate 

 favorably on any land, but with especial effect on 

 the second and third sorts you mention. At an 

 agi'icultural mass meeting which we attended in 

 the town of Marlow, N. H., some years since, it was 

 stated by one of the speakers that the best piece 

 of land then in the town was originally a barren 

 plain, once covered with pines, and that it had 

 been brought into a state of great fertility, chiefly 

 by the use of AemlocJc tan bark ! The piece of 

 land was distinctly specified, and reference was 

 made to other persons in the meeting who con- 

 fii'med the statement of the speaker. 



LEGHORN FOWLS. 



Although much has been said about Leghorn 

 fowls, I am aware there are those who do not 

 know what full-blooded Leghorn fowls are. A 

 gentleman of this city came to me and wished 

 to purchase some of the best Leghorn fowls he 

 could find, and as I did not wish to dispose of any, 

 I referred him to a piece I saw in a paper, where a 

 man spoke highly of a large flock which he had, 

 and advised him to send for some. He ordered 

 six of the best he had, or none. He received six 

 fowls, and wished me to see what I thought of 

 them. He said one of my fowls had more comb 

 than all of them. I said I thought they were half 

 grown Leghorns, or half bantams. He assured me 

 that some of them were shedding their feathers. 

 He set the coop in his hen-house, where he had a 

 fine Leghorn cock, who was so disgusted Avith his 

 company, that he made war with the coop of 

 fowls, and scratched himself so that he bled to 

 death. He returned them to the owner, and con- 

 cluded he did not profit much from my advice. 



I have kept the pure Leghorn fowls about two 

 years, and think all who have tried them will 

 agree that they are the most profitable and the 

 most beautiful fowl in this country. They are 



small, (weighing about 8^ lbs. per pair,) but their 

 eggs arc as large as hens will average. I have 

 never had one ofi"er to sit. They are all colors, 

 and have very large combs. The cocks measure 

 from seven to eight inclies from the top of the 

 comb to the extremity of the wattles, and tlie hens' 

 combs hang over so as to cover the eye. 



ILT. Gates. 

 New Worcester, March, 1862. 



THE WAY TO CURE THE HEAVES IN HORSES. 



The above-mentioned disease has been consid- 

 ered incurable. About two years since, I owned 

 a mare which had the heaves veiy badly. The 

 disease was brought on by feeding her dusty hay, 

 raked with a Avire tooth horse-rake ; which, by the 

 way, should never be used to rake the hay with 

 that we intend to feed to horses. Dusty hay is 

 very injurious to their lungs, and has been the 

 principal cause of the heaves in many cases. 



At the time I was speaking about, I saw a no- 

 tice in the Farmer that smart-weed would cure the 

 heaves ; I procured some, and gave her a strong 

 decoction of it several times ; and to my astonish- 

 ment, she was completely cured. 



I gave her one quart a day of the decoction, 

 stirred up in wheat bran, with a Httle salt, and in 

 three weeks the cure was perfect. 



I do not intend to say that it will cure the 

 heaves in all cases, but if it is given in the early 

 stages of the disease, I tliink it will cure ninety 

 cases out of a hundred. 



I would like to have your correspondent, Mr. 

 Thomas Cruickshank, inform me through the col- 

 umns of the Farmer the mode of manufacturing 

 sugar from beets. Oliver P. Mead. 



Middlehury , Vt. 



Remarks. — We give another letter to-day, 

 from Mr. C, on the subject of sugar-making. 



Feeding Bone Dust to Cows. — Your corres- 

 pondent "Covmtry," says his cow's toes grow too 

 long. I have had sheep's toes do the same while 

 stabled. Some time ago, a young farmer living 

 some 20 miles from me, said that he had, at difl'er- 

 ent times, in his barn, cows whose claws would 

 gi'ow too long, and occasionally one claw would 

 grow around the end of the other claw, and that it 

 was cured by feeding bone dust. He had fed as 

 much as one tablespoonful each day to a cow in 

 cut feed, with marked effect. He acknoAvledged 

 it Avas full, strong feed. I generally feed one ta- 

 blespoonful tAvice in a Aveek to each coav, but do 

 not know its effect. My reason for doing it, is, 

 that my neighborhood has been pastured these 

 200 years, and little or no manure put on the 

 ground, hence the soil is wanting in bone-making 

 materials. — Country Gentleman. 



To Make an Evergreen Grow Compact. — 

 If you have an Evergreen, or NorAvay Spruce, 

 Balsam Fir, American Spruce, or any of the pines, 

 and desire to make it groAV more compact, just 

 pinch out the bud from every leading branch, all 

 around and over it. Repeat this process again 

 next year, at tliis time, and your evergreen Avill 

 continue thereafter to grow thickly. — Indiana 

 Farmer. 



