320 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



is proluiljly the natural appetite lonyiiig for some- 

 thing essential to the animal, whieh it cannot get. 

 No nostrum has yet been discovered that will sat- 

 isfy this desire. The true remedy, — if disease it 

 is, — and the true preventive of it in all animals, is 

 their liberty, and access to the bare ground, and 

 especially to ploughed ground. 



Cows are rarely seen chewing old bones in the 

 autumn after running in a good pasture all sum- 

 mer, but usually in the spring, after a long winter's 

 confinement. 



Keep the calves clean, their skins loose, feed 

 them generously with good hay and a little grain of 

 some kind, and give them their liberty, and they 

 will not be likely to lick the sills or walls of the 

 bam. 



rSE OF LIME ASHES. 



I would be glad to gain some information through 

 the New Englanu Fakmeu in regard to lime 

 ashes. Are they a good fertilizer to harrow in for 

 turnips ? Are they good for corn and potatoes ap- 

 plied in the hill ? ' My land is dry and free from 

 limestone. Geo. A. Carpenter. 



Cheshire, Mass., 1871. 



Remarks.— If by "lime ashes" is meant the 

 ashes where limestone is burned, we have no doubt 

 but they would be very valuable. Large quanti- 

 ties of wood are consumed in burning the stone, 

 the ash of which, with certain portions of the lime 

 ihat would be likely to ftiU among it must form a 

 verj' valuable fertilizer, especially for a soil that 

 has been cultivated for many years. 



A common kiln affords about 200 bushels of lime, 

 in the form in which it is put up in casks, and ten 

 cords of wood are consumed in the burning. Of 

 course, what is left after taking away the lime, 

 must be of a valuable character. 



GRAFTON MINERAL FERTILIZER. 



I would like to have you publish in the Farmer 

 the analvsis of the ore from which the Grafton 

 Mineral Fertilizer is made, and also state to what 

 class of minerals or geological specimens it be- 

 longs; and how is it manufactured; whether 

 burned like lime or ground as plaster ? Where is 

 Grafton ? J- N. Isham. 



South Wilhraham, Mass., May 0, 1871. 



Remarks. — The town of Grafton is in Grafton 

 County, N. H., on the northern railroad, 44 miles 

 from Concord. We have specimens of the rock 

 from which the "fertilizer" is said to be pulverized. 

 It is not burned like lime, but broken and groimd 

 like plaster. Some of our specimens are fresh 

 from the rock, solid and heavy ; others are from 

 the surface where they have been acted upon by 

 the atmosphere, causing the rock to assume the 

 appearance of mineral paint, and pieces broken off 

 are quite light in weight. We do not profess to be 

 yersed in geology, and give below an extract from 

 the statciiRut of the proprietors, Davis, Thayer 

 & Co., which will show what is claimed to be the 

 character and composition of the Grafton Fertil- 

 ,. j»er:— 

 " The Grafton Mineral Fertilizer is the pulverized 



ore from the Doloniitdc Vein of the Grafton Gold 

 Mine. The following is an extract from report of 

 Dr. Torrey :— 



"The rock itself was next examined, chiefly 

 with a view to determine the proportions of Silica 

 and Carbonates it contains. The average quality 

 was obtained by taking small ])ortions from nu- 

 merous specimens of the Rock, pulverizing these 

 and mixing the whole until it was uniform in com- 

 position. Some of this was then analyzed, anil 

 found to contain 40 per cent. Silica. The rest was 

 nearly all Dolomite, or a double carbonate of Lime 

 and Magnesia." 



A careful examination of a similar sample by 

 Thos. C. Raymond, of Cambridgeport, Mass., gave 

 the following result : — 



Silica, 30.30 



Protoxide of Iron, 6.27 



Lime 20.60 



Miignottia, 11.17 



Carbonic Acid, 32.11 



Total, 100.45 



SIDE ORIFICE IN A COW S TEAT. 



I wish to inquire what to do for a two-year-old 

 heifer that has an orifice in the .'■idc of her teat, 

 through which the milk flows in a stream when 

 milking. Henry B. White. 



Topsham, Vt., May 4, 1871. 



Remarks. — If the cow was diy, perhaps by 

 scarifying or burning with a hot wire the orifice, 

 and applying sticking plaster, collodion, glycerine 

 or some such material, the aperture might be 

 closed and the skin induced to grow over the ®pen- 

 ing. But while the cow is in milk we doubt 

 whether anything can be done. By bringing the 

 palm of the hand directly over the orifice while 

 milking, the fiow of milk through it may some- 

 times be mostly prevented. But after all, any 

 such deformity or defect in a cow is perhaps most 

 economically overcome by fitting her for the butch- 

 ers. 



A sick sow. 



I hiive a sow that showed signs of illness the 20th 

 of present month. From cai-etul observation I be- 

 lieve it to be stoppage of water. Is there a remedy 

 for such trouble with hogs ? She was to have 

 dropped her pigs the first day of May. ii. s. c. 



Shelhurne, iA^ H., 1871. 



Remarks. — If the sow has not been ailing for 

 some time, the difficulty is probably mechanical. 

 Her increased size may have caused pressure upon 

 some of the urinary organs. If so, when she has 

 dropped her young the trouble will cease. 



FAT MEAT OR GREASE FOR HENS. 



Will grease or greasy matter make hens lay soft 

 eggs ? Frederic. 



Worcester County, Mass., May 4, 1871. 



Remarks. — If fed in large quantity or for a long 

 time, we think very greasy matter might prove 

 unhealthy, and hence might cause soft eggs. 

 Hens require a variety of food, and will not thrive 

 or do as well on any one kind, as when the variety 

 which they enjoy wliin at liberty to pick up first a 

 seed of one kind of grain, then of another, then a 

 bug or worm, then a dip at some vegetable leaf or 

 root, and so on throughout the day. A little fat 



