1870. 



XEW ENGLAND FAIi:NrER. 



217 



many things, but I am thankful that I have found 

 out that the above treatment is entirely eflicacious, 

 and that, though not patented, it ■will "knock" all 

 internal and external concoctions higher than a 

 "kite." Hebakd, Second. 



Randolph, Vt., Feb. 14, 1870. 



SCOURS IN COWS. 



I once had a valuable cow that was troubled 

 with scours, and I expected to lose her, till using 

 this remedy she was saved : — One quart of wheat 

 flour, tied tight in a cloth, put into a kettle of 

 boiling water, and boiled three hours. After it 

 was taken out and cooled, it was pounded tine, 

 and given her to eat dry. By twice feeding with 

 this she was cured, and never troubled with it 

 again. It is said to huve been equally elfectual in 

 cases of dysentery with persons. j. b. s. 



Haverhill, Mass., Feb. 28, 1870. 



RAISING TI'EKETS. 



Will some reader of the Farmer who has been 

 successful in raising turkeys, give his manner of 

 treatment while small. What should be fed to 

 them, &c. I. D. 



Enjield, N. H., March 1, 1870. 



Remarks. — In the Monthly Farmer for 1867, 

 pige 289, is an excellent article on this subject, by 

 H. A. Sumner, of Brandon, Vt. Probably that 

 article alone would be worth the cost of the whole 

 volume to you. We shall be glad to publish 

 another as good. 



CORN STALK FODDER. 



I must dissent in toto from the statement of Dr. 

 Loring, that "Green corn stalks are the poorest 

 and meanest fodder that was ever given to cattle." 

 Both experience and observation have taught me 

 thiit when the stalks axQ properly (jrotcn fmdj2idi- 

 cioushj fed to Stock of all kinds, they are very val- 

 uable foddir. Such, also, is the opinion of my 

 neighbors, several of whom are subscribers to 

 your paper, which by myself and family is valued 

 so highly that we would go without our dinners, 

 were it necessary to do so, to raise the money to 

 pay for it, as we find in every number something 

 that interests, instructs and amuses us. 



Henry E. Hitchcock. 



Sturbridge, Mass., Feb. 7, 1870. 



LICE ON POULTRY. 



* For the last five or six years I have been very 

 successful in destroying lice in my hen coops, by 

 giving the coop or house a thorough whitewashing 

 in the spring, first adding about a gill of kerosene 

 oil to a gallfin of whitewash, and about once a 

 month sprinkle the oil about on the roosts, in the 

 laying boxes, &c. Since I commenced the opera- 

 tion I have seen no vermin. J. Buefington. 

 iialtm, Mass., Feb. 21, 1870. 



THE HAY CROP A SPECIALTY. 

 At a recent meeting of tbe western division 

 cf the North Kennebec Farmers' Club, as re- 

 ported in the Waterville, Me., Mail, Mr. Hall 

 C. Burleigh, one of the leading farmers of the 

 Kennebec valley and President of the North 

 Kennebec Agricultural Society, remarked that 

 he believed the best course for our farmers to 

 pursue was to raise hay as a leading crop, and 



consume it upon the farm. The Mail in re- 

 porting him says : — 



Mr. Burleigh boldly proclaims that the true 

 policy of the Maine farmer, great and small, 

 is to make the hay crop a specialty, and feed 

 it all on his own territory, kecpinnj up the fer- 

 tility of his field, not by ploughing often and 

 seeding afresh, but by top-dressing. Of 

 course his plan does not forbid the raising of 

 a small crop of potatoes, or corn, or bailey, 

 or oats, &c., for his own use; and he would 

 especially enjoin upon the firmer to have a 

 good garden, and as large an orchard as be 

 can keep in thrifty condition. And this would 

 be his plan whether a man is to market butter 

 and cheese, or beef, or wool. 



He does not approve of the popular method 

 of applying manure, with a rotation of crops ; 

 for by the time yon get round to grass three- 

 fourths of your dressing has been expended 

 and you get about one-half or three- fourths of 

 a ton of hay per acre, and this at first coarse 

 and of a comparatively poor quality. Com- 

 posts his manure in open air and applies it as 

 top dressing, well rotted, in the fall ; and in 

 this way brings up the capacity of land from 

 one-half a ton per acre, to all the grass you 

 can conveniently make on the space. Applies 

 ten or twelve loads per acre, and applies all 

 he makes to his land. This method saves the 

 expense of plowing and seeding ; the work is 

 done in the fall, when the farmer is not driven 

 as in the spring ; the quality of the grass is 

 much improved, for it gets finer and better 

 yearly ; and in this way the grass roots are 

 not only fertilized, but the manure acting as a 

 mulch, they are protected from frost and 

 drought. He thinks that manure applied in 

 this way is more lasting in its effect, though of 

 course different soils would vary in this. 

 Never would plough grass land for the pur- 

 pose of fertilizing the soil ; does not believe 

 that well composted manure loSes much of its 

 virtue by the escape of gasses into the atmos- 

 phere, and stated that there had been a great 

 revolution of opinion on this point among ex- 

 perienced farmers and scientific agricuhurists. 

 He thinks that at the present prices of labor 

 and products, corn and potatoes can only be 

 raised at a loss in Maine ; that hay has been $ 1 .5 

 a ton at some time in every year for ten years 

 past, and that it is worth that or more to feed 

 out upon the farm. He is very well satisfied 

 thus far with his experiments in top dressing. 



An Old Batch of Bread. — A batch of 

 bread consisting of eighty-one loaves, that was 

 put into an oven at Pompeii nearly eighteen 

 hundred years ago, has just been taken out, 

 and is found to be somewhat overdone, which 

 is certainly not surprising. These loaves, 

 which were found in the course of recent exca- 

 vations, are about nine inches in diameter, 

 rather flat, and divided by eight lines radiating 

 from the centre, into segments. 



