296 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



forming internally. It may be worms. It may 

 be merely atuBtnia or poverty of blood. Give 

 warm, wholesome lodging, exercise in the sun, 

 brush the skin well, correct any irregularity in 

 the action of bowels or kidneys, and give twice 

 daily, a tablespoonful of tincture of gentian and 

 half a drachm of carbonate of iron. 



PHYSIC FOR A HORSE. 



Barbadoes aloes will be found satisfactory : four 

 to five drachms for the average American horse. 



TO CLEANSE THE BLOOD. 



No direct answer can be given to such a ques- 

 tion. Waste and deleterious matters are expelled 

 through one or other of the secreting surfaces ; by 

 the digestive organs, kidneys, lungs, skin, &c., and 

 acting on some of these may at times be useful ; 

 but it must be borne in mind that the vital fluid 

 cannot be purified like a dish of dirty water, nor 

 have its objectionable constituents precipitated as 

 in a mere chemical solution. A perfect digestion 

 and elaboration of the products of this process are 

 moreover as important to a healthy state of the 

 blood as is the removal of eflFete material. 



April, 26, 1870. James Law. 



BUTTER FROM A JERSEY COW. 



There is but one Jersey cow in this town. She 

 is called seven years old, and is white and light 

 red. Her owner keeps no other cow. In 1869, 

 he sold 125 pounds of butter, beside what was 

 used in the family, and a neighbor had her two 

 weeks in summer. This year an accurate account 

 has been kept since she calved March 3. The first 

 milk saved was March 7, at night, and the first 

 churning was the cream of the milk of 5^ days. 



March 7 to 12, . . . 68J quarts gave 9 pounds butter. 

 " 13 to 17, . . . 48| " " 74 " " 

 " 18 to 22, . . .55 " " 7l " " 



" 23 to 28, . . . 63J " " 9 " " 



At the first churning 6^ quarts of milk yielded 

 a pound of butter. The last churning 7 quarts of 

 milk yielded a pound of butter. The cow makes 

 1^ pounds of butter a day, and one quart of milk 

 is taken for family use. The quantity of milk 

 above stated is o^ly what is set undisturbed to 

 raise cream. 



Her feed is two quarts of corn meal, three quarts 

 of wheat bran and half a bushel of roots a day. 

 The meai and bran is wet and put upon cut hay. 

 As she is an excellent cow to give milk, till near 

 the time of calving, it is safe to estimate a great 

 yield of butter from her during the year. j. 



Irashurg, Vt., April 9, 1870. 



Remarks. — If six and a half to seven "quarts" 

 of milk produce a pound of butter, how many 

 pounds of milk are required for one of butter ? 

 If the large or beer quart was used, the milk 

 weighed from 14^ to 17i pounds, nearly ; if the 

 wine or small quart, it weighed from 13^ to 16:J 

 nearly. How much is a "quart" in Irasburg ? 



INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF MUCK. 



In 18-58 I commenced farming on my own hook. 

 Being short of money and manure, some of my 

 good neighbors advised me to go into the swamp 

 and haul out muck. I told them I thought that 

 would be useless, as I considered muck cold stuff. 

 One neighbor was so anxious to have me make a 

 trial of muck that he told me he would make me 

 a present of some that he had on hand which had 

 been hauled out a year or more. My land was a 

 light, sandy loam, warm and early. I hauled my 

 friend's old muck home and got some new from 

 the swamp, with which I mixed thoroughly what 



stable manure I had made from two horses and 

 one cow, — shovelling it over twice or more, and 

 applied it to a field planted with potatoes, corn, 

 cabbages, carrots, beets and vegetables of all kinds. 

 My compost was about one-third maiiure. On 

 harvesting, my crops were about one-third of an 

 ordinary yield. I told my friends that my neigh- 

 bor who gave me his old muck had the best of the 

 bargain, and that the swamp had come near 

 swamping me. 



In 1868, I sold a plough to one of my neighbors 

 for fifteen ox-cart loads of muck, which was put 

 into my barn cellar in the fall of that year. On 

 this muck I kept two pigs during the winter, and 

 mixed with it the manure from three horses and 

 one cow. This was applied to land on which I 

 planted peas. They were hoed twice, grew well 

 and blossomed finely, but soon after turned yellow. 

 To ascertain the cause, I dug into the rows and 

 saw enough to satisfy me that it was the muck. 

 To put the matter beyond doubt, I tried the same 

 experiment the next year with the same result. 

 This so effectually convinced me of the worthless- 

 ness of muck, that it will probably be a long time 

 before I shall meddle with it again. 



Cyrus G. Upham. 



Needham, Mass., April 16, 1870. 



Remarks. — The different results of experiments 

 with "muck" may probably be accounted for by 

 the fact that the substances to which that term is 

 applied are of different qualities. Undoubtedly 

 there is as much difference in "mucks" as in 

 soils. Because vegetation fails in one soil, are all 

 soils to be condemned ? Because one bed of muck 

 poisons the roots of peas is it certain that all kinds 

 will do the same ? 



BALLS ON THE HORNS. — COWS FOR BUTTER. 



I have a herd of twelve cows and wish to put 

 brass balls on their horns. Will you please tell 

 me the way in which it should be done ? I have 

 put them on to cattle several times, but in a short 

 time they are lost in the pasture, even if I took 

 pains to turn them tight every morning. 



Will you please tell me, also, which breed you 

 consider best for a dairy, when butter is the chief 

 object — the Alderney or the Ayrshires ? a. b. 



Belchertown, Mass., 1870. 



Remarks. — Soften the horn a little by sticking 

 upon it a boiling hot potato, or by some other 

 method. When the horn is softened a little, screvj 

 on the ball and turn it down with a wrench. There 

 are balls with threads, and six square su that they 

 can be easily made tight. We believe this would 

 be suflBcient, but if you v/ish for further security, 

 bore a hole in the horn and put a small screw 

 through the hole which is provided for that pur- 

 pose in the ball. 



With regard to cows for butter, if we advised at 

 all, it would be to have one Jersey cow to every 

 five of the Ayrshire, or any other breed. The 

 milk of the Jersey will give color and character 

 to the cream of all the rest. A high grade of the 

 Jersey with the Ayrshire, would make fine cows 

 for butter. 



POTATOES. 



The time is near at hand when we must put into 

 the ground that crop which is one of the greatest 

 necessities of life. And the inquiry is how shall 

 we plant to get the greatest yield ? Perhaps you 



