1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



sa 



tbat we must see that the fowl is always well 

 kept. The way to have gr od laying pullets is 

 to quicken rhe circulation and s^tren^^then the 

 system by liberal nutriment. In conclusion, 

 the speaker referred to the f ict that the yolk 

 is food for the young for the fir^t three or 

 four da\ s — that careful hou'-ewifes make a 

 mistake by attempting to feed them before the 

 e.xpiration of thLs time. Let the mother bird 

 have charge, and success will be certain, for 

 she knows better than any man can what the 

 chick rtqulres. — Dr. J. V. C. Smith. 



TBEATMEJMT OF A COW DISEASE. 



We have had a "cow disease" in this neigh- 

 borhood. The legs and teats wtre all covered 

 with sores and blotches. As soon as we dis- 

 covered it, I got up the cows, started a fire in 

 the steamer to give us plenty of hot water, 

 and four of us went to woik wabhing and 

 fomenting the affected parts with as warm 

 water as the cows would bear. We also used 

 some Castile soap and a lirtle borax. The 

 latter is a capital thing for cleaning and soft- 

 ening the skin, but I do not know that 1 should 

 have used it only that I knew the men would 

 doubt the efficacy of such a simple remedy 

 as warm soft water and soap. I e.xtoUed the 

 virtues of this white powder, gave strict in- 

 junctions to be careful of it and not waste it, 

 and especially not to put any on the tores 

 until they had been softened by the hot water. 

 Then apply a little of the borax and rub it in 

 gently with warm water and soap to form a 

 lather. Then wash again with warm water 

 and soap, and finally give another thorough 

 washing with warm water alone. In this way 

 I succeeded in getting the legs and teats 

 washed thoroughly clean. This was the real 

 point. We then rubbed the legs, bag, and 

 teats, wi'h crude petroleum, and repeated it 

 two or three times, and the cows got well. 

 The disease has been very general and in some 

 cases quite serious. We do not know vvlmt it 

 is. Some thought it was the cow pox, but 

 that I suppose is usually confined to the teats 

 and udder, while on my cows the inside of the 

 forelegs were worse affected than any other 

 parts. I attributed it to mosquitoes or some 

 other insect. — J. Harris, in Am. Agriculturist. 



Cows Sucking Themselves — I have a 

 fine cow, wi)ivh at three years old acquired 

 the habit of taking her own milk. Unwilling 

 to sacrifice so proaji^inga heifer, I resorted to 

 various devices to breaK up the habit or to 

 prevent its successful practice — the most suc- 

 cestful of which was a light woodeil frame of 

 light pins or rods, similar to the lower part of 

 an old fath^oncd splint bottom chair, fastened 

 on her neck so that bhe could not get her head 

 around to her side. This accomplished the 

 object, but it worried and chafed her, and did 

 not allow of her whipping flies or licking her- 



self. It looked uncomfortable, and I didn't 

 like it. Lat^t spring I sei'ured a phin snaflle 

 hit in her mouth, by 'means of a narrow strap 

 passed over her head between the horns pnd 

 ears. On two or three occa>ions the hair on the 

 udder was foimd s^lightly smeared with saliva, 

 but no milk was ever taken. The biidle bife 

 does not interfere in the least with ea'ing or 

 chewing the cud. It was removed in Novem- 

 ber. The cow was milked during the winter, 

 and is now giving ten or twelve quarts of milk 

 per day, and no indications of returning to 

 her old habit. — //. M. Hart, West CornwaXl, 

 Ct., in Courdry Oentleman. 



Why do we Oil our Wiietstoxes ? — We 

 oil our whetstones for several reasons. The 

 first is that almost all stones, unless oiled, bo- 

 come glazed or burnished on the surface, so 

 that they no longer abrade the metal. The 

 second reason is that most stones, after being 

 oiled, give a finer edge than they do in a dry 

 or merely wet state. The pores of the stone 

 become in a measure filled up, and, while the 

 action is rendered continuous, its character is 

 altered. A dry stone is very apt to give a 

 wire edge to a tool, and although this some- 

 times happens when oil is used, yet it does not 

 occur nearly so oftc n. It has been said that 

 a little carbolic acid dissolved in the water 

 which is used to moisten a whetstone or a 

 grindstone will greatly increase the friction, 

 and thus promote the action of the stone upon 

 the steel instrument. If this be true, and 

 there be no unforeseen drawback, carbolic acid 

 will prove invaluable to all who have to shar- 

 pen tools or grind metallic surfaces.— Mining 

 and Scientijic Press. 



A CiiEAP Boiler or Steamer. — J. S. 

 Seely of Kendall County, 111., gives the fol- 

 lowing description, in the Prairie Farmer, of 

 a boiler or steamer used in his neighborhood 

 and which he says is the best he has ever seen. 

 Procure a sheet of common sheet iron, the 

 heaviest that can be got ; make the sides and 

 the two ends of a box the bize of the sheet, 

 and nail the iron on for the bottom. Make 

 two walls of brick or stone so near together 

 that the edges of the box will be far enough 

 from the fire so that the sides will not burn. 

 The back will want protecting by iron or stone. 

 The farmer will v/ant a chimney at one end. 

 and, if to burn coal, will want a grate. If 

 used to steam, the box will not need to be 

 more than six or eight inches high, with a box 

 the same size to fit tight, with slat bottom, to 

 set on top as high as desired. 



I have one neighbor who cooks fifty bushels 

 at a time, and another one hundred bushels of. 

 potatoes with a very small amount of fuel. 

 The latter has two sheets riveted together,, 

 with pan and box 4x8 feet ; the box made of 

 good flooring, matched. 



