180 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLIES. 



THE ONION MAGGOT. 



Much has been said and written on the ravages of 

 the onion worm ; hut Mr. Emerson nor Mr. Proctor 

 seem to find an effectual remedy. I have no doubt 

 that one of the most simple things, available to us all, 

 will prevent that great evil. If, when the onion s^eed 

 is sown, a small quantity of superphosphate of lime 

 is sown with it, and more put on when the plant is 

 about two inches high, I think there will be no com- 

 plaint of the destruction of onions by the worms. I 

 recommended it to Farmer Jones, several years since, 

 but he omitted it until his onions were badly eaten. 

 Aliout the 20th of June, Mr. Jones told me that he 

 must plough up all his onions, as they were so badly 

 eaten that iiis crop was ruined. I again recommended 

 the superphosphate of lime, and he put it on that day ; 

 the result was that it put a stop to the ravages uf the 

 worms ; no more were eaten, and he thinks that if it 

 had been put on earlier, it would have secured the 

 whole from ihe ravages of the maggot. 



Juli/ 23, 18r/3. 



Since writing the above, I have put the superphos- 

 phate to the test, and find that it will prevent the rav- 

 ages of the maggot in the onion, without a doubt. 



Brookline, April, 1863. S. A. SnuRTLErF. 



rOWL MEADOW GRASS — -VSHES AND NIGHT SOIL. 



I have four or five acres of meadow, with a running 

 stream through it ; it has a hard, gravelly bottom, so 

 that I can go all over it with a team. What I wish to 

 inquire is, which is the Ijcst way tor me to get it into 

 fowl meadow grass ? Must I plough it, or put on sand 

 or loam and sow my seed on that ? 



Ought I to mix ashes with night soil ? I have (for 

 the want of anything else) put all my ashes into my 

 vault. Some tell me I have lost my ashes liy so doing. 



Is it so ? A SUUSCEIBEH. 



Remaeks. — Plough it, by all means ; if you can, 

 add a little fine manure, and sow your grass seed. If 

 the meadow is black muck, a topdressing of sand will 

 be usctful. 



It is said that the alkali contained in ashes will set 

 the ammonia free, which green manure contains, and 

 then it flies off and is lost. Good loam would be bet- 

 ter than wood ashes, and what is better still, is some 

 of the muck from your meadow. Throw out some, 

 pulverize and dry it, and if a bushel is applied to the 

 vault once a week, you will have double the quantity 

 of manure and no odor. 



ABOUT HEDGES. 



What kind of a hedge is best adapted to our climate, 

 and where can I procure the seed or plants, — also the 

 time for planting the seeds and the setting out of 

 plants ? How should the ground be prepared, and 

 what the manner of procedure with the plants ? The 

 location is the sides of the road ; sod light, rather dry ; 

 want some kind that will turn cattle, and will be du- 

 rable. SUBSCRIBEK. 



Ashhj, April, 1863. 



Remarks. — The Buckthorn is handsome, grows rap- 

 idly, and is clean, but will not keep out cattle. The 

 Three-thornccl Acacia will keep out cattle and boys, 

 but grows rather open, and without the graceful beau- 

 ty of the Buckthorn. Consult Warder's "Hedges 

 and Evergreens." 



HORSES AND SHEEP. 



I have a young horse, and sometimes after using 

 him, when I unfasten the check rem, a small quantity 

 of white matter will run from his nostrils. He seems 

 healthy, with this exception, but in the summer has a 

 humor, which comes out in little bunches over his 

 body, disappearing when the weather becomes cool in 

 the fall. Can you tell the cause and a I'cmedy ? 



Have you noticed a disease among sheep, the symp- 

 toms of which are a cough and running at the nose. 

 My sheep were seriously affected with it during the 



dry weather of last summer, and some have not yet 

 recovered. They are also troubled with ticks. What 

 will kill the ticks without injuring the sheep ? 



Martha's Vineyard, April, 1SG3. A Re.\dee. 



Remarks. — The horse is evidently considerably un- 

 well, and needs careful examination and prescription 

 from some person acquainted with the diseases of 

 horses. It is something more than a common cold. 

 Perhaps reading Mayhew's Illustrated Horse Doc- 

 tor, or '-Dadd on the Horse," might save you fifty 

 dollars. 



Purchase the ^-Extract of Tobacco," and follow di- 

 rections that come. See advertisement in Xew Eng- 

 land Fanner. 



CULTUBE OF THE CURRANT. 



No fruit gives a more generous return than the 

 cuiTant ; and though it will grow in almost any 

 soil, yet, to have really fine fruit, the ground 

 should be well prepared by bountiful manuring, 

 with well rotted stable manure, and deep and 

 thorough pulverization. 



In planting, the roots should have plenty of 

 room that they maybe spread out in their natural 

 position, and the earth carefully drawn around 

 them, so that after the ground is settled, they will 

 be no deeper than when they stood in the nursery. 

 No plant or shrub sufi'ers more from cramping the 

 roots and deep planting than the currant. The 

 planting may be done either in spring or fall ; if 

 in the latter season, a small mound of earth should 

 be raised around the bush as a protection against 

 wind and frost. 



This fruit requires much more room than is 

 generally allowed to it. For large plantations the 

 rows should be five to six feet apart, and the 

 bushes three to four feet apart in the rows, this 

 will admit of the horse cultivator without danger 

 of rubbing off the fruit. 



Mulching with long straw manure or fermented 

 sawdust, is a cheap way of keeping down the 

 weeds and the ground loose. If the bushes are 

 not mulched, they should be ploughed two or 

 three times every season, that the ground may be 

 kept loose, and the weeds kept down ; and in the 

 fall, whether mulched or not, a good supply of 

 well rotted manure should be placed around the 

 bushes, to be worked in in the spring. — Excliange. 



A Novel Att.ychment. — A gentleman in 

 Springfield, Mass., writes to the Albany Cultiva- 

 tor, that he bought a Berkshire pig, about six 

 weeks old, and put it into a pen, from which it 

 escaped, and nestled in the straw of the cow sta- 

 ble, where it was suffered to remain. In a few 

 days it was noticed that the usual quantity of milk 

 given by the cow was decreasing. The pig, how- 

 ever, grew finely, and the two animals lived in 

 peace. Happening to enter the stable one 

 evening, the gentleman found the pig quietly 

 nursing. On separating them, it was found that 

 their mutual attachment was quite strong — the 

 cow for many days mourned as for the loss of a 

 calf. 



Price of F.\rms. — The Genessee Farmer says 

 there is a great movement in real estate in that 

 section, and that the price of farms is advancing 

 rapidly 



