1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



467 



wise, was, that when the descent is steep, the water 

 in the higher strips of land, between the drains, 

 will come out at the surface instead of going down 

 to the bottom of the next drain. It must be re- 

 membered that water, whether on the hill-side or 

 in the valley, is always seeking to find its level. 

 It does not conform itself to the side-hill,, but 

 seeks to find a level wherever it is. 



Speaking of drains across the slope, Judge 

 French says, in his "Farm Drainage," — "Now, 

 looking at the operation of drains across the 

 slope, and supposing that each drain is draining 

 the breadth next above it, we will suppose the 

 drain to be running full of water. What is there 

 to prevent the water from passing out of that 

 drain in its progress, at every point of the tiles, 

 and so saturating the breadth below it ? Drain- 

 pipes afford the same facility [and so do stone 

 drains] for water to soak out at the lower side, as 

 to enter on the upper, and there is the same law of, 

 gravitation to operate in each case." 



Mr. J. Bailey Denton, Engineer of the English 

 General Land Drainage Company, says : — "I re- 

 cently had an opportunity, in Scotland, of guag- 

 ing the quantity of water travelling along an im- 

 portant drain carried obliquely across the fall, 

 when I ascertained with certainty that, although 

 the land through which it passed was compara- 

 tively full of water, the drain actually lost more 

 than it gained in a passage of several chains 

 through it." With a more careful investigation 

 of the matter, we think our correspondent will 

 conclude that we were right in recommending to 

 follow the general slope, be it much or little. 



NO CANKER WORMS NEAR PINE TREES. 



Not long since, I heard a man say that Canker 

 worms would not live among pine trees. The idea 

 was new to me, but on looking around within the 

 circle of my knowledge, I can not disprove it. In 

 a town adjoining Beverly where the canker worm 

 eats very badly, there is a pine tree with two apple 

 trees standing very near it, and while all the apple 

 trees in that vicinity were almost entirely stripped, 

 those near the pine were untouched. I have made 

 frequent inquiries and have not found a man who 

 ever saw Canker worms in the immediate vicinity 

 of pine trees. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I wish to know if you, or any 

 of the numerous correspondents of the Farmer 

 have any facts bearing on ttiis subject. 



Beverly, Mass., July 29, 1870. L. Cole. 



HAY AND HATING IN AVESTERN VERMONT. 



Th° hay crop in many places in western Ver- 

 mont is very light this year. Last year it was so 

 heavy, that one team and machine would mow for 

 two teams to draw, while this year one ox team 

 can draw what two smart horse teams with two 

 mowing machines can mow. Some men have at- 

 tempcetl to lay down rules for cutting, curing and 

 storing hay. My rule is to cut, cure, and stow 

 away as fast as possible when the weather is good 

 and the hay in proper condition for harvesting. 

 This year the days are all good hay days. I have 

 the horse rake (ttie old wooden revolver, the best 

 hay rake ever invented,) follow the mowing ma- 

 chines after the dew is otf in the morning (but sel- 

 dom we have any this season,) draw the hay into 

 the barn green, put in a layer of hay, salt it a lit- 



tle, and then put on a layer of oat straw that I 

 stored away last season in good order. I have 

 filled two bays in a barn 52 by 36 feet to the great 

 beams, and I trust my hay will come out bright 

 next winter. 



ONE WORD RESPECTING LABOR. 



The Chinese question is being agitated by poli- 

 ticians, by the friends of humanity and by the 

 producing classes. You have not the space to al- 

 low me, neither have I the time or talent, to dis- 

 cuss this question in its broadest sense. I want to 

 see no class of men introduced into this great Re- 

 public as slaves, either apprenticed, or otherwise, 

 but would let all come as freemen to better their 

 condition. One thing is true, we cannot continue 

 to produce for the consumer in New England and 

 pay the present prices of labor. The producers 

 must have their hands strengthened or consumers 

 may expect to face stan^ation. J. N. Smith. 



West Addison, Vt., July 12, 1870. 



TO KEEP OFF CABBAGE WORMS. 



Tell your correspondent "H. D. U.," of Monroe, 

 N. H., who is picking off the green cabbage worm 

 to save his cabbages, to dissolve half a pint or 

 more of salt in a pailful of soap-suds or water, 

 and with a watering-pot wet the leaves every other 

 morning for a week. When there is no rain to 

 wash off the salty sediooent from the leaves, if it 

 does not destroy all worms, lice, or insects that 

 trouble the cabbage, his experience will differ 

 from mine for the last fifteen years. 8. s. t. 



Holliston, Mass., August 1, 1870. 



to prevent the SCRATCHING OF HENS. 



Take a piece of wire some eight or ten inches 

 long ; bend it in the middle around the hen's leg, 

 just above the foot, twist the wire once, leaving 

 the loop hole large enough not to bind or chafe the 

 leg ; then spread the two wires so that the ends 

 will be three or four inches apart, and turn down 

 an inch or so of the extreme ends of the wires so 

 that they will catch in the ground. With such a 

 wire on each leg, the hen will not disturb a gar- 

 den or any place, as they cannot scratch though 

 thev can walk with li'tle difiSculty. C. 



Keene, N. H., July 18, 1870. 



Queen Bee Lost and Found. — Mr. Wm. 

 Talmage, a highly respectable and worthy 

 citizen of Athens, Ga., who cultivates bees on 

 a small scale, in the garden adjoining his resi- 

 dence, observed that a swarm from one of his 

 hives, was very much agitated, refused to set- 

 tle, indicated distress by a peculiar buzzing, 

 and after some time flew away to a distance. 

 While trying to discover the cause of their 

 disturbance he accidentally discovered the 

 Queen bee entangled in some grass and weeds 

 in his garden and only attended by a few of 

 her subjects. He relieved her from her criti- 

 cal position and put her under an inverted 

 tumbler on a table in the garden. The faith- 

 ful lieges who had remained with her contin- 

 ued to buzz around her for a little while, and 

 then some of them flew away in the same direc- 

 tion whi«h the swarm had taken. After a 

 short time the whole swarm returned, rallied 

 round their Queen, peace and happiness were 

 restored, and the swarm easily and comforta- 

 bly hived. — Georgia Farm and Home. 



