318 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



July 



While the Dutch are the great rivals of the 

 Durhams in size, but not in symmetry of pro- 

 portions, they will match any breed iu the 

 world at the pail ; make powerful oxen, l)ut 

 are said not to take on fat, or mature so early 

 as the improved Durham short horns. We 

 should, ihough, prefer the Dutch, next after 

 the Durliams, for a cross with our best cows. 



AGRICUIiTUBAIi ITEMS. 



— Some farmers sell two crops in the winter. In 

 the fore part it is hay, in the latter part hides. 



— In Northern Ohio sheep have wintered poorly. 

 Fodder unusually scarce. 



— A correspondent of the Maine Farmer thinks 

 he has discovered the cause of smutty corn in the 

 use of muck in composting manure. 



— The death of Lois Weeden, of England, orig- 

 inator of the "Lois Weeden" system of husbandry, 

 is announced. 



— The Prairie Farmer says that Osage hedging 

 has become the chief mode of enclosure on the 

 prairie farms. 



— So great is the demand for the Osage plant for 

 fencing purposes, that the price has recently risen 

 from two and a half to four dollars per thousand, 

 in the State of Illinois. 



— On a cliargc of destroying fruit, the city coun- 

 cil of Madison, Ind., have passed an ordinance ex- 

 cluding honey bees from the limits of the corpor- 

 ation — guilty or not guilty. 



— Radish or lettuce sowed around the hills of 

 cucumljcr and other vines is said to be a protec- 

 tion against the stripped bug, which prefers this 

 food to the young vines. 



— Hon. Josiah Quincy who sells milk in Boston 

 from cows kept on the soiling system, estimates 

 the value of the manure from a cow to be equal to 

 the value of her milk. 



— In Germany sheep are washed under cover ; 

 first in water at a temperature of about 80°, and 

 then exposed to a shower bath of about 62°, until 

 the wool is of a snowy whiteness. 



— A farmer in Iowa destroyed the grub-wonns 

 that were destroying his corn, by catching a lot of 

 moles and putting them into the corn field. The 

 moles may be caught by the use of cow's horns 

 with the pith out. 



— The Connecticut River Valley fair will be held 

 at Keene on the 17th, 18th, and 19th of September 

 next. The Cheshire Co., Agricultural Society, as 

 a Society, will hold no fair, Ijut will be represented 

 in the Connecticut River Association. 



— Some farmers never sharpen their hoes. Hoes 

 for the boys, in particular, should l)e kept sha^ p at 

 all times, by grinding or filing. They should not 

 be left in the open air at night but should be rub- 

 bed dry and hung in a dry place. 



— Mr. Kendall, formerly of the New Orleans 

 Picayune, but for years a wool grower of Texas, 



writes to the Rural New Yorker: "On the 13th of 

 March, after a warm growing spell, the worst sleet 

 storm ever experienced in this State set in ; away 

 went the grass ; the ewes IkkI no milk, and the 

 consequence you can easily judge. I hoped to 

 raise 1800 lambs ; but if 500 rul) through, I shall 

 be satisfied. The weather up to April 7, has con- 

 tinued cold, raw, and backward." 



— A correspondent of the Maine Farmer says 

 that on the Islands which are the home of the Jer- 

 sey cows roses bloom through December in the 

 open air, and that in New England they need 

 blanketing as much as a fancy race horse. 



— New Hampshire has three million dollars in- 

 vested in horses, four and a half million in cattle, 

 two and a half million in milch cows, two million 

 in sheep, and six hundred and seventy-four thou- 

 sand in swine. 



— Mr. Nathan Mosely, of Goodground, N. J., 

 writes to the New York Fanners' Club that he has 

 shot at ditferent times four king birds which he 

 thought he caught in the very act of catching 

 honey bees, but on examining their crop no bees 

 were found. 



— Mr. Chenery, of Belmont, Mass., claims that 

 the Dutch cattle are much superior to any other 

 breed for cheese making, or for the production of 

 milk for familj' use, or for city markets ; that they 

 are pre-eminently adapted to meet the wants of the 

 general farmer, combining in a gi'eat degree the 

 desirable qualities of dairy, beef, and work cattle. 



— To keep borers and other insects fi'om fmjt 

 trees, the following wash is recommended by one 

 who has tried it. Put into a water-tight barrel, 

 one pail soft soap, four quarts of sulphur, four 

 quarts air slacked lime ; four quarts of wood ashes, 

 half bushel of cow or hen manure, and water 

 enough to fill the barrel. 



— The custom of working horses immediately 

 after being fed, and especially when long intervals 

 elapse between hours of feeding, weakens the di- 

 gestive organs and pi'cdisposes them to attacks 

 of colic. Very cold water given when the horse's 

 body is heated, and a sudden stoppage of perspira- 

 tion, arc also exciting causes of this disorder. 



— A large per cent, of the lambs in Rutland Co., 

 Vt., have died, cither at birth, or when Imt a few 

 days old. Some of the most experienced sheep 

 raisers arc the greatest losers, and cannot account 

 for this unusual mortality of the Iambs. The 

 same is said to be the case in many places in Addi- 

 son county. 



— W. B. Merry, of Anson, writes to the Maine 

 Farmer that he has sixty American Merino ewes, 

 to which he commenced feeding one bushel of 

 potatoes per day, one week before lambing. Forty- 

 eight of them had fifty laml)S, up to April 13th, 

 and all were smart and doing as well as land)S 

 dropped in May. He had not lost a lamb, and sel- 

 dom had to help one to suck, notwitlistanding it 

 was quite cold at times. He had one lamb that 



