504 



NEW ENGLAM) FARIVIER. 



Nov. 



EXTKACTS AND BEPLIES. 



BAD HABIT IN A COW. 



I have a three-year-old heifer which dropped 

 her calf the middle of June. She did well appa- 

 rently, and is in good order. Bat when I go to 

 milk she will urinate, and moans continually as 

 for her calf. Is it a habit, or a disease ? and can 

 you give any rc-medy ? 



I have, read meny cures for kicking cows. All 

 dumb creatures should be handled when young, 

 aod with kindness. If y.ou cannot govern your 

 o\vn temper you need not try to control ths'.t of 

 dumb brutes. If my cow is fractions or addicted 

 to kicking without cause, I grip the gambrel cord 

 firmly with my left hand, and milk with my right, 

 showing her I am perfect master, but coaxing her 

 gently at tht same time ; and I never had to re- 

 peat it r^ore than twice. 



CABBAGE WORMS. 



How' can I save my cabbage ffom large green 

 worms ? They go into the head and eat it out. I 

 have tried black pepper, salt, and air-slacked lime 

 without any effect. 



CHEAP STUMP PULLER. 



Can any reader of the Farmer give a plan for a 

 cheap stump lifter? Patent ones are too ex- 

 pensive. J. C. Miller. 



Fort Kent, Me., Aug. 18, 1870, 



Remarks.— If the udder is in good order, so 

 that it is not painful to her when milked, we can 

 see no reason why she should be troubled. Per- 

 haps the mode which you prescribe above for 

 curing kicking cows will overcome the unpleasant 

 habit of the heifer. Feed her while milking with 

 a little nice hay or grain, which may divert her 

 attention and aid in overcoming what may possi- 

 bly be more of a habit than a disorder. 



A frequent examination of the cabbages, and 

 destruction of the worms by hand, will probably, 

 alone save the crop. 



We gave an account of a cheap stump puller in 

 the Farmer a few weeks ago. 



DANGEROUS WATER PIPES. 



I saw an article in your paper cautioning the 

 public against the use of galvanized iron water 

 pipes. As I am about to purchase some for a cis- 

 tern, I would like to inquire what is the best, 

 cheapest, and most durable pipe for water supply. 



North Haven, Me., 1870. A Subscriber. 



Remarks.— Dr. Nichols, Editor of the Boston 

 Journal of Chemistry, says that an iron pipe is 

 more safe than a galvanized iron pipe. We have 

 used wood with great success, even where there 

 were two or three turns at perfect right angles, and 

 should always use it in preference to any metal 

 pipe, where it was practicable. 



PEEDING AND BREEDING SWINE. 



Which is the most profitable in fattening hogs, to 

 boil corn with potatoes and pumpkins, and feed to 

 them, or carry the corn five miles to mill, and get 

 it ground into meal, and lose the toll, and time of 

 doing it ? Which will hogs do the best on, to feed 

 them three times a day, or give the same amount, 

 twice each day ? I have only fed twice a day, 

 this season, and think they never did better. I 

 have a Chester County boar, twelve weeks old, 

 that weighs one hundred pounds. Would like to 



buy a sow pig, to keep for breeder. What would 

 be best to cross with him ? A Subscriber. 



Northjield, Vt., Aug. 15, 1870, 



Remarks. — If fuel is cheap, boil the com, pota- 

 toes and pumpkins, feed it out, and note whether 

 any portion of the corn passes in an undigested 

 condition. If it does, to some extent, it will prob- 

 ably be better to get it ground. Quite likely it 

 will all be digested. 



To form an excellent breed, procure the hand- 

 somest sow you can find, and let her run with the 

 boar. If the progeny is good, select the best and 

 go on again, to perfection, 



EFFECT OF FODDER CORN ON MILCH COWg. 



Previous to feeding corn-stalk fodder corn to his 

 cows, by Mr. W. L. Locke, Jr., of this town, they 

 filled 45 pans with milk; alter he commenced 

 feeding them with the fodder corn the same cows 

 filled 51 pans equally as full, and the cream had a 

 better color. z. e. j. 



Irashurg, Aug. SO, 1870. 



Remarks. — To the foregoing statement we may 

 add the following dialogue between the editor of 

 the Maine Farmer and a dairyman in the vicinity 

 of Augusta : — 



"Do you feed your cows ?" we ask. 



''Yes," is the reply ; "I have fed them for nearly 

 two weeks, ten days certainly. I give them fodder 

 corn, and feed my working oxen as good hay as I 

 have in the barn." 



"What was the effect of feeding fodder corn to 

 your cows ?" we inquire. 



"It increased the flow of milk at once, which for 

 a week kept much above what it had been on pas- 

 ture feed. Now, getting no feed in the pasture 

 and feeding them almost exclusively on fodder 

 corn (which is this year far less succulent than 

 usual) I find that they just about hold their own. 

 Cows that are not fed fodder corn have shrunk 

 fully one-half in the quantity of milk produced." 



HOW TO LAY A STONE DRAIN. 



Having frequently seen inquiries about laying 

 underground stone drains, and having had some 

 experience in the work, I will endeavor to give an 

 idea of the way I do it. The ditch should be at 

 least one foot wide at bottom, and wider if large 

 stones are used. The earth should be thrown out 

 on one side only of the ditch, and the stones 

 hauled to the other side. The man who lays the 

 drain must stand in the ditch,.and another man on 

 the ground to pass him the stones to be laid. Now 

 take a stone, say four inches deep, or wide, and of 

 less thickness, and set it on edge against the left 

 bank of the ditch, putting the thinnest edge down, 

 and placing it so ic will fall over if you do not hold 

 it up, then with the other hand set a similar stone 

 in a similar way on the right-hand side, and let 

 the upper edges of these two stones come together 

 over thecentreof the wa'er-course, and you have an 

 arch, or space, in this ^ form. Place other stones 

 in the same manner, tui you have an arm's length 

 or so of this roof, as it may be called, then place 

 other stones against the banks over these, and 

 clink up the whole distance, being careful to make 

 all tight, and not lay any stone so that it can fall 

 through into the water-course. Do not throw on 

 loose stones till you get those thus laid all solid. 

 A dram thus laid will never give out if the ground 

 is hard, nor will it gully. After a man gets his 

 hand in, he will lay a good long piece in a day. 



Where the drain is made by laying stones on 



