272 



NEW ENGLAND FARJlIER. 



JjjyrB 



crouches slightly, with sometimes a sort of groan. 

 The excrement is not hard, as in constipation, but 

 rather the reverse. She appears otherwise well. 

 Is in good order, not too fat; has six quarts 

 ground oats daily (the same wet, as she refuses 

 dry meal), and sliced potatoes once a week ; is fed 

 and watered regularly. Used for light dic-iving 

 only. The above symptoms are more noticeable 

 after a harder drive than usual, but have appeared 

 more or less for some months. What is the mat- 

 ter, and what is the remedy ? s. e. j. 

 . Vermont, March 29, 1870. 



Remarks. — Perhaps some person has had a 

 horse suffering in a similar manner, and will be 

 able to state the cause and remedy. 



EARLY ROSE POTATOES. 



I bought one peck of Early Rose Potatoes in the 

 fall of 1868. From them I raised last year a little 

 over 38 bushels of nice potatoes when dug. But, 

 alas, the tables turned on me instanter, for in less 

 than three weeks 30 bushels of them were rotten, 

 and I had to dump them into the barnyard. 



RELIEVING CHOKED CATTLE. 



We have a very simple instrument here in my 

 neighborhood for relieving choked cattle. It is 

 simply a tarred rope one and a half inches in 

 diameter, and five or six feet long. The end that 

 is intended to go down the throat is trimmed ofl 

 and wound with a piece of cotton cloth and 

 smeared with soft grease before using. With this 

 I have relieved five within two years. Tie the 

 creature up, let one man hold the left horn with 

 his right hand, and take the creature's tongue out 

 with his left, while another man runs the rope 

 down. It is limber enough to follow the passage, 

 yet stiff enough to remove all obstructions. There 

 should be one or more in every neighborhood. 



CABBAGES. 



I raised and sold cabbages to the amount of 

 $7-5 58 from eleven square rods of ground, besides 

 i-aving enough for my family, and giving away 

 some five hundred pounds. They were the Stone 

 Mason variety. I never have written anything for 

 a paper before, and probably shall not undertake 

 10 again. So please excuse me this time. 



Lewis Beal. 



North Fairjield, Me., March, 1870. 



A LAME HORSE. 



Will you inform me what I can do for a lame 

 horse, that has a sore on the bottom of his foot, 

 raused by pricking when shoeing, or it may be a 

 corn. R. I. Subscriber. 



Woonsocket, R. I., April, 1870. 



Remarks. — Corns are often the result of bad 

 shoeing, and unless the animal can be turned out 

 to run barefoot they must be cured by judicious 

 shoeing, by which pressure on the corn shall be 

 avoided, in connection with proper medical treat- 

 ment. The corn in the horse's foot is different 

 from the hard corn of the human subject ; it pre- 

 sents a reddish appearance, is very sensitive, and 

 more spongy and softer than other parts, but orig- 

 inates in a similar cause. We must advise you to 

 consult a horse doctor or an experienced horse- 

 bhoer. 



CROPS IN jersey county, ILL. 



In remitting the enclosed payment for the Far- 

 mer, I will say that in this section there was not 

 over one-half the usual amount of wheat sown 



last fall, and this spring what was sown does not 

 promise over half a crop. Farmers are now busy 

 putting in oats, of which more will be sown than 

 usual. A large amount of corn will also be planted 

 which I think is our best paying and surest crop. 

 There is some little excitement here about the 

 Norway oats, but I am inclined to the opinion 

 that its superiority, if any, is owing to change of 

 seed and care in cultivation. A change of seed is 

 beneficial to all our small grains, particularly 

 wheat. J. B. Reynolds. 



Delhi, Jersey Co., III., March 26, 1870. 



Remarks. — As the exchange of ideas between 

 the farmers of the East and the West, as well as 

 the change of seeds, is desirable, we hope you 

 will occasionally communicate with your Eastern 

 friends through our columns. Farmers, East and 

 West, ought to be more sociable. 



horse distemper. 

 I have an eight-year-old mare that runs at the 

 nose, and has all winter. It Ijoks like the horse 

 distemper. What shall I do for her ? 



A. Franklin. 

 Shelburne Falls, Mass., March 21, 1870. 



Remarks. — Probably it is nothing more than 

 catarrh or cold, caused by a chill in the stable or 

 out. Has your horse had a warm, dry, clean and 

 light stable, and good bedding all wmter ? The 

 trouble, whatever it is, ought to be attended to. 

 In ordinary cases. Dr. McClure recommends a 

 bran-mash with from six drachms to one ounce of 

 powdered nitre in it, at night, for two or three 

 days, withholding grain, and if the bowels are 

 confined a mild dose of physic. 



HOW SHALL I BUILD MY BARN ? 



As I am intending to build a barn the coming 

 season, I would like the advice of some of your 

 subscribers. The barn that I tore down was a 

 common long barn, with doors at both ends, bay 

 on one side, and stanchions on the other. The 

 land where I am about to build falls at the north 

 enough to have a cellar. I want the yard on the 

 south side, and the barn large enough to accom- 

 modate twelve head of cattle, three horses, twenty- 

 five sheep and fifty tons of hay. I don't want a 

 steam enelne in the barn. A Subscriber. 



Concord, N. H., April 4, 1870. 



apprenticeship with FARMERS. 



Young men who would be farmers, but who 

 have not been brought up to the business, have 

 been advised often to let themselves for a few 

 seasons to some farmers who wants help, and to 

 look upon such service as an apprenticeship, be- 

 fore going into business for themselves. 



I would offer an amendment to that advice, to 

 the effect that no one who would become a success- 

 ful farmer should work with or apprentice himself 

 to one who cannot make farming pay, but when 

 they hire are obliged to do some job in the winter 

 off the fa»m, to pay their^ired help. 



Any young man of intelligence can judge for 

 himself as to the income and expenses of a tarmer 

 after he has been employed by him twelve months. 

 It would be poor encouragement for him to give 

 his best energies to a business that would not pay 

 the interest of the capital invested. Were he to 

 do so, his time would be worse than lost,— un- 

 profitable to his employer, and entirely unsatis- 

 factory to himself. Should he stick to the farm 

 under such a tbtor, he would learn nothing he 



