406 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



bunches, turn once, then pet it in. Under this 

 treatment, the heads and leaves adhere, the stems 

 are not brittle, but made, "cooked," as it were, and 

 retain their valuable juices. 



A new mode among us, is that of cutting the 

 grass, allowing it to wilt for a few hours, and then 

 packing it away from the air as much as possible. 



We have no more doubt that hay is preserved in 

 this way, than we have that it is preserved in any 

 other way. It is testified to in every direction, 

 and barns full of such hay, as sweet as a nut, 

 may be seen by those who will take the trouble to 

 go to them. 



This process requires that a pretty large amount 

 of hay shall be placed in a compact form, and in 

 a great measure excluded from the air. Few of 

 us have such conveniences. Our barns are di- 

 vided into many spaces where currents of air come 

 and go at will. But because we have not so cured 

 hay ourselves, we do not think that it cannot be 

 done. The evidence placed before us at the Con- 

 vention in Maine, last winter, was perfectly con 

 vincing that hay is successfully preserved in that 

 way, and can be by any of us who have conven- 

 iences for so doing, 



FRUIT TREES GNAWED BY MICE. 



Having suflfered very much from the effects of 

 mice for several year.«, I would like to ask the 

 readers of the Farmer how to prevent mice from 

 destroying our apple trees, by eating off the bark 

 in the winter ? Will tar, painted over the bai k 

 late in the fall prevent it, and if so, will tar injure 

 the trees ? 



I tramped the snow all around them last fall, 

 and put chip manure around the trunks in small 

 sharp piles, eighteen inches high, but neither had 

 any effect. I have lost, the last two years, nearly 

 one husdred tree?, tome of them very valuable. 

 Answers to the above questions will be thankfully 

 received. Hiram French. 



Eaton, Compton Co., P. Q.,June, 1870. 



Remarks. — This subject was discussed in our 

 columns last year, but no specific remedy was sug- 

 gested. Offensive matter applied to the tree, if 

 harmless to the bark, is liable to be washed off by 

 rains and snows. And we much doubt whether 

 any other means of equal cheapness and efficacy 

 can be suggested better than plenty of cats and a 

 good mound of earth. Let one or two or more 

 mother cats range the orchard during the fall, — 

 cats that are dependent on their own industry for 

 the support of families, — and the mice census will 

 show a great decrease by the time the snow comes. 

 And then, late in the fall, clear away the grass and 

 •weeds from around the trunk and if the soil 

 affords tolerably easy digging, throw up a pile 

 around the trunk of clear earth at least eighteen 

 inches high, and if the snows are not much deeper 

 in Canada than here, we think the trees would be 

 pretty safe from the mice. If the soil of the or- 

 chard is hard or rocky, a cartload from the near- 

 est bank will answer for several trees. 



Tar might answer, but we should fear it would 

 injure the trees. When applied to prevent the as- 

 cent of the eanker worna grub, paper or cloth is 



generally first tied around the trunk. A paint of 

 soot arid milk, compositions of tobacco, sulphur, 

 assafoetida, hen or pigeon manure, wiih mud or 

 clay to give body and tenacity, are recom- 

 mended by some book-farmers. But we have had 

 no experience with them. 



STAR-NOSED MOLE. 



As you seem to be authority on insects, perhaps 

 you can tell me what animal the enclosed skin 

 came from. My cat caught it in my cellar. Its 

 fur is something like a mole, but its teeth were 

 like a cat or weazel. I never saw anything with 

 such a nose before. The feelers were eighteen in 

 number. None of my neighbors who have seen it 

 can tell me what it is. 



We are having uncommonly warm weather here 

 now. Corn loi-ks nicely. Early sown grain is 

 doing well, while that late sown looks very poor. 

 No one estimates the hay crop any more than 

 three-fourths the usual quantity. Lewis Beal. 



North Fairfield, Me., June 25, 1870. 



Remarks. — The skin come from a star-nosed 

 Mole — Condylura cHstata, of the books. The 

 American Cyclopasdia says the star-nosed mole of 

 North America has the end of the nose sur- 

 rounded by 22 movable fleshy filaments, radiating 

 in the form of a star, which serve as delicate 

 organs of touch ; feet five-toed ; tail moderate, 

 thinly haired. 



This variety of the mole is quite rare in this part 

 of New England. Yours is a larger specimen 

 than most of those we have seen described, and 

 perhaps from old age or some casualty had lost 

 some of its feelers. 



BrCCESSFUL EXPERIMENTS IN HAYING. 



Mr. Brown : — You remember some twelve years 

 ago you had the honor to act as one of the Trustees 

 ot the State Reform School at Westboro', and, with 

 one of your associates, had the principal manage- 

 ment of the farm. You saw fit to employ me to 

 execute your wishes and direct the farm work as 

 best I could. The great meadow of blue joint 

 had always been a trouble and was considered 

 of little value, except for a litter. It was always 

 left for the last work of haying, when the 

 grass would be lodged, tough and hard to 

 cut, and still harder to eat. With your per- 

 mission, I cut it in the early part of June, 

 and again in September, with so much success 

 that our example has been followed, to the present 

 day, and the old, worttiless meadow now atfjrds 

 the State a large amount of excellent fodder. 

 Cutting twice has not injured, but improved ic. 

 Tbe present superintendent told me yesterday, 

 that he measured and found some of the grass six 

 feet long. 



Now I own a little lot of the same kind just be- 

 low. Most of the Slate's hay is in the barn, and 

 all of mine, and in what I call the best order. 



I took my pen at first to tell you how 1 cure my 

 hay. I don't like smoky hay ; but the less drying 

 the better, if it can be kept tiright. I had a few 

 tons of old hay left, and 1 ttjoughc it worth more 

 than the high price of last spruig for me to keep. 

 So we began cutting the meadow, and with little, 

 say half drying, began to cart it home and put a 

 layer of the old hay, and then one of the new, 

 with a small sprinkling of salt; then old hay and 

 new, and so on to the end. The benefits are less 

 risk of bad weather, saving of time, and greatly im- 

 proves the hay. 



