1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



85 



■water whicli is very clear, and sec old trees ; some 

 standing up and sonic lying down. 



On the north-easterly side of this pond a public 

 highway passes, and the pond Ik'sopen to it attbrd- 

 ing one of the best watering phues there is in New 

 England for teams and droves of cattle. It has a 

 sandy shore, which makes the water shallow for 

 some distance, affording ample room for two hun- 

 dred head of cattle to drink at one time. At the 

 southerly end of this watering place, several rods 

 IVoui the travelled highway, if vou go in far enough 

 the water is found to he quite deep. 



Something like thirty years ago, on a very hot 

 day, a couple of young men riding in a chaise turn- 

 ed down to this pond to water their horse. After 

 the horse had drank, they drove into deeper water 

 to cool the horse, while they were sitting in the 

 chaise reading. The horse after a little while start- 

 ed ahead and plunging into this deep water was 

 drowned with one of the men in the carriage. 



Asa G. Sheldon. 



Wilmington, Mass., Dec. 18G6. 



Remarks. — After cautioning young men of the 

 danger of allowing a horse to go into deep water to 

 cool himself, or pennittinghiinto stand any length 

 of time even in shallow water, when heated, our 

 respected correspondent proceeds to a discussion 

 of the liability of the to\\m for damages in case of 

 a similar accident which occurred at this place last 

 season, that is of local rather than general interest. 



ICE AS A PROTECTION AGAINST FROST. 



As the cold weather approaches, and cellars need 

 protection, I send you a hint. Take a sprinkling 

 pot and wet the ground two feet wide around your 

 house. Do it when the weather is very cold, and 

 it will become ice as it touches the ground. Put 

 on water enough to fonn ice an inch thick. It will 

 keep out frost equal to glass. If there should be 

 snow, so much the better. 



PRESERVING MEAT. 



My method is to bake fresh pork soon after cut 

 up, and put it in a very cold place to be kept frozen 

 until used, instead of having it frozen first. 



Billerica, Mass., Dec. 13, 1866. T. B. E. 



LIGHT WANTED ON FACTS ABOUT BEES. 



Last spring I had a hive of bees, strong and 

 healthy, liut they gave no signs of swanning till 

 the last of June. July 8th, a swarm came out, but 

 after flying some time returned to the old hive. 

 Eight days after, they came out again at half-past 

 five, P. M., and were hived. Neither the old nor 

 new swarm seemed to do very well, and in Octo- 

 ber, I fed them three dollars worth of sugar. I 

 then left home and did not return till the iirst of 

 December, when, on examining the old hive, it had 

 no bees nor honey in it but plenty of comb. 



The new swarm had but little comb or honey, 

 and no apparent increase of bees. When the first 

 swarm ^vQYa in the air a king l)ird darted in among 

 them and took one or more bees. It may have 

 taken the queen and caused them to return. c. 



Sat/brook, Conn., Dec. 1866. 



RAISING TURKEYS. 



Your paper has published several articles con- 

 taining suggestions on raising turkeys. Having 

 practiced some useful nietliods in rearing turkeys, 

 which have not been Ijrought before the public in 

 any of the articles that have come under my obser- 

 vation, I hope before the time for Ijringing out the 

 Bijring broods to find time to communicate. I will 



now only speak of my success, or the result of care 

 and breeding. 



Some fifteen years ago, I cfjuimcnred to raise 

 such turkeys as my neighbors raised — ranging from 

 six to ten potmds each. For the i)ast few "years, 

 instead of six to ten jiound turlccys, I produce those 

 that weigh from twelve to twenty pounds. I have 

 pairs of turkeys that will weigh at my door forty 

 pounds ])er pair; and young'turkcys, hatched at 

 the usual time, that wilf weigh tliirty pounds per 

 pair. The rearing of my present superior breed 

 costs no more care or labor than did my former in- 

 ferior breed. II. A.' Sumner. 



Brandon, Vt., Dec. 4, 1866. 



AQRICULTURAL ITEMS. 



— A correspondent of the Rural (ForW advocates 

 the domestication of the deer. 



— The town of Glover, Vt., boasts of having paid 

 its war debt in full, and painted its meeting house. 



— The Tribune says that it has been proved in 

 Central New York that three bushels of salt per 

 acre, hastened the ripening of the wheat two or 

 three weeks. 



— G. 0. Gill, of West Medway, assures that he 

 raised the past season 7 bushels of good onions on 

 two square rods of ground. 



— ^Dissolve one ounce of corrosive sublimate in 

 one pint of alcohol. To one ounce of this mixture 

 add one and a half pints of water, and apply exter- 

 nally. Vcmiont wool growers, says an exchange, 

 are very generally using this mixture to prevent 

 •their sheep biting out their wool. 



— D. Dryer, Victor, N. Y., says he can kill Cana- 

 da thistles in one season by summer fallowing. 

 Turn the sward in Autumn, and plow again the 

 next summer four or five times. And what is bet- 

 ter than all, while you are killing the thistles, you 

 are putting the land in the best possible condition 

 for a crop of grain or grass. 



— Isaac H. Leach, of Sonora, 111., in writing to 

 the New York Farmers' Club, says, "We have not 

 lived long enough to know how durable Osage or- 

 ange hedge will be, but so far experience proves 

 that the fence is a success, and good against all 

 cattle, horses, dogs, and men, in from three to four 

 years." 



— A new textile material resembling hemp has 

 been discovered in Nevada. It has a stronger and 

 finer fibre, and longer staple than hemp ; the stalk 

 yields more, and can be stripped and prepared 

 without previous preparation. If all this is true, 

 the plant is an acquisition equal in value to the 

 cotton plant. 



— In explanation of the fact that a team can 

 draw a ton of hay easier than the same weight of 

 wood, coal or iron, on the same wagon, over the 

 same road. Prof. Tillman says, the only explana- 

 tion that can be given is that the hay does not rest 

 as iron does, a dead weiglit upon the axles. If the 

 hay were pressed into compact bales it would not 

 ride easier than wood, and not much easier than 

 iron. The loose hay acts in the same way thut 



