170 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



table. They were last year tested in the New Haven 

 henneries, and were highly recommended for their 

 laying qualities. James M. Clark. 



Chester, Ct., April 18, 1864. 



Remarks. — We have never seen the Sicilian fowls, 

 and can find no account of them in the books. Our 

 correspondent's account of them is very favorable. 



Stretclies in Sheep. 



I wish to inquire through your paper, of Mr. H. P. 

 Gale, of Washington, Vt., what his medicine is for 

 the scoui'S and stretches in sheep ? Mine is, for the 

 stretches, one table spoonful of castor oil mixed with 

 X pint of warm milk. Turn down out of a bottle. It 

 seldom fails. If there is any better medicine I should 

 like to know it. The scours I never have had in my 

 flock. C. F. Lincoln. 



Woodstock, Vt., April, 1864. 



Reducing Bones— Snow — Sheep. 



I should like to have you inform me through the 

 medmm of the N. E. Farmer how I can prepare sev- 

 eral hundred pounds of bones that I have on hand, 

 for a fertilizer, and how long a time it will take. 

 What are they worth per hundred to sell, and where 

 can they be sold at the best advantage ? 



We have just had the most severe snow storm of 

 the season ; there has not been so much snow on the 

 ground before, at any time this winter. Our people 

 are making lots of maple sugar. 



Farmers in this section are losing lots of sheep this 

 spring ; they came to the barn very poor. On account 

 of the severe rains of last fall, much of the hay was 

 cut late the last season, making it very poor feed for 

 stock. N. W. Hardy. 



Nelson, N. H., April 14, 1864. 



Remarks. — The cheapest and easiest way for the 

 farmer to dissolve the bones he collects, is to boil them 

 in strong ley. It will require three or four hours' boil- 

 ing, probably, to soften them so that they can be re- 

 duced to a paste. The alkali in which they are boiled 

 being a good fertilizer, the whole mass will make a 

 manure that can scarcely be excelled. 



We are informed that manufacturers are paying 

 from ^20 to ^'25 per ton for whole bones. 



USE OF POULTRY MANURE. 



Messrs. Editors : — I send you my way of pre- 

 paring and using hen manure on corn. 



I have been in the habit for several years of 

 getting together all the clear manure from the 

 hen roost that I could, and a few days before plant- 

 ing, (say three to six,) mix an equal quantity of 

 wood ashes and about half as much plaster thor- 

 oughly together, wetting enough to moisten the 

 whole. When my ground is ready marked both 

 •ways, drop a small handful to each hill, or one 

 large handful for two, planting the corn as soon 

 as may be, after dividing the compost with a slight 

 motion of the hoe, before dropping the corn and 

 covering up with good mellow dirt. * 



Wetting the compost helps much to pulverize 

 hen manui-e, and insure the corn immediately, 

 which it would not be likely to do until after a 

 rain if planted in it^ dry state. 



I have never tested by actual experiment the 

 increase of crop, but am well satisfied that I get 

 enough more corn to keep my hens during the 

 winter and spring, (give them all they will eat,) 

 besides lots of pumpkins in the bargain. 



Perhaps something else would do better in the 

 place of ashes. I think I shall try some with 

 muck this year, and note the difference, if any, 

 in the yield. — A Small Farmer, in Country 

 Gentleman. 



EFFECT OF COLD "WEATHER ON THE 

 SEPARATION OF CREAM. 



Judging from the management of the dairies of 

 many of our farmers, and also in many of the 

 larger ones, where the butter is the chief object, 

 the managers seem little to understand the effect 

 of a low temperature upon the rising of the cream, 

 or at least they do not arrange their milk so as to 

 obtain the greatest amount of cream. There are 

 several conditions which do much to modify the 

 quantity of cream which may be derived from any 

 given quantity of milk; the fatty matter which, 

 afterward composes the butter is held in suspension 

 by the water of the milk, and hence, when standing 

 in the udder of the cow, the best and most rich 

 portions rise to the surface, and-consequently are 

 last drawn. By the common mode of milking, the 

 poor and richer portions of the rnilk become mixed 

 together, and the separation of the cream is made 

 far more difficult and slow. In most of the lai"ge 

 English dairies, and in some of the best ordered in 

 this country, it is the rule to divide each cow's 

 milk into two portions at the time of milking, and 

 these two portions are kept entirely separate until 

 the cream is all raised, when it is sometimes mixed, 

 but oftener kept separate altogether. In some of 

 the large dairies of Devonshire, each milker has 

 three buckets, and divides each cow's milk into 

 three portions, which, with their cream, are kept 

 entirely separate. It has been stated by eminent 

 English dairymen that if the first two-thirds of the 

 cow's milk is kept separate from the remainder, at 

 least ten per cent, more cream may be obtained. 

 Those who make butter can calculate whether this 

 will payi"or the extra labor which is incurred. 



Another mistake very often made is that of put- 

 ting too mucK milk in the pans ; experiment has 

 proven that if we take two equal quantities of milk 

 and place one in pans to the depth of six inches, 

 and the other to the depth of only two and one- 

 half inches, the latter will yield from seven to eight 

 per cent, more cream than the former. This is the 

 case more particularly in cold and damp weather, 

 and at this time the mistake is most commonly 

 committed. 



The temperature of the surrounding air has also 

 a gr'eat effect upon the time required for the rais- 

 ing of all the cream ; experiment has demonstrated 

 that the process is more rapid in warm than ia 

 cold weather. With the thermometer at 



80 degrees, all the cream will raise in 10 hours. 



77 " " " 12 " 



68 " " " 18 " 



65 " " " 24 " 



50 " " " 36 " 



45 " " " 42 «' 



Sprengel found that if the milk was kept at a 

 temperature as low as 37°, but little cream would 

 raise in three weeks. 



In order to avoid the trouble of keeping the 

 cream at the proper temperature, it is customary 

 in some dairies to churn the whole milk. The ad- 

 vantages claimed by those who follow this plan 

 may be briefly stated thus : The proper tempera- 

 ture can be readily obtained both in summer and 

 in winter ; five per cent, more butter can be ob- 

 tained from the same milk ; the butter is not only 

 of the best quality while fresh, but if properly 

 managed, will keep much better. 



This plan would not work so well in the neigh- 

 borhood of a good market for skim milk, but when 

 cheese is an object there would be little or no 



