284 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



practiced by one of his neighbors. We have prac- 

 ticed this plan for many years, and find it an ex- 

 cellent one. 



"A few rods of grass-plat convenient to the pen 

 is reserved for this purpose, and is manui'ed by 

 the weekly suds from the wash-room. Commenc- 

 ing at one side of the plat, a large basket of the 

 thick short grass is mowed each morning while 

 the dew is on, and a part given to the swine at 

 each feeding, three times a day. By the time the 

 last portion of the grass is cut, the first is ready 

 to be cut again, and in this way the ground is 

 mowed over many times during the summer, while 

 the grass is kept short, thick, tender and sweet. 

 It keeps the hogs in a healthy growing condition — 

 they are fed with as much as they will eat every 

 day, and but little additional food is requii-ed be- 

 sides the slops from the kitchen. 



EXTKACTS AND REPLIES. 

 HOW WE CAUGHT THE PIG. 



A drove of pigs came rooting their way into 

 our village, the other day, and the neighbors gen- 

 erally selected one each, for their solitary pens. 

 The drove had moved on but a short distance, 

 when out jumped one of the new purchases, and 

 threatened to join his late companions. The fam- 

 ily, being without their head, — a laborer, gone to 

 his work — were in great trouble. The pig Avas 

 certainly lost. Drive him into the pen again ! 

 He faced square up to the simple neighbors, who 

 tried it, with great obstinacy and sly dodges. 



Could we catch him ? He was slippery as an 

 eel — would dart through a man's legs Hke an ar- 

 row. Finally, wlien we had left for a plan but 

 about the boy's last resort — putting salt on his 

 kinky tail — a smart mechanic brought out some 

 corn and a new, strong, cotton clothes line. He 

 made a noose as large as a table, and threw down 

 some corn within it, and then stood off" some dis- 

 tance with one end of the line in hand. 



Of course, it was a hard job to make the pig 

 see that corn, but when he "put his foot in it," 

 jerk went the cord, and the pig was surprised by 

 the fore leg. Ho flew around with great activity, 

 while the long line was being drawn in, taking the 

 legs from under some of his captors ; but the 

 chase was over and the pig secured. 



Moral. — Make a pen about as you would for 

 poultry, for a Brighton pig. If he gets out — get 

 him in again. w. D. B. 



Concord, Mass. 



A GOOD COW. 



As several have given the results of products 

 of cows and growth of calves, I will try my hand 

 at it. My cow dropped her calf Jan. 30, 18G1. I 

 commenced saving milk, Feb. 5, 18G1 ; from that 

 time to Feb. 5, 1862, she being farrow, we made 

 3G6 lbs. of butter. We used a quart a day in the 

 family. The skim milk was given to the calf two 

 months, then one-half of it one month more, mixed 

 with 75 ct3. worth of fine feed made into porridge, 

 and then grass, up to her eyes in clover. Since the 

 calf came to the barn, she has had good hay and 

 three cents' worth of waste of the flour mill, per 

 day. The calf is now 15 months old, girths 5 ft. 

 3 in., and is 5 ft. 9 in. from roots of horns to 

 rump. 



The skim milk from April 3 to Oct. 27 was giv- 

 en to a pig one month old, weighing 14 lbs., and 

 cost $3,00. When dressed, Oct. 27, he weighed 

 302 lbs. The cow had good feed in summer and 

 about two cents' worth of waste a day, and since 

 she came to the barn, foddering thi'ee times a day 

 of corn stocks or hay, and about four cents' worth 

 of waste. John M. Merrill. 



Bristol, N. H., April 29, 1862. 



PURE blood poultry — BARLEY FOR SHEEP. 



Presuming upon the acquaintance formed by a 

 constant perusal of the monthly Farmer, I ven- 

 ture to trouble you or your correspondents with a 

 question or two, which I would like answered in 

 the monthly, as I do not see the weekly. 



Will Mr. Ives, Buffington, Gates, or some other 

 fowl-fancier, tell me how I can keep pure-blooded 

 fowls year after year, otherwise than by breeding 

 in-and-in, as it is called ? Suppose I should pro- 

 cure, of Mr. Gates, eggs from pure blood Leghorn 

 fowls, and upon trial like them, and wish to keep 

 the stock pure ; I cannot see how I am to do it, 

 otherwise than by breeding in-and-in. No one 

 else in the vicinity has them, and, of course, I 

 cannot every year be at the trouble of hunting a 

 cock from a distance ; and I am told that a few 

 yeais breeding in-and-in Avill spoil the stock. My 

 neighbor spoiled his turkeys in that manner. 



Is bar-ley injurious to sheep ? I can raise bar- 

 ley more easily than other grain, but am told it is 

 not good for sheep. J. C. Shattuck. 



Marlboro', N. IL, 1862. 



TWIN LAMBS. 



Having seen in the Boston Journal an account 

 of 32 lambs raised from 20 ewes, by our enterpris- 

 ing townsman, C. F. Haskell, I wish to correct an 

 error too common among om* farmers, that is, that 

 raising twins is profitable. 



I cannot in too strong terms condemn the 

 breeding as having a tendency to rapidly ran 

 down a flock of sheep. The tax of the ewe to 

 grow two lambs is such as causes double the drain 

 of the system, which proportionally shortens the 

 length of life and consequent usefulness of a flock 

 of sheep, besides the amount of wool grown is 

 proportionally less. Not only so, but the size of 

 sheep is from generation to generation diminished 

 and will eventually run a flock down in this way : 

 twins run into triplets — triplets into quadruples — 

 a case of the latter recently come under my no- 

 tice in this way : a ram, from a triplet ewe, was 

 put to another triplet ewe, and the result was four 

 lambs or quadruples. Nature discountenances 

 this in cattle, when one of the twins is male and 

 the other female, by rendering the female ban-en, 

 or in other words a "Free Martin." 



I would discourage the practice of saving twins 

 for breeders ; in so doing, the British have, to- 

 gether with judicious management, increased the 

 weight of their sheep and cattle since 1030 over 

 one hundred per cent. (See i-ecords of Smithfield 

 market — ^IcCuUoch's Dictionary of Commerce.) 



Stanstead, C. E. Geo. Bachelder. 



on tanning skins. 

 I notice the inquiry of "A Reader" for a receipt 

 for tanning skins. I can give him one that I have 

 used to tan wild animals' skins ; it is a simple pro- 



