1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



375 



depriving cattle of salt are not the result of reaction, 

 but the effect of not supplying what the system 

 naturally dciiiands. The reaction from withhold- 

 ing tobacco, alcohol and opium is the result of an 

 unnatural state of the body. Hence while these 

 stimulants destroy life and health and are the great- 

 est curse to mankind, salt is not only harmless but 

 essential to the animal economy. 



Warwick, Mass., May, 1871. A Subscriber. 



CORN AND WHEAT GROAVING. 



I beg to say a word to IMr. Poor in regard to his 

 famous crop of wheat, or rather wheat straw, that 

 he talks about in the Farmer of Ma.y 27. The 

 crop of wheat is a good one, but what about the 

 straw ? I see that he is inclined to think "K. O" a 

 man of straw; but would not the saddle set well on 

 his own shoulders, when he comes to tell of 10 (ten) 

 tons of straw to the acre ? Ten tons of straw to the 

 acre and only 36 bushels of wheat, that is straw 

 with a vengeance ! As the article stands now, I 

 can see no place for a misprint, for it is carried out 

 at ^'6, — §;60 ! That one item to my mind must 

 make a difference of some $-12 which shall be 

 placed to the credit of the corn, or rather thrown 

 out of the account altogether. I am allowing a ton 

 of sti-aw to twelve bushels of wheat and I think 

 that that estimate will be called liberal by the ma- 

 jority of wheat gi owing farmers. 



I also notice that some of the items charged to 

 the corn are loud, to say the least, such as : — "To 

 furrowing by horse and man $2 ; board of man and 

 bov planting, §1; weeding and hoeing three times, 

 $.14; shelling, .jf'-") ; total, .'j?"2.5." 



Let me estimate a little on his $25. Furrowing, 

 horse and man, $1.50 ; board of man and lx)y plant- 

 ing $1 ; weeding and hoeing three times, $8 ; shell- 

 ing 78J bushels at 4c. $3.14, — total $13.14; a sav- 

 ing of $11.86, which will cause the account to stand. 



Profit of corn an acre $67 48 



" " wheat " 60 CO 



Balance in favor of corn $17 48 



I do not know what Mr. Poor himself pays for 

 shelling corn, but 1 see that he estimates at a frac- 

 tion over six cents, while I should be glad of a job 

 for the entire Avinter at four; which will be quite 

 an important item in shelling the com crop of the 

 season of 1870. v 



All the advantages that I can perceive that will 

 arise by i-aising wheat, consist, first, in the fact that 

 the farmer will have the consolation of knowing 

 just what he is eating, — whether it is bread made 

 from damaged, sprouted, mouldy wheat with a large 

 addition of white corn, or the genuine simon pure 

 article; and, secondly, wheat fills an important 

 place in a rotation of crops, and the real cost is not 

 so much as the seeming cost, for the manure is 

 gathered on the farm of which part is not used, and 

 a share of the labor comes when there is no hea^y 

 calls on the farmer's time. Consequently I advo- 

 cate the I'aising of wheat in New England, but will 

 not and cannot advocate the idea of giving wheat 

 the benefit of a credit of ten tons of straw to the 

 acre, when three is liberal. Jones. 



Addison Co^., Vt.,May 29, 1871. 



COAL ASHES AS A FERTILIZER. 



I read in a Massachusetts paper an article headed 

 "The Value of Coal Ashes." Having made one 

 trial of them I wish to give my experience. Some 

 few years since I was at market, Allien a friend 

 said to me there are two barrels of coal ashes that 

 you may have tor carrying away. 1 accepted the 

 offer and took them home, some eight miles, for 

 trial. I ploughed apiece of old ground to plant 

 with beans, and furi'owed out. I then spread in a 

 part of the rows a quantity of the coal ashes ; and 



in other rows I spread some old manure. The 

 beans were planted and tended precisely alike all 

 through the season. At harvest time I gathered 

 my crops, and to my disappointment I found the 

 I'ows manured with ashes had produced less than 

 half as much as those treated with the old manure. 

 So fhis settled the question with me, as to the value 

 of coal ashes. T. G. Holbrook. 



Bedford, N. H., May, 1871. 



fouls IN COWS AND OXEN. 



The following receipt v/as obtained from a cattle 

 doctor, and I have succeeded in curing the worst 

 case I ever saw, — so bad that the disease had 

 broken out above the hoofs. Take one ounce of 

 quicksilver, and one ounce of aquafortis, put the 

 quicksilver tirst into a bowl and then the aqua- 

 fortis. When it becomes milk warm turn it in half 

 a pound of unsaltedlard, with four ounces of alum, 

 pulverized tine, and stir'it until it is cool. For ap- 

 plication, melt a piece about the size of a walnut, 

 and put it on with a feather. 



Houth Lee, Mass., 1871. John McAllister. 



Remarks. — Quicksilver and aquafortis are rather 

 dangerous articles to handle by those who have but 

 little experience in compounding medicines. 



YELLOW SNUFF FOR C.VTERPILLARS. 



A few days since I discovered that the caterpillars 

 had begun their work on the apple trees in my gar- 

 den. There were hundreds on a single branch. For 

 experiment 1 got some yellow snuff and sprinkled 

 it into the nest and a little onto the branches around, 

 and to-day 1 have been out to see what the effect 

 was. I found not one single living caterpiller on 

 the trees. I have tried kerosene oil quite a num- 

 ber of times in years past, with not half so good 

 success, and the "oil destroyed some of ray trees. 

 M. V. B. Drew. 



N'orth Danville, Vt., May 20, 1871. 



WOOD ASHES. 



I have a lot of unleached wood ashes that are 

 worth here 12.^ cents per bushel. Are they worth 

 more than that for manure ? If so, on what crops 

 are they of the most benefit and in what condition 

 are they to be applied ? Are they good to use in 

 mulching a young orchard ? h. l. s. 



Alburyh, Vt., May 8, 1871. 



Remarks. — Diy, clean wood ashes are richly 

 worth twenty-five cents a bushel, we think, to any 

 farmer who wants more manure. You can scarcely 

 use them on any crop without veiy sensible re- 

 sults. A handful thrown around the corn plants 

 at the first hoeing, will greatly increase their 

 growth, and give them a highly dark green color. 

 Scattered in the hill before the potato is covered, 

 or about the hill just before hoeing, will have simi- 

 lar results. Sown broadcast on the mowing fields 

 at the rate of as small an amount as five bushels 

 to the acre, will greatly increase the growth and 

 color of the crop. Besides this, their beneficial 

 results will continue for several years in suc- 

 cession. Strewed over young cabbage plants, 

 squashes, melons, or any of the garden vegetables, 

 such as tomatoes, beets, onions, turnips, or car- 

 rots, wood ashes not only tends to disturb the 

 insects that mfest the plants, but has a decided 

 influence on their growth and quality. All the 

 ashes made on the farm should be collected with 



