1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARilER. 



173 



eyes, mealv, sweet, delicious, and ranks next to 

 the Early Rose in every respect; and the New 

 York Pfiich Blow, which is very nice,— some call 

 it better thnn the Gleasim. 



How ciifTorent the pul)Iic taste is now in repard 

 to potatoes, from what ic was twenty years aijo 

 A potato, then, was a potato, and nothing more. 

 Now they are prized according to their goodness; 

 poor or even common ones, are discarded, and 

 those nearest perfection chosen. s. b. 8. 



West Amesburi/, Mass., Feb. 7, 1870. 



"WASIIINGTOX OATS. 



I have an oat that came from Washington, where 

 the liiar men go to get wisdom ; and whence seeds 

 of different kinds are scattered through our land, 

 some of which prove to be good. The kind that 

 I have will weigh forty pounds to the bushel, and 

 ripens a week earlier than the common variety. I 

 think it will be a good kind to grow where they 

 are apt to rust. Mine grew some live and a haif 

 feet tall, stood up well to cradle, with long heads. 

 stoat straw, a plump berry, not crotched like the 

 common oats. I send you a sample of a number 

 of bushels that I raised. 



A VENERABLE PUMPKIN. 



I Iiave a pumpkin that was raised in the year 

 1868, that is about as ficsli looking as it was the 

 fall that it was taken from the vine. I think it 

 was the largest one 1 raised. I kept it where it 

 would not freeze in the winter, out of the cellar, 

 and in the tnilk room in the summer. It bids fair 

 to winter agam. 



LAYING HENS. 



1 have twenty-five old bens and pullets from 

 which I sold eggs in Uecember and January to the 

 amount of twelve dollars and sixty-six cents, be- 

 sides using a few new ones, though wc saved esrgs 

 that were laid in the fall. I sold at from twenty- 

 five to forty cents a dozen. I feed the hens sand, 

 gravel, ashes, burnt bones, scraps and dry mortar, 

 with messes of potato and crumbs from the table, 

 some oats, plenty of India and buckwheat, with 

 Eome corn that did not get ripe. I keep feed by 

 them all the time, and give them water and sour 

 milk. I have a room in one corner the horse shed, 

 with a window for the liens to look out and the 

 sun to look in. Here they lay and set, with a 

 roost one side. Their droppings are saved and I 

 have a large load of it now which will be good to 

 put on the grass next spring, and perhaps some 

 on corn and potatoes. We have less than a foot 

 of snow on the ground now, with cold weather 

 and good sledding, though we have had but little 

 before this winter. H. Griffin. 



Essex Junction, Vt., Feb. 3, 1870. 



SEASONABLE CARE OF COWS. 



The time is now at hand when farmers should 

 be thinking about their cows that are coming in. 

 To have them do well, I say feed them with 

 good hay, but not too much ; give them potatoes, 

 turnips, carrots or beets, twice a week, with a 

 little meal once a day, and keep them loose, warm 

 and dry. When they drop their calves, if they do 

 not clean well, send for some one to take it away. 

 In bad cases it will create iiiliammation in twelve 

 hours. Take a cloth or anything you please and 

 pull lightly and cut it off, and it will disappear 

 and pass off without any injury to the cow. Such 

 has been my experience lor (illy years. In the 

 course of that time I have been called on to as- 

 sist in more than a hundred cases, and in only 

 one did the cow fail of doing well, and that was 

 when I took it away, resulting in inllamination, 

 loss of flesh and failure in her milk. I resolved 

 then that I would assist, but never attempt to 



force nature. If the Lord will, I may at a future 

 time give directions how to manace in c se a cow 

 or mare is unable to drop its young, with a de- 

 scription of an in.-tvumcnt with which one man 

 can do more thnn ten can without it. 



Brookfield, Vt., Feb., IbTO. V. Baker. 



BUTTERMILK AND PIOS. 



Will buttermilk cause a sow to cast her pigs? 

 I have been told so bv a farmer. w. b. 



Cokasset, Mass., 1870. 



Remarks. — We do not think that buttermilk, 

 or any other food usually given to swine, and in 

 moderate quantities, will cause a sow to cast her 

 pigs. The danger is, that breeding sows do not 

 get a suflicient variety of food. During the whole 

 time of gestation three things ought to be cart^fully 

 observed ; and when they have been we have never 

 known a sow to cast her young. First, access to 

 the ground, and sufficient space to root about in 

 it. Second, some kind of animal food, at least 

 once each week, such as butcher's scraps, bits of 

 fresh meat of any kind, with a little salt in the 

 swill ; and Thirdly, a dry and roomy bed. 



When these conditions are observed, the sow 

 will do well. 



CORN FODDER. 



If the statement of Dr. Loring be correct, what 

 shall I plant for fodder ? w. b. 



Remarks. — We do not know. In the town where 

 we reside, some fifteen hundred gallons of milk 

 are sent to Boston every morning. Take away 

 the corn fodder, and that flow milk of would nearly 

 cease for two or more months. Nothing has yet 

 been found to take its place. Fed on It. the cows 

 continue their flow of milk, and keep in good con- 

 dition during the trying time in August, Septem- 

 ber and part of October, when the pastures have 

 nearly failed. 



NORWAY oats. 



Please let me know where the Norway oats 

 came from ? Are they what the Downeasters call 

 the Maine oats, or the Poland or Norway oats of 

 Europe ?" w. B. 



PkEMARKs. — The Norway oat is said to have 

 been found in a package of Norway peas, distrib- 

 uted by the United States Patent offu'e; but we 

 believe that the name is claimed simply as a "trade 

 mark," and not to indicate its origin. 



Last summer, we took especial pains to visit 

 several fields which had croi)S upon them of Nor- 

 way oats. The growth was remarkable in several 

 respects. The average height of the plants wo 

 thought would be nearly or quite four feet; the 

 stalks were much larger than those of the common 

 oat, and what is really wonderful, we found 40, 

 GO, 100 or more stalks, which had evidently sprung 

 (rom a single seed! Generally, the grain stood up 

 firm and straight, ana presented a most luxuriant 

 appearance. 



Another remarkable feature was apparent in 

 every field which we visited ; the young grass, 

 the teed of which had been sown wuh the oats, 

 had a growth and apparent energy altogether un- 



