1870. 



KEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



461 



bor's fields are foul and constantly re-sowing 

 all the land within half a mile of them. 



In some countries the legislature has inter- 

 posed Its authority for the destruction of 

 ■weeds. If we mistake not there is a law upon 

 the statute books of Massachusetts in relation 

 to the Canada thistle. By a regulation in 

 France, a farmer may sue his neighbor who 

 neglects to destroy the thistles upon his land 

 at the proper seasons, or may employ people 

 to do it at the other's expense. In Denmark, 

 there is a law to oblige the farmer to root up 

 the corn marigold. In Scotland, there is an 

 old statute which denounces that man to be a 

 traitor "who poisons the king's lands with 

 weeds, and introduces into them a host of 

 enemies." 



We need something, not only to compel 

 people to keep their private lands free from 

 weeds, but some provision that the destruc- 

 tion of weeds on the side of the roads should 

 be effected by town or county authorities, and 

 the expense become a common one. At least, 

 somethiny may be done in this day of progress 

 to prevent the enormous annual losses occa- 

 sioned by weeds. 



EXTRACTS A]SrD REPLIES. 



■WHEN TO SO'W RED-TOP, — WILL IT DO WELL 

 ALONE ? — SEED PER ACRE ? — STUMP PULLER- 

 HOW TO SWEETEN MEAT TUB. — EELS IN VINE- 

 GAR. 



When is the best time to sow red-top ? Would 

 August be a good time ? Will it do nicely alone 

 without other grass seed ? I would like to raise it 

 for seed. How much seed mus^t I sow per acre ? 

 Would it make a good hay crop, alone ? If not 

 what is the best kind of seed to mix with it ? 



What is the best kind of stump puller for a 

 small team ? 



What can be done to prevent my vinegar from 

 becoming a mass of minute eels ? 



How shall I sweeten a meat tub ? Would it be 

 a good thing to slake lime in my tub ? The tub 

 does not exactly spoil my pork, but it is not kept 

 perfectly sweet, although I have taken great pains 

 to scald and scrape the tub. E. S. Pearson. 



South Peacham, Vi., 1870. 



Remarks.— Red-top seed is frequently sown in 

 August, but if so it should be on quite moist soil. 

 The amount of seed used for an acre differs very 

 much with different persons, — varying from one 

 to five pecks. We always sow one bushel for 

 every acre, and a pretty long experience justifies 

 the practice. A bushel of red-top in the chaff 

 weighs about twelve pounds, and in that twelve 

 pounds it is estimated that there are 80,000,000 

 seeds, so that if sowed evenly there would be 

 something like ten seeds to every square inch of 

 the ground. 



There are many stump pullers ; which is the 



best we are not able to say. A description of a 

 home-made one by Mr. H. Marsh, of Hudson, N. 

 H., in the Mirror and Farmer, was copied into 

 these columns last year, and may be found in the 

 Monthly New England Farmer, May, 1869. It 

 says : — Take three pieces of common joists, put 

 them together in form like the common harrow, 

 letting the tapering or forward ends lap by each 

 other some six inches, making a place for the 

 chain to rest in. Cut off the roots at any distance 

 you please from the stump, place the machine on 

 one side of the stump, tapering end up, hitch the 

 chain on the opposite side and pass it over the 

 machine; then hitch a good yoke of oxen thereto 

 and you will see the stump rise. He has cleared 

 about three acres in this way. 



This certainly commends itself by its cheapness 

 and simplicity, as any farmer can make one in a 

 single hour. 



As a general thing, when a meat tub has be- 

 come tainted, it is better to put it to some other 

 use and get a new one for the meat. However, if 

 the taint is only slight, it may be made sweet by 

 dropping shavings into the bottom of the barrel 

 and setting them on fire. They should lay lightly 

 upon each other, and be enough of them, when 

 ignited, to send the blaze all around the inside of 

 the cask, but should not burn long enough to char 

 the wood. 



All vinegar, we suppose, has living animals in 

 it; but when the "critters" get so large as to be 

 distinctly seen by the naked eye, in the cruet while 

 on the dinner-table, it certainly is not so inviting 

 as it might be. It is not hard to eat a nice, fresh 

 oyster alive, but to cat a wriggling eel, whose con- 

 volutions would stubbornly resist the entombment, 

 miglit be a more difficult thing to do. 



If vinegar is made of pure cider, we can see no 

 reason why it should not be clear. Vinegar is 

 best kept in the attic, wood house, or some place 

 above ground, rather than in the cellar. Freezing 

 does not injure it, as the water contained in it is 

 frozen before the acetic acid is ; hence, weak vine- 

 gar is made stronger by partial freezing. But to 

 come to the point as to what you can do to "pre- 

 vent your vinegar from becomiEg a mass of mi- 

 nute eels," we would suggest that the vinegar be 

 put into a well-tinned vessel, and made to boil 

 for one minute over a strong fire ; or, put into 

 bottles, and then into a kettle of water upon the 

 fire and then boiled ; this will coagulate the glutin- 

 ous and mucilaginous matter which all vinegar 

 contains, and may be separated out by straining. 

 If the vinegar is then kept in well-corked bottles 

 it will last good for a long time. 



As* the subject is one of importance to every 

 family, we give below some of the methods de- 

 scribed in one of Schule's essays for preserving 

 vinegar. He says : — 



It is a fact generally known that vinegar, of 

 whatever kind, will not keep long, but in the 

 course of a few weeks, especially in the warm 

 temperature of summer, grows turbid ; its surface 



