152 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Mat 



proved by being split very fine for summer use. 

 Not one- half the quantity of wood will be burned 

 when prepared in this mannei*. Read this to your 

 M'ife, and see if she does not heartily approve of it. 

 But while I am writing this I am annoyed by an 



ECHOING FLOOR. 



As houses are now built, floors are apt to be 

 very noisy annoyances. The timbers are so strained 

 up that the floors become resonant like a drum. 

 This often makes a schoolroom in a second story 

 so troublesome to the rooms below as to be almost 

 unsupportable. Now this can be easily remedied 

 at a very trifling expense. After laying the under 

 floor, nail down some sawed laths directly over 

 and along the sleepers. These will show where 

 to nail the upper floor. Now make a mortar of 

 lime and sand, in which the latter ingredient may 

 be in excess. It may be made thin. Pour it on 

 to the floor and spread it just as thick as the laths, 

 and let it dry before laying the second floor. 

 Nail down the upper floor through the laths, and 

 it will seem to you like walking on a brick pave- 

 ment. Were I to build another house, I should 

 serve all my chamber floors in this manner, unless 

 somebody can point out a better method. 



Bethd, Me., March, 1863. N. T. T. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



A FINE HOG. 



I sold Mr. A. C. How, of this town, a half-blood 

 Chester county pig, which weighed when dressed at 

 nine months and fifteen days old, 525 lbs. ! I did not 

 think much of that, but wlien I read what great things 

 Maine and Vermont could do, I tliought I would not 

 have Massachusetts stay Tjchind when she has done 

 so much better. I have been a constant reader of the 

 Farmer for over three years, and would not part with 

 it for twice what it cost. j. p. h. 



Gill, March, 1863. 



BARN-ITCH — RELATIVE VALUE OF CORN AND BARLEY 

 — DRY MEAL FOR HORSES. 



Can you or any of your correspondents inform me 

 of the cause or a cure of the barn itch on neat stock ? 

 I would also like to inquire as to the relative value of 

 corn and barley as food for cattle, horses or swine. 

 I would say that I have practiced feeding dry meal to 

 horses with great success. k. 



N. E. Village, March 16, 1863. 



Remarks. — Cole, in his "Diseases of Animals," says, 

 "Give the animal as much salt and soot as it will eat, 

 and in a few hours give from three-quarters to one 

 pound of sulphur or pulverized brimstone. In twen- 

 ty-four hours give a pound of salt." We should con- 

 sider these as monstrous doses, — and should advise 

 care in employing such agents. 



ONIONS AND BEEF. 



Your friend, "Mount Grace," who doubts the 

 "onion story," can easily satisfy himself of the truth 

 of the theory by a simple experiment. Let him buy 

 a small quantity (1 or 2 pounds) of clean, white rice, 

 which has been damaged sufficiently to exhibit, when 

 cooked, an oily, half-rancid flavor, and feed it a few 

 times to a chicken or fowl — then have the fowl kil^d 

 and nicely roasted, having a little of the rice cooked 

 at the same time. He will find the same iieculiar fla- 

 vor about equally strong in each. Ex. 



PATENT OFFICE REPORT. 



Can you inform me through the columns of the 

 Farmer how I can obtain a copy of the Patent Office 

 Report for 1862 f W * * D. 



Remarks. — Send to the Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture, Hon. Isaac Newton, or apply to the member of 

 Congress from your district. I 



LEGISLATIVE AGRICULTURAL MEET- 

 ING. 



The tenth legislative agricultural meeting was 

 held in the Representative Hall, on Monday even- 

 ing, March 23d. We copy from the Adveiiiser's 

 report : 



Gov. Andrew presided and opened the discus- 

 sion, on the subject assigned for the evening, — 

 "Agricultural Education," — by calling attention 

 to President Hitchcock's report on Agricultural 

 Education in Europe, made thirteen years ago. 

 Little was done further than to receive this re- 

 port, He alluded to his appointment of a com- 

 mission to locate an agricultural college, and to 

 Mr. Dussey's will contemplating the founding of 

 an agricultural college. It is easier to oppose 

 than to act. Accordingly nothing available has 

 yet been gained. Much has been done, however, 

 by country societies, farmers' clubs and the Board 

 of Agriculture to diff"use useful knowledge on the 

 subject. The truth is this : nothing is done un- 

 less the aim be high. A low aim will accomplish 

 little. Had the aim been higher and the flight 

 bolder, more could have been accomplished. Mas- 

 sachusetts should not accept a low standard. It 

 may do good to teach chemistry, physiology, zo- 

 ology and astronomy to boys in school, but this 

 does little good unless more be done. A man of 

 general intelligence often takes in larger views 

 than professors of colleges and schools, though 

 the former had much less culture than the latter. 

 The unwillingness to learn and the prejudice 

 against doing so, cause many to stand still. All 

 the sciences should be cultivated, a»- D:ost of them 

 are tributary to agriculture. Then there will be 

 a growing science of chemistry, physiology, &c., 

 because there are growing men engaged in them. 

 We should begin to act in this matter. There is 

 no occasion to delay longer. The educational in- 

 stitutions of the State should be popularized so 

 that all the children of the Commonwealth shall 

 be benefited by them. Enlarged and liberal views 

 should be difl'used among all the people of the 

 Commonwealth. To our fame and our position 

 we owe much. I have been pained, said the 

 speaker, within the past three years, with the idea 

 of our vassalage to the nations of Europe. AVe 

 ought to be independent. We can bring men 

 from other States and ■ climes if we will it, and 

 need them. We stand incomparably better than 

 the nations of Europe for discovery, for progress 

 and improvement. A young man should not 

 make himself a lawyer by trade or a doctor by 

 trade. A man can be put to a better use than 

 making writs, drawing mortgages and collecting 

 debts. Scientific agriculture has got to find its 

 teachers to recover an exhausted soil that has 

 Veen over-cropped by bad husbandry. When 

 peace is restored, this wonderful work must be 

 done by you of New England. Then Avill the 

 desert blossom as the rose and the garden bloom 

 as Eden. I desire, said the Governor in closing, 

 to see our New England people take the subject 

 of education into their own hand and liberalize it. 



Mr. Flint said the subject is one of great in- 

 terest to our population. In looking forward to 

 an agricultural college, we should not expect of 

 it to diff'use what is known and in books, but for 

 something original. Wherever this institution is 

 located it should be controlled by men of skill 



