146 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



of plants, arranged scientifically, and pre- 

 pared in the most careful and neatest manner. 

 There are some very valuable specimens in 

 this collection, which is said to be unequalled 

 in this country. A very neat room is fitted 

 up for the class in botany, and a small room 

 for the President. 



The plant house, although rather early in 

 the season to see it in its glory, was looking 

 well, and I noticed some unique and beautiful 

 plants, that might well gladden the heart of 

 any botanical amateur. J will not attempt to 

 set down the scientific names of these floral 

 wonders, for my Latin has grown rusty from 

 disuse, and I have already intimated that I 

 did not fake notes. 



From inquiries of some of the faculty and 

 friends of the College, I obtained, on the 

 whole, a very encouraging statement as to its 

 progress and prospects. The present num- 

 ber of students is about 100, the Freshman 

 class numbering about thirty. The students 

 are represented as progressing well, and en- 

 thusiastic in their studies. A large part of 

 the work on the firm the past year has been 

 done by them, and they have thus obtained 

 just the practical knowledge and manual dex- 

 terity indispensable to the farmer, without in- 

 terference with their studies, — the record show- 

 ing a highly gratifying standard as compared 

 with their rank when admitted. 



With one feature I was especially pleased. 

 It is, that the teachers, while pointing with 

 commendable pride to the present standing of 

 the College and the improvements of the past, 

 and while detailing some of the plans for the 

 immediate future, do not claim that they have 

 made no mistakes, nor that their system might 

 not possibly be bettered. But, having a plan 

 well defined, they deem it better and more 

 profitable to all concerned to follow it steadily 

 and amend it when the need is demonstrated, 

 than to be continually trying experiments, or 

 laying plans of such magnitude that their very 

 unfolding deters us from undertaking them. 

 Such, at least, is the impression I received, 

 and the result rather of natural inference from 

 general conversation than from any direct 

 statement or claim. 



I transmit to you, with this, a view and plans 

 of the new barn, which you may find available 

 for use. The length to which I have extended 

 these notes will preclude any theorizing on the 

 College and its system of instruction, even 

 were I familiar enough with them to warrant 

 such discussion. Cushnoc. 



Amherst, Mass., Dec. 14, 1869. 



Buckwheat Straw used for bedding live 

 stock of any kind, causes an eruption of the 

 skin. It has been frequently noticed that 

 hogs when feeding among buckwheat stubbles 

 are subject to an eruption of the skin of 

 the neck and ears, owing to an acrid juice 

 which exudes from the cuts of the atubblea. 



COVERING FOR EOOFS. 



{^ ^ HERE are few items of expense 

 which so severely tax the pa- 

 tience and the pocket of the 

 farmer, as that of providing suita- 

 ble covering for roofs. The gen- 

 eral opinion is, that shingles do not 

 last, now, much more than half as 

 long as they once did. It is not 

 uncommon that the poorer quality of shingles 

 decay so much in ten years as to make it 

 necessary to lay new ones over the entire roof. 

 In some localities, the first quality are so far 

 gone as to cause bad leakages in twenty years, 

 and sometimes in even a less period. 



What can be the cause of this.P Is the 

 timber of which they are made less durable 

 than it was fifty years ago, or are there some 

 climatic changes which cause a more rapid de- 

 cay? 



When shingles become so far decayed as 

 to allow water to pass under them, tl.ey are 

 not only rotting rapidly themselves, but are 

 destroying the roof-boards upon which they 

 are nailed, so that this portion of the roof 

 needs renewing as often again as it would if 

 the shingles were tight. Here is another item 

 of cost, which is burdensome where so many 

 buildings are required in farm operations. 



Many kinds of materials are used for cover- 

 ing roofs, and various devices employed for 

 the purpose, but so far, none are so unobjec- 

 tionable as to bring them into popular use. 

 Some are too expensive ; some keep out wind 

 and weather for a brief time, and then fail; 

 some crack and let in the rain, while others 

 warp and the winds blow, them away. Flat 

 roofs are still covered with gravel and tar, or 

 some other cohesive substance, and withstand 

 the "tooth of time" admirably. Among the 

 old buildings in Boston, roofs may still be 

 seen that were so covered from fifty to one 

 hundred years ago, and with occasional re- 

 pairing, are still tight. 



The ^'■Plastic Slate Roofing'''' material was 

 extolled more than roof-high for a time. 

 There were plenty of certificates of its supe- 

 rior excellence, and all persons with leaky 

 roofs looked to it as the thing that would 

 cover their buildings once for all ; pine and 

 cedar trees might go for pails and tubs, — they 

 were wanted no longer for shingles ! But we 

 do not see any particular evidences of the 



