1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



417 



substitute may be found in common clay, the dust 

 of a travelled road on a clay soil. I have found by 

 experiment that it will neutralize the odor more 

 quickly and effectually than plaster. A few barrels 

 full, saved at the proper time, would last for a year, 

 to be occasionally thrown into a privy, keeping 

 the same swcet,,rendering the work of removal com- 

 paratively inoifensive, and furnishing a valuable 

 compost for the fium or garden. 



I discovered the ethcacy of clean clay to purify 

 vrater several years since. I had occasion to use 

 some water as soft and colorless as could be ob- 

 tained. I found that alum would remove all the 

 mechanical impurities, but left the water slightly 

 colored, in consequence of passing through swamps 

 some miles up stream. I then mixed with it a 

 small quantity of pure clay ; after twenty-four 

 hours the water was as clear as a crystal, and the 

 deposited clay brown as brick dust. 



A New Subscriber. 



Middkbury, Vt., July 4, 1867. 



Remarks. — If clay cannot be readily obtained, 

 dry muck, soil or even sand will be found quite 

 efficient for ordinaiy purposes. But it is so much 

 work to house a few wheelbarrow loads, or we are 

 so liable to neglect it at the proper season, that 

 few of us keep any thing of the kind on hand, and 

 consequently when a deodorizer is needed, we are 

 compelled to buy plaster as a penalty for our im- 

 providence. 



IMPROPERLY CURED HAY. 



Much has been said and written about cutting 

 hay in the forenoon, and putting it in the barn the 

 same day. This is an easy practice for filling the 

 barn, and will answer very well if your object is 

 to have your cattle all poor in the spring, and your 

 horses die with the heaves. I do know, from fifty 

 years' experience on a farm, that the very best 

 English grass, managed in the above way, is not 

 worth so much as good meadow hay well cured. 

 I do know that English grass cut in its prime, say 

 when herds grass and red top are full in the blos- 

 som, needs the farmer's best attention and a dry- 

 ing sun for two days to prepare it to mow away in 

 the barn. 



Some farmers may think that by putting their 

 hay in the Uarn slack dried, that they will get more 

 weight in the spring; hut this is a great mistake. 

 Hay put into the iiarn imperfectly dried, will heat 

 and sweat, and lo;e more weight than by fair dry- 

 ing in the »uu and air. In the spring slack dried 

 hay will smell rotten or musty, while hay dried as 

 it should Ije, will, if a forkfal is thrown out doors 

 of a de»vy night, smell thj next morning like new 

 hay in the cock on the Fourth of July. Such hay 

 as this will fatten your horse, give your ox strength 

 to draw the plough, and make your cows fill the 

 pail with milk. 



If the farmers in New York are in the practice 

 of cutting their hay in the forenoon, and mowing 

 it away in tlic at'tcruoou of the same day, instead 

 of wondering th.it they are troubled with abor- 

 tion in tbeir cows, I wonder at tlicir having any 

 live calves at all. Asa G. Sheldon. 



Wilmiiiyton, Mass., June 2-5, 1867. 



RANK of farmers. 



Brother farmers, who feel as though your occu- 

 pation was con.-idcred low by men in other walks 

 of life, and yourself slighted, will you please stop 

 a moment and -ee what you have done or are doing 

 to entitle you to a more worthy consideration. If 

 your only ohject in tilling the soil is to procure 

 food and ciottiing, your occupation is not above 

 the ox grazing the field for his food. If you own 



a good house, purchased with your money, you are 

 not entitled to more credit for it, than the purchaser 

 of a i)ainting. By others' skill the house and paint- 

 ing have been produced, and you are to be hon- 

 ored only for your taste in selecting the works of 

 another. Make an effort to not only live, but to 

 produce domestic animals of all kinds kept by you, 

 that shall not only have a market value, but which 

 shall be as great proof of your skill as a fine paint- 

 ing is of the skill of the artist. Make both your 

 efforts and result as public as they do and due 

 honor will be accredited. Let farmers as a class 

 do this, and their pursuits will rank among the 

 highest ; faling to do that do we not deserve the 

 low place we occupy ? Zenas. 



New Hainpshire, 1867. 



GOOD hens and good PRICES. 



Having noticed several reports of profitable fowls 

 in your valuable paper, I may say that I have 

 eight hens of the white capped Black Poland 

 variety, which I think have been profital)le. They 

 have laid from the first of March to the first of 

 June, this year, thirty-one dozen eggs which I 

 have sold for ^1 a dozen at the house. 



E. Hayward. 



Danvers, Mass., June 17, 1867. 



SCATTERING RYE ON OAT LAND. 



I frequently notice at this time of the year scat- 

 tering spears of rye, growing on land which the 

 year before was seeded down with oats. Will 

 some one tell me how it gets there ? 



Royalton, Vt. July 1, 1867. J. G. Bennett. 



THE MYRICK HORSE. 



Can I be informed through the Farmer where 

 the Stallion Sherman Blackhawk, well known as 

 the North or Myrick horse, may be found the pres- 

 ent season, terms of service, &c. 

 . West Randolph, Vt. June 25, 1867. Jack. 



Remarks. — We are informed that this horse is 

 now owned by Mr. Bailey of Portland, Me., and 

 that he is regarded as a remarkable fine ani- 

 mal by the horse fanciers of that section, but we 

 cannot answer any of the other queries of our cor- 

 respondent. 



VSE OF SrPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME. 



A constant reader of the New England Far- 

 mer, wishes to use superphosphate of lime on 

 good ground, where winter rye is to be sown, and 

 would like to h ive some one, who has had experi- 

 ence in it, teil him, through the columns of your 

 paper, how much to use and how to use it. 



A Subscriber. 



Worcester, Mass., June 17, 1837. 



Remarks. — Do not use less than 300 pounds per 

 acre — iOO will be better— and work it in when the 

 grain is harrowed in. 



CHESS. — CURCULIO. 



As the year has closed for the Farmer, I enclose 

 the money for another year. The pai)er is to my 

 house a constant source of instruL;tiou and com- 

 fort. We should not know how tj dj without it. 



As it is now quite customiry for those who take 

 the Farmer, to make iniuiries concerning the 

 farming interest, I take the liberty, as a small far- 

 mer, to do the same. I have a pieje of winter 

 wheat, sown the last day of August, that came up 

 finely, grew well through the fall, and came out 

 looking well in the spring. I flattered myself I 

 should get a fine crop ; but when it headed out it 



