326 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



matter, would both secure our posterity a good 

 supply of lumber, and a good degree of exception 

 from droughts. 



All that individuals can do in this matter, is to 

 preserve their own forest land in just proportion, 

 and by underdraining, thus deepening the soil and 

 giving it a porous, spongy character, render the 

 land capable of absorbing and retaining as large a 

 quantity as possible of the water that falls upon it, 

 instead of allowing a large portion to flow off, as 

 is now generally the case. Our State Legislatures, 

 might, we think, vrith great propriety remit the 

 taxes for 20 years on all land devoted to high for- 

 est, (not low woods for charcoal and hoop poles,) 

 and tax land which might, but does not carry a 

 good groAvth of high or low woods, at the rate its 

 value would warrant if properly improved. — FOR- 

 RESTER, in American Agriculturist. 



FKUIT HINTS. 



I have met with decided success in using tobac- 

 co stems as a preventive for the peach borer. 

 Frequent examinations since early last spring 

 have revealed but one borer. I renew the supply 

 of stems as often as I deem advisable, and find no 

 injury to the roots from them. I have also acted 

 on Miss Morrill's hint relative to the application 

 of saltpetre, alum, or salt, as special manui'es for 

 the peach, and with promising results. I sprinkle 

 them on the soil to witliin about a foot of the 

 trunk of the tree. 



My trees, which were inclined to be sickly and 

 of puny growth, are now in splendid condition, 

 and this season made very strong, healthy growth, 

 and from summer pruning are sending out strong, 

 thick branches, some sweeping nearly to the 

 ground, offering complete protection to the trunk 

 from the scorching sun. 



Last season, I used Gisburst's compound for 

 slugs on my pear and cherry trees. This season 

 I have used nothing but whale oil soap, which I 

 find quite as effectual and more beneficial to my 

 trees, as it gives a healthy, bright color to the 

 bark, and keeps the leaves fresh-looking and free 

 from spots. I apply it once a week or fortnight, 

 as they may require, and the expense is but little 

 more than that of common soap, costing here five 

 to six and a quarter cents a pound. Instead of a 

 syringe, I use a "hydropult," which has great forc- 

 ing power, and its iiexible tube renders it far su- 

 perior to the syringe in application to the under 

 side of foliage. — H. C. Van Tyne, in Horticul- 

 turist. 



ABOUT PIWS. 



The manufacture of pins, in this country, was 

 first undertaken soon after the war of 1S12 ; when 

 in consequence of the interruption to commerce, 

 the value of a paper of pins was not less than one 

 dollar, and those were of a very inferior quality to 

 those now only worth six cents a paper. By the 

 old method of manufacture the number of distinct 

 processes Avas fourteen. Now they are manufac- 

 tured in Connecticut by a self-acting machine, 

 Avhich completes them by one process and sticks 

 them into the papers also ! The only attention 

 the sticking machine requires is to supply it with 

 jjius and paper. At the present time the total 

 weight of pins made in the United States, is sup- 



posed to be from seven to ten tons a week. What 

 indeed becomes of all the pins ! When we reflect 

 that, up to the middle of the XIV. centurv, Eng- 

 lish ladies were obhged to make use of clumsy 

 wooden skewers, we can appreciate the abundance 

 and cheapness of these useful little articles. Yet 

 nothing is new under the sun, and pins are found 

 in Egyptian tombs, of much more costly and elab- 

 orate make than those now used. Some of these 

 are eight inches long and are furnished with large 

 gold heads. The ladies' "pin-money," in those 

 days, must have been quite an item in the domes- 

 tic expenses. ^^ 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 

 HARD COAL DUST. 



Can you inform me Avhat this coal dust is good 

 for ? It collects in the flues of our chimneys. Can 

 it be made use of in any way for manure, or will 

 it be of any use to spread as a top-dressing ? Llun- 

 dreds of bushels can be had at very little cost for 

 saving and trucking. I send you a sample just as 

 it comes from the flue and about the chimneys. 

 An Old Subscriber. 



Diddeford, Me., 1862. 



Remarks. — The dust enclosed seems to be col- 

 orless and tasteless, but notwithstanding this, it 

 may have a valuable effect upon plants. Apply it 

 as a top-dressing to small patches of grass land, 

 and about plants that are hoed, leaving some of 

 the same kind of plants, ten or fifteen feet distant, 

 without it, and note the effect. We think it can- 

 not be entirely without value. 



CLAY FOR DRAIN TILE 



There is in this town a clay bed suitable for 

 making the finest quality of bricks. I wish to in- 

 quire if it is also suitable for making drain tile ; 

 that is, will the same quality of claj' make either 

 brick or tile ? Can you also tell me where I can 

 obtain machines for the manufacture of tile, and 

 the probable cost ? A Reader. 



Snow's Store, Vf., 1862. 



Remarks. — Clay that is suitable for brick, we 

 are informed, is just what is wanted for making 

 drain tile. We cannot inform you where tile ma- 

 chines are manufactured. Their cost is from one 

 to two hundred dollars. 



LICE ON CATTLE. 



In answer to the inquiry of "Yeoman," Laconia, 

 N. II., I will say that a safe, sure, simple and eco- 

 nomical way of killing lice on cattle is to take the 

 water in which potatoes have been boiled, rub 

 thoroughly the cattle which are afflicted in this 

 way once a week, for two or three weeks, or until 

 the nits are all hatched out, and the stock of lice 

 will be among the things that were. The remedy 

 is so simple that some will not believe until they 

 have tried it. It is, nevertheless, a sure cure, if 

 faithfully and thoroughly applied. 



Another remedy is in an ounce of preventive, — 

 good feed, good M'ater, good clean sheds and sta- 

 bles, and lice will not colonize in the vicinity. 



Highland Lodge, Vt., May, 1862. H. F. 



