1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARJklER. 



441 



and if any of our readers can suggest any im- 

 provement in the present manner of marketing 

 poultry, or produce of any or all kinds, we shall 

 be glad to cive them a hearing. 



AVHAT AILS MY GEAPE VINE ? 



I have a Concoi-d vine seven or eight years old, 

 that has borne well four years. In the spring of 

 1866 it started to grow as usual, but soon a por- 

 tion of the leaves began to turn yellow, and the 

 vine did not seem as thrifty as usual. It nearly 

 recovered, however, before autumn, and I gathered 

 twenty-tive pounds of grapes from it, although, 

 owing to the unfavorable weather, they did not 

 ripen well. 



I supposed the sickly appearance of the vine 

 was occasioned b.y the preceding hard winter ; but 

 this summer it looks still worse. It was laid down 

 last ftul, audit came out looking well in the spring. 

 But it did not start as usual, and when it did the 

 leaves looked yellow and sickly, and continued to 

 appear so. 



My plan of pnming has been to cut back in the 

 fall to two eyes, training two arms horizontally, 

 and the new" shoots perpendicularly. I have al- 

 ways kept it well watered with sink water or soap 

 suds. The wood looks healthy. Will some one 

 inform me what is the disease, and the remedy ? 



L. Varney. 



Bloomfield, C. W., 7th month, 20th, 1867. 



trials of superphosphate. 



A Worcester subscriber in the Farmer of July 

 13, says that he "wishes to use superphosphate of 

 lime on good ground, where rye is to be sown," 

 and inquires how much to use, and how to apply 

 it. I never had any experience with it until this 

 season. Last spring I bought one barrel of Brad- 

 ley's patent and sowed upon grass on a low mead- 

 ow, leaving some places (and marking them) 

 where none was applied, so as to test it ; Ijut could 

 not discover a particle of diffei-ence in the crop 

 where it was applied and where it was not. I also 

 bought two barrels of Bradley's XL, for corn. One 

 barrel I used clear, putting a tablespoon ful in each 

 hill ; the other l^arrel I mixed with hen ma- 

 nure, plaster and loam taken from under a stable- 

 floor, making tive l)arrels of the mixture. The 

 most of lioth kinds I applied to com planted in an 

 old pasture which had not been plowed before for 

 forty years. The corn is best where the mixture 

 was applied. I staked off some rows on good land, 

 and used some of the phosphate on a part, clear ; 

 some of the nuxtnre on another part, and put 

 ashes in the hill on another part; leaving 4 rows 

 between without anything, and intend to harvest 

 each plot separately and note the result. But 

 now, where I put the mixture, the corn is much the 

 largest, and where the pure superphosphate was used 

 it is smaller than where nothing was put in the hill. 

 From my experience, thus far, I would advise my 

 Worcester friend to use very little superphosphate, 

 and to reduce it with as much hen manure, plaster 

 and scrapings from under stables as he can get. 



Westminster, 17., Juli/ 26, 1867. C. 



BEE-BREAD. 



Twice within ten years a large portion of our 

 bees have died for the lack of sufficient "bee bread." 

 We arc sure they died, <md think the want of that 

 part of their UNual supplies was the cause. Syrup 

 made from retined sugar is a substitute for honey. 

 Will you, Mr. Editor, or any of your correspon- 

 dents please to tell us of a substitute for pollen ; 

 and tell us, also, if bees kept in buckwheat dis- 

 tricts ever want for "bee bread" in their hives in 

 the spring. Bee keeping is a very uncertain 



source of profit while we depend entirely upon the 

 usual sources of supply for lioney. It is not often 

 that a good swarm will fail to secure enough for 

 itself in the worst seasons ; yet there are times 

 when good swarms fail to do that. They must be 

 fed ; the little they really need must be given to 

 them, or they die. There is no trouble in supply- 

 ing honey, and it can be done at any season of the 

 year, but economy will choose a time to feed. 

 What can we do for a supply of "bee-l)read ?" 

 Tell us that, and you have made bee keeping com- 

 paratively safe ; for we have no fear for the moth, 

 no trouble with cold in winter, no foul brood or 

 other diseases among our bees ; and we do not fail 

 of a bountiful supply of honey from the usual 

 sources oftener than we fail with our stock or crops 

 of any kind. How to get through the hard sea- 

 sons, and preserve our stock of bees until a good 

 season will yield a profit, is the gi-eat question 

 Avith bee keepers. r. 



Neio Hampshire, July, 1867. 



SHOULDER SPRAIN IN HORSE. 



Will some of the contributors to the Farmer 

 tell me how to cure shoulder sprain in my horse ? 

 He will be a little lame six months, and then well 

 six months, and then lame again. R. 



July, 1867. 



Remarks. — Youatt and Spooner say that bleed- 

 ing from the vein on the inside of the arm and 

 mildly blistering the shoulder generally succeeds 

 in effecting a cure. 



CROPS IN new HAMPSHIRE. 



Our hay crop is nearly secured, and is from 

 twenty-five to fifty per cent, better than last 

 year ; depending much upon the amount of spring 

 and fiiU feeding to which the fields have been sub- 

 jected. 



Potatoes are looking very well. Grain good, 

 and early pieces ready to be cut. Corn is gener- 

 ally good, but late ; some pieces have not been 

 hoed at all, planting was so late and haying so 

 early, which farmers were disposed to attend to, 

 thoitgh at the neglect of other things. We hear 

 no complaint for ^he lack of fruit. Small, wild 

 fruit of all kinds are veiy plenty. p. 



Mast Yard, N. H., July 26, 1867- 



A CASE OF CONSCIENCE. 



Old Farmer B , of , sold a pair of oxen 



to a man in a neighboring town, and agreed to de- 

 liver them to the buyer. Having delivered the 

 cattle according to agreement, he was jogging 

 homeward, when he suddenly stopped his horse, 

 and, thinking aloud, remarked, "There ! there ! I 

 forgot to teiniim, after all ! Them cattle are con- 

 founded rogues. I ought to go back and tell him; 

 I guess I will ; no, I won't ; for he'll find it out — 

 he will." Eavesdropper. 



, Mass., July 25, 1867. 



NOTES FROM MAINE. 



Haying is the all absorbing work with the far- 

 mers just now. The mowing machines — and many 

 kinds too — are put to the test of tvork, and admir- 

 ably are they doing the i-equired task. Recent 

 improvements in their construction, and the in- 

 creased skill in working them, enable them to be 

 used advantageously upon many fields where it 

 has hitherto been thought impracticable. 



The drag rake, the horse I'ake, and the horse 

 pitchfork are being pressed into service Mherever 

 available. 



Haymen get $50 to $65 per month, or $2 to 

 $2.50, and some $3 per day, fair weather. 



