1870, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



115 



AGRICULTUEAIi ITEMS. 



— There passed the Mattawamkeag, Me., hotel 

 22,733 sheep, on their way to market, between 

 July 16th, and January 10th, 1869. 



— A little girl who was sent out to hunt eggs 

 thought it strange she did not find any, as there were 

 several hens "standing around doing nothing." 



— Mr. S. O. Hill of Manchester, has this winter 

 raised full-sized green peas on vines grown in his 

 sitting-room, fed with wat-er and air entirely, hav- 

 ing no soil in which to root. 



— Professor George Perkins, Ph. D., recently 

 elected to the chair of zoology, botany and geology 

 in the University of Vermont and State Agricul- 

 tural College, has entered upon his duties. 



— A farmer in Concord, N. H., who is ninety- 

 two years of age, says that the present is the only 

 time in his remembrance when a load of wood 

 would pay for a good barrel of flour. 



— Paris has a new invention. It is a portable 

 fresh butter churn, to be used at table each meal. 

 It is made of crystal, and mounted on silver feet. 

 A silver rod revolves quickly in the cream and 

 presents a pat of butter every three minutes. 



— Twenty years ago only two acres of tobacco 

 were raised in the town of Hatfield. Now the av- 

 erage number of acres planted is between seven 

 and eight hundred, yielding an aggregate product 

 of 1,100,000 pounds. This at twenty-five cents per 

 pound would yield an annual income of $275,000. 



— John E . Gile of Enfield, N. H., recently slaugh- 

 tered a Chester-white hog, weighing 631 pounds, 

 which he sold for fourteen cents a pound. He 

 paid #12 for her when three months old, and in 

 eighteen months has sold thirty-two pigs from her, 

 at an average rate of over $4 each. 



— An analysis by Prof. Johnson, of Yale College, 

 of sixteen diiferent kinds of fertilizers, some of 

 which are sold as high as $Go a ton, shows that a 

 very large proportion of them are worthless. One 

 specimen, selling at $23 a ton, was shown to be 

 really worth, as a fertilizer, $2.33. 



— The Ellsworth, Me., American says Mr. Peltiah 

 "White has a pair of five-year-old steers, grade 

 Devon and Durham, seven feet four inches, 3700 j 

 pounds, and Mr. E.R. Ames of Sebec Village, has 

 a pair of yearling steers, six feet three inches, 

 2450 pounds. 



— The Ellsworth, Me., American says that Mrs. 

 J. C. Tibbetts, of Brooklin, made two hundred 

 and forty pounds of butter from the milk of one 

 cow the past year, besides selling milk to the 

 amount of #15. A nice calf was also raised by 

 the cow. In a former year Mrs. Tibbetts made 

 nine pounds of butter per week for twenty-six 

 weeks in succession from the milk of the same cow. 



— A correspondent of the Westeryi Rural thinks 

 that the ground is the best bed for hogs, as it is 

 warm enough, and a valuable disinfectant. To 



prevent the hogs making distinct beds, he advises 

 laying down flat stones, or making a pavement of 

 small stones, and then covering them with four or 

 five inches of earth. He presupposes a good house, 

 built with brick or stone sides. 



—At a late meeting of the "\Valtham,Mass., Far- 

 mers' Club, Mr. Dickinson said that he had suc- 

 cessfully protected his plants from the depreda- 

 tions of the striped bug by taking a barrel hoop, 

 cut it in halves, cross the halves at right angles, 

 and set in the ground over a hill of vines, and cov- 

 ered this with newspaper. It worked well. 



NE"W PUBLICATIONS. 



Remarks upon the Portion of the Report of the Spe- 

 cial Commissioner of the Revenue for the year 1869, 

 relating to Wool and Woolens: addieeted to the 

 Committee of Ways and Means of the IIouBe of Rep- 

 reeentatives of the United Staten, Ipy the Executive 

 Committ:e of the National Association of Wool Man- 

 ufacturers, January, 1870, 



The Executive Committee of the Wool Growers' 

 Association, of which Hon. E. P. Bigelow is Chair- 

 man, and John L. Hayes, Secretary, characterize 

 that portion of the report of the Special Revenue 

 Commissioner, which relates to "wool and manu- 

 factures of wool as abounding in grave errors and 

 inconsistencies ; as hostile in its whole tone and 

 spirit to one of the most important industries of 

 the country, or, at least, to the great mass of its 

 representatives; as presenting arguments based 

 upon facts which are either isolated or irrelevant ; 

 as abounding in that insidious form of the promul- 

 gation of error, — the suppression of facts which 

 would have neutralized its statements ; and as con- 

 taining conclusions opposed to the judgment and 

 experience of the great communities of the wool- 

 growers and wool manufacturers of the country, 

 who might be supposed to be most conversant 

 with their own aflFairs." 



These are certainly grave charges to make 

 against the statements of an oflicer of the govern- 

 ment who assumes to speak with authority ; and 

 we hope that all interested in the wool industry of 

 the country will read this little pamphlet of only 

 sixteen pages and decide for themselves whether 

 these charges are sustained by the facts and ar- 

 guments adduced in their support. 



Rules, Regulations and Schedule of Premiums for 

 the Fourth Grand State Fair of the Mechanics' and 

 Agricultural Fair Association of Louisiana, to com- 

 mence on fiaturdry, April 23, 1870, at New Orleans. 

 Luther Holmes, Secretary and Treasurer. 



In addition to the liberal premiums offered in 

 this list, which includes $1700 for cotton, $5000 

 are set apart for objects of special interest not enu- 

 merated in the programme, A grand exhibition is 

 anticipated, and the managers remark that "it is 

 evident that the true key-note of Southern devel- 

 opment has been sounded. The practical men of 

 the country, who are uniting in organizations 

 similar to ours, &re doing more to promote the 

 prosperity of this section of our country than has 

 ever before been accomplished." 



