1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAE^IER. 



685 



four years ago, we had a dry fall. Mj' wheat did 

 not come up until too late to grow much before 

 winter. The result was it winter killed; or as 

 some would say, spring killed ; for the roots were 

 injured by freezing and thawing. This crop was 

 nearly a failure. Hence I conclude thai wheat 

 should be well started in the fall. Neither cattle 

 nor sheep must be allowed to eat it ott', for all the 

 leaves are needed to protect the roots from the 

 cold. 1 have raised all the wheat I have needed 

 for family use, and have sold some. The variety I 

 have mostly raised is called the White Bald. It 

 makes good flour. 



I think there are not many farms in the New 

 England States that might not be made to raise all 

 the wheat, either winter or spring, that the families 

 living upon them need, if they would take hold of 

 it in earnest and persevere in it. If this is so, what 

 a vast sum of money could be saved at home, that 

 DOW goes West for flour. I think it is easier to 

 raise wheat than it is tobacco, though I have never 

 tried the latter. I think if I should make my 

 ■wheat land as rich as tobacco land must l^e to pro- 

 duce a crop, I could raise from fifteen to twenty- 

 five bushels per acre, and two crops of it would not 

 reduce the laud more than one of tobacco. 



M. L. GOODELL. 



South A?nherst, Mass., July 24, 1871. 



Remakks. — We very much regret that the pub- 

 lication of this valuable article has been delayed 

 by oversight on our part. 



JONES AND SMITH. 



What Jones is this I see in print. 



Who's everything so snug and nice ? 

 I wonder if bis back was ever bent, 



And is he also free from vice ? 

 And wbo is this unlucky Smith, 



Whose tools and stock are all awry ? 

 Perhaps poor Smith has not wherewith 



Such fashionable things to buy. J. C. 



Charlton, Mass., Aug. 14, 1871. 



BLOODY WATER IN COWS. 



I noticed in this week's Farmer an inquiry by 

 Henry Miller for a I'emedy to cure red water in 

 cows. I have a cow that last Spring had the red 

 water very badly. I gave her a quart of Slippery 

 Elm tea once a day for a week, and gave her a 

 half peck of potatoes twice a day until all signs of 

 it disappeared, which was in about two weeks. I 

 have seen no signs of it since, and the cow has 

 done nicely all summer. I have known of several 

 cows cured in the same way. Never knew it fail. 

 If Mr. Miller should see fit to try it, I hope he will 

 let us know the result. C. A. Crampton. 



West Acton, Mass., Aug. 18, .1871. 



"WHEAT IX VERMONT. 



The important communication from Thomas S. 

 Fletcher of Felchville, Yt., should not fail to re- 

 mind ever}' farmer of his positive duty in raising 

 his ow''n bread. How sure and certain is his crop 

 of wheat if he wdl but "apply his heart unto 

 wisdom." lle-read the practice of Rufus Stearns, 

 in the Farmer of the 26tli August; also, of Jarvis 

 Pratt. Mr. Stearns has raised wheat with perfect 

 success and "not a failure for twenty years ! He 

 thinks he has averaged twenty-five bushels per 

 acre, and one j'ear he raised forty-five bushels on 

 seven-eights of an acrg." The communication 

 speaks of three practical farmers, and it speaks 

 Tohmies of wisdom to every listening fitnner. It 

 reports double the average yield of the Western 

 States ; and a more svre croji in New England soil 

 than in the West. It is every word truth. 



Now farmers, please wake up, one and all, and 

 fail not to put in a crop of winter wheat, even 



should it be as late as the 15th of September. 

 Plough in the green crop (mowing land) and while 

 in a state of heat and fermentation, it gives rapid 

 growth to the wheat which will continue to grow 

 till the furrow freezes deep. We would recom- 

 mend to cover with the ctiltivator to give it a depth 

 of two to three inches, which guards against winter 

 killing. To give it quick germination, soak_ in 

 brine and rake in ashes or lime. Farmers will find 

 plenty of winter seed in Boston, if ditticult to be 

 obtained nearer home. Henry Poor. 



Zonci Island, iV". Y., Aug. 26, 1871. 



YOUNG DrCKS DIED. 



I see some of the members of the New Eng- 

 land Farmers' Club are having poor luck with 

 their poultry, and having had poor luck in raising 

 ducks, perhaps some one can tell what the trouble 

 was. The ducks hatched well and the young grew 

 finely for a few weeks, and then they would droop 

 and die. Sometimes at feeding all would be smart, 

 but in a ^ew minutes some would be taken with the 

 "dumps" and die immediately. Can any one tell 

 us the cause and cure ? t. b. 



Addiso7i County, Vt., 1871. 



AGRICULTURAL ITEMS'. 



— The Salt Lake dailies have notices of the 

 "§40,000 worth of improved breeds of cattle and 

 sheep, from the far-famed Kentucky herds." 



— It seems reasonable that a laboring horse 

 should have room to lie in at night, where he can 

 turn over and shift about. 



— A five-year-old city boy told his mother how 

 to make butter : "You just take a long stick with a 

 cross at the end of it ; then you get a big tub ; and 

 then you borrow a cow." 



—A tablespoonful of spirits of turpentine to three 

 quarts of meal used for chicken food is recom- 

 mended by one correspondent of the Rural Nexo 

 Yorker, for the gapes ; and strong pepper, by an- 

 other one. 



—A correspondent of the Willimette Farmer 

 feeds his stock a tablespoonful of sulphur to each 

 animal, with their salt, once in two weeks. When 

 he has done so, no vermin has troubled them, and 

 his cows have not been affected with garget, nor 

 his sheep with grub in the head. He has practiced 

 this twenty years. 



—Peter Gilbert writes to the Rural Nnc Yorker : 

 "Flies have been so bad on my horses that I found 

 it almost impossible to work them. I took smart 

 weed and soaked it in water, and in the morning 

 applied it to the horses with a sponge, all over 

 t'hem, and found the horses to work along without 

 any further trouble, the flies not annoying them in 

 the least." 



—A northern firm have recently leased a large 

 grazing farm in Powhatan Co., Va., and are stock- 

 ing it with goats, to the raising of which it will be 

 entirely devoted. They have started with 200 and 

 will increase the number to 15,000 or 18,000 as 

 soon as they can get them. Besides their value in 

 the dairy, the skins bring a large profit m northern 

 markets. 



