62 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb, 



for many years, the annual aggregate of his "Let- 

 tings" having been from $5,000 to $9,000. He 

 had also a very valuable herd of Short-Horns, and 

 a heavy capital employed upon the extensive farms 

 of which he was the tenant. Death has come to 

 him at a mature age, when the great labor of his 

 life is completed, and in the enjoyment of a well 

 won and world-wide reputation. As one of our 

 foreign exchanges remarks : "Every one who had 

 the pleasure of coming into contact with Mr. 

 Jonas Webb, must have been struck with his 

 frank and manly bearing; and those who have 

 had transactions with him can bear testimony to 

 his strict integrity and undeviating uprightness." 

 — Country Gentleman. 



Mr. John A. Tatntek, another distinguished 

 agriculturist, died on the 15th of November, at 

 his residence in Hertford, Conn. Mr. Tainter has 

 been greatly interested and engaged in the impor- 

 tation of what are called Jersey cattle, and has 

 done much to improve the breed of our neat 

 stock. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 

 PIGS WITH A COUGH. 



For a year or more past, my young pigs have 

 been troubled with a cough ; at times very severe, 

 and one or two have died from the effects of it. 

 I wish to make inquiries in regard to it. It seems 

 to leave them mostly, after they are a few months 

 old. X. 



Salisbury, Conn., 1862. 



Remarks. — It is no uncommon thing for pigs 

 to have a cough. It is occasioned, we think, in 

 most cases, by exposure, but probably not in the 

 case of our correspondent, who understands pig- 

 raising too well to expose them to any injury. 

 No animal likes, and enjoys, a warm, dry bed, 

 better than the pig. He may leave it, and wallow 

 in the mire the next moment, but if he gets 

 chilled, will retire to his nest, cover himself up, 

 and get warm again. Such is his nature. But 

 suppose he does not have the bed to go to, but 

 lies down upon filthy straw, with the cold winds 

 rushing up through the cracks in the floor, will he 

 not be Ukely to catch cold and have a cough ? It 

 may be hereditary, in the case of our inquirer. 

 Let him look to that. We have seen a yearling 

 colt so afflicted with ringbone, as to be utterly 

 worthless, — suffering greatly. Warm, moist food, 

 in small messes, mixed with a little flour of sul- 

 phur, will generally remove a cough that is not 

 hereditary or chronic. Where pigs have regular 

 and liberal feed, and a dry, warm place to retire to 

 when they please, they will seldom have a cough. 



culture of flax. 



Although there has been something said of late 

 upon the culture of flax in your paper, I would 

 like to inquire, first, whether a sufficient quantity 

 of seed that will germinate, can be found, to sup- 

 ply such farmers as are inclined to raise a little ? 



Then, again, when a crop is gathered, will paper- 

 makers be likely to buy the straw, (if that is the 

 name.) Or is it unfit in its raw state for the pa- 

 per-mill ? I am a farmer, and know nothing of 

 the manufacture of paper, but have been thinking^ 

 about it some of late. If raw flax will make good 

 paper, why will not the seed and straw sell, sO' 

 that it will pay to raise it ? H. C. 



Dec, 1862. 



Remarks. — No doubt but a plenty of seed 

 could be obtained. 



In its raw state, flax is unfit for the paper-mills 

 — ^but means would soon be found out to prepare 

 it for use. Indeed, a chemical process is already 

 known for softening the woody portion of the stem, 

 so that it is easily and rapidly separated by ma- 

 chinery. We have seen it done in the most eff'ec- 

 tual manner. 



Flax seed is a valuable article of commerce, and 

 large quantities of it are imported into this coun- 

 try annually in the form of seed, and that of oil 

 cake. 



TIME TO sow flax SEED. 



I have noticed in the Farmer an article on the 

 subject of flax. I think the 10th of May about 

 the best time to sow flax seed, although freezing 

 the ground a little, will not kill the seed after it 

 is sown. Loamy land is good for flax, and grav- 

 elly land, in a wet season, bears good flax. It is 

 the most profitable crop that a fai*mer can raise, 

 for it is very high at present. The lint is worth 

 18 cents per pound, and the seed $2 50 per bush- 

 el. We get from three to five hundred pounds of 

 lint per acre, and from seven to twelve bushels of 

 seed. Flax should be sown on clean land, where 

 it will be free from weeds. It should be pulled, 

 and the seed whipped off' by hand, or a machine 

 made on purpose. Such a machine consists of two 

 rollers, both turning inward ; the heads of the flax 

 pass between them ; the bolls of the flax are 

 crushed, and the seed drops out. When flax is 

 pulled, it should be kept in small bundles, that 

 you can clasp with both hands, then, after whip- 

 ping off' the sod, spread and roll it, and then 

 bi-eak, swingle and tie it up ready for market. 

 It will sell anywhere in Berkshire county. We 

 call the barley crop next to flax for profit. Wheat 

 is a very uncertain crop with us. A. Allen. 



Williamstown, Dec, 1862. 



PUTNAM'S BUTTER WORKER. 



Can you send me any explanation of the plan 

 of Putnam's Butter Worker ? 

 Indianapolis, lad., Dec, 1862. 



Remarks. — It is merely a plain frame work, 

 containing a cylinder to receive the butter, and a 

 follower fitting it, moved downward by a screw 

 power. In the cylinder there are upright open- 

 ings, perhaps half an inch wide, and six or eight 

 inches long, through which the butter and butter- 

 milk pass out as the power condenses it. When 

 the inventor gets out a description, we shall be 

 glad to give it in the Farmer. 



