i^ef 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JktAV 



TURBAN, OB TURK'S HEAD SQUASH. 



Every lover of a good squash will feel indebted 

 to Mr. Gregory for the persistent interest he 

 has so long taken in securing and propagating 

 this wholesome vegetable. With the above en- 

 graving, he has sent us an account of the Turban, 

 or Turk's Head Squash. Some time last fall, or 

 winter, he sent us one-half of two different 

 squashes of this variety, one of which we took 

 home, had it cooked, and the whole family upon 

 eating it, pronounced it excellent— they did not 

 know how any squash could be better. It was dry, 

 fine grained, and quite sweet enough for an arti- 

 le of food. We had no opportunity to test it 

 made into pies, but others who have had, think 

 no other squash is superior to it. Mr. G. says : 



The above engraving gives this new French 

 squash with the extreme development of the 

 prominence called "Acorn" at the calyx end. 

 The Acorn varies from this extreme size down to 

 a merely rudimentary form, these two extremes 

 being sometimes found on squashes growing on 

 the same vine. 



Some of my friends have complained that the 

 Hubbard was too dry a squash in the fall to he 

 acceptable for table use. Since I intioduced the 

 Hubbard as the best of all M-m^er squashes, I have 

 been seeking for the public a first class squash 

 for fall use, that should add flavor to fineness and 

 dryness of grain. After spending six years in 

 carefully testing new varieties, I am satisfied that 

 the Turban is decidedly thebest of all varieties for 

 fall use. The Turban is dry, very fine grained, 

 and rich flavored, and in thickness of the flesh, 

 and specific gravity excels all other squashes, 

 being bulk for bulk about one-fifth heavier than 

 the Hubbard, and one^fourth heavier than the 

 Marrow Squash. 



While the Hubbard does not usually acquire 

 its maximum of sweetness and flavor until early 

 winter, the Turban is a sweet, dry, flne grained 

 and rich flavored squash when first gathered from" 

 the vine, and remains thus through the fall, ex- 

 cellent either for the table or pies. 



The Turban grows to a good size for family 

 use, averaging in weight about seven pounds, 

 and under high cultivation yields at the rate of 

 SIX tons to the acre, at which rate it yielded with 

 me during the past season. 



Directions for Cultivating. 

 Select good, warm soil, fill it well with manure, 

 then mark off the hills 8x9, mix in some fine, 

 stimulating manure in each hill (such as super- 

 phosphate or guano,) and plant early in the sea- 

 son four seed. When the runners begin to show 

 themselves, thin to two or even one plant to the 

 hill, keep down the weeds and loosen the soil be- 

 tween the hills, frequently with the cultivator. 

 If you wish to store the squashes, allow them to 

 remain on till the vines are dead, then gather and 

 store after two or three days exposure to the sun. 

 Avoid piling them in the fi'eld, and do not expose 

 them^ to cold rains afier gathering ; this hurts the 

 keeping quaUties of any squash. In storing do 

 not stand them with the "Acorn" downwards. 



LICE ON CATTLE. 



Mr. Harris Lewis, an excellent dairy farmer, 

 of Herkimer county, thinks that a man who win- 

 ters a good, thriving stock of lice, on say forty 

 head of cattle, does so at an expense of about $200. 

 He informs the Country Gentleman of a remedy 

 which has proved cheap, safe and effective with 

 him, and which should be borne iu mind by stock 

 farmers for future use — viz: He rubs a small 

 quantity of unguentum (mercurial ointment) on 

 the stanchions in his stables, for a distance, 

 of perhaps two feet, up and down, cover- 

 ing the edges which the cattle come in contact 

 with. As this does not kill the nits, the operation 

 is repeated at intervals of eight days, three times, 

 by the end of which period they will all be pretty 

 certainly hatched out and destroyed. A fourth 

 application may be required, but he finds three 

 almost invariably enough. A small qrantity only 

 is required, a very light coating serving the pur- 

 pose, and by this method of application the cattle 

 cannot get at it with their mouths, or otherwise 

 receive any iujury from it. 



Another point in Mr. L.'s management worthy 

 of note is this : He keeps salt in tubs in his cattle 

 yards constantly accessible to the stock, with 

 which is mixed sidphur, in the proportion of 

 about a tablespoonful to a quart of salt. This 

 practice was begun some years ago, as a precau- 

 tion against the murrain, for which purpose it 

 was found efi"ective, and it has been continued 

 from the favorable influences it exerts upon the 

 general health of the cows. Since its use, Mr. 

 L. has had but a single case o^ garget in his herd, 

 and he ascribes this exemption from that very 

 troublesome difficulty among dairy farmers, solely 

 to the use of sulphur. — Country Qentleman. 



Remarks. — We recently sent to New York for 

 Dodge's Infallible Exterminator, and are now 

 testing it on a stock of cattle, and will let the 

 reader know the result. 



1^^ The town of Hatfield, in this State, raised 

 675 acres of tobacco last year, the product of 

 which at 30 cents per pound — less tlian the aver- 

 age price for that which has been sold — would 

 bring !$32o,000. This gives $250 to every inhabi- 

 tant of the town. It is also related of a tarnier of 

 the same town that he has received $18,000 for 

 the product of his farm the last year, $14,000 of 

 wliich is clear profit. He raised 600 bushels of 

 corn from twelve acres, and on twenty-live acres 

 twenty-one and a half tons of tobacco, which sold 

 for thirty-two cents per pound. 



