266 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



calf. I think if your readers generally adopt 

 "H.'s" plan of feeding potatoes, they will not al- 

 ways be as successful as he claims to have been, 

 although he may have equalled his neighbors 

 without any great success, after all. I have tried 

 various methods of feeding, and have raised two 

 or more calves to each cow, but my experience and 

 observation, as well as reading, have convinced me 

 that it is not profitable to raise any inferior, or 

 even medium stock, and that every animal should 

 be kept gaining n\\ti\ fully grown, or until sold for 

 beef; and that the best way to do this, is to de- 

 pend mainly upon milk for the first three months, 

 and to begin with the lighter grains, leaving the 

 heavier and more heating kinds, like corn meal, to 

 finish off with. Wm. F. Bassett. 



Ashjield, March 17, 1862. 



EXTBACTS AND REPLIES. 

 A SICK STEER. 



You will oblige me by stating the symptoms of 

 the cattle disease. I have a four-year old steer 

 that coughs a good deal, and rattles at the lungs 

 some. He took cold, and I don't know whether 

 the cough arises from that or the cattle disease. 

 Geokge Jennings. 



Remarks. — The marked symptoms of the dis- 

 ease called pleuro-pneumonia are a short cough, 

 particularly in the morning, or when the animal 

 rises or is allowed to drink. Appetite slight and 

 variable. Short and unequal breathing. The an- 

 imal rarely lies down, or only for a short time, 

 either upon the affected side or on the breast 

 bone, with the fore feet beneath them or stretched 

 out in front. The hair upon the chest and neck 

 loses its lustre and stands up. The skin is dry, 

 and is more firmly attached to the withers and 

 walls of the chest than to other parts. Water 

 excites cough, and is taken with difficulty. From 

 the dry mouth, there flows more or less viscid, 

 dirty, offensive fluid or a frothy saliva. The urine 

 is dark brown, has a strong odor, and is passed 

 with difficulty. 



WHEEL HOE AND SWEET POTATO. 



I notice the inquiry of John H. Constantine, of 

 N. H., in the last week's Farmer, for an imple- 

 ment to weed carrots by horse power. I do not 

 think the Yankee is yet born who is to invent a 

 machine that can discriminate between a weed and 

 a carrot top ; indeed, it is more than careless 

 hands always do. And until this is done, (though 

 we now have many excellent machines for culti- 

 vating between the rows,) we shall be necessitated 

 to go through the back-breaking process of hand- 

 weeding, which is the great drawback in raising 

 this invaluable esculent. I have a wheel cultiva- 

 tor, made in New York city, which works very 

 close to the rows, not leaving, if carefully used, 

 over two inches in width, to be weeded by hand. 



I noticed in the same number of the Farmer an 

 article recommending the growing of sweet pota- 

 toes in our latitude. A word of caution, brother 

 farmers, from one who has seen this elephant, and 

 just allow the Jersey and Delaware people, with 



their warm light soils, and more suitable climate, 

 a monopoly of this article, and not endeavor to 

 cultivate a semi-tropical plant in New England, 

 and possibly make yourselves a laughing-stock to 

 your neighbors. Look well to the source from 

 which the advice to raise them comes, and see if 

 you can discern any dull implement near by which 

 needs edging. w. J. p. 



Salisbury, Conn., April 25, 1862. 



TANNING SKINS — MANGOLDS. 



Will you, or some of your correspondents, infoi'm 

 me through the next number of the Farmer, and 

 by so doing, you will confer a great favor — 



1. What is the modus operandi of tanning 

 skins of wild animals such as coons, foxes, &c., 

 with the fur on, so that it may be suitable for 

 robes, coats, &c. 



2. Should I set mangold wurtzel for seed whol- 

 ly under ground, or partly out of ground, as they 

 grew ? A Reader. 



Lempster, N. H., 1862. 



A FACT AND A SUGGESTION. 



Mr. Ellsworth Sawyer, of Templeton, in- 

 forms us that he has a cow that carried her calf 

 ten months and/bwr days before dropping it. He 

 also states that it is the opinion of intelligent and 

 observing persons that, if male and female animals 

 come together in the morning, or before noon, the 

 progeny will be males — and if at night, females. 



THE GOOSEBERRY. 



(RIBE3 GROSSULARIA.) 



This is one of our most common indigenous 

 fruits, and one that admits of easy cultivation. 

 There are also some improved and imported vari- 

 eties of great excellence, but it is Avith the native 

 kind that we have now to do. The gooseberry 

 should never be set in shady situations, or where 

 it Avill not at all times have the advantage of a 

 fi-ee circulation of air. It is true that its position 

 in the woods and swamps precludes this advan- 

 tage in a great measure, but nature obAaates the 

 necessity of this, by restricting the development of 

 foliage, which a richer soil, and the energizing ef- 

 fects of careful cultivation, promote. If we exam- 

 ine a plant in its original condition, we shall find 

 that its foliage is less abundant and profuse than 

 in plants set out in cultivated lands, and this cir- 

 cumstance secures it the benefit of free air, of 

 which, in the latter situation, it is often injudi- 

 ciously deprived. By setting plants m open situ- 

 ations, and covering the surface about the roots 

 with salt hay, or common meadow hay, or straw, 

 wet with a solution of salt in water, and keeping 

 the tops thinned so as to admit the air and light, 

 the gooseberry will rarely be injured by rust or 

 mildew. Frequent irrigation at noon-day, with 

 strong soap suds, has a very sanatory and invigo- 

 rating effect upon this plant. 



