1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARI^IER. 



463 



calcium would be formed. A mutual destruc- 

 tion takes place between the lime and salt, 

 and birth is given to these new bodies. Caus- 

 tic soda would be very hurtful to animals, 

 even if afforded in small quantities. It is a 

 powerful caustic irritant. Chloride of Calcium 

 is a deliquescent salt used in the arts, 

 and in medicine. This also, would un- 

 doubtedly be harmful to animals. If no fur- 

 ther chemical changes resulted, Mr. MetcalPs 

 lime and salt mixture upon hay, would cer- 

 tainly prove an unhappy discovery. But the 

 two new bodies tend strongly towards further 

 changes ; the caustic soda has a powerful ap- 

 petite for carbonic acid, which it finds in the 

 air diffused through the hay ; a union is formed, 

 and carbonate of soda results. But this is 

 not all. Carbonate of soda and chloride of 

 calcium cannot remain separate, — they rush to- 

 gether, exchange ingredients, and lo ! we get 

 back to salt again, common salt and hard, in- 

 soluble carbonate of lime remain in Mr. Met- 

 calf s hay-mow after the play of chemical affin- 

 ities is fairly over. 



It is presamed that lime and salt mixed and 

 strewn upon moist hay, would be influenced 

 chemically, in a way similar to that which 

 takes place when they are mixed and sprinkled 

 with water. It is possible, a body of hay be- 

 ing porous, unequal diffusion of the carbonate 

 of soda and chloride of calcium occurs from 

 a point where they are formed, so that they do 

 not unite. In this case carbonate of soda and 

 chloride of calcium remains in the hay instead 

 of salt and carbonate of lime. It is not prob- 

 able, however, that decomposition stops short 

 of the ultimate results, salt and chalk. 



With this view, no advantages result from 

 mixing lime with salt in curing hay, as the pro- 

 duction of chalk (carbonate of lime) in con- 

 nection with the salt, affords no additional 

 preservative agent. All the gases involved in 

 the changes are used in the new bodies formed, 

 so that no agent of this nature is set free, to 

 act as an antiseptic or destroyer of ferment. 

 Hay treated in this way would be harmless to 

 animals, as salt and chalk are perfectly innoc- 

 ous. Very truly yours, 



Jas. R. Nichols. 



— 0. Aylworth, Fabius, N. Y., wrote to the New 

 York Farmers' Chib that a teaspooufiil of turpen- 

 tine placed in a barrel of water will kill the wig- 

 glers which hatch into mosquitoes. 



SUMMER. 



Dancing along the lands 

 Green-gown 'd Summer lias come, her robe spread out 



in lier hands; 

 And to see her the morn wakes soon, and the evening is 



loth to go, 

 While the stars crowd thick in the sky to watch her in 



sleep below. 



To prepare for her coming, the Sun 

 Work'd with a burning touch, and to-day all his work 



is done — 

 The fields with their flowers are dress'd, the grasses are 



long and soft; 

 The birds have their song in the bushes, the bees their 



drone in the croft. 



You meet her in earliest dawn 



Breathing most fragrant breath by the side of the blos- 

 soming th rn : 



Laughins; along by the streams, or pausing in valleys 

 still, 



Or painting with tender tints the bare brown rocks on 

 the hill. 



Oft in the noontide heat 

 She turns to the antique woods where the dew lies fresh 



for her feet ; 

 Where the green lights fall through the leaves on couches 



of mounded moss, 

 And the sway of a wind-swung bough throws shadow 



and sunshine across. 



Then at the end of the day. 

 Out of the efige of the sea where the waves plash cool 



in the bay ; 

 Anil a pathway of gold Is traced from the Palace of 



Sunset's door 

 Far over the heaving tide to the smooth wet sand on the 



shore. 



Quickly wherever she goes 

 Comes a warmer waft to the wind and a richer red to 



the rose ; 

 On the wave a bluer surge, in the orchard a whiter 



bloom, 

 A brightening Ughtfor the sky and greener grass for the 



tomb. 



Ever in full-flush'd health. 

 Gifts unstinted she flings forth from her broad bosom'd 



wealth — 

 Good for the sons of men ; whilst Heaven, with vaults 



serene. 

 Loops up its curtain of cloud and smiles on the smiling 



scene. 



Oh, for the summer heart ! 

 Large and tranquil and glad, forever bearing its part 

 In a whirling, wildcr'd world, whose groanings shall 



some day cease, 

 And a King shall rule over all in a Kingdom of Love 

 and Peace. 

 — Alfred Norris, in" Good Words" for August. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 NEWSPAPER ARTICLES— IMPROVE- 

 MENT OP STOCK. 



It is a long time since I have written to an 

 editor, and feel that I may be intruding now, 

 but I have been a constant reader of the Far- 

 mer for a long time, and am very much inter- 

 ested in the articles of your valuable paper; 

 more so, perhaps, because I am acquainted 

 with very many of your contributors, and have 

 had the pleasure of looking over the farms and 

 stock of others. I sometimes wish that those 

 who write would strive rather to present things 

 as they are, than to produce articles that sound 

 well. I remember of travelling several miles 

 out of my way, some years ago, to see the 

 farm of one that used frequently to furnish 

 articles for a Boston agricultural paper, ex- 



