1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



423 



It is something like the old Roman mode of 

 punishing a criminal, who was placed in a cis- 

 tern into which water was continually flowing. 

 He could pump it out, keep his head above 

 water and live. So can we, by the aid of sci- 

 ence, carbolic soap and white hellebore, keep 

 the wolf from the door ! 



What will come next? Who can tell? 

 Do inform us at once, and tell us how many 

 heads and legs and harpoons the critter car- 

 ries, and whether he can be captured or de- 

 molished by anything less than a mortar or a 

 "swamp angel." 



AGRICUIiTUKAIi ITEMS. 



— Oce hundred thousand pounds of cheese are 

 sometimes shipped from the little depot at Wel- 

 lington, Lorain County, Ohio, in one day. 



— The Prairie Farmer cautions people against 

 using currants and gooseberries from bushes to 

 which poisonous substances were applied for the 

 destruction of insects. 



— It has been stated by some one curious in sta- 

 tistics, that the whole amount of grain raised in 

 New England each year would not supply its in- 

 habitants six weeks. Would its production of 

 meat furnish a larger proportional supply ? 



— To destroy burdocks and other troublesome 

 plants, the Rural New Yorker says, cut close to 

 the ground with a sharp hoe, and apply a few drops 

 of kerosene. The plant so treated will never "put 

 in appearance" again. 



— In laying stone wall on sandy land, you can 

 begin to lay the stones at the surface, says the 

 Maine Farmer ; but if it is clayey, you will have 

 to dig and fill in cobble stones to lay your largest 

 stones upon, if you wish to have them stand, so 

 as to give your grandson no trouble. 



— The Poultry Bulletin says that carbolic acid 

 has proved very effective in preventing and de- 

 stroying vermin and in purifi-ing the air about 

 poultry houses, and asks may not the excessive 

 use of carbolic acid in close proximity to eggs de- 

 stroy their fertility ? 



— After ten years' experience with hay caps, a 

 correspondent of the Maine Farmer says no one 

 is well equipped for haying without them. Hay 

 but partially dried, put up and capped may stand 

 through a long storm and receive but slight dam- 

 age. But he regards the horse pitch fork as some- 

 thing to be let "severely alone." 



— In reply to the questions how much corn will 

 be sufficient for fattening steers, averaging 900 

 pounds at the start, from November 1 to April 1, 

 and how much ought they to gain during those 

 five months, a correspondent of the Western Rural 

 replies, cattle of the above weight will consume 

 from fifty so sixty bushels of corn, and if properly 



fed and sheltered should take on from 200 to 250 

 pounds apiece. 



—It is very common for a certain class of agri- 

 cultural writers to charge farmers with being be- 

 hind the times, and loth to adopt modem improve- 

 ments, &c. But Forney's Weekly Press says un- 

 willingness to adopt new implements cannot be 

 charged to farmers generally. It thinks no class 

 has been more ready to adopt every useful imple- 

 ment, and cites the change from the implements 

 used twenty years ago, in proof of this statement. 



— The editor of the Germantoton Telegraph does 

 not believe that the English sparrows lately im- 

 ported to this country destroy the worms that in- 

 fest the shade trees of our cities. He says, of the 

 five hundred sparrows set at liberty in the public 

 squares of Philadelphia, we do not know how 

 many remain, or what has become of them. Their 

 numbers were at least not increased last year, nor 

 were the worms diminished through their efforts. 

 No one has yet been willing to solemnly affirm 

 that he actually saw one of these birds eat one of 

 these worms. 



Northampton, Mass. — The Hampshire, Frank- 

 lin and Hampden Agricultural Society has issued 

 its programme for its fifty-second annual cattle 

 show and exhibition, at Northampton, October 6 

 and 7. This society proposes to pay at the rate 

 of 12 cents per mile for travel on premium cattle 

 driven ten miles or more ; and six cents per mile 

 on those driven more than five and less than ten 

 miles — the same competitor to receive only one 

 travel. Travel may also be allowed to unsuccess- 

 ful competitors, in case they appear deserving. 

 The conditions of entry are calculated to draw out 

 valuable information from successful competitors. 

 Elnathan Graves, Williamsburg, President; A. P. 

 Peck, Northampton, Secretary, and Delegate to 

 State Board; H. K. Starkweather, Treasurer; 

 J. H. Stebbins, Deerfield, A. T. Judd, So. Hadley 

 Falls, A.Wright, Northampton, J. Parsons, South- 

 ampton, Executive Committee. 



For the Kew England Farmer, 

 CHEESE FACTOBIES. 



I note Mr. H. M. Fales' inquiry about 

 Cheese Factories, in your last, and your 

 editorial comments on the same. Mr. L. N. 

 Brown of New London, Oneida County, 

 N. Y., will cheerfully answer the specific in- 

 quiry of Mr. Fales, and I cannot at this mo- 

 ment think of another whose experience so 

 well qualifies him for that duty. He has been 

 an extensive manufacturer, is a dealer in sup- 

 plies, and has superintended the erection of a 

 large number of factories, nearly one hun- 

 dred, — the past season. 



A large fund of valuable information may 

 be found in the "Transactions of the Ver- 

 mont Dairymen's Association" recently is- 

 sued. It is furnished free to members ; and 



