132 



XEW ENGLAND F.AJIMER. 



jVIarcii 



The plant still survives, and is now recovering 

 from its Lot bath. Not an aphis has dared to show 

 its wings, and green leaves now promise a wealth 

 of buds. We hope that "Constant Header" will 

 profit by our experience, and will give her plant a 

 cool temperature, and a cool bath, and a rich, 

 sandy home. If watered once a week with guano 

 water, it will flourish more luxuriantly. 



BAKN OR WINTEIi. ITCII. 



Will you be so kind as to give me any informa- 

 tion with regard to excessive itching among cattle 

 ill the winter, and also state some remedy for the 

 same ? My cattle are not lousy, though some of 

 them seem to sutler as much from eonstuiit itching 

 as if the.y were. Any iiil'ormatiou regarding the 

 matter, either from you, or your numerous con- 

 tributors, through the columns of the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, "will be thankfully received. 



Albert Harris. 



Hudson, JSf. E., Jan. 22, 1871. 



Remarks. — Sailors confined to a diet of salt meat 

 and dry bread are often troubled with scurvy. It 

 is possible that the change from gi-een feed and 

 pure air of our mountain pastures to dry hay, close 

 confinement and bad, perhaps damp, air of stables 

 tends to produce in cattle a disease somewhat sim- 

 ilar. A disease among stock known as the Barn 

 Itch is not uncommon, but its cause is not well un- 

 derstood. If it is produced as the scurvy among 

 sailors is produced, then potatoes or other roots, or 

 even browse, might be beneficial. But if the dis- 

 iease is of animal origin, as the itch in man, an 

 ointment of sulphur may give relief. Take lard or 

 any soft gi-ease and stir in sulphur till it is quite 

 tliick, and anoint the parts affected. In some eases 

 the grease, alone, applied after rubbing the affected 

 pait till the surface is smooth, has proved beneficial. 



be covered by a shallow furrow, at the time of ap- 

 jilying the manure. Very wet land forms an ex- 

 ception to this general rule. Were we eertain of a 

 wet season, like those of 1868 and ISGl) in this sec- 

 tion, the harrow might be used instead of the 

 ])longh, but in seasons like the past, manure not 

 ploughed in dries up, unless the manure is well 

 rotted and fine when harrowed in. When the land 

 on whieh manure is ])loiiglied in w ith a shallow 

 furrow is next ploughed, it should be ploughed 

 deep. F. 



Plymouth, N. H., Jan., 1871. 



FODDER CORN FOR AVINTER USE. 



Would you advise a young farmer, keeping a 

 small dairy, to plant a f(!w acres of sweet corn, as 

 fodder corn for whiter use ? If so what is the best 

 variety to plant, and where can it be obtained, and 

 at what price ? At what time in the season should 

 it be planted, and how should the ground be pre- 

 ])ared, and how much seed per acre is necessary ? 



Fairlee, Vt., Jan, 10, 1871. A. W. Paine. 



Remarks. — Cornstalks are so difficult to cure 

 that we should not advise you to gi-ow any such 

 <|iiantity asyou name at first. Sweet corn, suita- 

 ble for sowhig for fodder, may ))e bought in Boston 

 at Jg-3 to f J per bushel. But why not save your 



VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIA- 

 TION. 



Burlington, Thursday, Jan. 19, 1871. 



Mr. T. D. Curtis, of Utica, N. Y., read a paper on 



" The Needs of the Dairy." 



Prefachig his remarks Mith a few words on the 

 necessity for co-operation without jealousy among 

 workers over the country, and of the proper com- 

 bination of practice and theory, Mr. Curtis sjioke of 

 the growing uei.-('s.-iry fur^kilk■d laliorand ('(.lucatcd 

 lal)orcrs on the farms of the country, for more lirain 

 and less muscle. 



He deprecated the hasty spirit of speculation 

 which has so much ruled the dairy interest hither- 

 to. That whirh is best for the future is best for 

 the present ; eheap factories and dair^'' houses should 

 be abandohed, — they were well enough for the first 

 experunents, but now fail to realize the best results. 

 Too little attention was given to preservation of 

 proper temperature ; and old factories can never 

 make the best cheese until rebuilt. You Verinont- 

 ers shoukl take advantage of our experience. One 

 great drawhark in factcny system is in credited 

 number of pounds of milk — it should be in propor- 

 tion to value of milk, quality is rarely taken into 

 consideration, and some remedy should be devised. 

 At last convention of Am. Dairymen's Association, 

 a committee was appointed to investigate the mat- 

 ter. 



Thorough and scientific experiments should be_ 

 made to determine the value of dilllrent kinds of 

 milk for cheese or for butter ; the best conditions 

 and methods of manufacture — of pressing and cur- 

 ing. Cheesemaking may lie lifted to the rank of a 

 science. I have suggested the establishment of a 

 model experimental factory, not for immediate 

 profit, but for knowledge. 



Rennet is one of the most important things in 

 cheese making. Two of the most valuable papers 

 ever presented to the Dairymen of the country, 

 were Ity L. B. Arnold on "Rennet," and by Prof. 

 G. C. Caldwell, on " Putrefactions and their appli- 

 cation to manufacture of cheese," in 18G9, before 

 the Am. Dairymen's Association. 



From the first of these papers — which were pub- 

 lished in the llepoi't of the Vt. Dairymen's Associ- 

 ation for 1870 — Mr. Curtis gave some extracts. 

 We cannot be too careful in keeping and using 



own seed, or use ordinary corn ? If sown in drills 



three and one-half feet apart, two bushels are 1 rennets. Butcher's rennets have been proved worth 



X. .. mv.„ ,.,.„, „, ^A K„_i„i, „„,! only one third those furnished by patrons of tacto- 



enough for an acre. The land should be rich and 

 in good order, and a small patch will produce much 

 fodder. Corn is. often sown too thick and cut too 

 gi-een. It is usually sown in the spring soon after 

 planting field corn. Last year the subject was 

 pretty fully discussed in the Farmer, with direc- 

 tions for curing fodder corn for whiter use, &c. 



PLOUGHING IN MANURE. 



I desire to endorse pulilicly the remarks of C. F. 

 Lincoln, WoodstocI;, Vt., on the application of ma- 

 nure. In nine cases in ten I think manure should 



ly one third those furnished by patr 

 ries'. Much experiment ought to be made in prep- 

 aration of rennets. ' 



Prof. Caldwell's paper, from which he also quoted, 



cws how the action of rennet is occasioned, by 

 tho velopment of fungus particles, called micro- 

 coccus t Jls. My opinion differs from his, that 

 blue-mou. I cj'ls and those of rennet are in the be- 

 ginning, the same ; but a series of careful cxperi- 

 inents in the matter is very essential. 



Pure air and the cooling of the milk are essential 

 lor the best make ot cheese, as has been abundantly 

 ])rovcti. The home consumption of cheese should 

 be increased, for it is healthful and economical 

 food ; we must not eat only what poor cheese won't 



