38 



NEW ENGLAND FAPvjVIER. 



Jan. 



your neighborhood. It is a somtwliat nice opera- 

 tion, and we presume that your doctor would be 

 willinc; to assist you, and as it is somewhat out of 

 his l:nc of practice, would do so rather as a neigh- 

 bor than as an expert. 



SPECIAL FEUTILIZERS. 



I would like to ask you a few questions, which 

 you will please to answer in the Fakmeu, it may 

 hcnctit others as well as myself. It is said by Ag- 

 ricultural Chemistry that plant food may be divid- 

 ed into four necessary elements ; these must exist 

 in the soil. Tiie absence of either deteriorates the 

 strength of the plant and weakens its productive 

 powers. The necessary elements are: potash, and 

 lime. These four elements, it is said, make a 

 complete manure. Now, what I want to know is 

 thi< : What proportion of each of these elements 

 does it require, and how mixed, and should muck 

 should bo added ? Will it pay to buy air-slacked 

 lime at $'1.25 per barrel for a fertilizer ? Are hard 

 coal ashes worth drawing two or three miles to ap- 

 ply to land ? Asa Ware. 



Palmer, Mass., 1869. 



Remakks. — The proportion of the several fertil- 

 izers is of little importance, provided there is 

 enough of each ; neither is it necessary that they 

 should bo mixed. In many cases it is more con- 

 venient to apply them separately. 



We think the lims will pay if you have good 

 material to compost it with. We have found coal 

 ashes worth more applied to currants, peach 

 trees, and other trees, to keep oflF the borers, than 

 to apply to grass land. 



The manner of drawing it must depend upon 

 circumstances. It certainly would not pay to hire 

 a team to do so ; but opportunities may occur when 

 you could do it with your own team, possibly at a 

 remunerative cost. Its value, however, as a fer- 

 tilizer is generally considered as very small. 



PRESERVING NEW OIDEB. 



Will you inform me through the Farmer how 

 to prepare new cider for bottling, so that glass 

 botMes will hold it ? H. C. Nichols. 



PittHjitld, Mass., 18G9. 



Remarks. — Some persons add a pint of mustard 

 seed in a cotton bag, to a barrel of cider ; others 

 throw in three quarts of barley, and state that it 

 will keep it sweet. A sure way is to filter it 

 through clean sand. Let it run slowly from the 

 barrel into a tub nearly full of sand, and from the 

 tub pass it into another barrel. These are easy 

 and cheap modes. There are undoubtedly others, 

 with which we are not acquainted. 



SICK CALVES. 



I have some calves that are sick and seem to 

 have a trouble like consumption. They cough 

 and grow poor; act dozy; their eyes run, and 

 look red. Some of my neighbors' calves have 

 died of the same disease, and I expect to lose 

 mine unless some remedy can be found. Can you 

 or some one of your subscribers recommend some- 

 thing beneficial, and greatly oblige o. w. a. 



MiUon, Vt., Nov., 1869. 



Remarks. — Wc have shown this statement and 

 inquiry to several of our neighbors, but are uncer- 



tain as to the disease, and consequently as to the 

 remedy. We have thought it possible that it 

 might be caused by minute worms in their wind- 

 pipes, which Mr. V. M. Hubbard of Rochester, 

 Vt., lately said in a communication to the IVood- 

 stock Standard, often occasion great mortality. 

 He recommended the following remedy : — Asafoe- 

 tida, three ounces ; aloes, three ounces ; vinegar, 

 one quart. Boil together till dissolved. Give 

 each calf a tablespoonful in each nostril every 

 third morning, taking care to hold the head well 

 up to prevent waste. 



A CRIPPLE as SHOE-MAKER, GARDENER AND 

 HOrSEKEEPER. 



I wish to say a good word for a crippled oceu- 

 dant of one of the little brown cottages in this 

 town, who in his youth lost one of his legs, and 

 since the death of his parents has lived alone, and 

 though in fe%ble health has nearly supported him- 

 self by work on shoes, and in his garden and 

 house. He keeps a cow, takes care of the milk, 

 and makes butter that no dairywoman would be 

 ashamed of. He also keeps a pig, and his sausages, 

 souse, &c., are equal to that made by any house- 

 keeper in the neighborhood. His house is always 

 clean, and everything in it is kept in order. His 

 garden is cultivated very neatly, and produces all 

 the vegetables grown in our climate, and his front 

 yard is so tidy and well kept as to attract the no- 

 tice of the passer-by. He is now over sixty years 

 of age, and of late his solitude has been enlivened 

 by a small chi.!d, which lives with him. He is 

 ever ready to entertain those who call upon him, 

 and whether their mood be gay or grave, all find 

 in him a genial companion, and they leave with, 

 their sympathy excited for one who. though a 

 cripple, has done what he could in a world of ac- 

 tivity and uselulncss. L. k. 



West Salisbury, Vt., Nov., 1869. 



GARGET IN COWS. 



Many diseases or irregularities of the bag, the 

 teats and the milk, are popularly called among 

 farmers garqet. For the most common of these, 

 such as swelling, caking of the milk, small lumps 

 in the teats, causing great pain in milking, inflam- 

 mation of the bag and similar troubles, there is a 

 simple and specific remedy, which has l)een suc- 

 cessful in many cases. One ounce of Hyd- iodate 

 of Potassium dissolved in one pint of s^oft water. 

 Dose for a full grown cow — one large spoonful 

 mixed with a little bran mash, twice or three times 

 a day, according to the virulence of the disease. 

 It should be used with caution, as it has a ten- 

 dency to dry up the milk. L. 



Boston, Mass., Nov., 1869. 



— Gilbert Whipple, of Shefiield, Lorain County, 

 0., while examining a head of wheat, a short time 

 ago, shelled out the grain and tossed it into his 

 mouth. One of the kernels was not divested of 

 its shell and beard, and the beard soon reached 

 the throat, where it lodged, and no effort could 

 remove it. It soon became very troubletoiLC and 

 painful. Swelling followed, succeeded l)y sup- 

 puration, but still the beard was not carried off. 

 A second swelling and breaking failed to bring 

 relief. It is difficult for the sufferer to take neces- 

 sary food, and his case is said to be both painful 

 and alarming. 



