278 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



give me a little light on this subject I shall be very 

 thaiikl'ul. Edwakd Williams. 



A'ewton, N. H., April, 1871. 



Remarks. — There is no process familiar to us 

 whereby the most valuable portions of the urine 

 coukl lie separated economically from its less val- 

 uable parts. The cost of any chemical manipula- 

 tions to separate it, it seems to us would be much 

 larger than the transportation ©f the whole to the 

 field where it is to be used. 



Our suggestion would be to have an ample Ix'd 

 of good, dry muck always on hand at the farm, 

 mingle the urine with it from time to time, and 

 throw it into a compact heap, under cover, or into 

 barrels, until wanted for use. In this way all the 

 value of the urine would be secured, together with 

 the additional value of the muck, which would not 

 be inconsiderable, even if used on clayej' loam 

 soils ; but on some of the plains in j'our region it 

 would be of very great benefit. 



LOADING A WAGON. 



You must permit me to differ somewhat with 

 both Mr. Sanderson, and the article in the Far- 

 mer of March 11. Mr. Sanderson carries ti.e idea 

 that the nearer he can get his load to his team the 

 easier it can be moved. This is true in the case of 

 a drag, for there he will get a lift on the load. But 

 let him take a wagon body twelve or fourteen feet 

 long, with the wheels at equal distances from each 

 end of the body, say not more than eighteen to 

 twenty-two inches, and load this wagon equally 

 from end to end, say about eighteen to twenty 

 hundred pounds ; then a man can lift either wheel, 

 if on level ground. But take this same load and 

 put it on a short body, say about eight feet, as 

 commonly used, and try your strength on the 

 wheels. I doubt whether j'ou can raise one of 

 them, unless you are a very strong man. The 

 same weight is on the wagon body in both cases, 

 but in the first case you have a longer lever pur- 

 chase. Now if j'ou can lift a wheel easier on a 

 long cart b<:>dy when at rest, must it not rise a 

 small obstacle easier when in motion ? You may 

 raise one ubjertion,tliat is, wlienever j^ou are rising 

 a hill and the cattle are lieginning to descend, then 

 there is a sharp nip. This I will admit. I have 

 drawn long timber on wheels when they were a 

 good ways apart, when if the timl)er had" been cut 

 into eigiit feet stuff, the same team could not have 

 drawn the load. I am in favor of a long body and 

 the wheels at equal distances from the ends, and 

 evenly loaded. S. Denham. 



tiouth Hanson, April ,T, 1871. 



THE RIVER APPLE. 



In the March number of the New England 

 Farmer, page 113, the River apple is highly praised. 

 AVhere is it to be obtained ? None of our nursery- 

 men around here know anything about it. 



Please let me know where I can get a ti-ee of it, 

 or at least some scions, and oblige 



Charlestown, N. JL, 1871. W. W. Green. 



Remarks. — The above note was mislaid or it 

 would have been answered before. 



The Hirer apple originated in Massachusetts, and 

 though not abundant, is not uncommon here. Mr. 

 Downing's account of it says : Tree of slow gi-owth, 

 but productive. Fruit medium to large, ol)long, 

 slightly conic, ribbed. Skin yellow, striped and 

 shatled with dark red, with a slight bloom. Stalk 



medium, deeply planted. Calyx small, closed, set 

 in a basin of modei-ate depth. Flesh coarse, juicy, 

 tender, pleasant, sub acid. August and September. 

 In our experience, the tree gi'ows as rapidlj' as do 

 most trees. We have no doubt but Mr. J. W. 

 Manning, of Reading, Mass., will furnish trees of 

 this variety. We will send to your address a few 

 scions. 



SEEDING DOWN WITH CORN FODDER. 



If the fodder question is in order, we would add 

 a word to Mr. Cheever's argument. We believe in 

 corn fodder. We raise no green or rii>cned corn. 

 Grass, or a substitute, is the most valuable crop 

 we can raise. 



We have sowed com broadcast upon land hoed 

 the year previous, and grass seed with the com. 

 The com was laige enough and the crop of hay the 

 next year as good as it would have been if grain 

 instead of coi'n had been sowed, — so it seemed; at 

 any rate, there was a good catch of grass. We have 

 spread manure upon witch grass sod, where it was 

 smooth, turned it under and before the harrow was 

 put upon the soil dropped corn between the fur- 

 rows, omitting half the spaces, making the rows as 

 wide as two furrows, and using about three bushels 

 of seed to the acre, then harrowed the ground 

 smoothly, with no other cultivation, and had 

 enough, with a good crop of witch grass, the next 

 year, without cost of seed or hoeing. We have 

 some corn fodder now, April 8, that was dried last 

 fall. We think one-third corn fodder and two- 

 thirds ha.y as good as all hay and no corn fodder. 



Don't ask us how we cure it for winter, for we 

 don't know the Ijest way ; at any rate, we are not 

 quite satisfied with any method we have tried. It 

 is very difficult spoiling it after it has been cut at 

 the last stage of its growth to make fodder, if kept 

 from falling down. 



We raise corn fodder to secure a crop of hay the 

 next year, and that with the least labor possible. 

 We have failed to get a catch of grass among corn, 

 on dry land, in dry seasons; but we think grass is 

 as sure amonsr corn as it is among grain. f. 



Mast Yard, N. H., 1871. 



relieving choked cattle. 



Some three weeks ago there appeared in the Far- 

 mer an inquiry for some safer and nun-e certain 

 method of relieving choked animals, than the usual 

 way of trying to crowd the obstruction down hito 

 the stomach, or smash it in the throat; and as I 

 have seen no answer to the inquiry, I will venture 

 to give you my remedy. 



As soon as the animal is discovered to be choked, 

 hold its mouth firmly open and drop low down 

 upon the roots of the tongue a small handful of 

 fine diy gunpowder, and let the creature loose. 

 This causes the animal to cough violenth', when 

 the obstruction will immediately be removed. I 

 have long been fomiliar with this manner of ti-eat- 

 ment, and have seldom, if ever, known it to fail of 

 giving immediate relief if administered in season, 

 before the throat is too badly swollen, h. b. s. 



Vermont, April 3, 1871. 



ALSIKE clover SEED. 



I have been reading a book that speaks very 

 highly of alsike clover. I should like to sow a lit- 

 tle this spring just to try it, but I don't know where 

 I can get it or the cost per pound. 



Amos Blanchard. 



South Boyahton, Mass., April 3, 1871. 



Remarks. — The agricultural seed dealers in 

 Boston have the seed for sale at seventy-five cents 



