366 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
ff'eedinff Colts. — John B. Turner, Cayuga 
Co., N. Y. Make a comfortable shed for your colt, so 
that he can go out antJ in at pleasure, and give him a part 
of a sheaf of oats daily, chopped to inch bits. Let him 
have access to good straw, and give one or two fair sized 
carrots or turnips daily, and he will grow finely all win- 
ter. Give him salt, and all the water he will drink. 
Xuruips for Horses.— " T. S. I.," of On- 
ondaga Co., N. Y., inquires as to the best way lo feed 
turnips to horses, and the quantity at each feeding. 
We have always washed them clean and fed them whole. 
For neat cattle and sheep, tliey should be cut or mashed. 
Horses can bite them without difficulty, as they have 
incisor teeth in both jaws, horned stock only in the 
lower jaw. About four quarts daily is enough for one 
horse, besides grain or meal, provided he is worked 
most of the time. It is better to feed turnips and carrots 
in connection with other food, than separately. 
Stancliions or Cliuius for Cattle. — 
L. E. Bower, Onondaga Co., N. Y., inquires " Which is 
the best, chains, ropes, or stanchions for cattle?" We 
answer by asking which he would prefer, a rope around 
his own neck while in beJ, or to have his neck confined 
between two balusters in the bedstead? When cattle 
sleep they usually turn the head around on one side. 
Ropes or chains allow Ihem more liberty to move about 
and lick their sides. Still, there is no disputing the fact 
that cattle do well in stanchions, and that this is the most 
economical way. Next to stanchions, neck chains are 
the cheapest fastening, and are nearly as easy to the 
animal asMopes. For our own use we certainly prefer 
chains somewhat like those figured on page 12, Vol. XXI. 
Remedy for Slabbering-.— E. L. Bre- 
voort, Elkhart Co., InJ., writes to the Agriculturist: 
" Please give me a remedy for slabbers in horses, indu- 
ced by eatingwhite clover, which, in this region, kills out 
all other kinds of pasture." Let each horse have four 
quarts of wheat bran twice daily. As soon as the white 
clover appears, plow the ground, raise two or three crops 
of grain, and seed with Timothy or Kentucky blue 
grass, and Orchard grass seed. Horses never slabber 
when fed with these grasses. 
Coiivs long^ in Stripping^ are :i uuisance. 
—J. E. Blake, of Putnam Co., 111., writes : " I have kept 
cows and milked with my own hands for over 30 years, 
and now confess I do not know how to milk. I mean- 
how to prevent cows gelling into the habit (for I believe 
it is one) of requiring long stripping, even while rather 
fresh. Is it best to milk two teats clean except the strip- 
ping, and then to take the others in hand, or to change 
teats .15 often as the milk does not come freely ? Perhaps 
some of your readers will tell me through the Agricul- 
iurist.^'' Many of our readers know how to milk , we 
hope some one will give the results of his experience. 
An Alderney Cotf.— " P. E. L.," of New 
Rochelle, N. Y., states that he imported an Alderney 
cow six years since. From March 1st, 1864, to March 1st, 
1865, her record is as follows . She raised her calf, pro- 
duced 351 lbs. butter, 7S quarts milk sold, and 447 quarts 
used in the family. There was no extra effort made , 
her only food during the grazing season was grass, and in 
winter half a bushel of coarse bran per day, [besides 
coarse fodder. No roots were fed. 
XUe Canker Worms. — lu llie August 
number of the Agriculturist we offered some observations 
in regard to the canker worm, which made such devasta- 
tion in New England, last summer, and will again next. 
Great efforts have been made to prevent their ascending 
the trees, and many persons who suppose their trees to 
be well protected, will be surprised to find them alive 
with worms as soon as warm weather comes. The 
wingless moths began to ascend to lay their eggs long 
before people thought they would, and though the 
troughs around the tree trunks were filled early, yet it 
was not early enough. We fear injury will come to the 
trees from the use of rosin-oil and petroleum, in the 
troughs. Cobwebs and straws lead it by capillary at- 
traction over the edge, and running down upon the body 
of the tree near the roots there is danger of harm. A 
patent appliance, consisting of a sheet of mica (isin- 
glass) encircling the trunk of the tree at a distance of 
one inch, and suspended by a band of cotton cloth, a 
few inches wide, altogether a tent-like affair, has been 
largely employed. We are sorry to inform our readers 
on excellent authority, that the winsless female moths 
will go over it— with some difficulty indeed, but never- 
theless, in some cases they do succeed. Mr. David Ly- 
man, of Middlesex Co.. Conn., has watched them very 
closely, and seen them pass over this tent with the mica 
rim. So he oiled the rim, using a mixture of equal parts 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 2. 
kerosene and castor oil. This retains the odor of kero- 
sene and the fluidity of castor oil for a long time, and no 
insect has yet been seen to go over. 
Should one succeed, it would be oiled 
somewhat, and as the least oil quickly 
spreads over its whole body, it would 
soon die. Tin will of course do 
just as well as mica, and may be 
made thus : Ascertain the diameter 
of the tree (say 12 inches) ; add 2 
inches to it (14 inches) ; get apiece of 
tin three times as long (43 inches), and 3 inches wide; have 
the tinner turn a fold on one edge, as he does for lapping 
two sheets together, like 
fig. 1. Take a piece of cot- 
ton cloth wilh a wide hem 
on one edge, through which 
to run a cord ; then slip the 
other edge under the fold in 
the tin, and hammering it 
down close, the cloth will 
be firmly held. By passing 
this around the tree, fasten- 
ing the ends of the tin by a 
rivet or two, drawing the 
cord tightly and adjusting 
the cloth, and sewing a few 
stitches at the lap, nothing 
can pass through, like fig. 2. 
Then after smearing the tin 
with Mr. Lyman's castor oil 
and kerosene mixture, we 
believe the tree will be perfectly protected, except as 
the oil may need renewing once in a week, perhaps. 
Mr. Lyman says the trunks below his tent-protectors 
were covered with eggs the first week in November. 
Tery Early ]L<ainb@* — A few days previous 
to yeaning time, confine the ewes in a box stall, or 
apartment where they will be protected from cold and 
storms. Feed wilh good hay and corn stalks, and let 
them have access to salt and water. Grain and roots 
previous to parturition tend to induce garget. As soon 
as lambs appear thrifty and strong, and take all the 
milk, one pound of roots and half a pound of meal daily, 
for each ewe, will make the lambs grow like weeds. 
Ijanrel-poisonecl Slteep. — In a former 
notice of the Sheep-laurel or Lamb-kill, we mentioned 
some of the proposed antidotes, A correspondent takes 
us to task for making so light of the decoction of musk- 
rat's tail, and asserts that he has known it to cure. Others 
have sent "certain remedies*' to be used in cases of 
poisoning by laurel, among which are, placing an onion 
under the fore-leg of the animal and forcing a ball made of 
soft soap and corn meal, down its throat. From the reme- 
dies said to answer, it seems that the poison is not virulent. 
Hens \f^itb tlie ]>unips. — "They are 
taken with a weakness in their legs ; they hobble around 
for a week or two until they have not strength to stand ; 
appetite fails ; they linger three or four weeks and die." 
That's whafs the matter with H. Mansfield's fowls, (New 
Haven Co.. Conn.) They probably do not have range 
and wild foraging enough, and perhaps they lack regular 
feeding with grass oi" vegetables. Give them these, and 
put some Tincture of Chloride of iron, enough to be dis- 
tinctly tasted, into their water ; also feed them well 
twice a day with bread soaked in ale. 
^That Ailed tbe Chickens. — A sub- 
scriber of the Agriculturist, says that he Inst several val- 
uable chickens in a mysterious manner. One after an- 
other drooped and died. Their rumps appeared nmch 
inflamed, and a post-mortem examination disclosed the 
cause. The chickens had swallowed kernels of Indian 
corn, which hrul swollen so large that they could not 
passoff. The obstruction of this passage caused inflam- 
mation and death. Young chickens cannot mash kernels 
of grain in their gizzards. Their feed should be fine. 
A Fine Re^on in the South. — From 
a private letter received from D. Redmond, Esq., of 
Augusta, Ga., editor of the Southern Cultivator, (the 
only Southern Agricultural journal, we believe, which 
outlived the war,) we make the following extract 
"There is. howevei', in our middle and upland country a 
wide field for the enterprising and industrious emigrant 
from the North, or from Europe. Striking a line from 
Raleigh, N. C, to Montgomery, Ala., we have a belt of 
midland country sn to 100 miles wide, which for salubri- 
ty of climate and vaiiety of production, is scarcely ex- 
celled on the globe. Here we can raise successfully all 
the grasses and grains of the North, and here Pomona 
holds her court and reigns perpetually. Looking from 
the window at which I write [Augusta,] I see the fig of 
the tropics growing hardily and vigorously— bearing two 
and sometimes three crops a year — close beside the 
sturdy apple of more temperate climes ; while our poor 
old 'worn out' hillsides, too barren for either cotton or 
coin, produce the finest peaches and grapes in the known 
world. Indeed there can be no doubt that Nature intend- 
ed the greater part of this Middle Country for orchards 
and vineyards, as the soil and climate are both so favor- 
able that tiees and vinescan be cultivated and brought 
into bearing wilh half the time and labor required in lesi 
genial climes. Throughout all this region land is cheap 
and easily obtained, and for men of limited means, I do 
not know of any qjher country presenting so many at- 
tractions and advantages." [Admitting all that Mr. Red- 
mond claims, the only drawback would seem to be the 
lack of market facilities for disposing of the probable 
fruit products to advantage, should the region be filled 
up with fruit cultivators. — Ed.] 
Too JleaTy feedings. Bad. — Poor ani- 
mals do not always consume large quantities of feed 
profitably. Better increase their daily amount gradually, 
as they appear to improve in flesh, than to commence 
feeding larger quantities than they can atsimilate. An 
excellent rule in fattening all kinds of stork is, to feed 
moderately until Ihey show improvement in flesh, then 
increase the amount gradually, according lo the capacity 
of the animal. Never feed so much that they will not 
eat it clean, and appear to want a little more. This rule 
followed, secures good appetite and digestion. 
Oa«« Liine, if applied to g^rass laud too 
freely, is injurious. We know a good farmer, who hauls 
many tons over two miles every spring, and sows it on 
his meadows, regarding it an excellent fertilizer. It 
should be sowed with a machine that will crush the 
lumps, and distribute the lime so evenly that there will 
not be enough in any one mass to Injure the vegetation. 
Tan-bark, Sumac, etc. — A Subscriber 
of Wilmington. Del., asks if Sumac leaves, the refuse of 
a morocco factory, are good as manure. They would 
doubtless make an excellent mulch, like tan-bark, but 
would probably decay more rapidly. We have never 
tried the article, but have found spent tan bark an excel- 
lent mulch and manure on a rather stiff soil. Collect 
and utilize all such wastes. See if there are not leather 
scraps, fleshings, orllining waste at the morocco factory, 
where the sumac is used, that you can get. 
H«ll ^vhoaa yo«» cau. ^et a Fair I*rice. 
Says aWestern farmerof several years' experience in that 
country, "The Agriculturist has saved me many dollars 
the past year by the advice to sell as soon as a reason- 
able price is offered , while those who pretended to know 
so much about markets and who kept theii' wheat, oats, 
etc., and had to take them to market by surh bad roads 
as we have in the West, have paid dearly for wailing. 
For myself, I think the Agriculturist must be at (east as 
useful for the West as for the East." 
I>rain tile Machines and Kilns. — 
Good machines can be bought for $200, perhaps $150. 
They have been greatly improved and simplified of late 
years. Where there is good clay (no sand is needed) one 
machine would make tiles enough for a circuit of several 
miles. The tiles must be burnt in a kiln. We would 
like to hear from any of our readers who have experience 
in regard to the best form of kilns, and the best way to 
arrange the tiles for burning. This knowledge would 
promote the sale of tile machines and use of tile drains. 
Underdraining: a Ilardpan.— The 
formation of " hardpan " is tiie first step in the progress 
of soils toward becoming a sandstone rock. "A Sub- 
scriber," of Blair Co., Pa., wants to know if it will do 
any good to put underdrains down into the hardpan. 
Certainly— It is the only way to arrest its further harden- 
ing and give the plants a chance to work into it, and 
the roots air and water. Except in cases of very close 
hardpans, drains 3 or 4 feet deep and 25 to 30 feet apart 
will after a few years break them up, especially if the 
plow and subsoiler are run a little deeper each year, 
Xhe Fair or the American Insti- 
tute.— This fair, which was kept open over a month, 
was, we are assured, a pecuniary success. Our notice ot 
the Horticultural portion has already been given. Since 
the close of the fair there has been a general " pitching 
into" the management, and many sha p and some hard 
things have been said. There was much that might have 
been better, but take the exhibition as it was. it was a 
great deal belter than none, and no intelligent observer 
could go there without receivinglhe value of the entrance 
fee in amusement and instruction. Now, instead of 
railing at the Institute for having done no better, we 
prefer to suggest how they may improve upon the lesson 
