1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



221 



The warts all disappeared in two or three weeks, 

 and the teats are now perfectly smooth and free 

 from warts. G. w. n. 



Watertown, March 24, 1862. 



WARTS ON cows' TEATS. 



I wish to inquire of you, or any one who can in- 

 form rae, tlvrough the Farmer how to remove 

 warts on a cow's teats and bags. I have a young 

 heifer twenty-two months old wliich gives milk. 

 Her bag and teats are covered with small seed 

 warts, such as are usually found on the teats of 



cows. A SUBSCRIBEll. 



East Bridgewater, March 10, 1862. 



Remarks. — Some persons tie a horse hair 

 around the M'art when it is well-defined, tighten- 

 ing it occasionally, when it will eventually drop 

 off. "T.," in the March number of the Farmer 

 for 1860, says "equal parts of lamp oil and mo- 

 lasses will cure the worst of warts on man or 

 beast." _ 



SAWDUST FOR BEDDING. 



I have frequently seen mention in your paper 

 of the use of sawdust for bedding for horses. I 

 have used it for the last ten years for horses and 

 cows, and would not be without it, if I could ob- 

 tain it by going four miles for it. My cows go 

 from the barn in spring as clean as tiiey come 

 from the pasture in fall. I think if our milkmen 

 would try it, they would find a very great conve- 

 nience in the milking operation, and, besides, 

 their customers would not complain so much of 

 the milk having a baini taste. T. Cross. 



LEAKS HER MILK. 



I have a valuable cow, who for two summers 

 past, has leaked her milk — the milk dropping from 

 her most of the time, and instead of giving eight 

 or ten quarts, as formerly, would only yield two or 

 three. I have tried milking at noon without any 

 benefit. She is about to come in again, and I am 

 anxious to know of a remedy. Can you or any of 

 your readers aid me ? C 



Ahington, March 20, 1862. 



MAKINE MANimES. 

 A portion of the report of the Secretary of the 

 Maine Board of Agriculture for 1861 is devoted to 

 an elucidation of the value of rockweed and fish 

 as fertilizing agents. The matter was personally 

 investigated by the Secretary, who traversed the 

 whole length of the seaboard for the purpose. 

 Rockweed and musclebed have long been used to 

 a limited extent and with satisfactory results, but 

 they are too bulky and heavy for long transporta- 

 tion into the interior, although they prove of more 

 value the further inland they are carried. A more 

 important fertilizer is found in the migratory sort 

 of fish which swarm on the coast, such as menha- 

 den, commonly called pogies or hard heads, and 

 herrings, which can be taken in immense quanti- 

 ties. The business of catching them has of late 

 years assumed considerable importance in some of 

 the shore towns, es]iecially of Hancock county, in 

 the manufacture of fish oil from pogies, and many 



vessel loads of oil are now annually exported and 

 sold to be used chiefly in the preparation of leath- 

 er. The fish are first boiled, and then pressed. 

 After pressure there remains a pumice or chum, 

 as it is called, which was formerly thrown away, 

 but has latterly been used in a rough way for ma- 

 nure, and mostly with good results, but not always, 

 as so active and powerful a substance should be 

 thoroughly composted or prepared and used with 

 care. The yield of hay on some farms in the shore 

 towns has, within a few years, been increased from 

 half a ton per acre to two tons, from the use ol 

 "pogy chum." 



The "chum" is dried by exposure to the sun 

 and air, upon a platform, with a shed to protect 

 it from rains and fogs. It is then ground and 

 packed for transportation. One man at Eastport 

 made 150 tons of this "fish guano," as it is called, 

 last year, from herrings, which was sold to go to 

 Connecticut, where the manufacture and use of fish 

 guano has created a greater demand than can be 

 supplied by the amount made there. It readily 

 commands $30 per ton, which pays so well that he 

 is extending liis business. 



Fcr the Neia England Farmer. 

 CRAUBERRY CULTURE. 



The first requisite for success in cranberry rais- 

 ing is to select a piece of land which can be flowed 

 in the winter. The best land, in my opinion, is a 

 level swamp so thickly covered with trees or bush- 

 es as to exclude all grass and weeds ; ditch it so 

 that the water can be drawn off to the level of the 

 swamp, build a dam and cover the swamp with 

 water. After it has frozen, in the fall of the 

 year, cut the trees and bushes even with the ice. 

 Then by raising the water a few inches the stumps 

 will be covered and at the end of the next sum- 

 mer you Avill have a swamp "without any green 

 thing" growing upon it. Clear oft" or burn the 

 bushes, and the ground is in readiness for the 

 vines. 



There are many advantages in spring setting, 

 but at whatever time they are set, the vines 

 should never be placed more than eighteen inches 

 apart, and as much nearer as time and the abun- 

 dance of your vines will admit ; the closer the 

 vines are set, so much the sooner will there be a 

 crop of berries, and so much the less will be the 

 trouble of weeding. 



I have never seen vines flourish as well with the 

 same amount of care, as in swamp land treated as 

 I have above described ; weeds of all sorts will 

 come in, but they can be pulled out as easily as 

 from a carrot bed. 



I have seen cranberry yards prepared by plow- 

 ing and cultivating meadow lands until completely 

 subdued ; by taking off the sward ten or twelve 

 inches in depth, and by covering with sand from 

 three to five inches in depth ; but all of these 

 methods I believe to be inferior in their results to 

 the way which I recommend. 



My method has the double advantage of procur- 

 ing a better and surer crop, and of doing it at a 

 far less expense. 



The most successful experiment in cranberry 

 raising that I have ever seen, is in a small pond- 

 hole, which, without any natural outlet, retained 

 the water so late in the season that the only vege- 



