304 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



or less timber, but the mountains have to supply 

 the lumber, rails, &c. For climate, safely can 

 eastern Washington challenge the world. A dry, 

 clear sky with an atmosphere balmy and so pure 

 that objects miles distant seem to be but a few 

 hundred yards. Prolific in wheat, corn, oats, bar- 

 ley, rye and buckwheat ; in apples, pears, peaches, 

 plums, grapes and small fruits of all kinds. Cat- 

 tle, on the bunch grass, without other feed, remain 

 fat the year round. Health is such the doctors 

 complain of their pockets. 



Walla Walla, in the southeastern part of the 

 Territory, latitude 46, is thirty miles from the nav- 

 igable waters of the Columbia, two hundred and 

 thirty-six from Portland, and two hundred and 

 eighty-six from Salem. 



AQKICULTUKAL ITEMS. 



— G. C. Cox, Secretary, gives notice that an as- 

 sociation has been formed in Manchester, N. H., 

 for the settlement of government lands in Kansas 

 under the Homestead Law. 



— The Boston and Albany railroad has a new 

 article of freight in manure, which is brought from 

 the stock yards at Albany to enrieh the tobacco 

 fields on the Connecticut river. 



—Horses have been sold from Middlebury, Vt., 

 for the foreign market this Spring to the value of 

 more than $20,000, and horse dealers call it a dull 

 season at that. One was sold last week for #3000 

 and taken to New York for a carriage horse. 



—A man died lately in Montgomery, Penn., of 

 the glanders. During last fall and winter he took 

 care of a horse that had this disease, and the poi- 

 son got into his blood and was the cause of his 

 death. 



—Mr. Pickney stated at a Club meeting in Lans- 

 ing, Mich., that he had learned that the Northern 

 Spy was a better keeper when grown on clay soil 

 than on sand ; so with the Greening. Mr. Potter 

 said his winter fruit was grown on sandy soil and 

 did not keep well. 



—The monthly report, of the Agricultural De- 

 partment for March and April, from 417 counties 

 gives the number of sheep killed by dogs during 

 the past year at 99,389 ; while it is estimated that 

 full returns would swell this census of slaughter 

 to 500,000, with an actual money loss of #2,000,000. 



— To make an excellent ointment for burns, 

 bruises and cuts, also for sore teats on cows, a cor- 

 respondent of the Western Rural says, take one 

 teacupful of lard, three-fourths of an ounce of 

 laudanum, one ounce oraganum ; warm the lard, 

 put in the others when a little warm, and as it 

 cools, stir to mix well, then it is ready. 



— A farmer who was brought up on the Western 

 Reserve in Ohio, says that throughout the dairy 

 region the white clover that was once so plentiful 

 in all the pastures had almost entirely disappeared. 

 A few years ago the pastures were white with 

 blossoms, but now a white clover blossom is rarely 



seen. Outside the dairy region, where a different 

 system of farming prevails, the white clover is as 

 plentiful as ever. 



— The forests are dying out in certain parts of 

 Virginia. The chestnut trees have already sub- 

 mitted to some deleterious agency, and their growth 

 is nearly exhausted, and this year the oak, and in 

 fact all the trees of the forest in certain sections, 

 are dying. No explanation of this disastrous vis- 

 itation has yet been given. 



— According to the report of the Trustees of the 

 Pennsylvania Agricultural College, liming on the 

 eastern and central farms was without benefit, 

 while on the western ones a liberal application in- 

 creased the corn crop nearly one-half. The pre- 

 sumption is that in the first instance the soil needed 

 something else, while in the second, lime was pre- 

 cisely what was wanted to impart vigor to it. 



— A poultry raiser who lost nearly all his chick- 

 ens in 1867, after trying all the remedies he could 

 hear of, informs the Prairie Farmer that the next 

 year h6 tore down the old poultry house and made 

 a new one in a new place, hauled off the manure 

 and surface soil from the old place and sprinkled 

 lime over the ground. He now makes a new poul- 

 try house every year, a cheap building or pen of 

 rails, and has healthy hens. 



— A correspondent of the Rural New Yorker 

 says that in one case the onion worm was driven 

 off by applying a decoction of red pepper pods 

 while hot to the onions ; in another case, by throw- 

 ing the washing suds over the onions ; and the ed- 

 itor has lieard market gardeners say they had 

 found a suds made by mixing soft soap and cham- 

 ber lye, and allowing it to stand two or three 

 weeks before using, ^fllcient. Beside, it is an ex- 

 cellent fertilizer. 



— To remove white hairs that appear on horses 

 from the use or wear of the saddle or harness, a 

 correspondent of the Rural Next Yorker takes a 

 piece of fresh butter or lard, large enough to give 

 the spot a thorough greasing ; rubs the same with 

 the hand until it becomes quite hot, repeating the 

 operation at least three or four times, ana the 

 white hairs soon come out, and hairs of natural 

 color take their place. Thinks the best time to do 

 it is in the vdnter before the new coat starts. 



— The following rule for determining the amount 

 in bushels of a box or bin was sent to the New 

 York Farmers' Club by Merchant Kelly, of Ben- 

 tonville, Ind. If you multiply solid feet by 45 

 and divide the product by 56, the quotient will be 

 bushels, because one solid foot is just 45 5Q of a 

 bushel of 2,150 2-5 inches. Example: How many 

 bushels in a crib, box, bin or wagon-bed 8 feet 

 long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet deep ? 8, 4 and 2, 

 multiplied together, make 64 sclid feet, and 64, 

 multiplied by 45, makes 2,880, which, divided by 

 56, gives 51 3 7 bushels in said vessel. If it be 

 ears of corn, deduct for cobs. Some persons de- 

 duct a half for cobs. 



