390 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



their existence, when they need health and 

 strength, — as, nndor any ciroiiiiistanc'es, this is 

 the most fritical pjriod of their <rro\vth, — they 

 have jiKst life enough to move, and the second 

 sinnnier, the proper time for development, is 

 spent in the recuperation of lost vitality. — 

 Horseman's Manual. 



GRADE JERSEYS FOR BEEF. 

 Rev. W. A. P. Dillingham writes to the 

 Maine Farmer in praise of grade Jersey stock 

 for beef. He says : "This winter I have 

 fattened and killed two Jerseys, both grade 

 animals. One was a three year old heifer 

 that proved unfruitful, the other was a cow 

 five years old, that proved imsatisfactory. 

 They took on fat with remarkable facility. 

 They each dressed off about five hundred 

 pounds. I never fed animals that gained 

 faster than they did. They uniformly ate 

 their allowance, and none of it went to waste. 

 A ton of hay and fifteen bushels of meal will 

 make as many pounds of beef when fed to a 

 grade Jersey as when fed to a grade Durham. 

 After they were killed, the beef proved to be 

 of unusual excellence. In fact, and to make 

 a very modest statement, I never before had 

 such beef on my dinner table. Its tender- 

 ness, its juiciness, its richness are in degrees 

 of remarkable fulness. This beef seems to 

 be as much richer than onlinary grades"of beef 

 in the market, as the Jersey butter is superior 

 to common butter." 



Remarks. — As this statement is not in ac- 

 cordance with the general impi-ession as to 

 the fattening qualities of Jersey stock, we 

 solicit the experience of others on this point. 



AGRICULTURAL ITEMS. 

 — Striped snakes are now protected by Michigan 

 farmers as "the only creature that will eat potato 

 bugs with a relish." ' 



—The Orleans County, N. Y., Agricultural So- 

 ciety have decided that horse-racing is not an ag- 

 ricultural exhibition, and i)ruhibited it on the fair 

 grounds. 



— The Rural World says that the curculio is be- 

 coming almost as destructive to poaches as to 

 plums. It is almost impossible to tind a single 

 peach uninjured by this insect some years. 



— Utah is so oppressed with grasshoppers that a 

 machine lias been invented for their destruction, 

 which is drawn by two horses, takes about a rod of 

 land in its sweep, and makes hash of every grass- 

 hopper it comes in contact with. 



— Horace Greeley was a great drawing card at 

 the Texas State Fair. Flakes Bulhtiu says that 

 one fanuly "traveled three hundred miles, most of | 

 the way by private conveyance, simply that they 

 might be at the Fan- and see and hear Horace ' 



Greeley." The crowd was great, and it is pleasant 

 to learn that among the thousands of people there 

 was no case of drunkenness reported, and no dis- 

 turbance of any kind. The tanners of Texas 

 seem to be a law abiding people. 



— For a salve for burns take equal parts of bees- 

 wax and newly churned fresh butter with a crumb 

 of rosin. Simmer slowly till the moisture is out, 

 and strain through a fine cloth. This will keep for 

 any number of years. 



— The Bural New Yorker reports that in New 

 York, and apparently in the country, there is a 

 strong disposition to make early sales of cheese, 

 thus preventing a large accumulation of stock. 

 The opposite jilan was tried last year with very un- 

 satisfactory results to holders. 



— The ditfcrencc in color between grapes grown 

 on. clayey soil and those grown on sandy soils is 

 easily distinguished. Those on the former are 

 darker and more glossy than the latter. On tests 

 being applied' the richer grapes are found to be 

 those grown on gravell}' soils. 



— A sick cov/, belonging to Mr. J. C. Converse of 

 Southboro', was put in a fair way to recover, the 

 other da}', after having a wooden pin fifteen inches 

 in length taken out from under her hide back of 

 her shoulder blade. The cow doctor said that the 

 animal swallowed the stick. 



— There never was a better prospect for an abun 

 dant wheat crop throughout the West than this 

 Spring forecasts. The growing wheat stands thick 

 upon the ground ; the recent rain and warm sun- 

 shine have given it a luxurious appearance, and 

 made the fields look green and beautiful. AVheat 

 growers predict the earliest harvest known since 

 Illinois was settled. 



— Henry Noble, of Pittstield, Mass., has one of 

 the most perfect dairy bams in the countrj^ The 

 bara is 85 feet long by 45 wide, consisting of four 

 stories and basement, holds 80 tons of hay, will 

 accommodate 44 cows, and has the modern un- 

 provements for steaming their food and supplying 

 them with water. A novel invention of Mr. 

 Noble's puts the cows under the necessity of hitch- 

 ing themselves when driven into the stalls. 



— The Iowa City Press says that a T)oy named 

 Dcbrie, living in Johnson county, was killed in the 

 following manner a few days ago. He was plough- 

 ing with the lines over his shoulder in the usual 

 way, when the team suddenly jumped and pidled 

 him over the plough handles and he fell right in 

 front of the plough. The team continuing to run, 

 the edge of the plough passed across his face and 

 actually cut his throat, severing the windpipe. 



— The Germantou-n Telegraph mentions that the 

 Trustees of the New England Agricultural Society 

 have continued the action selecting Lowell as the 

 place for holding the next fair, and that about 

 .i!f;10,000 has been subscribed by Lowell people to 

 have the thing a grand one, as they say down 

 east; and very justly remarks: "If it prove to be 



