498 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Oct. 



as "handsome as a picture," and as full of "thun- 

 der and lightning" as old "Bucephalus." If any 

 of your readers have a faster colt, I will make him 

 my best boio if he will meet me at the Vermont 

 State Fair. Randolph Colt, Jk. 



Randolph, VL, Aug. 28, 1867. 



AGRICULTURAL ITEMS. 



— The California Agricultural College is to be 

 located at Oakland, Alameda county. 



— ^A machine, propelled by horse power like a 

 reaper, has been invented in Iowa to gather and 

 crush the potato bugs. 



— The Chicago cattle yards have 150 acres floored 

 with plank. There are pens for 75,000 cattle, 20,000 

 sheep, and 20,000 hogs. 



— He is the most reasonable worker who judi- 

 ciously divides the responsibilities and duties of 

 life between brain and muscle. 



— With the mercury at 90 deg., a farmer in Ful- 

 ton, Wis., recently cut thirty-two acres of wheat in 

 one day with a Clow reaper and one pair of horses. 



— Canadian farmers who have settled in Iowa, 

 say that they can raise combing wool as cheap 

 there as in Canada. 



— Rancid or strong lard can be much improved 

 by heating and frying in it some sliced potatoes, 

 and then keeping it in a cool place. 



— J. Harris, Rochester, N. Y., thinks a bushel of 

 wheat cannot be grown in that vicinity, with due 

 regard to the interests of the land owner and the 

 laborer, for less than !^1.50. 



— In 1857 the duty on pig lead was reduced from 

 20 to 15 per cent., and under the present tariff it is 

 two cents a pound. The production of the Galena 

 mines has largely decreased of late years. 



The Rural New Yorker speaks well of the Diehl 

 wheat. It has seen some heads with over eighty 

 kernels in each. Two New York farmers last 

 year harvested 300 bushels from ten 'acres, and 

 this year's crop was more promising. 



— The editor of the Amherst, N. H., Farmers' 

 Cabinet has an apple tree upon which are now 

 growing several bushels of Porter apples, several 

 winter squashes, and a printer's di^h of butter 

 beans ! 



— Mowing machines are not very generally used 

 in England, and the chief obstacle to their intro- 

 duction has been the landlord's dread of the de- 

 struction of game, as the machines show no mercy 

 to sitting pheasants and partridges. 



— Forty acres of bog land in the county of Mayo, 

 the north-west extremity of Ireland, undcnniiied 

 l)y heavy rains after long continued drought, lately 

 disappeared in the depths of the Atlantic. Ten 

 acres of standing crops and several houses were 

 destroyed. 



— The practice of sowing rye early in autumn 

 among corn, for fall and spring feed, and for plow- 

 ing under, is adopted to a considerable extent u> 



the farmers of the West. The com is benefited 

 by the stirring of the soil necessary to cover the 

 rye. 



In England the dog tax yields a good sum. Up 

 to the end of June last, licenses were taken out for 

 695,624 dogs, against 394,837 on which the tax was 

 paid in the year ending March, 1866. In Scotland 

 the number of dogs taxed has increased from 36,- 

 365, to 80,000. 



— A. P. Scott, of Newton, Ind., gathered a bun- 

 dle of grass in the field, carried it forty rods and 

 laid it in the wagon for the horse to eat. In a 

 short time there was trouble with the horse, and 

 looking up the matter, a large rattlesnake was 

 found in the hay. 



— To "break up" a sitting hen, I. A. Collins, of 

 Cardington, Ohio, ties her with a string four or 

 five feet in length to a stake driven in the ground, 

 close to the path where he is in the habit of pass- 

 ing frequently, and scares her as often as he goes 

 that way. One day eff'ects a cure. 



— A correspondent of the Canadian Farmer says 

 that in the county of Norfolk, Can., turnip culture 

 is declining. Maize is raised extensively ; it is 

 considered less expensive and more certain than 

 turnips, carrots or mangels and is used extensively 

 in feeding. 



— A man near Ann Arbor, Mich., recently left a 

 fine horse fastened to a small ti'ee on the edge of a 

 ditch containing a little water, and on returning he 

 found that the halter had slipped down, drawing 

 the horse's nostrils into the water, and holding 

 him there until he was drowned. 



— The great Canada cheese, which was exhibited 

 at the New York State Fair, at Saratoga, weighing 

 7000 lbs., has recently been tested, and found to 

 be uniform in color and excellent in texture, with 

 a sharp flavor, resembling the "brandy-cheese" so 

 popular with man.y. 



— An Illinois farmer, in a note to the New York 

 Farmers' Clul>, says he has never known a case of 

 the dreaded milk sickness, where the animals had 

 plenty of pure water. He also says that since he 

 hauled sand and gravel on his walks and paths the 

 chicken cholera has entirely disappeared from his 

 place. 



— The cost of keeping sheep in the South is very 

 small. A correspondent of the Agricultural De- 

 partment, from Union Co., S. C, says it cost hira 

 but 28^ cents per head to winter his flock of 22. 

 They were fed about two months, receiving shelter 

 not more than two weeks. He estimates his profits 

 fi-oni the flock, at po. 



— The Ohio Farmer says that corns in horses* 

 feet are the cause, in most cases, of sprung knees. 

 In order to relieve the heels sore with corns, the 

 animal throws his weight mainly on the toe, thus 

 relaxing the tendons and susjjensory ligament of 

 the kg, contraction of which naturall}' follows. 

 Corns are nuiinly produced by improper shoeing, 

 which contracts the heel. Instead of bevelling 



