1871] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



257 



pose that when you have got rid of the remaining 

 lime, by pumping the well dry repeatedly, that no 

 harm whatever would happen from the crumbled 

 bones." 



TREATMENT OF COWS AFTER CALVING. 



The best thing to give a cow after calving is the 

 milk first taken from the co\v after the calf is 

 dropped. If it is given to her warm, as soon as 

 drawn, she will generally take it readily ; but oc- 

 casionally a cow will refuse it. We had one lately 

 from which we milked two water pails pretty well 

 on towards full, soon after the calf was dropped, 

 but as usual with her, she refused to drink it. 

 Taking a wooden quart measure that was at hand, 

 we poured do^v^l a quart of it, every drop of which 

 she dexterously managed to swallow. After tak- 

 ing a second one she pointed her attention to the 

 pails, which being given her were greedily emptied 

 of their contents. 



We always allow the cow to eat the "cleaning" 

 or afterbirth. However unnatural the appetite 

 may be to the normal condition of the animal, wc 

 believe it iniiicates the wants of the cow at the 

 tune, and therefore should not be withheld. 



HUNGARIAN GRASS AND CORN FODDER. 



I fully agi-ee with Mr. Sanderson as regards the 

 value of Hungarian. Cut at the right time it is 

 one of the best articles of fodder grown. Without 

 proposing it as a substitute for corn, it possesses 

 certain advantages of its own. It can be grown 

 later than corn. I once raised an excellent crop 

 after taking off a crop of late peas, about the 20tli 

 of July. Another lot of about four acres pro- 

 duced a very good growth, sown about the 12tli of 

 July. The lot was ploughed by odd jobs. The 

 manure and labor at my disposal would not have 

 raised corn fodder enough to have paid for the 

 seed. This, too, with the disadvantage of a severe 

 drought, which I think this plant stands better 

 even than corn. 



The saying of Dr. Loring, that corn fodder "is 

 not worth anything," we always thought "rather 

 steep" and at variance with the experience of dairy- 

 men everywhere. We may say this much, though 

 we always regarded the Doctor as a prettj' success- 

 ful farmer, considering that with him everything 

 has to be done by employees, which in these times 

 of "labor parties," "strikes," high iirices and a 

 general disregard of everything not paid for and 

 "on the bill," leaves a leather poor show for fann 

 business, if it must be done by proxy. But that 

 steep saying of the Doctor, "made up" as it seemed, 

 becomes quite comprehensible after reading the ex- 

 perience of our friend Cheever. His cows would 

 not e<at well cured Hungarian or millet. He says 

 his cows preferred to enjoy the society of their 

 owner to eating that kind of fodder. Well, this 

 might seem a little strange at first, but all true, no 

 doubt. This ease, like that of Dr. Loring's, is to be 

 accounted for, no doubt, by some strange eccentri- 

 city on the part of the cows. Such things pi'obably 

 do happen sometimes. But if I had them I should 

 probablv make beef of both lots. Americus. 



Blue 'Hills, Mass., April 1, 1871. 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND FAIRS. 



When abroad among our farmers I often find 

 subjects upon which to oifer some suggestions to 

 your readers. It is so, also, when I am in the 

 field. But I greatly rejoice for the advanced posi- 

 tion of your prized paper. Twenty years ago your 

 correspondents were few, compared with the pres- 

 ent numl)er of instructive writers who appear in 

 your columns. Then, the high interest and pleas- 

 ure I felt in the prosperity of a favorite journal, 

 prompted me to put to paper every important item 

 which I thought would add to its interest. But it 



is now, I am glad to see, quite beyond needing my 

 contributions for its interest. Yet, for years past, 

 many items have seemed to claim attention from 

 my pen ; but one unpleasant subject has always 

 thrust itself to the top of my thinking, when I 

 have been disposed to write for your paper. You 

 have, to some extent, and well, discussed it in the 

 past. 



Many of the "Agricultural Societies" are so 

 managed that honest farmers who know how things 

 are done, not only have no confidence in them, but 

 regard them with contempt. Not only is it true 

 that the real farmers, in many of them, have only 

 a secondary influence, but men who are only re- 

 lated to Agricultural Societies, as sucking calves 

 are to a dairy, are forward as though they were 

 all-over in the farming interests. I do not mean 

 by this, such men as agincultural editors, &c. 

 While agriculture, in a direct manner, feeds the 

 world, or does most of it, it is made to feed, 

 through its special agencies, too many perfect 

 bloodsuckei'S of society. And while it is one of 

 the noblest and most honorable and moral of occu- 

 pations, I deem its liiijh character as debased and 

 insulted, when the official managers of its societies 

 must l)e men who will make its fairs more attrac- 

 tive to gamblers and their kind than they are to 

 the farmers and mechanics, more distinguished for 

 moral virtues. 



I have taken an active interest in such societies, 

 when I coultl. But I have so often known the 

 numagcment of them to be in total disregard of 

 moral right, and manly justice and fairness, liiat I 

 have talvcn little active interest in them fur years 

 past. Instead of calling the fairs by such a name 

 as an Agricultural Fair, many of them would 

 . more justly be called Horse Races, with character- 

 i istic accompaniments. The characters and inelina- 

 ' tions of the men who manage the Fairs, reveal the 

 class and kind of men who have assumed, or are 

 put in the lead with the societies. The last time 1 

 acted on a committee of judges, at our State Fair, 

 I was on two or more committees, and tried to act 

 honestly. I know that in the awards rendered by 

 those committees, or in their name, there was an 

 entire perversion of honesty. I know that an ex- 

 pression of judgment, perfectly unanimous, was 

 overruled, and a false award made, to please pet 

 parties. I despise all such things, and I know 

 that true interests are not to lie promoted thus. I 

 would be glad to see agricultural interests in the 

 hands of farmers. A. G. Comings. 



Lee,N.U., April, 1871. 



Remarks.— It is true that the correspondents 

 of the New England Farmer have largely in- 

 creased during the past twenty years, and so have 

 the number and length of our columns. While we 

 feel proud of our new contributors, we cherish 

 with a tender fondness the recollection of those 

 who wrought well in the foundation work of the 

 present prosperity of the Farmer. On referring 

 to the volume for 1851, we find at least ten articles 

 by our friend and co-worker, and we think that no 

 year has passed without some evidence of his con- 

 tinued interest in his "favorite paper." May that 

 interest and co-operation continue— we were about 

 to write— another twenty years; but, alas, how 

 few of us who were banded in 1851 can expect to. 

 answer to the roll-call of 1891 ! 



DESTROYING THE CABBAGE WORM. 



It may benefit some one for me to say how I 

 treated my cabbages last summer to destroy the 

 worms. After trying many other things without 

 success, I took a pail of scalding water and a pail 



