Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1880-07-09
THE FARM.

In some parts of Maine there will be a
light c OPP Of hay, esp scially upon old
fields, unless it rains. Grass started early
and is quite tall, but is very thin, and
withers in the hot sun. Other vegeta-
ton, excepting late sown grain, suffers
less.
The Minnesota or Red River farmer
welcomes the maddest buffalo bull, and
is not afraid of Indians; tolerates the
prairie wolf and the mosquito; takes
precautions against billiards." and
laughs at frozen mercury; but all his
courage leaves him at the sight of a grass
hopper.
A Mechanicsville, n. Y, farmer pro-
tects his hen roost from hawks and from
thieves by keeping a flock of a dozen
guinea fowls. He regards them as better
than watch dog. and says that they
give instant warning of the approach of
a stranger and that one guards while the
Others sleep.
Speaking of the army worm, one writ
er says, the speed at which they move is
thirty yards an hour; another says 900
feet. They begin to travel between two
and three o'clock in the afternoon, but do
not move all night. 1t has been a dis
puted question whether the army worm
passes the winter as a chrysalis, or re-
mains in the ess.-
Forfarshire in Scotland is famous
turnip county, and there the cattle are
kept in straw yards during six months
of the year, receiving turnips with their
fodder every day in summer. 1t is re-
corded that oneof the oxen, when slaugh-
tered, yielded 240 pounds of rough tai
low. The record of one heifer gives her
weight, dead, at 5000 pounds.
Two new preventative wrapping-pa-
pers have been recently brought out, one
designed for fruit and one for furs, cloths,
etc. The first is made by dipping soft
tissue-paper in a bath of salycilic acid
and hanging it in the air to dry. The
bath should be made from a strong alco-
holic solution of salycilic acid, diluted
with rs much water rs it will bear with
out precipitation. The apples. oranges,
or other fruit may be wrapped in the pa
per before packing, and when the fruit
reaches its market the paper can be re-
moved and used again.
Rev. Thomas Mccormick, of Bal
timore, now in his ninetieth year, has
written an interesting letter, giving, as a
Renaissance of his boyhood, a descrip-
ton of the ravages of the army worm in
Montgomery county, Md, about the year
1900. The worms sudd MY made their
appearance in fine field of wheat adj
joining the Newlin mill property. They
were countless in numbers, and, after
stripping the wheat, continued their
march into the adjoining woodlands,
which they left entirely denuded of foil
age, and presenting the appearance as if
a mighty hail-storm had passed through
the woods.
Coal ashes cmptied into vaults will alb
sorb ver,thing imp icasant, and convert
the contents into most efficient manure.
1t is one of the best things to use in the
hen-house to absorb odors, and affords
an excellent article for the hens to wal
low in, and aids in destroyi g vermin.
1t can also be used at the cess-pool into
which you carry your sewage from the
sinks. The latter can be kept clean by
having sufficient fall to the cess-pool,
and sendin down once week the accu-
mutation of soapsuds and few pals of
water; one foot in ten would be suffi-
Gent fall in the drain. If ashes are not
at hand, substitute fresh loam-there is
nothing better-and the dirt around the
woodpile after the chips are raked off
will remove one cause of disease, if
thrown over the deposits where they ac-
cumulate. Finely powdered charcoal
and dried clay are also excellent deodor-
izers.