330 



NEW ENGLAND FARAIER. 



July 



and upon soils, Aviiere otlier animals would 

 not live, and at the same time afford a profit. 

 As articles for home consumption and exporta- 

 tion, as fertilizers of exhausted soils, reclaimers 

 of run out pastures, and in other points of 

 view sheep husbandry deserves to be esteemed 

 as a chief branch of rural economy. 



AQRICUIiTTJKAIj ITEMS, 



— There have been 200 woolen factories started 

 in the Western States since 1861. 



— It is claimed that California will this year be 

 the second wool-growing State in the Union. 



— California is expected to produce a very heavy 

 wheat crop this year, the breadth of land sown be- 

 ing fully twenty-live per cent, more than last year. 



— It is a fact worthy of notice that very few of 

 the new American varieties of potatoes are grown 

 in England, and that the English varieties are lit- 

 tle known in this countrj'. 



— The stable manure from the hotels in Ludlow, 

 Vt., and vicinity, has been bought by tobacco rais- 

 ers in the Connecticut Vallej' and shipped on the 

 cars. 



— A. C. Moore, the most extensive breeder of 

 Poland China hogs in this country, allows his sows 

 to have but one litter a year, that to be dropped in 

 April, May or June. Eight months is as young as 

 he allows pigs to copulate. He thinks in-and-in 

 breeding very injurious. 



— The town of Weare, N. H., reports, in the cen- 

 sus, a larger value of farm products in the year 

 1869 than any other town in the county, if not in 

 the State. This town will be recognized as the lo- 

 cation of some of the intelligent correspondents of 

 the Fakmeii. No wonder they raise good crops ! 



— A successful potato grower in Maine recom- 

 mends the following mixture to be applied in the 

 hill at the rate of al)out one-third of a gill each ; 

 a cask of lime slacked with water in which has 

 been dissolved half a bushel of salt. To this add 

 an equal quantity of ashes and a bushel of plaster. 

 Mix thoroughly. This will make about five bar- 

 rels and will be suflicient for an acre. 



— A Missouri gardener stated that on the 16th of 

 April last year, when his grapes were in full blos- 

 som, there was a severe frost. lie supposed his 

 crop was destroyed. But, to the surprise of all, 

 after these fruit buds had been killed, a new set of 

 dormant buds put forth blossoms, and two-thirds 

 of a crop was realized — the vines producing on an 

 average two tons to the acre. 



— A fire proof fence can be made by following 

 these directions : "Make a wash of one part line 

 sand and one part wood ashes, well sifted and three 

 parts lime ground up with oil, and mix them well 

 together. Apply this to the fence with a brush — 

 the first coat thin, the second thick. This adheres 

 to the boards or planks so strongly as to rcsi-t 



cither an iron tool or fire, and is, besides, unpene- 

 tral^le by water." 



— In an article written for the liuralist, John S. 

 Ives, of Salem, Mass., says the only reliable rule 

 he has ever found for detennining the sex of eggs 

 is, when the cavity in the largest end of the egg is 

 found to be upon one side it indicates a pullet 

 chicken ; when the cavity is on the extreme end a 

 cock liird may be expected; this can be determined 

 by holding the egg before a strong light. Yet this 

 indication will sometimes fail. 



— Our cori'cspondent, John "VVhatmore of Illinois, 

 writes to the Germantown Telegraph that the smell 

 of a gcMit is obnoxious to the nostrils of rats ; that 

 the two won't be friends and companions on any 

 account whatever, and that the introduction of goats 

 to one's bam or premises will cause an immediate 

 stampede of all the rats. Being sadly plagued by 

 rats about his house and farm building, he got a 

 couple of goats and had not seen a rat for upwards 

 of two years. 



— The young man who will distance his competi- 

 tors is he who masters his business, who preserves 

 his integrity, who lives cleanly and purely, who 

 devotes his leisure to the acquisition of knowledge, 

 who never gets into debt, who gains friends by de- 

 serving them, and who saves his spare money. 

 There are some ways to fortune, shorter than this 

 old dusty highway, but the staunch men of the 

 community, the men wlio achieve something worth • 

 having, good fortune, good name, and serene old 

 age, all go in this road. 



— A milk dealer in Springfield lately sold out his 

 route to a gi-een hand in the business for ^750. 

 But the new man soon found that his milk would 

 not go round to all the old circle of customers, and 

 applied to the seller for relief, who gave him the 

 following recipe for making milk, assuring him 

 that with this he would be all right : "Take three 

 table-spoonfuls of molasses, one and a half tea- 

 spoonfuls of saleratus, and three quarts of milk, to 

 twenty-two quarts of water. Add three pints of 

 this mixture to each twelve-quait can of milk." 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CUTTING AND CURING HAY. 



In a late number of the Farmek, "W. H. Y." 

 gives some very good reasons for cutting hay 

 early. I should infer from what he says that 

 he would cut it before it was fairly in blossom. 

 lie bases his argument in favor thereof on the 

 likes and dislikes of cattle. I hardly think 

 that an infallible or a reasonable guide to go 

 by. You give a child bis choice, and nine 

 cases out of ten he will choose pie and sweet 

 cakes, to the more wholesome bread and milk, 

 or bread and butter. 



I do not propose to write anything in favor 

 of late cut hay ; far from it. I have suffered 

 enough in conse(|uence of it. But many jJecJ^ 

 pie are crowding towards the other extreme. 



I would ask W. H. Y. if he was iroincr 



