THE WISCONSIN PARM'ER.



variety as I wish for, and shall go to no more
nurseries for better.
   I believe there has not been reconimen.ied I
 better article for hedge tian the Osage orange
 unless it is the gray willow, and I have no ex
 perience in that. Six years past I set out aboui
 120 rods; most of it lived. I pruned it ac
 cording to the recommendations, it did not d(
 as well as I expected, and I left it to live oi
 die, as it was everywhere spoken against.  1i
 lived through the herd winters. I then culti.
 vated 20 rods of it as I would corn, without
 pruning. It is now a beautiful and good hedge,
 wtih some exceptions where I neglected tc
 transplant. If I had cultivated it properly I
 should have Fad at this time a hedge that would
 have been useful and ornamental.
 I would suggest to you to describe the symp.
 toms and remedies for the various diseases of
 horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, &c. We frequently
 see cures for different diseases of stock, and
 the symptoms are not given.  How shall we
 know what the disease is unless we know the
 symptoms? Perhaps you will say, buy a book
 that treats of the various diseases of stock.
 Some of us are not able to take the FAXMER,
 and buy the book besides; besides, we want
 the authority of the FARMER.
 I have not written this for publication, and
 have written more than I intended when I com-
 menced, but if there is anything you think is
 worthy of notice, you can do as you please.
 I esteem you as a friend to the farmer, and
 therefore a friend of mine thus I have writ-
 ten. I shall do the best I can for the FARMER.
 I have paid subscriptions for individuals years
 ago and have never been refunded.
                             S. M. HumEs.
 BYLVISTrI, Feb. 10, 1IB3.


             TrappingGophers.

  Ms. EDITOR:-As the season of corn plant-
ing is approaching and also the season for the
striped gopher's depredatio~ns, I propose to tell
the boys how I trap them, although I suppose
the method is already known to many.
  First, then, I take a line about 15 or 20 feet
long, made of stout material; then make a slip-



noose on one end and' tie the other to a stick.
When you see a gopher, follow him to his hole,
then set the slip-noose end of your line in the
mouth of the hole about two inches from the
top of the ground; then place yourself at the
other end of the line in such a position that
the gopher will come up with his back toward
you, which position you can determine by the
slant of the hole, and you won't have long to
wait before Mr. Gopher will be dangling in
your line. This will make sport for the boys,
and at the same time help to rid these smiling
prairies of quite a nuisance to the farmers.
                                  E. N. C.
 CHABLUS CrTy, loaw, Feb 12, 1883.


        A Good use to make of Straw.

  MR. EDIToa:-Though I do firmly believe
the WIscoNsix FARMER to be the best Agric ul-
tural Journal in the Northwest, yet I would
not speak lightly of more eastern journals.
rhey have their mission, the leading feature of
which is the renovation of worn out land. And
some of them labor with great ability to ac-
complish it.
One great part of the Wis. FARMER's present
nission is to prevent land from becoming worn
Wt. But if the farmers of the West should to
any great extent adopt the policy of burning
their straw, of course you will have to adver-
ise and recommend patent manures. I noticed
in the November No. of the FARMER an article
on the folly of burning straw, with the good
advice to convert it into manure.
I have no idea that I can tell the best use to
be made of straw,-that I leave for an abler
pen-but I do know by experience a good use
o be made of it. Farmers who have much
tock and little straw find no difficulty in turn-
ng it into manure. But where they have much
traw and but little stock, the case is quite dif-
erent.
How often we see piles of straw one, two,
bree, and sometimes more, years old, part rot-
d and part sound!  The farmer gets out of
atience, burns the old stuff, and makes a mel-
n patch. Or, if he is a Jobite, and waits un-



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