1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



73 



dressed with the ashes. The whole piece was 

 manured and tended alike. Where the ashes were 

 spread iu 1866 the tops grew more rank, the 

 drought had no effect, and the potatoes grew until 

 they were dug to save them from freezing. Be- 

 yond the limit of the ashes the drought injured 

 them, the tops died early and the yield was no 

 more than one hundred and thirty-three bushels 

 per acre, and very many of these were badly eaten 

 by grubs, while those where the ashes were spread 

 were as clean and handsome tubers as one could 

 wish to see. 



From my o^\ti success I am convinced that 

 ashes will certainly do no injury to the apple trees 

 or to the soil in which they gi'ow. w. r. s. 



South Wilbraham, Mass., Nov. 27, 1869. 



TO HIM WHO FEAHS DISEASE AND DEATH FROM 

 THE t:SE OF AVATER RUNNING THROUGH LEAD 

 FIVES. 



Know yon not, dear sir, that you must die if you 

 do not have water ? From an extensive observa- 

 tion of twenty years as "waterman" in all this re- 

 gion, I am fully persuaded that not one in a 

 thousand suffers while living, or dies earlier, in con- 

 sequence of using water conveyed in lead pipe. 



There are occasional instances of lead poison, 

 but this is no more a sufBcient reason whj' all 

 should be deprived of this best of all means for 

 serving man and beast with the crystal stream, 

 than is the fact that one in a thousand or in ten 

 thousand who ride in the cars are injured thereby, 

 a reason why railroads should not be used ? 



I say lead pipe is the best of all known conduc- 

 tors of water for family use — 1st, because it is with- 

 in the reach of all, and is the cheapest, in the long 

 run; 2d, it is the most feasible conductor and the 

 most readily adapted to all localities ; 3d, it is the 

 most easily and cheaply repaired when by any 

 means it is out of order; and 4th, if the water used 

 is of "hard" or lime water, the pipe will very soon 

 be completely coated with a deposit of lime, similar 

 to an egg shell, which renders it perfectly harm- 

 less. 



In a few cases there may be a chemical peculi- 

 arity in the water which renders the use of lead 

 pipe unsafe. In such cases cement or stone con- 

 ductors should be u»ed. Wrought iron or com- 

 mon gas pipe is, perhaps, next to cement, the 

 safest in such springs. There are, however, seri- 

 ous objections to iron as well as lead. 



A few years since lead pipe coated with tin in- 

 side was recommended very highly as a substitute 

 for lead. Bat trial has proved this tin coating to 

 be so thin as to be of little or no real value. More 

 recently still a new pipe has been introduced and 

 is advertised largely as "lead encased tin pipes," 

 which is but another name for the former article, 

 save that the proportion of tin is greater than in 

 the tin lined lead pipe. If we will believe the ad- 

 vertisement, this is cheaper than pure lead. But 

 when we compare the price of this kind of pipe, 

 which is about double that of lead, with the price 

 of pure tin pipe which is at least four and a half 

 that of lead, we must conclude that the propor- 

 tion of tin is very small, or that the tin is adulterated 

 by other and cheaper metals. But more than this, it 

 is clearly proved that in a great many instances 

 water contains a chemical property that corrodes 

 this tin or alloy much more rapidly than pure lead. 

 In such cases one only has his choice between lead 

 and tin as the base of his metalic poison. 



In some sections, especially near cities, there 

 seems to be an idea that galvanized iron is the 

 only safe substitute for lead. Let us see. Iron is 

 galvanized by immersion, at a given heat, after 

 being plunged in an acid bath, in melted zinc. 

 Pure zinc is the coating called galvanizing, which 

 penetrates the body more or less, as it is thorough- 

 ly or superficially galvanized. 



Now, then, take your choice, my splecny friend. 

 Will you prefer zinc, tin or an alloy of tin, or lead, 

 as the metallic base of your poison, if poison at all ? 

 Experience has fully convinced me that zinc cor- 

 rodes most rapidly, tin and its alloys next, and 

 simple lead, which is not alloyed, because it is the 

 cheapest of all its class of metals, will remain un- 

 changed by water much the longest, and is there- 

 fore the most harmless of all known metallic con- 

 ductors of water. 



At all hazards, I will close by making the asser- 

 tion that many more lives are lost by want of 

 water than by lead or any metallic poison from 

 conductors. p. j. 



Randolph, Vt., Nov., 1869. 



SALTPETRE FOR SICK CATTLE AND TURKEYS. 



Having recently used saltpetre with apparently 

 beneficial effects, I will make the following state- 

 ment for the benefit of others. Sometime last 

 winter a two-year old heifer began to cough, grow 

 poor and weak. She would put her nose near the 

 ground and cough, or rather gag badly, for some 

 time. Fnally she got so weak as to stagger if she at- 

 tempted to move quick. We dissolved about a com- 

 mon table spoon even full of saltpetre in warm water, 

 which was put into a bottle and given to her. It 

 appeared to help her at once. About a week after- 

 wards another dose was given her. She continued 

 to improve in health and strength, and was soon 

 wel 1 , strong and fleshy. About a month afterwards 

 another heifer was taken in the same way, was 

 ti-eated in the same manner, and with the same 

 favorable result. 



This last season we lost about thirty young tur- 

 keys; in fact, all we had except three or four. 

 When about half grown they would droop and die. 

 A neighbor suggested that the disease was proba- 

 bly worms. I took one that could hardly stand 

 and gave it a piece of saltpetre, the size of a pea. 

 Before night it began to walk about. The next 

 day it was eating with the rest. I tried the same 

 remedy with another one with a similar result. 



Marlboro', Mass., Dec. 3, 1869. P. Welch. 



TO DRESS POULTRY FOR MARKET. 



There is a right and a wrong way to prepare 

 poultry for the market, and a nice appearance adds 

 many pennies to the house-wife's store. A bright, 

 cold day should be selected for the operation, and 

 the fowls should not be fed in the morning, so that 

 their crops may be emptied. The old process of 

 wringing their necks is entirely done away with. 

 The heads of turkeys, geese, chickens or ducks 

 can be chopped off with a sharp hatchet, so that 

 one quick blow will do the deed. Have an assist- 

 ant to take each one from the block ; tic its legs 

 together, and hang it across a stout line stretched 

 from post to post. Here, let them hang until thor- 

 oughly blooded. If the feathers are desired, they 

 must not be scalded, yet there is danger of tearing 

 the skin if it is not wet. Pick them clean, but on 

 no account remove the intestines. The meat keeps 

 much longer if no air is admitted into the body. 

 Our best poultry men plunge each fowl into a ket- 

 tle of boiling water as soon as it is picked. This 

 practice makes the flesh white and plump, and if 

 they arc in decently good condition when killed, 

 gives them a fine appearance. A well-dressed 

 fowl makes a good show if not verj' fat, while an 

 ill-dressed one, no matter how fat, can never look 

 well. 



When the fowls are all picked and scalded, (a few 

 moments is sufBcient for that) tie the legs together, 

 and hang up in a cool room ; if this is not possible, 

 lay them upon clean boards until the animal heat 

 has passed away, but do not let them freeze di- 

 rectly. 



