1870. 



XEW ENGLAOT) FAKIilER. 



195 



AQRICULTUKAIi ITEMS. 



— ^The directors of the Sacramento Valley Beet 

 Sugar Association, have determined to enter largely 

 this year into the cultivation of sugar beets, and 

 the manufacture of sugar therefrom. 



— The trustees of the Maine State Agricultural 

 Society are to meet at Bangor the last of this 

 month to consider proposals for the location of the 

 next Show, and to decide upon the same. 



— The Country Gentleman makes a good point 

 when it says, in answer to a request for the address 

 of a stock-breeder, that, as he never advertises, it is 

 fair to suppose he has nothing to sell. 



— A distmguished poulterer says, that the occa- 

 sional use of onions, mixed and fed to poul- 

 try with their other food, is one of the best ways 

 of keeping a yard of poultry in health. 



— In the Willamette Valley, Oregon, wheat is 

 sown in the latter half of March or first half of 

 April ; oats and barley in April and May. Tur- 

 nips should be sown in April. A correspondent of 

 the Willamette Farmer says it is useless to sow 

 field turnips there in June or July. The drought 

 and bugs destroy the young plants. 



— The Northwestern Flax Association held its 

 first annual meeting at Cleveland, Ohio, Jan. 26. 

 A memorial to Congress was prepared, stating that 

 over 500,000 acres of flax are grown for the seed, 

 in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, 

 Iowa and Minnesota; and praying for the continu- 

 ance of the present duty on gunny cloth. 



— L.F.Allen writes the American Institute Far- 

 mers' Club that while there is no uniformity of 

 shape or growth in the horns of Shorthorn cattle, 

 they have one peculiar characteristic ; an oval shape 

 near the root, gradually assuming a roundness 

 near the extremities, and a hazy or neutral appear- 

 ance in color. They are also finer in grain and 

 more delicate in appearance than the horns of 

 common cattle. 



— A correspondent of the New York Farmers' 

 Club, from Maryland, reccommends lime as a pre- 

 ventive of club-foot in cabbage. He says that fifty 

 bushels of shell lime, per acre, every five or six 

 years, or whenever cabbages begin to "club" will 

 enable a man to grow cabbages on the same ground 

 twenty years in succession. He raised cabbages 

 last year on land which has been growing this veg- 

 etable thirty years in succession. 



— To obviate the hurry and consequent imper- 

 fection of the entries of stock and other articles at 

 County Shows, for making a record of which the 

 secretaries often have but a few hours, the old Ken- 

 nebec, Me., Society has decided to have in each 

 town a special committee of one who shall receive 

 all entries of stock and other articles to be exhibited 

 from his town, and forward them to the Secretary 

 of the Society by 8 o'clock, P. M., of the day pre- 

 ceding the fair. 



— A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer says, 

 "Take hog's lard, melt it and mix with it a little 



sulphur and apply the mixture thoroughly to a 

 space six inches wide on either side of the back 

 bone from the head to the tail of the animal. Do 

 this on a warm, sunshiny day, and if there is alir- 

 ing louse on the animal, twenty-four hours after- 

 ward, I won't say that I will eat it, but I will say 

 that louse has a stronger constitution than any 

 other specimen with whi ch I have come in contact," 

 —J. C. Barnes of Fort Fairfield, Me., raised the 

 past year about 5400 lbs. of pork, to produce 

 which he used up 900 bushels of grain, mostly 

 buckwheat. Some oats and peas were used, and 

 are considered valuable as tending to harden pork. 

 One of his hogs, seventeen months old, slaughtered 

 a few days ago, weighed 553 lbs. The value of the 

 feed is estimated to be $370. Value of pork, at 

 12^ cts. per lb., $675. 



SAMPLE OF "WILTED HAY. 



In the discussions at the late Farmer's Conven- 

 tion, at Lewiston, Maine, much was said in rela- 

 tion to the new manner of curing grass by wilting 

 it, only, and then mowing it away as compactly as 

 possible in large quantities. Several gentlemen of 

 the highest respectability stated this to be their prac- 

 tice, and that the grass so cured was worth more than 

 when made by two or three days' drying; one of 

 whom, Capt. Taylor, of Winthrop, said it was 

 worth twenty-five per cent, more than grass ex- 

 posed to the sun a part of two days. 



One of the agents of this paper, Mr. Edward P. 

 Frost, has recently visited Houlton, in Aroostook 

 county, Maine, and there called upon Capt. V. 

 PcTNAM, formerly a Massachusetts man, who 

 kindly showed Mr. Frost his stock and the hay 

 upon which it fed. A sample of this hay is now 

 before us, sent by Mr. Frost. This sample was 

 taken from a bay of twenty tons, and was cured by 

 wilting it merely, allowing it to remain in cock a 

 day or two, and then packing it away in the bay. 

 This hay was examined by the members of the 

 Concord Farmers' Club, and pronounced excellent. 



Mr. Frost states that Capt. Putnam has a fine 

 stock of cattle, which give ample evidence of 

 feeding plentifully upon the best of hay. 



Biting Hard !— The next time Patrick cleans 

 the horse, he will be more gentle in currying his 

 legs. If he is not, there will probably be more 

 photographs of the horse's teeth, on the place upon 

 which he sits down ! Never use the curry comb 

 upon the legs of a horse below the knee. There is 

 no flesh on that part of the leg, so that, in careless 

 hands, the curry comb goes raking over the bones 

 and causing severe pain. Even a good-natured 

 horse will not always be quiet under such treat- 

 ment. Use a wisp of straw, or, if the mud is plen- 

 tiful, a smooth stick will take off most of it. Un- 

 til Patrick can sit down comfortably again, he 

 certainly will remember to be gentle when clean- 

 ing "old Jerry's" legs. 



