1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIilER. 



255 



season is better than two later. If good sets 

 aro used, and they are planted very early, it 

 will pay to raise a erop the first year, and the 

 plants will be the better for it. Set one stake 

 to each hill, and let all the vines riui upon it. 

 The stake should be but eiizht feet long and 

 set one foot in i\w ground ; if longer than that, 

 the vines will not get to the top in season to 

 "■hop'" well. It i& best to stake the plants, 

 because then they are out of the way in culti- 

 vating the yard, and do not get torn off. AVe 

 raise from two hundred to four hundred pounds 

 to the acre the first year, at no cost, except 

 picking and drying, besides the cultivation, 

 which nnist be done even if none are raised. 

 The stakes may be pieces of old hop-poles, or 

 better, one and a quarter inch s(iuare sawed 

 stuff, eight feet long, (there is one foot, board 

 measure, in each stake.) It pays well to get 

 gas tar, heat it in a pan made for the purpose, 

 and dip the whole stake into it while it is hot. 

 This makes a firm coat of paint on the stake, 

 protects it from the weather, and at the same 

 time is very offensive to insects, and plant-lice 

 will not lay their eggs on it in the fall. In the 

 autumn of the first year, a covering of two 

 forkfuls of coarse manure should be given the 

 hills, and if there is any chance of water stand- 

 ing on the surface, furrows must be plowed for 

 surface drains, for it will kill the hills it covers. 



We shall have something upon the second 

 year's management on another page. 



RAISING CALVES. 



For the first ten davs the young calf is al- 

 lowed the milk of the cow exclusively. The 

 milk of the newly calved cow, as every dairy- 

 man knows, is not fit during the first week for 

 dairy purposes, and is the only suitable nour- 

 ishment for the delicate digestive organs of its 

 young. For a few days after this period, 

 about two or three quarts of milk at a meal 

 should still be given, gradually adding some 

 other food in the shape of gruel, and at the 

 same time diluting the milk with water, so as 

 to obtain the requisite quantity of fluid. Some 

 recommend whey, where it can be procured. 

 The gruel is made with a mixture of linseed- 

 meal or oil-cake, powdered fine, and meal 

 of various grains, barley, oats, and a little 

 wheat flour. The proportions recommended 

 by ^Ir. Henry Ruck, in a paper read by him 

 at one of the meetings of the Cirencester Farm- 

 ers' Club, (P^ngland) are as follows : — Into a 

 6 gallon bucket pour 2 gallons of scalding 

 water, stir into this 7 pounds of ground linseed 

 cake ; then add 2 gallons of hay tea, which 

 should be fresh and sweet ; next add 7 pounds 

 of mixed meal ; add sufficient cold water to fill 

 the bucket, and well mix together. Two 

 quarts of this gruel, diluted with two quarts of 

 cold water, will be about the right quantity, 

 and of the right temperature, for one calf at 

 one meal. The food should be given at regu- 



lar hours, and twice a day, morning and even- 

 ing, will be found sufficient. The hay tea, 

 which seems to be an excellent preparation, is 

 made every morning by filling a small tub with 

 good hay, and pouring on scalding water ; this 

 should be u.-ed in the evening, fresh scahHng 

 water added, covered down, and used the fol- 

 lowing morning. After the first fortnight, 

 when the calf begins to chew the cud, the chief 

 difficulty and danger are over. As the calf 

 begins to eat, the quantity of gruel should be 

 gradually diminished. Solid food should be 

 placed before them, to train and encourage 

 them to eat, Avhich they will very soon leara 

 to do. The best material for this purpose is 

 good sweet hay, with a small supply of crushed 

 corn and crushed oats. In addition to this, 

 mangold wurzel willb e found serviceable, and 

 is very much relished by the young animals. — 

 Canada Fanner. 



FEATUBES OF A PERFECT ANIMAL. 



A perfect breeding or feeding animal should 

 have a fine expression of countenance — mild, 

 serene and expressive. It thould be fine in 

 the bone, with clean muzzle, and a tail like a 

 rat's. It should lie short on the legs, and not 

 ewe-necked. It should have a small, well-put- 

 on held, with a prominent eye ; it should have 

 a skin not too thick nor too thin, covered with 

 fine, silky hair — to the touch like a lady's 

 glove ; it should be straight-liackcd ; well 

 ribbed up and well ribbed home ; the hook 

 bones should not be too wide apart. A wide- 

 hooked animal, especially a cow after calving, 

 always has a vacancy between the hook and 

 the tail, and a want of the most valuable part 

 of the carcase. A level line should run from 

 the hook to the tail. The outline ought to be 

 such that if a tape is stretched from the fore 

 shoulder to the thigh, and from the shoulder 

 along the back to the extremity there, the line 

 should be close, with no vacancies ; and the 

 line should fall without a void from the hook 

 to the tail. From the shoulder-blade to the 

 head should be well filled up ; as we say — 

 good in the neck vein. Scarcely any one ani- 

 mal will possess all these marks — indeed, to 

 look for the half of them in a good commer- 

 cial animal would be vain. The marks are set 

 down in good order, but just as they occurred 

 to one who had gained his knowledge from the 

 study of tbe living specimens, and not from 

 books. Thick legs, thick tails, and deep necks, 

 with thick skin and bristly hair, always point 

 to sluggish feeders. — Mr. McCombie, of Scot- 

 land. 



Silk.— ,1. W. C. Seavey & Co., Canton, 

 INIass., manufacture sewing silks, machine and 

 stick twist, employ 60 hands, and produce up- 

 wards of 300 pounds per week. The factory 

 has been in operatign for fifteen years, and 

 within three years its producing capacity has 

 been doubled. 



