1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



519 



and he had several of his flock poisoned hy eating 

 laurel. A Methodist minister happened to corne 

 along, and inquired what was the matter of his 

 sheep ? Fattier mformed him of the fact. He 

 then requested me to catch one, which I did He 

 opened its mouth, and cut the third wrinkle in tne 

 roof from i's teeth and let it go. He said that he 

 would warrant it to cure every one that was not 

 so far gone that it could not swallow the blood. 

 Father lost one only out of over twenty. 



One of my neighbors wishes to paint the roof of 

 his house with gas-tar. He wants to know what 

 he rau&t put into it, so as to thicken it a little. He 

 wants to apply it with a brush. 



Can any reader of the Farmer give the required 

 intormation. If they can, we will be under obliga- 

 tions to them. H. A. Pease. 



IVardensville, West Va., Sept., 1870. 



SOILINq^OF CATTLE. 



I would be glad to get a book on soiling cows. 

 Can you inform me where such a book can be 

 had ? L. 



Starksboro', Vt., Sept., 1870. 



Remarks. — The Essays by Hon. Josiah Quincy, 

 published by A* Williams & Co., Boston, at #1.25, 

 are the best that we know of. The volume con- 

 tains, in addition to the Essays on Soiling, a me- 

 moir of the author, and an agricultural address 

 delivered by him before the Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural Society in 1819. 



ROUND OR WHOLE SHOES FOR OXEN. 



When an ox has a bad claw by calking, or one 

 claw gets lamed by sprain, gravel or stone bruises, 

 take two of his common shoes, properly fitted, and 

 weld tiaem together at the toes ; put on a toe caik, 

 as on a horse-shoe ; let the claws of the loot touch 

 at the toes ; nail on your shoes, a'nd go to work 

 with your oxen. All will be right in a d«y or two. 

 Shoes thus set will last as long as two or three 

 settings of single shoes, when at work on a stone- 

 quarry or other very rough place. 



Brother teamster, don't let the blacksmiths 

 frighten you on tnis subject. No dirt or gravel 

 will work up between the claws to injure in the 

 least. At tirst thought, perhaps you will say that 

 it is contrary to nature to thus contiae the claws of 

 the foot of an ex. Be this as it may, you will find 

 that f-uch a shoe will greatly assist nature in cur- 

 ing a very bad foot. By thus shoeing one ox, in 

 particular, that tore off a part of one claw, which 

 had been baeily cut by calking, 1 did not lose a 

 clay's work. The shoe was set with but two nails 

 in tbe lame claw, and those at the heels. 1 have 

 savid tne work of three different oxen by thus 

 shoeing, this season, 1 have no doubt. 



Our cattle, which are heavy, work on a granite 

 quarry which is as rough as need be. F'riends, 

 iryi tie round or whole shoe, and if not pleased 

 with it, ^ou can cheaply take off the shoe if it 

 does not prove beneficial. Nelson Converse. 



Marlboroitgh, N. U., Sept. 12, 1870. 



THE HUTCHINSON PEACH. 



Fit more than forty years there has not been an 

 eiiiire fjilure of a crop from this peach. 



It is a native seed ling, retained on the same farm 

 wirhcut mixture from oiher varieties, reproducing 

 iifclf from seed. If any deterioration is produced 

 by budding the peach, then seedling trees from 

 this stock must be desirable. The quality is not 

 surpassed; spicy, juicy, pleasant, tender flesh, 

 wtiite- colored aouut the stone, skin blush in the 

 sun, but mostly light-colored, mottled with pink, 

 of medium size, belongs to the rareripe class of 



peaches. The tree is vigorous, with long, dark 

 green leaf, t'he fruitfulness and qua;ity of this 

 peacD, to be fully appreciated, should be seen and 

 tastrrt, as it is now, S.'pt. 12r,h, in periectiun, on 

 the Hutchinson farm, in Reading, Mass. 



The whole crop is in demanet in the immediate 

 vicinity. The crop does not exceed fifiy bu'-hels, 

 whicti, at $4 00 per bushel, is the most profitable 

 product of Mr. Hutchinson's farm. 



J. W. Manning. 



Reading, Mass., Sept. 12, 1870. 



VITALITY OF SEED EYE. 



R. Lock wood, of Irasburg, Vt., sowed last 

 spring a small piece to rye, the grain beini? seven 

 years old. Not a stalk came up, while adjoining 

 oats, wheat, and peas looked finely. Hence it was 

 not the season that prevented germination. Four 

 years ago he sowed some of the same lot of rye, 

 and it all grew well. Tcis seed that remained in 

 the barrel until this season, has not been exooseel 

 to any influences such as fermentation or damp- 

 ness that could have destroyed vitality. Was "it 

 old age? z. E. J. 



Irasburg, Vt., Sept. 1, 1870. 



AGRICULTUKAIi ITEMS. 



— The Philadelphia Gardener's Monthly com- 

 plains that "our Horticultural Societies themselves 

 lose sight entirely of their mission and objects. 

 There is not one that oflers the slightest encour- 

 agement to the working gardener — the main prin- 

 ciple on which they were founded." 



— Flower and garden seeds, when done up in 

 papers, are sometimes destroyed by mice. Well 

 dried and put into vials and bottles that may be 

 lying about the house, these seeds will be safe. If 

 the bottles are neatly labelled and put away in or- 

 der, it will be found a very pretty way of preserv- 

 ing seeds. The bottles should be washed and 

 dried before being filled. 



— Ten imported Jersey cows were sold in Bos- 

 ton, Sept. 2, at #200 to 430; averaging #299 50 

 each; a Guernsey heifer for #2.60, a Jersey bull 

 for #200 ; two Southdown rams at #50 each ; one 

 Yorkshire sow at #180, another at .#100; one trio 

 Gray Dorkings for #15 ; one trio White Brahmas 

 #10; one trio Rouen Ducks, #17.50; two Ayles- 

 bury Ducks, #5,50. 



— To cure dogs of sucking eggs, a correspondent 

 of the Southern Cultivator says: — Take an egsr, 

 punch a hole in it large enough to admit the little 

 blade of a knife, and put in through the hole as 

 much tartar emetic as he can pile on a dime piece, 

 and give to his dog, or put in a convenient place 

 where he can find it. Repeal three or four times 

 within ten days or two weeks. 



— The Horticulturist gives the statistics of the 

 fruit farm of L. A. Gould, Santa Clara, Cal., re- 

 cently visited by the editor, Mr. Williams :— Num- 

 ber of apple-trees 4000 ; pear trees 3350 ; cherry 

 trees 500; English Walnut, peach, plum, fig, &c., 

 8200. Ten acres of grapes ; two of blackberries ; 

 35 of strawberries, many of them among trees. 

 Raised 50 tons strawberries ; 8860 boxes apples; 

 4609 boxes pears; dried 2500; fed to stock 280 



