288 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JUXE 



one hundred maple trees, which have well repaid 

 the trouble and work of plantiujr, by the refresh- 

 ing coolness of tlicir shade, and the addition to the 

 looks of the homestead. Besides in a few years 1 

 Bhall have a nice little sugar orchard, easy of access. 



With apple trees I have not been so successful. 

 Siill I iiave persevered, and now have a young and 

 thriftv orchard, many of the trees of which I have 

 raised from seed. This may seem a slow process, 

 but 1 tliiak it the surest way. 1 used to buy apple 

 trees, a few of which have done well, but generally 

 they have been a failure, though some of them 

 lived long enough to produce some remarkably 

 bitter sweet apples. 



I would say to all who have land enough to do 

 so — plant trees. They beautify an already pleasant 

 home. Their shade is pleasant and their fruit good 

 to taste. In short they are a "thing of beauty," 

 which "is a joy forever," and will live and flourish, 

 wlien he who planted them is moulderuig in the 

 grave. w. 



Cabot, Vt., April, 1871. 



WARTS ON A HEIFER. 



I have a heifer that has got what I suppose to be 

 a double wart, some two inches below the ear, each 

 part as large as a common sized shellbark, sur- 

 rounded by a number of very small ones. Will 

 vou or sonie of tlie readers of the New England 

 Farmer please tell me the best way to cure them, 

 ajid oblige Ellis Barnes. 



Plymouth, Mass., April 3, 187 !■ 



Remarks. — Some simple application, such as a 

 wash of strong alum water, sometimes seems to 

 cure warts, — we say seems, because warts often dis- 

 appear without any doctoring. A waxed thread or 

 hard cord is often tied tightly about the base or neck 

 of the wart, and occasionally tightened, will cause 

 dt to come off. Sometimes the wart is pared 

 down to the quick and some kind of caustic,— ni- 

 trate of silver, yellow orpiment, or some other 

 kind — carefully applied. 



THE PEA WEEVIL. 



Will you or some one of the readers of the Far- 

 mer inform me and others interested, through 

 your paper, why it is that my peas, that have been 

 kept through the winter, come out in the spring 

 with the heart of the pea entirely eaten out by 

 some insect or other ? The pea is not destroyed for 

 tlie purposes of reproduction, as it will sprout and 

 to all appearances thrive as well as any other. 



I do not alvvay* (ind them in the condition spoken 

 of on the return of spring, but such is the fact iu 

 the majority of cases. It may be owing to the 

 time of gathering or the manner and place of keep- 

 ing during the winter season. 



If you, or any one, can enlighten me as to the 

 caiisc" of the evil and give a remedy, you will con- 

 fer a great favor and oblige A Slrscriber. 



Randolph, Mass., April 20, 1871. 



Rr.MARKS.— A little beetle, which Mr. Harris 

 calls Bruchus Pisi, rather more than one-tenth of 

 an inch long, of a rusty black color, with white 

 spots, wounds the skin of the tender peapod soon 

 after it is formed, and lays an egg directly over the 

 young pea. A little maggot hatches from this ng:^, 

 perforates the pod an<l enters the pea by so small 

 an opening as to be scarcely visible, which opening 

 closes over the intruder, leaving a mere spot to 

 mark liis entrance. There he cats and grows fat, 

 ;. and if not cooked and swallowed by the lover of 



green peas, he gets his full growth about the time 

 the peas become drj-, but very kindly leaves the 

 germ of the future sprout untouched. The grub is 

 changed to a pupa within the pea in the autumn, 

 and before the spring casts its skin again, becomes 

 a beetle and gnaws a hole through the thin hull in 

 order to Hy away and be on hand when peas flower 

 and set their fruit again. These little creatures di- 

 minish the weight of peas in which they, lodge 

 nearly one-half, and their leavings are fit only for 

 swine. 



So much we glean as to the cause of the evil, 

 but it will probably be dilticult to find as much by 

 way of remedy. As the time for the operation of 

 the weevil is limited, late sowing has been recom- 

 mended. Those sown as late as the tenth of June 

 are said to escape the weevil. But late sowed peas 

 seldom do as well as those sown earlier. To de- 

 stroy the insect in seed peas a little spirits of tur- 

 pentine has been recommended, — say a two ounce 

 vial full for a bushel, to be sprinkled over them, 

 stirring well, immediately after lacing winnowed 

 and before being put away for use the following 

 spring. 



MILK, OR PUERPERAL FEVER. 



I wish to make some inquiries as to what yon 

 think was the trouble with one of my neighbor's 

 cows. She calved Sunday last, was taken sick 

 Monday night and died Tuesday night. She was 

 in consideraI)Ie pam ; bloated some. After she 

 died they opened her, and found her manifokl quite 

 dry and the appearance of a great deal of fever. 

 The large milk veins were full of clotted blood 

 which would string out some eight or ten inches 

 long without breaking. The milk did not wholly 

 cease to flow until death. The cow was in good 

 coiulition, and had been fed carefully though not 

 highly. H. W. Louino. 



Lewiston, Me., April, 1871. 



Remarks, — Doubtless this cow died of milk fe- 

 ver, commonly so called, but more properly puer- 

 peral fever, which, in the human female is called 

 child-bed fever. 



The symptoms of this disease are a partial or 

 total suppression of the secretions of the bowels, 

 kidneys, skin and udder ; intense pain in the bow- 

 els, and not unfrequcntly in the head, which is 

 manifested by great restlessness and irritability, 

 with protrusion of the eyes and tongue ; bloating of 

 the bowels, with tenderness of pressure, &c. The 

 cows most liable to this disease arc the well fed 

 and plethoric. Says Prof. Law, "This disease is 

 essentially connected with plethoric or excessive 

 formation and richness of blood. Its victuns arc 

 mainly the cows that lay on flesh rapidly, or those 

 that give an abundance of rich milk. A strong, 

 vigorous digestion, therefore, properties which ren- 

 der their possession so valnablc fur feeding or dairy 

 purposes, are precisely those which predispose 

 them to this destructive complaint." 



To prevent the occurrence of tliis disease, pursue 

 a course like the following : Keep the animal on a 

 spare diet for a week before and after calving. 

 Have the bowels loose at the time of calving, and 



