572 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



cents per bushel, now it is hard to dispose of it for 

 50 cents, and the market has a decidedlj- down- 

 ward tendency. Now oats are sold at 40 cents, 

 then they were worth 52 cents. Rye is worth 

 about 57 cents against 85 cents last year. One 

 year a^o cheese was 13 cents, now 9 cents a pound. 



— The Western Ruralin speaking of the Colorado 

 potato bug says there is much encouragement in 

 the fact that the persistent fight which has been 

 kept up against them has been so far successful 

 that their inro ds will not seriously aflect the 

 potato crop this season at the West. 



— A correspondent of the Western Rural says 

 that about a common shot-gun charge of gun-pow- 

 der in half a pint of cider vi»egar is a remedy for 

 blackleg in calves. In one case, after a calf got so 

 bad it could not stand he gave it three doses in an 

 hour, and it cured it. 



— A writer in the Cincinnati Gazette says that 

 two years ago he applied fresh hog manure mixed 

 with com cobs, and put a wheelbarrow full around 

 each young ajjple tree which had been set out 

 about five or six years. The application resulted 

 in the death of several nice young trees, the bark 

 being burned or scalded just above ground. 



— A fanner named Joseph Marquis, living near 

 Colfax, Iowa, was sun-struck recently. "While 

 suffering from the attack and unable to leave his 

 bed, another misfoi'tune stared him in the face, to 

 wit, the loss of his ripening gr.ain. Twenty of his 

 neighbors, however, knowing his situation, met on 

 his farm, cut and stacked his grain, and did other 

 necessary work about the place. 



— It was predicted a year since, by those who 

 pretended to know all about it, that the 300 addi- 

 tional woolen mills built within the last few years 

 in the Northwesteni States, would before this be 

 standing still, as manufacturing in their specialty 

 would 1)e overdone and unprofitable. But, on the 

 contrary, the manufacturers of all classes of woolen 

 goods give an encouraging report. 



— The Western Rural says the entire clip from 

 Mr. Loomis' fine flock of Cotswolds was taken by 

 the manufacturers of chignons, to be employed in 

 the manufacture of those adjuncts of the modem 

 female toilet. Courage, ye long wool growers ! A 

 single chignon for each woman in the United States, 

 of ordinary size, will require for their construction 

 double the amount of long wool produced last j'car 

 in the whole country. 



— The Southern Farmer says that a teaspoonful 

 of fine salt or of horse radish in a pan of milk will 

 keep it sweet for several days. Milk can be kept a 

 year or more as sweet as when taken from the cow 

 by the following method : procure bottles, and as 

 they are filled, immediatelj' cork them well and 

 fasten the cork with pack thread or wire. Then 

 spread a little straw in the bottom of a boiler on 

 which place the bottles with straw between them 

 until the boiler contains a sufflcicnt quantity. Fill 

 it up with cold water, and as soon as it begins to 



boil draw the fire and let the whole gradually cool* 

 When quite cold take out the bottles and pack 

 them in sawdust in baskets, and stow them away 

 in the coolest part of the house. 



— M. L. Duulap's idea of planting forest trees is 

 that they must l)e closely planted, in order to make 

 proper upward growth, and will need to be thinned 

 out, year after year, according to the rapidity of 

 growth. About three thousand trees to the acre 

 will answer a good purpose. This will make them 

 about four feet each way. Some planters prefer 

 three feet, and begin to thin out in five or six years. 

 The M'Ood that is obtained in thinning will more 

 than pay for the extra plants and laboi'. 



— The oldest tree on record in Europe, is asserted 

 to be the cypi'ess of Somma, in Lombardy, Italy. 

 This tree is believed to have been in existence at 

 the time of Julius Ca'sar, foi-ty-two years before 

 Christ, and is therefore 1911 j-ears old. It is 106 

 feet in height, and 20 feet in circumference at one 

 foot from the ground. Napoleon, when laying 

 do^^Tl his plan for the great road over the Simplon, 

 diverged from a straight line to avoid injuring this 

 tree. 



— The oldest of all rose-bushes is said to be one 

 which is trained upon one side of the cathedral of 

 Hildesheim, in Germany. The root is buried 

 under the crypt, below the choir. The stem is a 

 foot thick, and half a dozen branches nearly cover 

 the eastern side of the church, bearing countless 

 flowers in summer. Its age is unknown, but docu- 

 m ents exist which prove that the Bi.-hop Hezilo, 

 nearly a thousand years ago, protected it by a 

 stone roof, which is still extant. 



— An artificial whirlwind blew at Glen's Falls, 

 New York, a few days ago ; it was caused by a fai*- 

 mer, who, wishing to bum a fallow of about fifteen 

 or twenty acres, ignited the bmsh at several places 

 at the outer edge. The flames rushed towards the 

 centre and assumed a rotary motion, which in- 

 creased in velocity till a terrific whirlwind was 

 formed, which tore up small trees, root and branch, 

 and frightened everybody who witnessed it. A 

 column of smoke rose to so great a height that it 

 was visible for many miles, and a noise as loud as 

 thunder accompanied this singular phenomenon. 



— The Practical Farmer says tlutt in Penns}'!- 

 vania there is rather a prejudice against Orchard 

 grass, chiefly owing to its growing in bunches and 

 rather coarse stem and leaf. These may be obvi- 

 ated by thick sowing — not less than two bushels 

 to the acre. It ripens earlj^ and for this reason 

 would make a good mixture with clover. We 

 know dairymen who value it highly bi.!th for hay 

 and pastixre. Rapid growth, after frequent and 

 close cropping or cutting, is the speciality of Or- 

 chard grass. We do not consider it adapted for 

 thin land or soils worn out by bad fanning. 

 ! — The following method of storing potatoes, re- 

 commended by Dr. F. Moigno, is a simple and sure 

 way of preserving them from rot. When mature, 



