1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



19 



5. By repeated careful selection the saperiority 

 is accumulated. 



6. The improvement which is first raised grad- 

 ually after a series of years is diminished in 

 amount, and eventually so far arrested, that prac- 

 tically speaking, a limit to improvement in the de- 

 sired quality is reached. 



7. By still continuing to select, the improvement 

 is maintained, and practically a fixed type is the 

 result. 



PBEMIUM ^WHEAT CROP. 

 Mr. S. Kilbreth, of Manchester, Maine, makes 

 the following statement in the Maine Farmer of 

 the crop of wheat on which he was awarded the 

 first premium at the late fair of thCiKennebec Agri- 

 cultural Society : — 



The land on which my wheat grew was a deep, 

 gravelly loam, planted the previous year, part to 

 corn and part topoa.oes. Upon the part planted 

 to potatoes, after harvesting I spread six cart-loads 

 ot barn manure. Upon the part planted to corn, 



1 put one shovelful of compost manure in each hill 

 of corn; ploughed and pulverized the ground in 

 the fall ; ploughed agam in the spring, and har- 

 rowed before sowing. Sowed the 5th of May two 

 bushels of Java wheat ; harrowed once, and spread 

 upon the piece one hundred bushels of leached 

 ashes ; then harrowed again and rolled it. Har- 

 vested about the 10. h of August ; threshed the first 

 week in September 22J bushels of wheat. 



Dr. 



3 corda of manure $12 00 



100 bu h ]8 lji.ched ashea 15 00 



Plougi-iaelind 4 00 



2 bushels wheat 4 CO 



Sewing JJ 00 



H<jrvcBting 4 00 



Thretlj n^ 4 00 



App yingafhes, &c 5 00 



Toial $50 00 



Ck. 

 22'^ buBh ■wh:at at $2.£0 per bush .... $s6 25 



1 ton of itraw , 8 OJ 



Manure and ashes K ft on band 10 00 



Total $74 25 



Credit 74 2i 



Debt. 50 00 



Profit $24 25 



Another Pork Scare. — The Pottsdam, N. Y., 

 Courier and Freeman says that on slaughtering a 

 sow of 450 pounds, fattened by Mr. H. D. French 

 of that town, a dark colored streak was noticed 

 extending under the back bone through the loin, 

 in the la)d, which on close examination proved to 

 contiiin dark brown worms, from three-eighths to 

 nearly one inch in length, with heads about the 

 size of a pin's head, with slim tapering bodies. 

 Nothiug of the kind was perceptible in the lean 

 meat, but they were found in clean looking parts 

 of the laid. The hog was purchased last spring 

 from a drove of western pigs. 



Cutting Herdsgrass in Blossom. — At a recent 

 discussion of "Oar H;ty Crop," by tlie Keene, N. H., 

 Farmeis' Club, most of the speakers favored early 

 cutting, aLdtv/o days drying. The plan of plough- 



ing in August, manuring and seeding at once with 

 herdsgrass, and sowing clover in the spring, was 

 practiced by several. Mr. Williams used twelve 

 quarts of herdsgrass and five pounds of clover 

 seed; Mr. Twitchell sixteen quarts herdsgrass, 

 half bushel redtop, and six pounds of clover. Mr. 

 M. B. Foster said "I would cut herdsgrass before 

 it was in blossom or let it stand till the seed is 

 partially matured. I would never cut it while in 

 blossom on account of the irjurious efiects of the 

 dust that will be in the hay." 



Plain Talk.— Mr. D. A. Compton, ot Hawley, 

 Pa., was present at a late session of the New York 

 Institute Farmers' Club, and said, "It seems to me 

 that men who ought to know better — men whose 

 names carry some weight in matters of agricul- 

 ture — do a great •wrong in assisting the rascally 

 manufacturer or vender in swindling the honest 

 farmer by so highly recommending certain me- 

 chanical fizzles." 



Rheumatism in Sheep. — This disease con- 

 sists in a peculiar inflammation of the muscles 

 of the body, very frequently causing consid- 

 erable pain when they are called into action. 

 It is usually caused by exposure to cold, and 

 sometimes shifts from one foot to another, oc- 

 casionally degenerating into a slow or chronic 

 form, and attacking the sinews, ligaments, and 

 joints, as well a's the muscles. The neck and 

 loins are the parts most fri quently attacked, 

 either separately or combined. The former 

 aflfection causes the head to be carried in a 

 bent position, and the latter produces consid- 

 erable st ffiiess and weakness of the loins. 

 The treatment ishould consist in removing the 

 animal to a comfortable place, giving an ac- 

 tive purgauve, such as two ounces of epsom 

 salts dissolved in warm water, with a drachm 

 of ginger and half an ounce of spirits of ni- 

 trous ether. A stimulant, such as hartshorn 

 and oil, or opodeloc, should be well rubbed 

 over the affected part ; and if the disease as- 

 sumes a chronic form, a seton should be in- 

 nerted near the part. — Br. ^. H. Paaren, 

 in Prairie Farmer. 



Old and Neav Places for Raising Fowls. 

 — During 1869, I raised about loJ fowls on 

 an old place where fowls had been raised more 

 or less, for years. The consequence was, I 

 lost at least one-third of aU hatched, by the 

 much dreaded gapes, 1 tried nearly ali the 

 remedies recommended, but my only success 

 was in removing the worms with a feather 

 trimmed for the purpose. This year I am on 

 a new place where no i'owls were ever kept. 

 I set my first hen on the 29 th of January ; I 

 have now about 140 chicks out, some one-third 

 grown, and not a single case of gapes or 

 other sickness yet; treatment the same in 

 both jears. — Poultry Bulletin. 



