290 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



well softened. My horse likes it much better than 

 hard com. Unless a chopped and mixed feed is 

 used, I consider corn boiled, quite equal to, and I 

 believe lietter than meal for ordinary work. From 

 bein;,' clean, there is less trouble and inconvenience 

 in bdiliiij,' corn than in boilin:; ])otatoes. 

 Jjlut JJilU, Mass., April, Id 71. Amekicis. 



MAPLE Sl'GAR. 



The suj,'ar season is now closed and farmers have 

 commenced their spring work. It has be«n a rich 

 season to those wlio have worked among the ma- 

 ples. The sap, though not quite as sweet as some 

 seasons, has run freely, averaging nearly four 

 pounds of sugar to the tree, where only one spout 

 is used. We have plenty of rain, with occasionally 

 a flurry of snow on the hills. Grass is starting 

 finely. Sheep could now get their living upon the 

 hills. 



PLOUGHING AND HAKROWING IN MANURE. 



I have been interested with the articles in the 

 Farmer with regard to ploughing and harrowing 

 in manure, and I would like to suggest to the far- 

 mers that each one take a piece of land, some 

 where from a rod square to an acre, and manure 

 one-half of it; plough the whole, then manure the 

 other half with the same quantitj' and quality of 

 manure as the tirst. Then harrow and plant, or 

 sow as they like, and not only notice Mhich half 

 produces the best crop the first year, but which 

 holds out the best when laid down to grass, and 

 then report to the Farmer. If farmers will tiy 

 experiments more, and report the results of these 

 experiments, it would be an easy matter to have 

 another page in the Farmer, as has been suggested, 

 like the tirst. C. M. Fisher. 



Cabot, VL, Apnl 20, 1811. 



KILLING FLIES. 



A correspondent in New England Farmer last 

 year gave his experience by burning pumpkin 

 leaves to kill flies, and asks others to report their 

 success or failure bj' the same method. When I 

 first saw the advertisement I tried it immediately, 

 and as the snjoke ascended to the ceiling the flies 

 betook themselves to the floors; but as soon as the 

 rooms were cleared of the smoke the flies directly 

 mounted aloft with all the life and vigor imagina- 

 ble. The offensive smidl of the pumpkin leaf 

 smoke was left beliind, and it was several days be- 

 fore we could get rid of it, and it occasioned a deal 

 of troulile in hanging out in the oi)en ah* clothes, 

 tabic covei's, curtains and other woven fabrics. 

 JouN Whatmore, 



Bridgnorth Farm, Dunleith, 111., 1871. 



INCOME from one SOW. 



Joseph Pierce will have to try again. I had a 

 BOW that dropped 13 pigs March 1H69, raised 10, 

 solil 9 at 4 weeks old for.'j.'lo.OO, fattened one worth 

 $30.00. In Septemijcr she dropped 13, sold tliem 

 at four weeks old for $62.00. March, 1X70, she 

 dropi)ed 16, lost 8, sold those that she raised for 

 .fSS.OO. In August she dropped 13, sold them fen- 

 #••58.00. Sold the sow in November for $40.00 for 

 a breeiler, without fattening her, as Mr. Fierce did 

 his. So you see I am too much for liim. Total 

 $278.00. N. Horn. 



BaniHton, P. Q., 1871. 



treatment of i-rine. 

 Having noticed the inquiry of Mr. E. Williams, 

 of New Hampshire, in relation to the management 

 of urine, I will give my method which is as fol- 

 lows : — I use dry muck enough to alisorb the urine, 

 add to that half as much unleached ashes as there 



was of muck, mix them well together, then add 

 half as much plaster as ashes used, and mix again, 

 when it is fit for use. One handful in the hill, 

 slightly covered with earth before dropping the 

 com, has done wonders for me. 



S. P. Greenleaf. 

 Starhs, Me., April 25, 1871. 



For the Xew England Farmer, 

 MAKING MANURE. 



In erecting a house, the first requisite is a 

 good solid foundation of stone or some other 

 suitable material. So, in farming, the first 

 requisite is a foundation of good manure. 

 With this conviction, I began on a poor worn 

 out farm, nearly forty years ago. All the 

 stock I could then keep was one pair of cattle 

 and one cow. The first (juestion was, what 

 shall I do for manure to feed my crops ? I 

 knew they would not grow without food any 

 more than a child would. I began to look 

 about to see what I could find. There was 

 not much turf on my land, certainly none to 

 spare. So I went to the road, and dug turf 

 beside the fence and drew it to my barnyard. 

 In this way I got quite a large pile. 



But I was not satisfied with this, and thought 

 I would put some of this turf into my stable 

 under my oxen and cows, and mingle with it 

 the droppings and urine from the stock. I 

 kept this under cover as much as I could to 

 preserve it from the rains and wind. In a 

 short time I found that the stable floor was 

 becoming rotten, and I concluded I would 

 take it out of the way and not have any floor 

 at all. I did so, and filled up with loam and 

 mud, making a bed on which the cattle could 

 lay comfortably. By working this over in the 

 stable I got another large pile of good ma- 

 nure. With the compost thus made, my crops 

 soon increased so that they filled the whole 

 barn, which was thirty by forty feet, including 

 the old stable, and I built a new stable, thirty 

 feet long on the south side of the barn, with- 

 out any floor, and with passage-way and doors 

 so wide that I could drive my horse and cart 

 with a load of muck in at one end and out at 

 the other. This stable will accommodate 

 eleven cattle, but I have not as many now. 



I fill up this stable with nuick about three 

 feet deep, which is covered with loam or turf 

 to keep cattle from sinking into the muck. I 

 begin to stable my cattle about the first of 

 November. After a few days I begin behind 

 the cattle, and dig down to the bottom of the 

 muck or to the ground, and throw it aside for 

 bedding, and fill up the place from which it 

 was taken with the droppings and such por- 

 tion of the muck as has been saturated with 

 urine. In this way I go through the whole 

 length of the stable, behind the cattle. Then 

 I begin with the nmck on which one animal 

 lies, and after removing this, fill up the space 

 with manure, &c., as before. Thus by dig- 

 ging it up every week, the whole is dug over. 

 This process of digging over and mixing the 



