62 



NEW ENGLAIST) FARMER. 



Jan. 



Middle States, 31.79; Loyal States (general 

 ratio) 35.10; Border States, 25.32; Western 

 States, 36.81. The report says : 



"As an explanation of the superior battle 

 mortality of the extreme Northern section of 

 the country, I suggest the fact that this region 

 being far removed from the seat of war, it 

 was not necessaiy for any portion of the 

 troops raised in it to remain at home on garri- 

 son duty, and they were therefore kept almost 

 constantly at the front. Hence, also, at least 

 in part, the high rate of this section under oth- 

 er heads of casualty resulting in an especial 

 manner from field service, such as deaths by 

 disease and discharges for disability. 



A remarkable exception of the rule above 

 noticed is Kansas, which was a frontier State 

 during nearly the whole contest, and which, 

 nevertheless, shows the highest battle mortality 

 of the table. But the population of Kansas 

 is a peculiarly pugnacious one, rendered such 

 by its origin and history. The same singular- 

 ly martial disposition which induced above 

 half the able-bodied men of the State to enter 

 the army without bounty, may be supposed to 

 have increased their exposure to the casualties 

 of battle after they were in the service. 



Among the colored troops the deaths by dis- 

 ease were largely disproportioned to those by 

 the casualty of war. The report says : 



"The ratio is no less than 141.39 per thou- 

 sand, while the highest ratio on the volunteer 

 list is 124.02 (Iowa) and the general volunteer 

 ratio is 59.22. This disparity is the more re- 

 markable because the colored troops were not 

 so severely exposed during the Avar to the 

 hardships of field service proper, as is evident 

 from the fact that their battle mortality is but 

 16.11 per thousand, while that of the volunteer is 

 35.10. The ratio of deaths by disease among 

 the colored troops compares still more unfa- 

 vorably with that of the regulars, which is but 

 42.27 per thousand. It seems to indicate that 

 the negro, in the condition in which the war 

 found him, was less able than the white to en- 

 dure the exposure and annoyances of military 

 service. It may be assumed that where one 

 man dies of disease, at least five others are se- 

 riously sick, so that a large proportion of the 

 colored ti'oops must have been constantly upon 

 the sick list." 



Keeping Fowls. — Mr. Albert C. Vose, 

 near Manville, pursues what seems to us a rea- 

 sonable and profitable course in keeping fowls. 

 He has enclosed an acre and a quarter of land 

 with a high fence ; and in this enclosure he 

 keeps about a hundred and fifty hens. lie in- 

 forms us that during nine months of the year 

 these fowls gave a net profit of two dollars per 

 day, or say five hundred dollars per year. Is 

 not this keeping fowls to some purpose ? In 

 Mr. Vose's enclosure is a running stream and 

 fruit trees. The trees afford shade, while 

 their fruit-bearing is improved by the fowls. — 

 Woonsocket Patriot. 



AGRICTJLTURAIi ITEMS, 



— There are about 25,000 bees in a swarm. 



— Gail Hamilton says, we do not know how to 

 work until we know how to play. 



— It is said there is a com field of 160 acres in 

 extent within the city limits of Des Moines, Iowa. 



— Good fences always pay better than lawsuits 

 with neighljors. 



— In Denmark, one cannot cut down his ovm. trees 

 without a permit from Government. 



— "Where do house flies come from ? Who can 

 tell when, where, and how they are propagated ? 



— Mr. Andrew McLaughlin, of Peacham, Vt., 

 raised 58 bushels of wheat on 1 >^ acres of land. 



— Potato starch factories in Maine have paid 30 

 cents per bushel for potatoes this fall. 



— A writer in the Country Gentleman says it 

 costs him $1.75 each, a year to keep hens. 



— Mr. A. Noyes, of Mears, Mich., claims to have a 

 potato which weighs six pounds. 



— The Maine Farmer says the hay crop of that 

 State this year was about two-thirds its usual av- 

 erage. 



— W. W. Chenery, of Belmont, Mass., recently 

 harvested 1022 bushels of carrots ft-om one acre and 

 five rods of ground. 



— Drained laud is generally ten to twenty degrees 

 warmer in summer, than that in which water 

 stands stagnant. 



— H. Hopkins, Jr., Montgomery, Vt., has a March 

 Durham calf that weighed 750 lbs. on the first of 

 October. 



— In England and Scotland land is o^med by the 

 large landlords. This leaves the entire capital of 

 the fanner free for active employment. 



— A "steam shovel" has been put in operation in 

 raising the Squankum Marl, so highly prized in 

 New Jersey for its manurial value. 



—A late well-informed writer says #300,000,000 

 a year, will not cover the damage done to farmers 

 in this countiy by insects. 



— About 1,500 acres of flax weregi-own this sum- 

 mer in Kankakee Co., 111. The average price re- 

 ceived for the crop per acre was over |>'30. 



— "Josh, I say, I was going down street t'other 

 day, and I seed a tree bark." "Golly, Sam, I seed 

 it hollow." "I seed the same one leave." "Did it 

 take its trank with it ? "Oh, it left that for board." 



— Mr. Bright, in one of his late speeches, said 

 that one-half of Scotland is owned by twelve per- 

 sons, and one-half of England by one hundred and 

 fifty. 



— On the great grain growing region of the Cam- 

 pagna, near Rome, where the extensive plains af- 

 ford the finest field in the world for the use of the 

 reaping machine, the old sickle is still used, and 

 the ox "that trcadeth out the com" is the only 



