606 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



On the other hand, if the tree is set in the 

 fall, it immediately goes to work, and contin- 

 ues to work, unless the ground is frozen about 

 the roots, all through the fall, winter and 

 spring, so that if all things are prosperous, 

 new feeders have been supplied, and leaves, 

 blossoms and continued growth will be pro- 

 duced. This we consider the great advantage 

 of transplanting in the autunm. 



2. In October, the demands upon the time 

 of the farmer are not usually so pressing as 

 they are in April and May. 



If the tree to be set is large, it will be well 

 to shorten in some of the branches, and thin 

 out others in its centre. The soil should be 

 pressed compactly over the roots and raised a 

 Uttle about the stem. If the tree is large, and 

 has a top that will resist the wind, stones of 

 considerable weight ought to be laid on the 

 surface over the roots ; otherwise, the wind 

 will rock the tree and prevent the fibres from 

 attaching themselves to the soil. 



SLAUGHTERING HOGS. 



An experiment in killing a ferocious hog 

 some years ago, led us to consider the modes 

 adopted for taking the life of the j^oor beasts 

 in preparation for dressing them. The animal 

 was purchased from a drove, was one of 

 the long-legged and long-snouted kind, prob- 

 ably born in the woods, and as long as kept in 

 the drove, was, in some degree, manageable ; 

 but when separated, about as ferocious as a 

 tiger. 



No amount of good feeding and coaxing 

 seemed to mollify his wild nature, for he was 

 always ready to dash at any person who was 

 indiscreet enough to enter his domain. 



By dint of corn meal, boiled sweet apples, 

 and sundry gatherings from the kitchen, the 

 beast grew up so as to weigh about 300 pounds. 

 Owing him a sj)ite for his bad behavior, and 

 beheving "discretion a better part tlian va- 

 lor," we concluded not to enter his domicil, 

 knife in hand, but to allure him by some dain- 

 ty morsels up to his trough and then plant a 

 pistol ball between his ears and see what the 

 elFect would be. It was excellent. All his 

 former rashness in a moment was gone. He 

 lay before us instantly "as dead as a mallet." 

 There was no racing and frightening, no 

 squealing, nor deadly thrust of the knife into 

 the poor beast's throat. There was evidently 



no pain felt, as no limb moved or muscle quiv- 

 ered. 



Now has come the hog-butchering season, 

 and the country round will resound with the 

 screams of dying hogs, making the women 

 faint, and the children in the family, with 

 their fingers in their ears, run into the cellar, 

 or into the depths of some closet, to get away 

 from sounds which they will never forget 

 though they may live to be old people. 



It is an age of liberality ; let it, also, be an 

 age of humanity. If it be a crime, punishable 

 by law, to starve or overwork a poor horse, let 

 it also be a crime to put a creature to needless 

 pain, which we have sheltered and fed and 

 constantly cared for during a twelvemonth. 



We have given several old horses their quie- 

 tus with a gun, and so sudden and completely 

 were all the powers paralyzed, that there was 

 not the slightest evidence that any pain was 

 experienced. They fell slowly forward, with- 

 out noise or struggle. So it was with the hog. 



Will not the reader, then, see to it that no 

 animal of his shall be hunted down, caught 

 and bound, and then die under the torture of 

 the knife, this year. 



A pistol will be found most convenient, but 

 if a gun is used it should be with a small 

 charge of powder, and a plug of hard wood 

 three-fourths of an inch long and half as thick 

 through will answer as well as a ball. In 

 taking this course the head is not disBgured so 

 as to be noticeable, and in every respect it is 

 preferable to the old inhuman mode of killing 

 a hog. 



Will the "Society for the Prevention of 

 Cruelty to Animals," notice this and "govern 

 themselves accordingly ?" 



KOOTS IN THE HOUSE CELLAR. 



Persons exposed to atnios2)]iere tainted by 

 decaying vegetables are generally supposed 

 to be in more danger than if exposed to the 

 odors of decaying animal matter. 



A large collection of weeds, pulled from 

 the fields and exposed during a damp and 

 hot season, give ofi'a sickening odor that is 

 intolerable. 



Sink spouts that empty themselves into a 

 rank growth of weeds at the back door, where 

 some portion of the weeds are constantly de- 

 caying, are supposed to give rise to some of 

 the most virulent forms of fever. In some 



