122 



NEW ENGLAND FAR^jffiR. 



March 



to be as readily eaten as hay, and stock will work 

 it up without waste. The grain when ground and 

 fed to animals producing milk is considered by 

 farmers here more valuable than corn. It is as 

 good a grain as wheat to seed with for the suc- 

 ceeding crop of grass. The number of bushels 

 per acre in the valley of the Connecticut varies 

 from thirty to sixty, according to circumstances, 

 though from forty to forty-five may be considered 

 a good crop. The best preparation for a good 

 crop of barley appears to be a well manured and 

 well cultivated crop of corn, though any other 

 hoed crop with the land in good condition answers 

 very well, but all attempts to raise it upon green 

 sward, or land in poor condition, and foul with 

 weeds, will result in failure. There seems, how- 

 ever, in this locality to be but little demand for it 

 as a market crop, and it therefore rests its merits 

 with us upon the excellent feeding properties of 

 both straw and grain, and the universally superior 

 "catch" of grass seed when sown in connection 

 with it. E. E. s. 



Cornish, N. H., Dec. 2i, 1869. 



EFFECTS OF CHEERY lEAVES ON CATTLE. 



I find that my attachment to the New England 

 Fahmer increases with my years. I think it and 

 kindred prints, are of more present benefit to far- 

 mers than all the agricultural colleges in the coun- 

 try. But I believe the time is at hand when agri- 

 culture will be considered one of the most impor- 

 tant of all the learned professions. 



There has been considerable discussion in the 

 Farmer of late about the poison of wild cherry ; 

 but I do not recollect of any one having opened 

 an animal to see its effects. I do not think it is 

 poison. Many years ago one of^y neighbors cut 

 some cherry trees in the month of June, and threw 

 them into his pasture. The next day his cows ate 

 heartily of them. Before night one of them was 

 dead. I helped him skin her. On opening her to 

 ascertain what the difficulty was, we found that 

 the wilted leaves had stopped, undigested, in a 

 solid mass in her stomach. Had she eaten them 

 in a green condition, they could not have stopped 

 undigested. I do not think there is any danger 

 from them only in a wilted condition, 



Thomas Haskell. 



West Gloitcester, Mass., Dec, 1869. 



EXPERIMENT WITH SUPERPHOSPHATE ON CORN. 



I put about a tablespoonful of superphosphate 

 into each hill of two rows of corn, and left two 

 adjoining rows without the superphosphate. For 

 three or four weeks there was little difference in 

 the appearance of the corn. But after that time 

 the phosphated rows went ahead, and when twelve 

 inches high the other was seven or eight, an ad- 

 vantage which it maintained through the season, 

 and which could be seen at some distance. The 

 land was low intervale, part moist, part dryer. 

 At harvesting, the corn on the two phosphated rows 

 weighed 71, and that on unphosphated 52 pounds. 

 The heaviest corn was the best, most forward, and 

 most sound. h. m. e. 



Fisherville, N. H., Dec, 1869. 



DECREASE OP SHEEP IN BENSON, VT. 



"A happy new Year to you," Mr. Farmer, and 

 here are the stamps. We cannot do without your 

 weekly visits, though you made a miscalculation 

 on the rise of wool. But you are not alone in that 

 matter. For one I never was so disappointed in 

 my expectations of the market value of any prop- 

 erty before in my life. Other kinds of property 

 and produce are high enough for the good of the 

 country, I hope we have seen the worst of the 

 depression in the wool trade, and that the low end 



of the see-saw will soon begin to move the other 

 way. If not the sheep in this section will soon 

 disappear. The grand list of this town has shown 

 over 20,000 sheep for taxation in former years, but 

 next spring the "listers" will not be able to count 

 8000. And in adjoining towns the decrease has 

 been in aljout the same ratio. John Balis. 



Benson, Vt., Jan. 1, 1870. 



COPPLE-CROWNED TURKEY. 



I have a male turkey with a tuft of feathers on 

 his head. It is the only case of the kind I ever 

 saw. Have you or have any of your readers seen 

 the heads of turkeys thus ornamented ? 



H. T. Gates. 



New Worcester, Mass., Dec 25, 1869. 



Remarks. — In the "American Poulterer's Com- 

 panion" by the late C. N. Bement, Mr. Main is 

 quoted as saying that, although the subjugation 

 of wild turkey is not of an ancient date — it is said 

 that turkeys were unknown in Europe till after 

 the discovery of America — their domestication has 

 produced marked changes in their plumage, &c. 

 Among these changes or varieties he mentions 

 that of the "tufted turkey" as the most remarka- 

 ble, and says it is yet very rare. The tuft is some- 

 times black and sometimes white. 



SURPRISE OATS. 



Enclosed find sample of surprise oats, raised by 

 me last season. Every one who sees them prefers 

 them to the Norways. They ripen a few days 

 earlier than the common oat, and weigh one- 

 quarter heavier by the bushel than any other. 



Roxbury, Vt., Dec, 1869. W. I. Simonds. 



Remarks. — Plump, bright oats. "One-quarter 

 heavier by the bushel than any other oat," we 

 should suppose would entitle them to the name of 

 Surprise. 



CURE FOR CHILBLAINS. 



I can recommend with much confidence as a 

 cure for chilblains, rubbing the parts affected with 

 butter and heating it in by the fire. e. m. s. 



Rochester, Vt., Jan. 2, 1870. 



MILTON FALLS, VT., CHEESE FACTORY. 



Received the milk the season of 1869 from an 

 average of 373 cows for four months and eighteen 

 days. Pounds of milk received, 932,231 ; from 

 which they made 98,130 pounds of cheese, equal to 

 one pound of cheese for nine and one-hald pounds 

 milk. The patrons have received an average price 

 of #14.37 per hundred pounds net, for their cheese 

 the past season. A. B. Ashley, Director. 



Milton Depot, Vt., Jan. 11, 1870. 



—At a late meeting of the Herkimer County, 

 N. Y., Farmers' Club, Mr. Whitman said that as 

 the cold weather came on last fall he found it im- 

 portant to hurry up his turnip harvest. To save 

 time, the roots were dumped in the cellar without 

 topping, intending to do thatjob immediately after 

 the roots were safe from danger of frost. But be- 

 fore the tops were removed the mass heated and 

 rotted so that the turnips were all spoiled and 

 were removed to the manure heap. 



