1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



55 



of the causes which have so cut off the apple crop 

 in the New Erghind States for several years past. 

 The various families of the vegetable, like those 

 of the animal kingdom, seem to be subject to oc- 

 casional epidemic or general diseases, and we hope 

 that, like the cholera, the present disease which 

 afflicts fruit trees will be succeeded by a period of 

 health and fruitfulness. 



We will not advise to graft your trees, and we 

 should reluctantly advise to remove them; if they 

 are cumberers of the ground, and there is no hope 

 of redeeming them, let them give place to things 

 that will make a return. 



NORWAY OATS, AND HOAV IirMBUGS GROW. 



I have read piece after piece about Norway oats, 

 and am still an unbeliever in their boasted superi- 

 ority. Passing by a field of the Norway s this fall, 

 I stopped and picked three or four of "the largest 

 heads I could find, and brought them home. On 

 comparing them with the common oats, I found 

 that they would not produce any more pounds to 

 the acre, under like cultivation. The world is, 

 always has been, and, for ought I know, alwavs 

 will be full of humbugs. In 1859 and 186U the big 

 English or Barley Oat was all the go. It soon dis- 

 appeared. About 1861, the full blood Spanish 

 Merino sheep fever appeared, and soon the country 

 was so greasy that if the farmer on a hill wasn't 

 calked up sharp he would find himself sliding to 

 the bottom immediately. This raging fever pre- 

 vailed until the nianuiacturers ascertained that 

 with all their skill and chemicals they could not 

 make cloth out of yolk or grease, and then the 

 fever was 1 roken or turned. The fact is, shaving 

 machines are so plcntj' that farmers must "keep 

 their eyes peeled," or they will be taken in. 



"While digging my potatoes this fall, which were 

 manured in the hill, I found one st ilk of India 

 Wheat, of unusual size, growing from a potato 

 hill. It was almost such a tree as the fowls of the 

 air might ludge in the branches thereof. Not only 

 the stalk tiut the grain was of an uncommon 

 growth. The kernels were one-third larger than 

 usual. Now, were I to sow this grain in a rich 

 place next year, give each kernel plenty of room, 

 employ some skilful writer to invent a high- 

 sounulng name for my new variety and to extol its 

 "wonderful qualities, and set the printers to keep it 

 before the people, should I not follow generally the 

 footsteps of my predecessors on the high-road to 

 wealth and renown ? And would my new Coehin- 

 pootra wheat be a more transparent liumbug than 

 many others with which farmers are befooled ? 



Braintree, Vi., Nov. 18C9. h. ii. c. 



EACCOOXS AND HEDGEHOGS. — CROPS IN VERMONT. 



Living on aliill farn: which is nearly surrounded 

 bj' woods, these animals have a good chance to 

 prey upon my crops, and I have suffered much 

 from thtir depredations. Sometimes they have 

 mangkd and destroyed one-fourth of my corn. 

 With me the Hedgehog is as bad as the Raccoon, 

 and together they occasionally make about as bad 

 work in a tiild as a drove of h( gs could. This 

 year 1 planted a piece of corn by the sdc cjf the 

 woods. Expecting trouble, I went into the field 

 before the corn was fairly in the milk, and found 

 they had already commenced their harvest in 

 earnest. Though they had evidently spoken for 

 the lion's sl.are of this piece, I thought I would 

 make one effort to save the crop. I tore six-or 

 eight n-wspapers into pieces, some eight or ten 

 iiichi s square, and cutiuig off a tas-le, aJju.-tcd 

 one pitee of paper in each hill, about as fjr down 



as the first leaf, in the row next to the woods, and 

 so far as I could see the corn was not meddled 

 with by these animals afterwards. If it should 

 prove equally efficacious in other cases, some of 

 my brother farmers may thank me for writing out 

 this little experiment. 



As I have taken my pen in hand, I will just add 

 that in this section, through the month of June 

 and July, farmers did not expect to get a sound 

 ear of corn. But now, as we have a fair crop, how 

 thankful ought we to be to the Giver of all good 

 for his blessing. Well may we say :— 

 "God moves in a mysterioua way, 



His wonders to perform : 

 He plants his footsteps m the sea, 

 And rides upon the storm " 

 Braintree, Vt, Nov. 10, 1869. h. h. c. 



ABOUT WHITEWASHING. 



I have been whitewashing quite extensively this 

 fall, and have thought that my experience may be 

 of some use to others. I think it a little strange 

 that farmers do not use whitewash more than they 

 do, as it costs but little, and most anybody can ap- 

 ply it. It makes buildings look better and last 

 longer. I use nothing but lime and water. I have 

 whitewashed most of my roofs. I have put it on 

 in all kinds of weather. If applied when the roof 

 was very dry, it did not stay on long after it rained ; 

 if just before a rain, and when the roof was a little 

 wet, it did better ; but if right after a rain, when 

 the roof was quite wet it has withstood all of our 

 late rains, and in good order. Of the roof of a 

 long building which I whitewashed, a part was of 

 very old, and a part was of nearly new shingles, 

 and the whitewash has staid equally well on both. 

 If I were ever to whitewash another roof I would 

 put it on after a rain. c f l 



Woodstock, Vt., Nov. 10, 1869. 



LAME CHICKENS. 



In reply to your Haverhill subscriber's inquiry 

 about his lame chickens, I will say that we have 

 about fifty chickens of various sizes, five of which 

 were taken lame. Losing the use of their legs, they 

 were readily caught. I took them to my husband 

 to be killed. He asked me to keep them by them- 

 selves and feed them well. I replied that all my 

 hens were well fed, and I could not feed five any 

 better than I fed the fifty. But I thought I would 

 try them. The result is they are now fit for a 

 Thanksgiving dinner. If they had been left with 

 the other hens they would not have got well. 

 Chickens, like everything else on the farm, must 

 be taken care of. Mrs. E. M. 



Rockport, Mass., Nov. 17, 1869. 



SPENT LIME, 



Will you infirm me, at your convenience, 

 through your columns, whether the spent lime 

 from the tanner's pits, largely mixed with hair, 

 would make a good top-dressing for grass lands ? 



Milfurd, N. H , 1869. W m. P. E.mmcott. 



Remarks.— -It is often used with excellent re- 

 sults. 



A BIT OF POULTRY EXPERIENCE 



The first of October, 1868, I commenced with 

 four old hens and four pullets, a mixture of Brah- 

 ma and Cochin China. The first ot last June I 

 sold two of ih^m. They have laid 10S7 eggs, and 

 raised thirty-six chickens up to October 1, 1869. 

 But within a short lime five roosters, that wtuild 

 have dressed about twenty pounds have "come 

 up missing." Orson Townb. 



North Dana, Mass., Nov., 1869. 



