257 



that we would, if possible, dispose of it for him ; 

 as he found the ploughs here cheaper and better 

 than any he had ever seen in the old country. 

 We offered the plough to Mr. Grieve, the cele- 

 brated Scotch ploughman, who preferred going 

 into the trial in which he was a successful com- 

 petitor with an American plough. 



From the South "Western Farmer. 

 CURING PEA VINES. 



Your correspondent C. M., in calling the at- 

 tention of your readers to the curing of the pea 

 vine, deserves at their hands, thanks. It is an 

 important means of keeping stock, which, if 

 well cured, will do better than any other species 

 of forage we have. I have seen it cured for 

 twenty years, and as the mode is different from 

 his, I beg to give it you — leaving to your choice 

 to dispose of as will suit you. After you have 

 either cut the vines near the ground, or pulled 

 them up, leave them in a swarth, until they 

 have wilted — not taking longer than half a day. 

 Then, with forks, throw them up into hand- 

 cocks, small at the base, and as high as will not 

 press together, only by their own weight ; after 

 remaining thus for a couple of days, open out 

 for an hour or two in sun and haul up. Having 

 provided a rail pen, with surplus rails, and boards 

 to cover — then put rails in for floor a few inches 

 above the ground — a foot or so apart, on which 

 throw in some two to three feet thick the vine ; 

 put on another floor of rails and fill again two 

 or three feet, continue thus until pen is ten or 

 twelve feet high and cover. Many persons fork 

 in a layer of straw of any kind, oats, rye or 

 wheat, with every layer of the vine ; many use 

 salt, in both ways, and no question, but what it 

 is a saving in the end. 



Now for the reason. If the vine is cured as 

 " fodder or other hay," you will lose every leaf, 

 much of the stem, and one entirely unacquainted 

 with the vine, would lose nearly all — for they 

 would let it remain until dry. Lucern, clover 

 and pea vine require the same treatment, there 

 being so much sap in the stalk, that you would 

 lose all the smaller parts before the stems, or thick 

 part, was cured — but by merely wilting, the leaf 

 and leaf stalk is retained in a degree, and by 

 throwing into cocks, the air passes through — 

 the moderate heating it receives, has a tendency 

 to ripen the juices, making sweeter for stock, 

 and toughens the vine — and very little exposure 

 will cool it off. Some persons pull and put in 

 pens as above, and the use of salt will protect — 

 it may mould a little, but try the mouldy part, 

 to even a well fed mule. Those who are saving 

 to their land all they can, will not pull up the 

 vine but cut off with a grass knife, saying the 

 top root is a benefit, and ought not to be taken 

 Vol. IV.— 33 



from the land. One thing, I press on those who 

 have no experience — rather run the risk of losing, 

 by having put up too green, than too dry — I 

 have seen them in a house fourteen by eighteen 

 and twelve feet high, when two to three feet 

 from the wall they were very hot — yet stock ate 

 them very greedily. I thought they were lost. 



Yours, A. J. N. 



ASPARAGUS. 



A medical correspondent, on whose statement 

 we can most implicitly rely, informs us that the 

 advantages of this plant are not sufficiently esti- 

 mated by those who suffer from rheumatism and 

 gout. Slight cases of rheumatism are cured in 

 a few days by feeding on this delicious esculent : 

 and more chronic cases are much relieved, espe- 

 cially if the patient carefully avoid all acids, 

 whether in food or beverage. — York (England) 

 Conrant. 



MILKING, 



We are fully satisfied from our own expe- 

 rience that the quantity of milk afforded by a 

 cow depends, in a great degree, upon the art of 

 the milker, and that no cow would be a good 

 one under the management of a majority of the 

 milkwomen of Virginia. The following useful 

 but simple directions are taken from the Boston 

 Cultivator : 



" Let no small children enter the yard at time 

 of milking. Let not the cows be disturbed at 

 night, but approach them with kind w r ords. If 

 you scold them or whip them you may be 

 cheated of half your milk. After you have 

 brushed the dirt from the udder and seated your- 

 self on the right side of the cow, grasp the 

 teats one in each hand near the extremity. — 

 Squeeze gently at first, or the cow may be 

 pained and start away ; after a few squeezes 

 you may venture all your strength. In about 

 half a minute, if the cow has been well bred, 

 the milk will flow as fast as you can possibly 

 draw it from the teats. Now let nothing inter- 

 rupt your labor. Squeeze the teat and draw it 

 down at the same moment, and at every relaxa- 

 tion of your hand for more milk in the teat, 

 press up your hand against the bag and this 

 will have a tendency to bring all the milk out 

 of the udder; it is an imitation of the butting 

 of the calf against the bag. 



" You must not stop to speak or be spoken to 

 until the cow is finished. If one speaks to you, 

 the milk streaming into your pail make so much 

 noise you stop in order to hear; then the milk 

 wmich began to flow so freely, goes back again 

 into the ducts that supply the udder, and you 

 lose your opportunity. Like the sap of the 



