1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FAE^NIER. 



51 



Instead of the reaper, the "header" is now gener- 

 ally used. It cuts the straw midway, and its 

 swath has a width nearly double that of the reaper. 

 With two headers and five wagons a large thresh- 

 ing machine is kept running, and in this way forty 

 acres and 1,500 bushels of wheat are harvested in 

 a single day. 



—The N. H. Statesman says that a firmer from 

 a neighboring town brought a quantity of cider 

 into Concord, a few days since, and sold it for ^7 

 a barrel. Twenty or thirty years ago the same 

 man brought fifty barrels into town and sold it at 

 75 cents a barrel (total, $37.50,) receiving most of 

 his pay in goods. 



— The forests are dying out in certain parts of 

 Virginia. The chchtnut trees have already sub- 

 mitted to some dehterious agency, and their 

 growth is nearly exhausted, and this year the oak, 

 and in fact all the trees of the forest in certain sec- 

 tions, are dying. No explanation of this disas- 

 trous visitation has yet been given. 



— A hand potato digger was exhibited at the 

 New York State Fair. It is simply a wide fork 

 with six or seven teeth, with a movable falcrum 

 behind. The fork is thrust into the soil on one 

 side of the hill, and by bearing down on the han- 

 dles the potatoes are lifted up, and the fork is 

 shaken up and down on this fulcrum to separate 

 them. 



— Western papers and farmers' Clubs* are dis- 

 cussing with much spirit the expediency of a law 

 to prevent cattle from running at large. The ex- 

 pense of fencing against his neighbor's unruly cat- 

 tle, and the loss of crops occasioned by them, are 

 serious matters with the new settler ; but, on the 

 other hand, the advantages of free pasturage are 

 also of considerable importance to him. 



— A Kansas correspondent of the Rural World 

 writes: — I will give you an infallible remedy for 

 galls and sores of all kinds on horses, including 

 what is generally called scratches : Two ounces 

 extract of lead, two ounces spirits of wine, one 

 ounce sal ammoniac, half ounce white vitriol, four 

 ounces soft water ; mix, dissolve, and wash three 

 or four times a day. 



— The trade in bones is becoming an item in the 

 business of Jackson, Tennessee, givmg employ- 

 ment to many poor people that would otherwise 

 be without anything to do. All the bones that 

 have accumulated for years in the neighborhood 

 of the city are collected and shipped to Atlanta, 

 Georgia, at which place there is a company en- 

 gaged in making chemical manures. 



— A correspondent of the Maine Farmer, at 

 Welchvilk, says, la-t Spiing I purchased a busuel 

 each of the Early Sebec, Early Goodrich, Harri- 

 son, Glcason, Orono and Crown Eagle. They 

 were all treated alike in planting; were planted on 

 sandy loam, and the first four varieties named 

 amounted to just nothing. The Oiono produced 

 fifteen bushels of merchantable potatoes; the 



Crown Eagle twenty. I also planted onetliird of 

 an acre with the Garnet Chilli, and received ninety 

 bushels of good sound potatoes. Unlike the above 

 named varieties, these were planted on wet, clayey 

 loam, but otherwise received the same treatment, 



— Steam engines are used in New York, and in 

 many of the Western States, for threshing grain. 

 Five to six hundred bushels of wheat, and 800 to 

 1000 of oats are a common d ly 's work. An engine 

 costs about $1000, and can be moved from place 

 to place by a single pair of oxen. 



— An important improvement in the manufac- 

 ture of horse collars has just been devised by a 

 Philadelphia mechanic. The collar being stuflFed 

 with elastic cork, is light in weight, and adapts 

 itself to the shape of the animal as readily as if it 

 was moulded. It is highly elastic, dots not chafe 

 or gall the neck, and, the cork being a non-con- 

 ductor, injury from the heat is prevented. 



— The London Society for the Prevention of 

 Cruelty to Animals is turning its attention to cases 

 that arc occurring in the country. Recently, a 

 farmer holding five hundred acres of land was, 

 on the complaint of the society, convicted of 

 working "wounded horses," and sentenced to three 

 month's imprisonment. The foreman was im- 

 prisoned for six weeks, and the ploughman was 

 fined $3 and costs. 



— President Welch writes to the loioa Homestead 

 that the Iowa Agricultural College buildings will 

 accommodate the faculty and 150 students; that 

 during the year there have been over 200 applica- 

 tions for admission, and every available room, 

 with one excei:>tion was filled. A defect in the 

 warming apparatus prevents holding a winter ses- 

 sion now, (!) but after this year there will be a 

 regular course of lectures every winter on the 

 various subjects of farm industry. 



—An attempt has been made this year, with a 

 fair show of success, to enlarge the production of 

 barley in this countiy, and to terminate the scan- 

 dal of its imi ortation. The increase is estimated 

 by the Praine Farmer at 14 per cent, in Indiana, 

 11 in Ohio, 9 in Michigan, 10 in Wisconsin, 26 in 

 Minnesota, 7 in Iowa, 20 in Nebraska, 28 in Kan- 

 sas, 22 in Missouri, 37 in Kentucky, 7 in Pennsyl- 

 vania, 20 in New York, and 14 in New England. 

 The quality is generally good. 



— A correspondent of the Boston Journal says 

 there is one singular thing about the grasses of 

 the Pacific coast. When apparently dry and useless 

 for food the cattle eat them greedily, and get fat 

 on straw and str.bbl\ The reason is they are 

 rich ill nutritious seeds, which last till late in the 

 season. Sheep will be turned into a field with no 

 sign of a blade of green grass, and pushing their 

 noses down among the stubble, will cat the seeds 

 which lay thick upon the ground. The wild oats 

 grow on most of the hills of Central and Southern 

 I California, and arc one of the best feeds for all 

 ' kinds of live stock. 



