,72 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. 



Calendar for February Page 41 



Culture of Flrix — A look at some Fine Stock 42 



New Year DiKies 43 



Physical Education 44 



Winter Manasement of Sheep 45 



A Discussion on Grapes and Pears 4g 



Sheep Mania — H. W. Beecher on Farming 47 



CotswoUl Sheep 49 



Health — Vinofiar — Y7ood Fires and Cooking 50 



Habits of the Beaver 50 



Old Winter is Coming — Agriculture in Common Schools 51 



Draining — Fall Slanuiing— Books — The Care of the Feet 52 



Treatment of Colls 53 



Agricultural Ivnowledge — Farmers' Clubs 54 



Wintering Bees 55 



Little Things — Inquiries and Notes from Maine 56 



Extracts and Ileplies — Experiments in Feeding Stock 57 



Cutting Fodder for Stock — A Snow-Storm 58 



Agriculture in Common Schools 58 



Renovation of old Apple Trees 59 



Renovating the Soil — Cross Plowing , .59 



Tlie Cultivation of Clover— The Wind 60 



Why Boiling Milk Foams 60 



Woman's Gardening — Death of Mr. Jonas Webb 61 



Extracts and Replies G3 



The Horse an Intelligent Animal 64 



Illustrated Annual Register for 1863 — Newspaper Controversy .61 



The War and the Farmer 65 



Borrowing and Lending — Retrospective Notes 66 



Seed Sowers — Importance of Keeping Accounts 67 



Salt and Cold Water for Swine— Road Making 68 



The Inner Calm — .Uulge French — Maple Sugar 69 



Extracts and Replies 70 



Vermont State Agricultural Society 71 



Cattle Market for January 72 



For the Neto England Farmer, 

 KECEIPTS FOR CAKE. 



Squash Breakfast Cake. — Two cups Indian 

 meal, one cup tiour, one cup boiled squash, thor- 

 oughly mashed, two cups sweet milk, one egg, 

 one teaspoonful sugar, one teaspoonful cream of 

 tartar and one half-teaspoonful soda. Instead of 

 cream of tartar a tablespoonful of cider may be 

 used. Bake in a quick oven. 



HoLLls Cake. — One half-cup of butter, two 

 cups sugar, one cup milk, three and one half cups 

 flour, three eggs, one teaspoonful cream of tartar 

 and one half-teaspoonful soda. Season with lem- 

 on. This will make two loaves. The soda should 

 be dissolved in half the milk and the remainder 

 of the milk should be beaten with the yolks of 

 the eggs. Beat the whites to a stiff froth and stir 

 in just before setting into the oven. A. 



Remarks. — The editor returns his thanks for 

 the receipts — and will not fail to accept the invi- 

 tation to test them practically, should he ever find 

 himself in A.'s neighborhood. 



It is only the calm waters that reflect heaven in 

 their breast. 



CATTLE MARKETS FOR JANUARY. 



The following is a summary of the reports for the four weeks 

 ending January 15, 1863: 



NUMBER AT MARKET, 



Sheep and Shotes and Lire 



Cattle. Lambs. Pigs. Fat Hogs. 



December 25.. ..1017 2635 250 2.500 



January 1 1100 2328 100 1800 



" 8 1229 3066 250 1500 



" 16.... 1590 2399 225 1500 



Total.... 5, 536 10,428 825 7,3C0 



The following table exhibits the number of cattle and sheep 

 from the several States, for the last four weeks, and for the cor- 

 responding four weeks last year : 



THIS TEAR. LAST TEAR. 



Cattle. Sheep. Cattle. Sheep. 



Maine 879 2744 575 666 



New Hampshire 667 965 985 1095 



Vermont 2046 2017 18.59 3.346 



Massachusetts 295 1601 135 2552 



Northern New York 224 1692 > , „, 0^7 



Canada 81 522 | ^^'^ '^' 



Western States 1344 1887 1720 4765 



Total 5,536 10,428 5469 12,771 



PRICES. 



Dec. 25. Jan. 1. Jan. 8. Jan. 17. 



Beef, 1st, 2d and 3d qualities.. 4|g6| 4i(S6i 4|@6J 4|@7 



" afew e.xtra 7 @7J 7 @7J 1 @1\ 11^1% 



Sheep and lambs, ^ lb 43'g5J 4356 6 (B6J SJ/Se^ 



Swine, stores, wholesale 4|g5J 4§S5J 4Jg5^ 5 @6 



" " retail 4Jg6| 4136^ 5 (g6 6|@6| 



Remarks. — The advance in prices of beef at the last market 

 was owing in part to the much better quality of the cattle. For 

 the four weeks ending December 18th, there were 1378 cattle 

 and 2328 sheep more than there were last year for the four cor- 

 responding weeks. But for the past four weeks tlie number of 

 cattle is 67, and of sheep 2343 less than were reported last year 

 for the same time, and as will be seen, much less than the aver- 

 age for the year. These facts should be remembered in re- 

 viewing the above table of prices. 



STATISTICS FOR THE YEAR 1862. 

 According to our weekly reports the following numbers of 

 live stock have been sold at these markets during the yearl862, 

 viz: 



For the Average 



year. per week. 



Cattleofall kinds 98,218 1889 



Sheep and lambs 229,198 4408 



Veal calves 10,000 192 



Fat hogs 55,000 1058 



Shotes and pigs 46,000 835 



Sources of Shpplt. — The following table gives the number 

 of cattle and sheep arri^■ing at market, from several States, for 

 each quarter of the past year: 



Quarter cattle. 



ending Me. N. H. Ft. Mass. tior.N. Y. Ca. West. 



Mar. 31, 1411 1650 4195 1191 508 — 7107 



June 30, 333 843 2429 1186 224 79 11039 



Sept. 30, 2461 2480 8677 297 821 682 11725 



Dec. 31, 8296 4985 15905 986 2050 1124 5534 



Total, 12,501 9,958 31,206 3,360 3,603 1,885 35,405 



SHEEP. 



Mar. 31, 738 3360 9807 7112 461 — 13423 



June 30, 660 5483 21689 4193 707 49 2016 



Sept. 30, 15141 7963 38170 2910 6282 10S24 2414 



Dec, 31, 14630 6140 25829 663 4396 22064 2074 



Total, 31,169 22,946 95,495 14,878 11,846 32,937 19,927 



