118 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[Makcu 



may have lieen excited or developed to such a de- 

 gree as to dwarf or weaken other organs. And the 

 protest of nature against tliis disturbance of tlie 

 balance of power or energy has appeared in the 

 form of abortion, — a result that might have been 

 anticipated from a knowledge of the facts. 



Because yon have as yet been unable to see any 

 evidence of the bad effects of your single experi- 

 ment, it will be unsafe to infer that the common 

 opinion of farmers is erroneous. "The mills of 

 the gods grind slow," and "because sentence against 

 an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the 

 heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do 

 evil;" still it is equally true that these "mills" do 

 "grind exceeding fine," and that violations of the 

 laws of nature do eventually meet their just rec- 

 ompense. We have not the least doubt that your 

 experiment would prove disastrous if tried on a 

 herd for a series of years. 



PIP IN HENS. 



Please tell me the symptoms of pip in hens. I 

 lose several every winter of a disease that I sup- 

 pose to be the pip. They commence to make a 

 noise that sounds as much like the pronunciation 

 of that word as anything ; then, after several weeks 

 they falter and die. J. L. Morse. 



£a8t Jay, Me., Jan. 19, 1811. 



Remarks. — Mr. Bement regards the pip as the 

 result of a derangement of the mucous membrane 

 of the alimentary canal generally, which by pre- 

 venting breathing through the nose as healthy hens 

 do, compels them to respire through the mouth. 

 This often produces a dry horny scale en the 

 tongue, which should not be removed unless loose. 

 The disease is generally attributed to bad water 

 taken by fowls for want of good. A teaspoonful 

 of castor oil, or thereabout, according to age and 

 strength of fowl, is recommended, with bits of on- 

 ion or parsley mixed with potatoes, or dough ; or 

 two grains of black pepper, given in fresh butter. 

 We liave seen the statement that fowls that have 

 access to running water are never thus troubled. 



tasted some preserved in that way, which was very 

 mild and excellent. We should think it ought to 

 be bottled in a moderate temperature, and kept so 

 afterwards. 



Some of the cider bottled by person who make a 

 business of it, — but who keep their own scci-cts as 

 to how they do it, — is mild, and retains sufficient 

 of its saccharine properties to render it very pala- 

 table. Such cider is always in demand and at re- 

 munerating prices. 



CrXTINO FEED FOU STOCK. 



I think, notwithstanding all the theorizing which 

 has taken place the pastfew years, it is still an 

 open question whether it will pay to cut feed for 

 stock, as an invarial)le rule. I acknowledge that I 

 fail to see any good reason for cutting feed, that an 

 animal will consume economically, thoroughly 

 masticate and well digest. Our theorists, I know, 

 till us tliat the process of digestion is rendered less 

 laliorious liy the operation; l)nt this argument 

 lacks weight we think, especially in the case of the 

 cow or growing animal, who may truly be said to 

 have no other business on hand than to eat and di- 

 gest its food. We must not confound tins with the 

 process of steaming, which now seems to be com- 

 ing quite into vogue, and of course wltieh cannot 

 be properly performed with uncut fodder. 



How is it with the higher order of animals ? Do 

 we insist that our own food shall be thoroughly 

 "hashed" for us previous to partaking ot it ? Is 

 not the system as well satisfied with food xmpre- 

 p.ared in this way, leaving mastication to be per- 

 formed by us in the act of eating ? Perhaps this is 

 a homely comparison; but does it not prove the 

 truthfulness of our position ? I know that bare 

 assertions, unsupported by good proofs, usually 

 have but little weight. 



I was prompted to make these suggestions by 

 reading the article in the Fakmer of the 28tli ult., 

 on this subject, in which a correspondent says, "I 

 fed thirty cows two winters on cut feed, and then 

 gave it up, as I could see no reason why haj' would 

 go any farther cut than uncut." We have good 

 reason to suppose that if this gentleman hud found 

 it to his prolit, he would have continued to cut his 

 hay ; and it seems to me as though his jiractice was 

 worth at least as much as our theorizing in this 

 matter. But as stated at the outset, I look upon 

 this as one of the undecided questions, and hope it 

 will receive proper ventilation through the Farmer. 



tSalisbury, Conn., 1871. W. J. Pettee. 



PRESERVING CIDER BY BOTTLING. 



Will you, or some of your numerous readers, 

 give the "modes" of bottling cider for domestic 

 and medicinal purposes ? State if Iwttled in ex- 

 treme cold weather, it will be likely to l)urst the 

 bottles, and how the corks can be secured, so as to 

 be perfectly tight. Subscriber. < 



Northampton, Mass., Feb., 1871. 



Remarks.— Bottling cider is a matter with which 

 we have had no experience. Some of the "neigh- 

 bors" say, that if a pint of alcohol is added to a 

 thirty gallon barrel of cider, when the fermentation 

 is carried only so tar that the excessive sweetness 

 of the cider is removed, that it will remain sound 

 and sparkling for many months. If bottled in that 

 condition, it would prol»ably remain good for 

 years. 



Another plan is to add three pounds of raisins 

 and a pint of mustard seed to a l)arrel, when in the 

 condition above mentioned. We have recently 



AMOUNT OF LUMBER IN A LOG. 



Before leaving my father's house in the Green 

 Mountain State, I took much pleasure in reading 

 the Farmer, after a hard day's work, and its occa- 

 sional visits to this place are heartily welcomed. 

 Since coming West I have been engaged in the lum- 

 ber business, and will therefore attemjit a reply to 

 the inquiry m the Farmer of January 14, as to the 

 amount of lumber in a log sixteen feet long and 

 twenty-four inches in diameter. That dc^jcnds in 

 a great degree on the size of lumber manufactured 

 from the log. We have to allow one-quarter of an 

 inch waste for the width of saw every time it passes 

 tlirough the log. We would refer the intiuirer to 

 the table, "Logs reduced to Inch Board Measure," 

 found in "Scribner's Beady lleckoner." The taljle 

 sliows that a log sixteen feet long, and twenty-four 

 inelies in diameter, contains, if sawed into inch 

 lioards, four hundred and four feet of lumber. 

 The table has been computed from accurately 

 drawn diagrams for each and every diameter of 

 •logs from twelve inches to forty-four, and the ex- 

 act witlth of each board taken, after being squared 



