1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



529 



eral u«e, being soft, warm and strong, just 

 such as is needed for stocking yarn and «er- 

 viceable clothing. 



I have not the least doubt that the uniform- 

 ity of the qualities of such a cross-breed could 

 be perpetuated, if selections of males were 

 made in conformity with an established stand- 

 ard of qualities for several generations. 



The surprising conformity of half bloods of 

 pure breeds strengthens this expectation, if 

 those that deviate from the type were discard- 

 ed. — Country Gent. 



EXTBACTS AND REPLIES. 



A CRIBBING HORSE. 



I would like you to inform ire tbrough the col- 

 umns of the New Englaxd Farmer, what will 

 cure "cribbing" in a horse ? From what cause 

 does it proceed ? and in a 30urig horse do you 

 know anything that will cure ? Is it a disease or 

 merely a habit ? I feel somewhat anxious to hear 

 from you, as the horse is otherwise sound and 

 good. A Subscriber. 



Houthport, Conn., Sept. 22, 1870. 



Remarks. — The first thing to do is, to take 

 away from him everything that he can lay hold of 

 with his teeth. Tie him away from stalls, racks, 

 and partitions, and put his feed on the floor, if 

 long hay, or in a box if cut feed, and remove the 

 box as soon as he is done eating. Continue this 

 for several weeks and the habit may, possibly, be 

 broken up, though it becomes one, sometimes, of 

 a most inveterate nature. Medicine will be thrown 

 away upon him, unless the habit clearly arises 

 from indigestion. 



To the suggestions above, about feeding, add 

 great r^'gularity in the time of doing so, and exer- 

 cise the horse every day for two or three hours. 

 If the animal has a constipated habit, give him 

 something that will gently move the bowels. Do 

 not resort to any violent measures whatever. 

 Washing the wood work of the stalls with carbolic 

 acid water, will sometimes prevent horses from 

 biting it. 



CABBAGE WORM. 



If "W. H. W."of Stanstead, P. Q., and others 

 who have lost their cabbages, this year hy the 

 worm which is the otf'^pring of the Pieris Rapte, 

 will, another year, after setting out his caobages, 

 keep them well sprinkled with a soluiion of olue 

 vitriol and water — a piece of vitrol as large as a 

 walnut to a pail of water — I think they will not 

 be troubled much with the worm. • Hellebore an- 

 swers very well in place of the vitriol. Care must 

 be taken not to get the solution too strong of 

 either, as they are poison. Quite a number in this 

 viciriiiy hive saved their cabbages by using the 

 atiove. Liquid hen manure is also very good; 

 brine, salt, or even kerosene does not seem to dis- 

 turb them. H. L. 8. 



Albuigk, Vt., Sept. 26, 1870. 



When I wrote th^t item in the Farmer, a few 

 weeks since, recommending air slaked lime as a 

 complete remedy for the cabbage worm, I had not 

 the least doubt but tbose who would give it a fair 

 trial would be satisfied with the results. But on 

 looking over the Farmer since. I fiad some have 



tried it without any effect. The old saying is that 

 "a stitch in time saves nine;" S'l it is with the 

 lime, it wants to be applied while the cabbiigfs ara 

 wet, or while the dew is on in the morning, before 

 the worm works its way into the insiieot the head, 

 where nothing can touch it. They tir^^t commence 

 to deposit their eggs or nits upon the ou'.'ide of 

 the cabbage, and then is the time to apply the 

 lime, which dcstr >ys the mother worms before 

 they have time to get into the inside. It proved to 

 be an efiectual remedy with me, last year, and has 

 this year. My neighbors have al-o civen it atrial, 

 with good results." If thtre are any who doubt this, 

 let them visit my garden and I will show them as 

 nice and clean cabbages as ever gre v, but not so 

 large as last year, on account of the dry weather. 

 The wornisthf.t I have reference to are large, green 

 worms, about the color of the cabbage leaf, vary- 

 ing from one to two inches in length. This is too 

 late for this season, bur let those who raise cabbages, 

 give it a fair trial another j ear, when the worms 

 first make their appearance. J. B. Holton. 



[Vest Charleston, Vt , Sept. 26, 1870. 



Remarks. — Our correspondent encloses anotice 

 from his local paper of some large squashes and 

 other vegetables of his raising, and takes occasion 

 in his postscript to reiterate his faith in lime. 



SOIL BEST ADAPTED FOR PASTURES. 



Here in New England, where hill-sides are so 

 plenty, it ha§ become a settled opinion among 

 many farmers that a hill pasture is verv desirable, 

 and if their farms are river or brook meadows 

 they desire a pasture away upon some tlevaton 

 where sheep, young cattle and colts are expected 

 to thrive wonderfully on account of the elevation, 

 sweet grass, pure air and pure water. 



It is doubtless true that upland is the best pas- 

 ture. But what is upland ? It is such portions of 

 the country as are free from surplus water, as 

 will give a firm turf, and will not break badly 

 under the tread of the cattle put upon it. There 

 is upland close by large rivers in low valUys, 

 and there is low land near mountain tops, where 

 the springs cf water saturate the mucky soil, 

 making acres a bog, where the sod is cut in pieces 

 by the feet of the cattle. The best toil for pastur- 

 ing, then, does not depend upon its elevation. A 

 farmer may well be satisfied if his whole farm is 

 good tillage land, and all, in rotation, is in pas- 

 ture. Land that can bear a gnod crop of corn, 

 with such manuring as New England farD:)ers 

 give, then a crop of barley or wheat with which is 

 sown a generous seeding of clover and timothy 

 which, the succeeding year, yields two tons or 

 more of hay, is good pasturing, and such grass 

 will show good results in beef cattle or cows. 



It would surprise some farmers to see the small 

 crop of grass that an old pasture would yield if no 

 animals were allowed upon it. A good strong 

 soil with a good turf is profitable. The Editor of 

 the Countnj Gentleman mentions seeing in Eng- 

 land ninciy-i'our sheep and eigateea cattle iu a 

 pasture ot onlv twenty acres. O.i the island of 

 Rhode Island I saw, in 1869, on the farm of Wm. 

 M. Rogers, 60 sheep and l^mbs in a nine aere pas- 

 ture, with much surplus feed. The turf was or- 

 chard grass. Another pasture of nine acres kept 

 nine cows, and was not stocked to its lull cap icity, 

 as there were portions of the pasture that would 

 cut a good swath of orchard grass. On the estate 

 of E. A. Anderson, on the w^ st sidd the Island, 

 I walked across a pasture of ten acres which kepr, 

 each year ten cows, except that they hud, during 

 a part of the season, fodder orn in addition. 

 This pasture was formerly unprofitable low land, 

 but after being underdrained, ploughed, cultivated, 

 and seeded to grass, it becaaae upland. In m/ 



